t_— 
4 
-dioxide react at 60° C., sulphur trioxide being formed. 
SEPTEMBER 25, 1913] 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, September 1.—Général Bassot 
in the chair—H. Deslandres and L. d’Azambuja: 
Variations of the upper layer of the solar atmosphere 
with the approach of a sunspot minimum. An 
account of work done at the Observatory of Meudon 
from 1911 to 1913; a general account of the rela- 
tions observed between spots and filaments; no 
general conclusions are drawn.—G, Bigourdan: The 
variable nebulz and, in particular, the nebula G.C. 
4473=N.G.C. 6760. The observations of Borrelly on 
the change of luminosity of this nebula require con- 
firmation.—A. Laveran and G. Franchini: Experi- 
mental infection of mice by Herpetomonas cteno- 
cephali. The mice were infected with parasites ob 
tained from fleas, and details are given of the changes 
undergone by the organism after transmission to the 
mouse.—Pierre Duhem: On the velocity of sound. A 
discussion of the formule given by Ariés and J. 
Moutier.—Charles Saint-John: Exploration of the 
solar atmosphere by measurements of the radial 
velocities in the spots. Evershed, in 1909, announced 
the displacement of the Fraunhofer lines in the 
penumbra of spots removed from the centre. The 
author commenced the more complete study of this 
phenomenon at Mount Wilson in 1910, and in the 
present communication summarises his results. The 
phenomenon is a Doppler-Fizeau effect, since the dis- 
placements are proportional to the wave-lengths. The 
relative levels of emission of the different lines can be 
determined by this method.—M. de Séguier ; Quadratic 
and Hermitian groups in a Galois field.—Georges 
Claude; Influence of the diameter on the potential 
difference in luminescent neon tubes. The relation 
between the fall of potential in volts per metre of 
tube and the diameter of the tube was found to be 
hyperbolic.—Paul Godin: Influence of the weight of 
the arms on the respiratory modifications in the course 
of growth.—F. Heckenroth and M. Blanchard: A fixa- 
tion reaction, in presence of a syphilitic antigen, in 
syphilis, yaws, trypanosomiasis, and phagedenic ulcer 
in the French Congo. 
September 8.—M. de Forcrand; Experiments on 
the cupric hydrates and the heat of formation of 
copper nitrate. Comparison with uranyl nitrate. 
Calorimetric determinations on Cu(OH),, CuO, and 
intermediate hydrates.—J. Guillaume: Observations of 
the Metcalf comet (1913b) made at the Observatory of 
Lyons. Positions given for September 3. 5, and 6. 
On the 3rd the comet was of the tenth magnitude.— 
A, Schaumasse: Observations of the Metcalf comet 
(19136) made with the Coude equatorial at the Observa- 
tory of Nice. Positions given for September 3, 4, 5, 
and 6. On the 3rd the comet appeared as a round 
nebulosity of about the tenth magnitude, about 2’ in 
diameter, with a badly defined nucleus.—M. Moulin : 
The terminal curves of balance springs. Influence of 
terms of the second order.—E. Briner and A. Kuhne ; 
The mechanism of the formation of sulphuric acid in 
leaden chambers. The authors have been able to 
prove that pure dry nitrogen peroxide and sulphur 
From the results of this experiment they discuss the 
possibility of the direct oxidation of sulphur dioxide 
to sulphuric acid in the leaden chamber.—-J. A. 
Urbain: Morphological modifications and floral | 
anomalies resulting from the suppression of the 
albumen in some plants. A study of the modifications 
in growth produced by removing the albumen from 
the seeds of various plants. Edm. Bocquier and Marcel 
NATURE 
| geschichte und Pflanzengeographie. 
| Engler. 
Baudouin: The discovery and exploration of a pre- 
historic submarine station at the mouth of the Vie, in 
Vendée.—Paul Jodot and Paul Lemoine: The existence | 
of a fault on the right bank of the Loire near Cosne. 
NO. 2291, VOL. 92] 
123 
September 15.—Général Bassot in the chair.—E. L. 
Bouvier; New observations on the larval development 
of the spiny lobster (Palinurus vulgaris). (See 
Nature, August 21, p. 633.)—Jules Andrade: The re- 
gulation of a marine chronometer with four spirals.— 
Georges Claude: The drying of air to be liquefied by 
cooling. The difficulty of removing water by cooling 
in the ordinary heat exchanger is discussed. “This can 
be surmounted by making the expanded gas circulate 
through the tubes of the exchanger instead of round 
them, whilst the compressed air circulates round the 
tubes, the path of the compressed air being composed 
of horizontal elements. The liquid water can be re- 
moved from the bottom without difficulty, and it is 
only at the end of fifteen to twenty-four hours that 
stoppages are produced by the hoar frost; a second 
exchanger is then substituted. The cost is very small 
compared with chemical methods of drying, and the 
apparatus has already been used in apparatus for the 
production of pure nitrogen on the large scale.—MM. 
Taffanel and Le Floch: The combination of gaseous 
mixtures and temperatures of inflammation. The 
combustible mixture is introduced suddenly into a 
vessel, the walls of which are at a known tempera- 
ture, the combustion being recorded by a self-recording 
manometer. Results are given for mixtures of air 
with methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, acetylene, 
ethylene, pentane, and finely divided oil.—Maurice 
Durandard: The amylase of Rhizopus nigricans. 
Care Town. 
Royal Society of South Africa, August 20,—Dr. - 
J. K. E. Halm in the chair.—E. J. Goddard: The 
significance of the position of the genital apertures in 
Hirudinea. The number of somites entering into the 
constitution of the Leech body is, according to one 
school, thirty-three, according to another thirty-four. 
This constitution holds good except in the doubtful 
exceptions of Acanthobdella peledina (Grube) and 
Semilageneta (Goddard). The ancestral stock from 
which the Hirudinea arose must have been Oligo- 
cheetan and aquatic in nature, and having a body of 
33 Or 34 somites. This ancestor must have been pro- 
vided with sete, as indicated by Acanthobdella, 
similar to those found in aquatic Oligochzeta such as 
Lumbriculide, Phreodrilidz, &c. Further investiga- 
tion may reveal a close association between the dis- 
tribution of certain archaic Oligochztan families and 
the origin of the Hirudinea——E. J. Goddard: A 
Phreodrilid from Sneeuw Kop, Wellington, South 
Africa. A new form has been discovered on the Wel- 
lington mountains. The ventral sete are typically 
Phreodrilid in nature, but both are simple. Hence in 
Africa, which is apparently rich in Phreodrilids, all 
the varieties of setz noted in the family are to be 
found in -the African representatives.—G. C. Scully 
and A. R. E. Walker: Note on Spodumene from 
Namaqualand. The lithia-bearing mineral described 
in this paper was collected by the authors near 
Jackals Water, Steinkopf. An examination of its 
optical and other physical characters enables them, 
with confidence, to refer it to the species Spodumene. 
Quantitative chemical analyses of the mineral will 
be made, the results of which the authors hope to 
publish in a later paper along with a detailed account 
of the associated minerals. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Botanische Jahrbiicher fur Systematik, Pflanzen- 
Edited by A. 
(Leipzig and Ber- 
Band 50. Heft 2 and 3. 
lin: W. Engelmann). 14 marks. 
Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie. 
by Prof. E. Ehlers. Band 106. Heft 3. 
and Berlin: W. Engelmann.) 11 marks 
Edited 
(Leipzig 
