576 



NA TURE 



[April 12, 1906 



calculated that hydration lumraenced at ionisations 

 hi ol [03, 1157. "''7 s . and 0-694. — T' le form- 

 ation "1 certain lakes in the Highlands: Dr. L. W. Collet 

 and lii I.N. Johnston; with a note on two small lakes 

 in the Alps. The papei and the appended note dealt with 

 ili< characters ol certain lakes in relation to their origin 

 .1- roi k basins or barrier basins. — The methods of standard- 

 ising preparations of the suprarenals : Dr. Isabella 

 Cameron. 



M.n 'li 5. — Prof. Crum Brown, vice-president, in the 

 chaii I le igneous geology of the Bathgate and Linlith- 

 gow Hills, pari ii ., petrography: Dr. J. D. Falconer. 



In tl ntinuation of a former paper the petrography of 



the igneous rocks was discussed under three heads: — ■ 

 (il the lavas; (2) the contemporaneous intrusions; (3) the 

 later inirn ion . 1 hiefly in the form of dykes and sills, and 

 probablj of late Carboniferous age. — Three papers dealing 

 with somi '.I the zoological results of the Scottish National 

 Antarctic Expedition were communicated, namely, the 

 South Orkney Collembola : Prof. G. G. Carpenter; the 

 Tin bell. uia collected by the expedition: Drs. J. F. 

 Gemmill and R. T. Leiper ; and the Echinorhynchus 

 antarcticus : Dr. J. Rennie. The last paper was an 

 account ol a new species of parasitic worm obtained from 

 the stomach of a Weddell whale. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, April 2. — M. 11. Poincare in the 

 chair. — Photography of the solar protuberances with 

 coloured screens during the eclipse of August 30, 1905: 

 II. Deslandres and G. Blum. The object of the work 

 wa i" use coloured screens in order to cut off, as far as 

 possible, all the permanent gaseous radiations of the pro- 

 tuberances, three screens were used, a green screen trans- 

 parent hum A 505 to A 580, a lighter green screen trans- 

 itu .m hum A 500 to A 580, and a yellow screen 

 transparent for the red, orange, and yellow. Owing to 

 the presence ul sunn; clouds the scheme could not be 

 carried out completely, but the general results were satis- 

 factory, anil the authors recommend the method for use 

 in future eclipses. — The action of the radium emanation on 

 chromogenic bacteria : Ch. Bouchard and M. Balthazard. 

 Nun in two groups of chromogenic bacteria; in the first 

 the colouring matter produced remains adhering to the 

 bacterium, in the second the colouring matter becomes 

 diffused throughout the culture medium. The radium 

 emanation is nut capable of modifying the chromogenir 

 power of tin- first group, but exerts a distinct effect on the 

 second group. A detailed study was made of the pyoi yanii 

 bacillus, and it was found that, amongst the various bio- 

 logical properties ul this organism, the power of secreting 

 pigments was the one most sensible to the action of the 

 radium emanation. The virulence of the organism was 

 also clearly reduced; much larger doses of the emanation 

 were necessary to affect the reproductive power of the 

 I he heart of King Rameses II. (Sesostris) : 

 M. Lortet. The microscopic characters of the muscle 

 peculiar tu the cardiac muscle of the heart were clearly 

 made out. —A new arrangement of the spectroheliograph : 

 (■• Millochau and M. Stefanik. the spectroheliographs 

 at present in use have the disadvantage of registering on 

 the photographic plate all the vibrations produced by the 

 various rolling and rubbing parts used in the construction. 

 In the instrument described an attempt has been made to 

 reduce these effects. — Remark on the preceding note: J. 

 Janssen. — The analytical reduction of any system of 

 funis in E„ : P. H. Schoute. — Hypertranscendental 

 .in 1 1 • Edmond Maillet. — The most probable numerical 

 value of the ratio e/ju of the charge to the mass of the 

 electron in the kathode rays: C. E. Guye. A correction 

 is introduced into the usual formula for deducing the ratio 

 the 1 iii 1 to the mass of the electron, the effect of which 

 is to reduce the difference between the experimental values 

 of Simon and Kaufmann. This result is favourable to the 

 hypothesis ol the identity of the electrons which constitute 

 the kathode rays anil the 13 rays of radium. — The influence 

 ul compressibility on the Formation of drops: H. Ollivier. 

