November 16, 1905] 



NA TURE 



7i 



available to be able to calculate the molecular cohesion at 

 the absolute zero. 



July 29. — " Studies on Enzyme Action. VIII. — The 

 Mechanism of Fermentation." By E. Frankland Arm- 

 strong. Communicated by Prof. H. E. Armstrong. 



The experiments described, which were begun in the 

 Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen, were undertaken to 

 ascertain, if possible, the manner in which the activity 

 of the various organisms giving rise to alcoholic ferment- 

 ation is dependent on, or influenced by, the enzymes which 

 they contain. The action of twenty selected yeasts on 

 each of the four hexose sugars glucose, fructose, mannose 

 and galactose, and on the disaccharides cane sugar, 

 maltose and milk sugar, was investigated. All the yeasts 

 tested were able to ferment glucose, mannose and fruc- 

 tose, but quite a number were unable to ferment galactose. 

 It is shown that inability to ferment galactose has nothing 

 to do with the absence from the yeast of any one of the 

 sucroclastic enzymes, since yeasts are to be found which 

 are without action on galactose ; in fact, the fermentation 

 of glucose and galactose is brought about by different 

 mechanisms. 



The results further indicate that the power of a yeast 

 to ferment mannose, glucose or fructose is clearly in no 

 way conditioned by the presence of a particular sucro- 

 clastic enzyme ; indeed, it would seem that the occurrence 

 of alcoholic fermentation is altogether independent of the 

 presence of an enzyme — whether free or fixed — able to 

 induce the hydrolysis either of maltose or of sucrose. 



The fact that the three hexoses which behave alike have 

 one common enolic form is of utmost significance as an 

 indication that the formation of the enol is the initial 

 stage in the fermentation of the hexose, and that the break- 

 down of the molecule commences at the terminal carbon 

 atom. 



Chemical Society, November 2. — Prof. R. Meldola, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Molecular conductivity of 

 water : P. Blackman. — The stereoisomerism of substituted 

 ammonium compounds : H. O. Jones. Wedekind's sup- 

 posed /3-phenyIbenzylmethylallylammonium iodide is proved 

 to be in reality phenylbenzyldimethylammonium iodide. At 

 present optical activity is the only evidence of stereo- 

 isomerism of quinquivalent nitrogen compounds of the type 

 \,ih,d.\, and the hypothesis suggested by the author 

 {Trans. Chem. Soc, 1003, lxxxiii., 1403), slightly de- 

 veloped, is adequate to explain all the known facts. — Note 

 on the fluorides of selenium and tellurium : E. B. R. 

 Pridcaux. The fluorides of selenium and tellurium are 

 gaseous substances, easily condensable by cold, forming 

 while, snow-like solids. They have the formula? SeF fi and 

 TeF 6 . — The constitution of glutaconic acid : J. F. Thorpe. 

 — Some alkyl derivatives of glutaconic acid and of 

 2 : h-dioxypyridine : H. Rogerson and J. F. Thorpe. — 

 Note on the formation of 0-methylglutaconic acid and of 

 ayS-dimethylglutaconic acid : F. V. Darbishire and J. F. 

 Thorpe. — The influence of water and alcohols on the boil- 

 ing point of esters. A modification of Markownikoff 's 

 method of preparation : J. Wade. The Markownikoff 

 interaction proves on investigation to proceed in most 

 cases readily at ioo°, and in presence of any strong acid ; 

 it may be modified to afford a general and practically auto- 

 matic method of preparing the lower alkyl esters of such 

 acids as formic, acetic, propionic, and butyric. — Note on 

 bromine fluoride : E. B. R. Prideaux. Fluorine when 

 l>.i-sed over bromine combines with it to form a pale yellow 

 liquid, which freezes to a white solid, melting at — 2°, and 

 which probably has the formula BrF,. — Solution and 

 pseudo-solution : E. Linder and H. Picton. The authors 

 discuss (1) the physical and chemical properties of colloidal 

 arsenious sulphide : (2) the physical and chemical properties 

 of colloidal ferric hydroxide ; (3) dyeing, a phase of coagu- 

 lation. — The influence of very strong electromagnetic fields 

 on the spark spectra of ruthenium, rhodium, and 

 palladium : J. E. Purvis. The general results showed that 

 ( 1 ) most of the lines are divided into triplets, and that 

 there is a periodic or rhythmic change in the direction of 

 the vibrations of the constituents of the triplets ; (2) some 

 lines become quadruplets, and within certain definite regions 

 of the spectrum their constituents also change the direc- 

 tion- of their vibrations: (3) other lines become doublets; 

 (4 1 the inner member of the triplets is usually the strongest ; 



NO. I 88 I, VOL. J 3] 



(5) the strongest spectral lines are not the most widely 

 separated when vibrating in the field ; and (6) the decrease 

 in the width of the triplets does not proceed pari passu 

 from the less to the more refrangible end of the spectrum. 

