Feb. 



INN S 



NA TURE 



33i 



i.e. .-011th of it, with a 1 l"'.-,'' 1 * ''and between it 



and the ring, which was 1 give the appearance of 



a swelling round the equatorial part of the planet. — On the 

 results of analyses of milk, cream, and butter at a recent dairy 

 show, by R. J. Moss, F.C.S. Cream obtained by the separator 

 was found to be very much richer in "solids, not fat," than 

 Mined by the ordinary process of skimming. Butter 

 made by different dairy-maids from the same crea u and under 

 identical conditions was found to vary chiefly in casein. The 

 minimum quantity of casein found in this butter was o'j2 per 

 cent., the maximum I - 1 7 per cent. It was observed that the 

 specimens that received the highest awards from the jud 



il contained most casein. — A new form of ammonium 

 chloride inhaler was exhibited by A. M. Vereker. 



Natural Science Section. — On Peachia kattala (Gosse). 

 Pari i.. description and habits, by Prof. A. C. Haddon and 

 G. V. Dixon. A description of the form, colour, and 

 and the variations of the conchula of specimens recently found 

 in Dublin Bay, and an account of its habits supplementing that 

 of Gosse. — Canadian, Archoean, or pre-Cambrian rucks, with a 

 comparison with some of the Irish metamorphic rocks, by G. 

 11. Kinalian. M.R.I. A. — Notes on apatite from Buckingham, 

 Ottawa Co., Canada, by G. H. Kinahan, M.R.I. A. 

 im Cumberland, now in the Scieni 

 Museum, were exhibited libed by 1!. II. Mullen. 



Specimens showing the mode of occurrence of Sclerotium 

 i by T. Carroll. — Thi 

 '.'/>■/ Andresii, November 17. v. is by Pn 

 I 



Sydney 



Royal Society of New South Wales, December 3, 18S4. 

 II. C. Russell, B.A., President, in the chair. — Sir George 

 "iv. K.C.B., F.R.S., &c, and Prof. John Tyndall, 

 D.I ! .. i .R.S., . /.ere elected Honorary Members ; three 

 nary Members were also elected. — The Society's medal 

 and 25'. were awarded to Mr. W. E. Abbott, of Wyngen, for 

 upon "Water Supply in the Interior of New South 

 None of the papers upon "Origin and Mode of Occur- 

 ring Veins and of the ass iciate 1 Minerals," or 

 " On the Infusoria peculiar to Australia,' were considered of 

 merit to be awarded the prize. No communication 

 was received upon " Influence of the Australian Climate in pro- 

 ducing Modifications of Diseases.'' — The following papers were 

 read: — Notes on Doryanthus, by C. Moore, F. L.S., illustrated 

 by specimens of a new species.- self-register- 



ing anemometer, by II. C. Russell. B.A., F.R.A.S. — Water- 

 supply in the inti '■ . South Wales, by W. E. Abbott. 

 S. Wilkinson, F.G.S.. riments to 

 illustrate the nature of comets and to explain the reason for the 

 usually turned from the sun. 



-. 1884. — H. C. Russell, B.A., President, in the 

 chair. — Mr. Caldwell exhibited specimens illustrating his re- 

 logy of the Marsupiala, Monotremata, 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, January 26 . — M. Boule) Pi 

 dent, in the chair. — On the limit of accuracy in the differi ntial 

 formulas employed in the reduction of meridian! ol> 

 by M. M. Lcewy. — On the chemical neutrality of th< 

 on the use of colouring substances in the quantitative analysis of 



, by M. Berthelot. In the the author 



proposes to generalise the results already obtained in the use of 

 several new colouring substances endowed with special proper- 

 ties of late years introduced into the process of chemical analysis. 

 He gives the thermic interpretation of the effects distinguishing 

 distances', which are acids and salts wl 



determined by the laws of saline statics. — N 

 pyro-electricity of the topaz, by MM. C. Friedel and J. Curie. 



ir experiments the authors conclude that the 

 ess not only the already determined pyro-electric ver- 

 tical axis parallel to the axis of the prism, bul 

 axis of pi present at least in some spei 



v them. But, owing to the limited number of these 



specimens, it is im] ible clearly to define the position of the 



horizontal axis. The intensity of the electricity developed 

 varies with the specimens then: of which the two 



extremities of the axis are of like sign, which may be explained 

 by the existence of superimposed heinitropic lamel 

 the modifications produced in the chemical composition of certain 

 secretions under the influence of q Kolei >, by M. 



Gabriel Pouchet. — On the development of the egg of Phylloxera 

 punctata, which infests the Quercus sessi flora, by M. V. Lemoine. 

