APRIL 8, 1897 | 
IMA TURE, 
543 
JupeInG from the very interesting paper on ‘‘ The First 
Crossing of Spitsbergen,” in the April number of the Geo- 
graphical Journal, Sir W. Martin Conway’s forthcoming book 
will be an attractive as well as instructive contribution to geo- 
graphical and geological literature. The general results of the 
expedition, of which Sir Martin Conway was the leader, have 
already been described in these columns (vol. liv. p. 437, 1896), 
and some idea will have been gained of their value from many 
points of view, particularly on account of the flood of light 
they throw upon vexed problems of glacial geology. Many 
remarkably fine illustrations of glaciers and moraines, and a 
large sketch map of part of Spitsbergen, accompany Sir Martin 
Conway's paper. 
A mMemorr, by Mr. Alexander McAdie, on the ‘‘ Equipment 
and Work of an Aero-physical Observatory,” has been published 
as No. 1077 of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 
The memoir was awarded honourable mention and a bronze 
medal, inthe Hodgkins Fund Prize Competition. The subjects 
discussed are the known properties of atmospheric air considered 
in their relationships to research in every department of natural 
science, and the importance of a study of the atmosphere con- 
sidered in view of these relationships. Mr. McAdie also points 
out the proper direction of future research in connection with 
the imperfections of our knowledge of atmospheric air, and the 
conditions of that knowledge with other sciences. 
For the past eleven years Prof, H. G. Seeley, F.R.S., has, 
through the medium of the London Geological Field Class, 
‘done much to impart a practical knowledge of the physical 
geography and geology of the Thames district. Nature must 
be looked in the face if her character is to be understood ; and 
it is to give students an opportunity of thus viewing her directly, 
while her physiognomy is read, that the Class was founded. 
The teaching is given by Prof. Seeley during excursions made 
on Saturday afternoons, between the beginning of May and the 
middle of July. The twelfth annual course will commence on 
May 1, with an excursion to Leith Hill. Particulars of this 
and other excursions may be obtained from the honorary secre- 
tary, Mr. R. Herbert Bentley, 43 Gloucester Road, Browns- 
wood Park, South Hornsey, N. All London students of the 
elements of geology should take advantage of the systematic 
course of teaching in the open country offered by the London 
Geological Field Class. 
Mr. S. G. NEwru, of the Royal College of Science, has in- 
vented a little instrument for use in the detection of potassium 
compounds by the flame test, in the place of the indigo prism. 
‘Owing to the fact that indigo transmits the red rays given by 
lithium, strontium, calcium and barium compounds, as well as 
the red of potassium, salts of those metals, when heated in a 
Bunsen, while the flame is examined with an indigo prism, are mis- 
taken for those of potassium. Mr. Newth’s instrument, however, 
not only absorbs the green and yellow portions of the spectrum, 
but also the red, very nearly as far down as the potassium line, 
and quite beyond the red lines of lithium, strontium, calcium 
and barium. It is therefore opaque to the red light given by 
these metals, while being transparent to the red light of potassium; 
and it thus allows of the certain detection of potassium in the 
presence of any of these metals, or of sodium. A patent has 
been applied for, and the instrument will shortly be put on the 
market. 
NEw editions have been received of the following works :— 
Bourne's Insurance Directory, by William Schooling (London : 
Effingham Wilson). This trustworthy and valuable statement 
of the positions of insurance companies, and their comparative 
advantages, should be seen by all who are interested in assur- 
ance or actuarial affairs.—‘‘ Appearance and Reality: a Meta- 
NO. 1432, VOL. 55 | 
physical Essay,” by Dr. F. H. Bradley. Second edition. 
(London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co.). The author describes 
his work as ‘a more or less desultory handling of perhaps the 
chief questions in metaphysics. . . . This volume is meant 
to be a critical discussion of first principles, and its object is to 
stimulate inquiry and doubt.”—‘‘ Les Femmes dans la Science,” 
by A. Rebiére. Second enlarged and revised edition, (Paris: 
Libraire Nony and Co.), The first edition of this book was 
reviewed in NAtuRE of July 19, 1894 (vol. I. p. 279). Many 
new names have been added, and some, perhaps, have been in- 
serted without sufficient discrimination ; while the information 
about several of the ladies whose names adorn the pages is often 
very meagre. The book now includes the names of women who 
may be termed scientific amateurs, col/aboratrices, and protectrices, 
as well as of genuine workers. Notwithstanding this, the volume 
is an interesting monument to the genius of women ; and the 
portraits and autograph letters add to its attractiveness. 
THE valuabie work carried on under the direction of Prof. S. 
A. Forbes, upon the Illinois River and its dependent waters, has 
often been noted in these columns. The general object of the 
biological experiment station of the University of Illinois is to 
study the forms of life, both animal and vegetable, in all of 
their stages, of a great river system, as represented in carefully 
selected localities. How well this object has been attained may 
be seen from the Biennial Report just received, together with 
various bulletins of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural 
History containing accounts of zoological investigations made at 
the station. The publications amount in all to some three 
hundred pages of text, with sixty plates. In one of the papers 
Dr. C. A. Kofoid describes in detail the methods and apparatus 
used in ‘* plankton” observations at the station. This term is 
applied to all plants and animals floating free in water, and in- 
capable by their own efforts of materially changing their position. 
Prof. Frank Smith has devoted particular attention to a study of 
oligochzete worms (earthworms and their allies) found in and about 
the Illinois River and other waters near Havana. The collections 
made comprise about thirty species, several of which are new. A 
full report upon the Oligochzeta is in preparation. Ina valuable 
contribution, Mr. C. A. Hart gives an account of observations 
of the insect fauna of the Illinois River and adjoining waters ; 
his paper fills one hundred and twenty-five pages, and, as an 
example of work done during the first year of the station’s 
establishment, it is very creditable. Mr. Adolph Hempel 
describes new species of Rotifera and Protozoa. About ninety 
species of Rotifera and eighty species of Protozoa have been 
collected upon the Illinois River. Among the Rotifera there 
are three presumably hitherto undescribed species of the genus 
Brachionus. From the papers we have named, it will be evident 
that the Biological Experiment Station of the University of 
Illinois has more than justified its existence. If evidence is 
needed in support of the scheme for the establishment of fresh- 
water biological stations in Great Britain, it will be found in 
the papers to which reference has been made. 
THE reaction of ferric chloride, potassium chlorate and 
hydrochloric acid, has been carefully investigated by Messrs. 
Noyes and Wason, whose results are published in the current 
number of the Zeétschrift fir physthalische Chemie. The 
change is of special interest, because it is the first satisfactory 
case of a reaction of the third order in which three different 
substances are concerned. Hood had previously stated that in 
presence of excess of acid the reaction is of the second order, 
its velocity being proportional to the product of the concen- 
trations of the ferrous chloride and of the potassium chlorate. 
When the concentration of the hydrochloric acid is varied it is 
seen, however, as the authors show, that the reaction is really 
of the third order, and that its velocity is proportional to 