 — A volumetric method of estimating the cinchona alkaloids 

 by means of their double thiocyanates : P. W. Robertson. 

 Notwithstanding the complexity of double salts of this tvpe, 

 the determination of the amount of thiocyanate removed 

 from solution by the alkaloids forms an accurate and speedv 

 volumetric method ot estimating quinine in the commercial 

 drugs and in the assay of the crude cinchona bark. — The 

 osmotic pressure of sugar solutions in mixtures of alcohol 

 and water : P. S. Barlow. 



Mathematical Society, November 9. — Prof. A. R. 

 Forsyth, president, in the chair. — The De Morgan medal 

 was presented to Dr. H. F. Baker. — On improper 

 double integrals and On the arithmetic continuum : 

 Dr. Hobson. In the first of these papers necessary 

 and sufficient conditions are obtained in order that a 

 double integral, of which the integrand becomes infinite 

 at an infinite number of points within the domain of 

 integration, can be transformed into a repeated in- 

 tegral, so as to be capable of being evaluated by suc- 

 cessive integrations with respect to two variables. The 

 second paper deals with some criticisms by J. Konig 

 levelled against the fundamental notions of the theory of 

 sets of points and with the possibility of a general con- 

 struction of all irrational numbers. It is shown how a 

 general definition of all numbers rational or irrational can 

 be obtained, and that the set of numbers constructed by 

 means of the definition has the essential properties of the 

 continuum, that is to say, it is at once " perfect " and 

 "connected." — On the arithmetical nature of the co- 

 efficients in a group of Unear substitutions of finite order 

 (second paper) : Prof. W. Burnside. An irreducible group 

 of linear substitutions being given in any one of its possible 

 forms, it may be possible to choose new variables so that, 

 when expressed in terms of them, the coefficients of the 

 substitutions belong to an assigned domain of rationality. 

 The simplest domain of rationality for which this could 

 be possible is that defined by the characteristics of the 

 group. It is shown that, in general, apart from certain 

 exceptional cases, it is possible to exhibit the group so 

 that the coefficients belong to the domain of rationality 

 defined by the characteristics. The result is obtained with- 

 out introducing the theory of the reduction of the group 

 when regarded as a permutation-group. — The continuum 

 and the second number-class : G. H. Hardy. The paper 

 is a reply to a criticism by Dr. Hobson of a construction 

 for certain transfinite numbers given by the author in the 

 Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, vol. xxxv. — On the 

 asymptotic value of a type of finite series : J. W. 

 Nicholson. — On an extension of Dirichlet's integral : Prof. 

 T. J. I 'A. Bromwich. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, November 6. — M. Troost in the 

 chair. — On the mixed derivatives of dextrorotatory cam- 

 phoric acid and on 3-campholide : A. Haller and ('•. Blanc. 

 The esterification of camphoric acid by methyl alcohol and 

 hydrochloric acid gives poor yields, the acid ester being 

 produced in considerable quantity. By treatment with 

 phosphorus trichloride, the latter forms the corresponding 

 chloride, from which the neutral ester can be quantitatively 

 obtained by treatment with methyl alcohol. The com- 

 pounds obtained by the action of ammonia and phenyl- 

 hydrazine upon the chloride are also described, and the 

 preparation of the 0-campholide by the reduction of the 

 neutral methyl ester with sodium. The yields of the latter 

 ester are poor, and the attempt to prepare from it an 

 isomeric cyanocampholic acid was not successful. — The 

 evolution of the Tertiary mammals : the importance of 

 migrations : Ch. Deperet. The author emphasises the 

 importance of an exact study of the migrations of mammals 

 at different periods in order to explain the appearance of 

 a given group in strata not containing their immediate 

 predecessors, and gives details for the Eocene fauna. — 

 On recurrent convergent relations : Pierre Boutroux. — On 

 a certain category of functions : H. Fade. — On the im- 

 possibility of negative impulse waves in gases : Gyozo 

 Zemplen. An impulse wave is a surface propagated in a 