 — Chief results of the examination made at Toulouse during the 

 years 1876-1S83 of the observations of Saturn's satellites, by M. 

 B. Baillaud. — Discussion of the results obtained with the 

 Daguerrotype pictures of the French Commission appointed to 

 observe the Passage of Venus in 1874, by M. Obrecht. The 

 author concludes that the parallax of the sun, as deduced from 

 the observations made by MM. Bailie and Gariel, is found to 

 vary between 8 "77 and S"-33. This coincides with the 8" '66 

 with a probable error of o"o6 already obtained by M. Bouquet 

 de la Goye from the same data. — Results of the observations of 

 the solar spots and facula; made during the last quarter of the 

 year 1884, by M. Tacchini. The results for the whole year, as 

 compared with 1S83, show that the period of greatest solai 

 activity comprised the eight months from October, 1S83, to May, 

 1SS4. — On a class of partially derived equations of the first 

 order, by M. E. Picard. — On a special case of reduction in linear 

 equations of the fourth order, by M. E. Goursat. — On the 

 forms capable of integration in linear equations of the second 

 order, by M. R. Liouville. — On the phenomena of condensation 

 which take place in steam-engines during the peri d of admis- 

 sion, by M. F. Delafond. — Remarks on the dangers incidental 

 to mechanical generators of electricity, and on the best means 

 of avoiding them, by M. A. d'Arsonval. — On the ammoniacal 

 sulphates of zinc, and on a means of separating a purely aqueous 

 solution into two distinct layers, by M. G. Andre. — On the heat 

 of formation of the sulphite and bisulphite of ammoniac, by M. 

 de Forcrand. — Remarks on the cardiac hypertrophy occurring 

 during the period of growth, usually between the yeai's eight 

 and twenty-one, by M. Germain See. — On the differential mor- 

 phological characters of the young colonies of comma-bacillus 

 cultivated in gelatine, by MM. Nicati and Rietsch. — Ana- 

 lysis of a chry.-ostile (a fibrous serpentine presenting the 

 appearance of asbestos) ; a silica resulting from the action of 

 acids on serpentine rocks, by M. A. Terriel. — Note on the 

 geological phenomena produced by the earthquakes that took 

 place in Andalusia from December 25, 1SS4, to January 16, 

 1885, by M. A. F. Nogues. A description is given of the cre- 

 vasses, landslips, upheavals, subsidences, and other remarkable 

 phenomena accompanying these disturbances. — M. Prestwich 

 was elected a member for the Section of Mineralogy in the place 

 of the late Signor Sella. 



Berlin 



Meteorological Society, January 6. — Prof. Muttrich gave 

 a short historical review of the arrangements in connection with 

 forest meteorological stations in Prussia, seventeen of which 

 were in operation. They were established on as uniform 

 a system as possible over regions of very wide varieties 

 of climate : on plains and at different levels above the sea, 

 in districts having a more continental, and in districts having 

 a more oceanic, climate, and in leaf and pine forests. In all 

 these places, moreover, observations were made according to 

 precisely the same regulations. Each station was twofold, 

 having one equipment in the wood, another in the open field ; 

 both, as a rule, at a distance of 200 metres from the edge 

 of the wood. The observations comprised] the iatmospheric 

 pressure, the temperature of the air and of the ground, the wind, 

 moisture, cloudiness, atmospheric precipitation, and the evapora- 

 tion of an open mass of water. These observations were made 

 twdce a day — at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. The observations thus obtained 

 were collected at the station of Eberswalde, and published regu- 

 larly in monthly and yearly reports. From the body of observa- 

 tions made at thirteen stations in operation since 1873, Prof. 

 Muttrich had now made a more special investigation into the 

 influence of the forest on temperature. In order to obtain data 

 Co serve as a basis for determining the influence exercised by the 

 forests on the daily march of the temperature, he had caused 

 observations to be instituted in Eberswalde every two hours 

 throughout a period of fourteen days from June 15 to 30. The 

 graphical representation of these observations showed that 

 the curve of temperature for the field station, starting from the 

 point reached at midnight, sank a little at first, then rose at a 

 quick, but later on at a somewhat abated, rate to its maximum 

 at about two o'clock, whence it sank again, rapidly at first, then 

 more slowly, to its midnight level. The curve of temperature 

 for the forest station had, generally speaking, an analogous course. 

 At midnight, however, its curve started at a higher point than that 

 of the field station, crossed the latter at 5 a.m., and afterwards 

 continued to be lower than the field curve, till at 8 p.m. it 



