February 15, 1906] 



NA TURE 



38.3 



Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, January 16. — Dr. W. E. Adeney 

 in the chair.— Secondary radiation from compounds : Prof. 

 J. A. McClelland and F. E. Hackett. The secondary 

 radiation of /3 particles emitted by substances when they 

 are acted upon by the 11 rays of radium has been pre- 

 viously measured by one of the authors for a large number 

 of elementary substances. In the present paper a number 

 of chemical compounds have been tested experimentally, 

 and the secondary radiations from the compounds have 

 also been calculated on the assumption that the secondary 

 radiation is an additive atomic property. The close agree- 

 ment between the calculated and the experimental value 

 shows that the assumption is fully justified. This result 

 is then used to determine the secondary radiation from a 

 number of elements not available in sufficient quantity in 

 the pure state to enable them to be studied directly. The 

 relations previously established between the secondary 

 radiation and the atomic weight are found to hold for all 

 the additional elements thus investigated. — Electromagnetic 

 mass : Prof. A. W. Conway. The electromagnetic inertia 

 of an invariable system of electric charges is considered. 

 A quadric is obtained such that if the force has the direc- 

 tion of the radius vector, the " mass " in that direction 

 is as the inverse square of the length, and the direction 

 of the acceleration is the perpendicular on the tangent 

 plane. The mean mass of any such system is 4/3 C -2 , the 

 work necessary to assemble it from a state of infinite 

 diffusion. — Note on the sublimation of sulphur at ordinary 

 temperatures : R. J. Moss. Twenty-five years ago some 

 fragments of ordinary stick sulphur were enclosed in a 

 glass tube, which was then exhausted by a Sprengel pump 

 and sealed. After the lapse of twenty years indications of 

 the formation of a crystalline sublimate became apparent ; 

 during the past five years the crystals have increased in 

 number and in size to a marked extent ; some of them are 

 now 02 mm. in length, and the sublimate is deposited on 

 one side of the tube throughout its whole length. The 

 crystals are apparently rhombic, and are much more 

 complex than those deposited from sulphur solutions. 



Edinburgh. 

 Royal Society, February 5. — Prof. Crum Brown, vice- 

 president, in the chair. — The relation between normal 

 " take-up " (or contraction) and degree of twist in twisted 

 threads : T. Oliver. The paper was chiefly devoted to 

 the properties of two-ply twisted yarns. The effect of 

 twisting together two already twisted single threads was 

 studied theoretically, and special attention was directed 

 to the lengthening in the early stages of the second twist- 

 ing due to the opening out of the single threads as the 

 second twist was applied in the opposite direction to that 

 of the first twists. Formula; were deduced connecting the 

 change of length with the amount of twist, and these were 

 then compared with the results of experiment. The com- 

 parison was satisfactory, the discrepancies being such as 

 might naturally be expected when due consideration was 

 given to the necessarily imperfect nature of the assump- 

 tions on which the theoretical calculations were made. 

 For example, the beginning of the contraction in the 

 second twisting, when experimentally tested, occurred at 

 a later stage than was indicated by the theoretical formula, 

 a discrepancy which could be explained by the extremely 

 probable supposition that the yarn had acquired a " set " 

 in one direction during the first twisting. — Some experi- 

 mental results in connection with the hydrodynamical 

 theory of seiches : P. White and W. Watson. These 

 experiments were undertaken at the suggestion of Prof. 

 Chrystal, and the results obtained gave striking confirm- 

 ation of several of his theoretical conclusions. The seiches 

 were generated in a rectangular trough 5 feet long and 

 4.5 inches wide. Various bottom contours were obtained 

 by means of blocks of wood cut to the desired form, such 

 as parabola, concave or convex, semi-parabola, symmetrical 

 rectilinear slope, and the quartic form which Prof. Chrystal 

 had found to lead to a simple solution. The seiches were 

 started by the to-and-fro motion of a strip of wire gauze 

 placed at the position of a node of the required seiche, and 

 kept in proper periodic motion by means of an attached 

 heavy pendulum the length of which could be adjusted. 



By this method seiches of nodalites as high as the fourth, 

 fifth, and even seventh, had in certain cases been obtained. 

