4 3 



NA TURE 



[Nov. 13, i ! 



Grye. This paper is based on the calculations made in Mexico 

 by the author and M. F. Arago during the late transit of Venus. 

 From the measurements then taken there results a mean parallax 

 of 876 with an apparent approximation of 1/100 of a second. — 

 Studies made at the Physiological Station on the locomotion 

 of men by means of the odograph, by M. Marey. These 

 studies have been undertaken mainly with a view to practi- 

 cal results. One of the objects has been to determine the 

 most favourable conditions under which military forced marches 

 can be accomplished most rapidly and with the least expenditure 

 of muscular energy. The paper is accompanied by two illus- 

 trations, showing the readings of the odograph for a man walking 

 at the rate of sixty paces per minute, and the curves of velocity 

 and of the length of stride under various conditions. — A fresh 

 contribution to the study of the Permian reptiles, by M. A. 

 Gaudry. — Note on complex numbers, analogous to the qua- 

 ternions of Hamilton, by M. H. Poincare. The various problems 

 connected with this subject are reduced to the following : to find 

 all the continuous groups of linear substitutions variable to n, 

 whose coefficients are linear functions of n arbitrary parameters. 

 This problem is here dealt with. — On the involution of higher 

 dimensions, by M. N. Vanecek. — On some general properties of 

 algebraic surfaces of any degree,by M. Maurice d'Ocagne. — Note 

 on algebraic equations, by M. Berloty. — On the conditions of 

 equilibrium of a liquid mass subjected to electro-magnetic action, 

 by M. G. Lippmann. — Conditions of a helicoidal element for the 

 maximum of efficiency in a screw propeller, by M. Ch. Hauvel. — 

 A comparison of the weighted thermometer with the tubular 

 thermometer, by M. Em. Barbier. The author presents a fresh 

 proof of the proposition already demonstrated by M. Regnault, 

 that if the two instruments agree at the two fixed points, they 

 remain in agreement at all fixed temperatures. — Description of 

 two portable electric lamps, invented by M. G. Trouve. The 

 author, who gives two illustrations, describes two types of 

 electric lamp, one suited for domestic purposes, the other for 

 workshops, factories, mines, &c. Superiority over all others is 

 claimed for both, on the ground of lightness, portability, con- 

 venience, and absolute security even in the most explosive 

 atmospheres. — On the decomposition of the oxide of copper by 

 heat, by M. E. J. Maumene. — Experimental researches on the 

 temporary preservation of various virulent agents in animal 

 organisms, where they remain in a quiescent state, by M. G. 

 Colin. From these experiments it appears that the virus, in 

 passing to animals where it is harmless, may preserve its proper- 

 ties intact for one or two weeks even under unfavourable con- 

 ditions. It is also shown that in certain refractory cases the 

 virus may give rise to serious and even fatal disorders without 

 any apparent analogy to those caused by it in normal subjects ; 

 and further that the same animals may serve several times at 

 varying intervals for the transmission of the poison, although a first 

 inoculation may not have produced in them the attenuating 

 effects of vaccination. — On the employment of the sulphate of 

 copper for the destruction of mildew, by M. P. de Lafitte. 



Berlin 

 Physiological Society, October 31. — Herr Aronsohn pre- 

 sented a report of experiments which he had instituted in con- 

 junction with Herr Sachs, and which had led to the discovery of 

 a thermal centre in the cerebrum. Starting with the idea that 

 in consequence of a diabetic prick of the medulla oblongata an 

 increase of temperature would manifest itself in the liver, 

 and finding by experiment no confirmation of this con- 

 jecture, Herr Aronsohn pushed his investigations for other 

 thermal centres in the brain, and in the course of these re- 

 searches came upon a spot where, on wounding it with a needle, a 

 very considerable rise of temperature quickly set in. The speaker 

 was not able to specify more exactly the spot at which it was 

 necessary to make the prick in order to produce this effect. It 

 was at all events certain that it was rather limited, and should 

 be determined by more minute anatomical examinations nf a 

 number of brains of animals preserved in chromic acid after being 

 operated on. Equally deep pricks made at every other spot of 

 the cerebrum had either produced no effect on the temperature of 

 the body, or had lowered it somewhat. In all the successful 

 cases the corpus striatum was pierced by the needle ; in all the 

 unsuccessful cases the corpus striatum remained untouched. 

