Dec. 4, 1884] 



NA TURE 



119 



warrior ants. — Mr. E. T. Drucry read a paper on a singular 

 ■ode of reproduction in Atliyrui'ii jUix-famiiia, var. clarissima. 

 In a previous paper the author had shown that prothallia-bearing 

 antheridia and arclicgonia were developed on the apex of pear- 

 Eaped bodies with the larger end downwards, in the place 

 usually occupied by sari. In the present paper he brought for- 

 ward evidence to show that these pear-shaped bodies were not 

 devel'ped from sporangia, but from a previous formation of 

 thread like bodies, a few of which became thickened, and deve- 

 loped into the pear-shaped bodies previously mentioned, the 

 Biers remaining starved and undeveloped. 



Zoological Society, November IS. — Prof. W. H. Flower, 

 1". U.S., President, in the chair. — A communication was read 

 from Mr. J. G. F. Riedel, C.M./.S., containing comments on cer- 

 tain passages in Mr. H. O. Forties's paper on Timor-Laut birds, 

 rend before the Society on June 17. — A communication was 

 read from Mr. II. Pryer, C.M.Z.S., giving an account of a 

 it to the edible-birds'-nest caves of British North 

 Borneo In illustration of this paper, Mr. Pryer sent specimens 

 of the swift (Colloca&a fiiciphaga), of its nest and eggs, of the 

 which the bird was supposed to feed, and of the bal 

 'which inhabited the same caves. — Mr. Sclater read an account 

 •of some skins of mammals from Somali-land, which belonged 

 apparently to five species. Amongst these was an apparently 

 new form of wild ass, which was proposed to be called Equus 

 Inns iomalicns. — Mr. F. E. Beddard read a paper on the 

 of the Umbiette (Sapus iim/'irlta). The author ob- 

 served t ha . its exact systematic position, which had 

 'been hitherto a matter of doubt, he was inclined to place this 

 peculiar form as a type of a separate family, between the herons 

 lAiUM.e) and the storks (Ciconiidce). — A second paper by 

 Mr. I led lard contained the results of some recent investigations 

 intn the atractwre of Eehidttg, and related to the presence of a 

 persistent umbilical vein in that animal. — Captain Shelley read 

 a paper on some new or little-known species of East African 

 •birds. Three of these were described under the names Muscicapa 

 Pratincola axillaris, and N'eciarirtia kilimtnsis. The 

 collection, which contained altogether ninety-four specimens, 

 to thirty-eight species, was the first-fruits of Mr. H. H. 

 lohn-i' m's expedition to Kilimanjaro. — A communication was 

 read from Mr. J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S., on the geographical 

 distribution of ijithua nipalensis, with remarks on this and 

 other allied species of owls. 



Chemical Society, November 20. — Dr. Perkin, F.R.S., in 

 the chair. — The following gentlemen were elected Fellows : — 

 I Broughton, F. J. Down, L. Ehrmann, F. G. Holmes, J. 

 OHulme, C. Thompson, W. F. Wigley. — The following papers 

 were read : — On some new paraffins, by Khan li. B. Sobrabji. 

 The author has prepared cetaue boiling at 278°, dicetyl melting 

 at 70 , ethylcetyl and diheptyl. — On additive and condensation 

 compounds of diketones with ketones, by F. R. Japp and 

 I II. 1. Miller. The authors have studied the action of potash 

 of various strengths on mixtures of phenanthraquinone and 

 ■ton Additive compounds were obtained containing one 

 (molecule of the first substance to two of acetone, and another 

 containing two molecules of phenanthraquinone to one of 

 acetone. Condensation compounds were formed from the above 

 additive compounds by the abstraction of the elements of water. 

 The authors have also studied the action of potash upon mix- 

 tures of benzil with acetone and with acetophenone respectively, 

 and have obtained acetobenzil and acetophenonebenzil. — On the 

 vapour pressure of acetic acid, and on a new method of determin- 

 ing the vapour-pressures of liquids, by W. Ramsay and Sydney 

 Young. The authors have used a species of still into which a ther- 

 mometer dips, the bulb of which is covered with cotton-wool 

 moistened with the liquid. On heating, the liquid evaporates 

 from the cotton-wool without ebullition. Results obtained 

 agree with those obtained in the ordinary way. Perfectly con- 

 cordant and regular results have been obtained with acetic acid. 