 The periods of these were easily determined, but the posi- 

 tions of the nodes and ventral segments could not be 

 determined with the same accuracy. Within the errors 

 of observation, the agreement with theorj w.as generally 

 very close. It was found that with the convex parabolic 

 bottom the seiches were not so persistent as in the case 

 of the concave bottom, but that the trinodal was more 

 persistent than the uninodal. With the quartic contour of 

 bottom the seiches were remarkably persistent up to that 

 of the fourth nodality. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 5. — M. H. Toincare in 

 the chair. — On the existence of insoluble potassium com- 

 pounds in the trunk and bark of the oak : M. Berthelot. 

 — On the rotatory powers of hexahydrobenzylidene and 

 oenanthylidenecamphors and their corresponding saturated 

 derivatives, compared with the rotatory powers of benzyl- 

 idene and benzylcamphors : A. Haller and F. March. 

 These compounds were chosen for comparison since they 

 contain the same number of carbon atoms, the substituting 

 groups, benzylidene, hexahydrobenzylidene, and cenanthyl- 

 idene, containing gradually increasing numbers of hydrogen 

 atoms. Details are given of the methods of preparation 

 of the various compounds, and of their physical properties. 

 The conclusion is drawn that in benzylidenecamphor and 

 its analogues, as in the benzylcamphors, it is the un- 

 saturated character of the benzene ring which exerts its 

 action on the elevation of the rotatory power of the 

 asymmetric molecule to which it is attached. — Contribution 

 to the chemical study of sea-water : Th. Schloesing. A 

 discussion of the results of chemical analyses of samples 

 of sea-water taken at various points in the Mediterranean. 

 The water of the Mediterranean differs from that of the 

 Atlantic only by its degree of salinity, the mineral con- 

 stituents of the two oceans being nearly identical. — Quasi- 

 waves of shock, and the distribution of temperature in 

 these quasi-waves : P. Duhem. — The provisional elements 

 of the comet 1906a : E. Maubant. The calculations are 

 based on observations made on January 29, 30, and 31. — 

 Observations made on the sun at the Observatory of Lyons 

 with the 16 cm. Brunner equatorial during the third 

 quarter of 1905 : J. Guillaume. The results of observ- 

 ations on forty-four days are summarised in three tables 

 giving details of the spots, their distribution in latitude, 

 and the distribution of the facula; in latitude. — A problem 

 in the calculus of variations : Erik Holmgren. — The 

 general solution of the problem of equilibrium in the theory 

 of elasticity, in the case where the displacements of the 

 points of the surface are given : A. Korn. — Some results 

 of the triangulation of the Pelvoux-Ecrins massif : Paul 

 Helbronner. The present paper deals with the rectifi- 

 cation of the heights of some of the important peaks. — 

 The condensation of the acetylenic nitriles with alcohols. 

 A general method of synthesis of ^-substituted /3-oxyalkyl 

 acrylic nitriles : Ch. Moureu and I. Lazennec. The 

 nitrile R — C = C — CN is treated with alcoholic potash ; the 

 product is poured on to ice, extracted with ether, and 

 submitted to distillation in a vacuum. The compound 

 R— C(OC„H 3 )=CH— CN is thus obtained. In the case of 

 the aromatic compounds, this substance is easily hydro- 

 lysed by heating with dilute sulphuric acid, furnishing 

 the ketone R — CO — CH 2 — CN ; with fatty compounds the 

 hydrolysis is more difficult, and generally results in further 

 changes. — Attempts at reduction in the diphenylamine 

 series : H. Duval. A study of the effects of stannous 

 chloride and zinc dust in alkaline solutions on azo-diamino- 

 diphenylmethane. — Cyclohexylacetone : P. Freundler. The 

 only method, out of several tried, which has given the 

 desired ketone is the condensation of the iodide of hexa- 

 hydro-benzyl-magnesium with acetaldehyde. The secondary 

 alcohol thus obtained is oxidised to the ketone with chromic 

 acid mixture. The yields are not good. — The absorption 

 of alkaline carbonates by the mineral constituents of the 

 soil: J. Dumont. — Observations on the preceding note: 

 L. Maquenne. — The passage through the spinal ganglions 

 of bundles arising from the motor roots and leading to the 

 dorsal nerves in the Batrachians : P. Wintrebert. — The 

 action of hordenine sulphate on soluble ferments and on 

 micro-organisms : L. Camus. The sulphate of hordenine 



NO. 1894, VOL. 73] 