 There was yet, however, no warrant from this circumstance to 

 conclude where the exact seat of the thermal centre was situated. 

 — Dr. Rawitz described some observations he had made with refer- 

 ence to the copulation of snails, a subject which had hitherto no 



been investigated. He further communicated from his own expe- 

 rience that snails (Helix pomatia and hortensis) could, in a state 

 of captivity, be fed on paper. Dr. Kossel confirmed this state- 

 ment from his own observations, and related that, on feeding 

 snails with highly calcareous paper, abnormal calcareous deposits 

 were observed in their monstrously developed shells. 



Vienna 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences, October 9. — Preliminary 

 communication on monocyclic systems, by L. Boltzmann. — On 

 the anatomical process of tabes dorsalis, by A. Adamkiewicz. — 

 On double refraction of light in liquids, by E. von Fleischl. — On 

 the comets recently discovered by Barnard (Nashville) on July 

 1 6, and by Wolf (Heidelberg) on September 17, and on their 

 ephemerides and elements as computed by K. Zelbr at the 

 Vienna Observatory, by E. Weiss. — On the development of the 

 walls of arteries, by B. Morpurgo. — On the perception of 

 sound, by E. Bruecke. — On the action of benzoyl-hyperoxide on 

 amylene, by E. lippmann. 



Stockholm 

 Society of Natural Sciences, October 18. — Prof. Sandahl, 

 President, in the chair. — On foreign physiological institutions, 

 by Dr. Tigerstedt. Referring to the development of physiology 

 during recent years, the speaker described some of the principal 

 institutions abroad, having visited forty of this kind. A similar 

 one, on a smaller scale, was being established at the Carolina 

 Institute in Stockholm. — The President, announcing the death 

 of Dr. Regnell, the Brazilian Maecenas, referred to the valuable 

 botanical collections he had presented to the Upsala University. — 

 Prof. Aurivillius exhibited a collection of butterflies, preserved by 

 Herr E. Holmgren by removing the intestines and inflating the 

 specimens. They were in splendid condiiion, the colours being 

 particularly bright. — On the habits of the eider-duck and the dot- 

 trell, by Dr. Sundstrom. The speaker stated that careful study had 

 proved that the eider-hen does not, as is so generally supposed, take 

 her young during the summer into the ocean, but remains among 

 the islands on the coast. The bird had greatly increased in the 

 south of Sweden during the last few years. — On thunderbolts, by 

 the same. — Herr Neves reported the receipt from Finland of 

 eggs of the eagle, Aquila clanga, and the snipe, Terekia cinena. 



CONTENTS page 



World-Life. By Prof. G. H. Darwin, F.R.S. ... 25 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



The Pentacrinoid Stage of Antedon rosaceus. — Dr. 



William B. Carpenter, F.R.S 27 



Natural Science for Schools. — Science Master . . 28 

 The Recent Lunar Eclipse. — Wentworth Erck. 



(Illustrated) 28 



The Sky-Glows.— T. W. Backhouse ; G. W. 



Lamplugh 28 



Peculiar Ice Forms. — W 29 



Seismographs — An Apology. — Dr. H. J. Johnston- 



Lavis ; Charles A. Stevenson 29 



Fly-Maggots Feeding on Caterpillars. — Dr. E. 



Bonavia 29 



The Crystalline Rocks of the Scottish Highlands. 

 By Arch. Geikie, F.R.S., Director-General of the 

 Geological Surveys of the United Kingdom. — Report on 

 the Geology of the North-West of Sutherland, by 

 B. N. Peach and John Home. (Illustrated) .... 29 

 The Genesis of an Idea, or Story of a Discovery 

 Relating to Equations in Multiple Quantity. By 



Prof. J. J. Sylvester, F.R.S 35 



Our Future Watches and Clocks 36 



The British Association for the Advancement of 



Science 37 



The New Volcanic Island off Iceland. By Consul 



W. G. Spence Paterson. (Illustrated) 37 



Telescopes for Astronomical Photography, I. By 



A. Ainslie Common 38 



Notes 40 



Variation of the Atomic Weights. By E. Vogel . . 42 



University and Educational Intelligence 45 



Scientific Serials 46 



Societies and Academies 47 