 It is shown thai the formation of small liquid drops is 

 largely influenced by the elasticity of the walls and by the 

 compressibility of the liquid; the experimental measure- 

 ments can be applied to measure the latter. — The halogen 



NO. I902, VOL. 73] 



combinations of thallium : V. Thomas. A thermochemical 

 p ipei I be action of sum. alkaloids with respect to pollen 

 tubes: Henri Coupin. Most alkaloids have a very toxic 

 action on pollen tube-. Certain alkaloids, which for a 

 given dose are toxic to the tubes, at a greater dilution 

 may ai tually serve as food. — The action of carbonic acid 

 on the latent life of some dried seeds : Paul Bocqucrol. 

 A contribution to the physiology of grafting : G. Riviere 

 and ti. Bailhache. Sum,' larval forms from the collec- 

 tions of the Prince of Monaco : H. Coutiere. — The 

 isopods of the French Antarctic Expedition : Mile. Harriet 

 Richardson. — The influence of [ceding on the value of the 

 urological coefficients and on the mean weight of the 

 molecule elaborated : A. Desgrez and J. Ayrigrnac. The 

 experiments were made on twenty-five healthy subjects, and 

 (In effects of varying diet studied. The diets included milk 

 alone ; milk, eggs, and vegetables ; milk and vegetables ; 

 mixed diet, with a little meat; mixed diet, with much 

 mill ; and an absolutely vegetarian diet. The results are 

 given in tabular form. — Demonstration of the fibrinogenic 

 function of the liver: MM. Doyon, Claude Gautier, and 

 Albert Morel. — The origin and mode of formation of Oolitic 

 iron minerals : Stanislas Mounter. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



WEDNESDAY, ArRlL 18. 

 3VAL Meteorological Society, at 7.30.— Some so-called Vagaries or 

 Lightning reproduced Experimentally: A. Hands. — Nete on the Value 

 of a Projected Image of the Sun for Meteorological Study : Catherine O. 



Ste 

 tovAL Mn 

 Plant Stri 



Lantern Slides of 



CONTENTS. page 



The Physiological Effect of Life in the Alps. By 



F- G 553 



A Comprehensive Dynamics for Physicists. By 



G. H. B 555 



A Naturalist's Philosophy 556 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Tompkins : " Heat and Steam (Elementary). An Intro- 

 ductory Supplement to a Text-book of Marine 

 Engineering for the Use of Naval Officers, &c." . 557 

 " Atlas of Japanese Vegetation " — Dr. Augustine 



Henr y 557 



Hardy: "The Integration 01 Functions of a Single 



Variable" 55S 



Richmond : " The Laboratory Book of Dairy 



Analysis" 55S 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Chemistry in Rural Schools. — Prof. R. Meldola, 



F.R.S 55S 



Carnivorous Habits of the New Zealand Kea Parrot. — 



Prof. W. B. Benham 559 



A New Product of Actinium. — Dr. O. Hahn . . . 559 

 The April Meteors.— W. F. Denning; John R. 



Henry 560 



Sea-sickness and Equilibration of the Eyes. — Dr. 



John Aitken, F.R.S 560 



Notes on Some Cornish Circles. II. {Illustrated.) 



By Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S 561 



Irrigation in the Transvaal 563 



The Forthcoming Meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion at York 564 



The Eruption of Vesuvius 565 



Notes 566 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Comet 1906c - 569 



Measurements of Linne during the Total Eclipse of the 



Moon 569 



The Temperature of the Sun 569 



The Melbourne Observatory 569 



Mounting the 60-inch Reflector at Harvard .... 569 

 Bird-Life at the South Orkney Islands. (Illustrated.) 



By Win. Eagle Clarke 570 



Institution of Naval Architects 571 



Physical and Chemical Characters of Huff. By 



T. E. T 572 



University and Educational Intelligence 573 



Societies and Academies 574 



Diary of Societies 576 