 — On the action of the halogens on the salts of trimethylsul- 

 phine. by L. Dobbin and Orme Masson. The authors conclude 

 that all the haloid salts of trimethylsulphine combine directly 

 with chlorine, bromine, iodine, and iodine monochloride. In 

 DO case is one halogen replaced by the other. The authors have 

 partly investigated the action of the halogens on trimethylsul- 

 phine sulphate. — Note on the heats of dissolution of the sulphates 

 of potassium and lithium, by S. U. Pickering. The salts do 

 not seem to form isomeric modifications such as exist in the case 

 of sodium sulphate. — On the application of iron sulphate in 

 agriculture and its value as a plant food, by A. B. Griffiths. The 



author finds that half a hundredweight of sulphate of iron 

 per acre increased the yield of beans from 2S bushels to 44 

 bushels, of turnips from 13 tons to 16J tons, but little 

 effect was produced on cereals. — Notes on the chemical altera- 

 tions in green fodder during its conversion into ensilage, by 

 C. Richardson. The author confirms the results obtained by 

 Kinch and Kellner, that a considerable increase in the non- 

 albuminoid nitrogen takes place in the conversion ; : no such 

 change occurs during the ordinary drying of fodder. The author 

 used maize in his experiments. — On the decomposition of silver 

 fulminate by hydrochloric acid, by E. Divers and Michitada 

 Kawakita. The authors have studied the action of dilute and 

 strong hydrochloric acid on this salt. With dilute acid the 

 principal products are hydroxyammonium chloride and formic 

 acid ; if the acid is strong, much ammonium chloride is produced. 

 A small quantity of hydrocyanic acid is always formed. They 

 could not obtain any oxalic acid by decomposing mercury ful- 

 minate with hydrogen sulphide in ether. They have also studied 

 the action of hydrochloric acid on fulminurates. 



Academy ot Sciences, November 24. — M. Rolland, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Experiments with the chlorhydrate of cocaine 

 (continued), by M. Vulpian. Further experiments made on 

 snails (Hilix pomatia) and fresh-water prawns [Astacm jfrnna- 

 Mis, F.) show that this ana?sthetic is less efficacious in the case 

 of invertebrate than vertebrate animals. — Note on the algebraic 

 relations between hyperelliptic functions of the n order, by M. 

 Brioschi. — On some reactions of the sulphuret of carbon, and 

 on the solubility of this substance in water, by MM. G. Chancel 

 and F. Parmentier. — Remarks by M. Daubree on M. Norden- 

 skjold's " Voyage Round Europe and Asia," in connection with 

 the French translation of that work presented to the Academy. 

 — Note on the action of heat on electric piles, and on the law 

 of Kopp and Wcestyne, by M. G. Lippmann. — Statistical 

 note on cholera in the Paris hospitals since the outbreak 

 of the epidemic on November 4 till the present time, by 

 M. Emile Riviere. During this period 971 patients (579 

 men, 392 women) were treated in the various hospitals. 

 Of these, 511 succumbed (302 men, 209 women), and 239 

 (129 men, no women) have so far been completely cured. 

 The mortality has thus been S2'33 and 53"3I for men and 

 women respectively. The working classes — rag-gatherers, seam- 

 stresses, washerwomen, masons, bricklayers, and shoemakers — 

 have supplied the largest relative number of victims. These 

 have almost invariably been persons of feeble constitution, sub- 

 ject to chronic disorders, exhausted by previous excesses, exposed 

 to extreme physical destitution, or dwelling in the lowest slums 

 of the French capital andits suburbs. — Remarks on the second 

 instalment of the new map of Tunis prepared in the War Office 

 on a scale of I : 200,000, by Col. Perrier. This instalment com- 

 prises six sheets, embracing the districts of Kef, Kairwan, 

 Mahedia, Feriana, El Jem, and Sfax, based on surveys 

 executed on the spot. — Presentation of the "Annals of 

 the Ouro-Preto School of Mines,'' by the Emperor Dom 

 Pedro II., with remarks by M. Daubree. — On the con- 

 densation of the solar nebula on the hypothesis -of Laplace, 

 by M. Maurice Fouche. — Remarks on the nature of the 

 curve known as Poinsot's erpolodie, by M. de Sparre. — 

 On the involution of superior dimensions, by MM. J. S. and 

 M. N. Vanecek. — Dynamo-electric machines : experimental 

 confirmations of the two reactions, on the effective values of 

 the inner resistance and of the inductor magnetism, by M. G. 

 Cabanellas. — Action of water on the double salts, by M. F. M. 

 Raoult. — On the composition of the gaseous products resulting 

 from the combustion of pyrite, by M. Scheurer-Kestner. — New 

 experiments on the rotation of crops in connection with the 

 cultivation of beetroot, by M. P. P. Deherain.— On the appear- 

 ance and spread in France of the parasite of the beetroot known 

 as Selsredora SchachtU, by M. Aime Girard. To this parasite, 

 the author thinks, is largely due the partial failure of this year's 

 crop, which showed a deficit of 20 per cent, in the weight of 

 the roots, besides a decrease in the yield of saccharine, which 

 in some of the northern districts amounted to 12 or 14 per cent. 

 — On the formation of vegetable acids in combination with 

 potassa and lime bases, on the nitric substances and the nitrate 

 of potassa developed in the saccharine plants, beetroot and 

 maize, by M. II. Leplay. — On the characteristic smell and toxic 

 effects of the products of fermentation produced by the comma- 

 bacillus of cholera, by MM. W. Nicati and M. Rietsch. — On 



