7o 



NA TURE 



[May i 5) 1 1 



for the Bordin Prize, awarded for the best solution of the follow- 

 ing question proposed in 1879 by the Academy : — " Explain .by 

 direction observation and experiment the influence exercised ; by 

 the environment on the structure of the root, stem, and leaves 

 of vegetable organisms. Study the modifications undergone in 

 water by land plants and those experienced by aquatic plants 

 compelled to live in the air. Explain by direct experiments the 

 special forms of some species of marine flora." 



In Agriculture the Morogues Prize was gained by M. Duclaux 

 for his great work on " Biological Chemistry," forming part of 

 the " Chemical Encyclopaedia" published under the direction of 

 M. Fremy. 



In Anatomy and Zoology the Grand Prize granted by the 

 Minister of Finance for the best memoir on the "Histological 

 Development of Insects during their Metamorphoses, " as proposed 

 l>y the Academy, was assigned to the young naturalist, Dr. 

 II. Viallanes, for his " Researches on the Histology of Insects, and 

 ' in the Histological Phenomena accompanying the post-embryonic 

 Development of these Animals." In the same department the 

 Bordin Prize was awarded to M. ( Irand'Eury, who, in two memoirs 

 entitled " Carboniferous Flora of the Department of the Loire 

 and Central France," and "On the Formation of Coal," deals 

 satisfactorily with the " Botanical or Zoological Palaeontology of 

 France or Algeria," as proposed by the Academy to competitors 

 for this prize. 



Subjoined are some of the most important prizes proposed for 

 18S4 and following years : — 



1884 



Bordin : General Study of Monge's Problem of Earth- 

 works. 



FRANCCEUR : Works or discoveries useful to the progress of 

 the pure and applied mathematical sciences. 



The Extraordinary Prize of 6000 Francs: Studies 

 tending to increase the efficiency of the French Naval forces. 



Poncelet : Awarded to the author of the most useful work 

 in advancing the pure or applied mathematical sciences. 



Plumev : For improvements in steam-engines or any other 

 iuvention contributing most to the progress of steam navigation. 



Grand Prize of the Mathematical Sciences : For any 

 important advance in the theory of the application of electricity 

 to the transmission of force. 



VAILLANT : Fresh researches on fossils made in any region 

 which for the last quarter of a century has been little explored 

 from the palaeontological standpoint. 



Desmazieres : For the most useful work'on the cryptogamous 

 plants. 



Grand Prize of the Physical Sciences : On the mode of 

 distribution of marine animals along the French seaboard. 

 1885 



DELMONT : To engineers, for the best work connected with 

 the Department of Public Works (Roads and Bridges). 



Fourneyron : Theoretical and practical study on hydraulic 

 accumulators and their applications. 



5EAU : Review of the theory of Jupiter's satellites. 



Grand Prize of the Mathematical Sciences : Study of 

 the elasticity of one or several crystallised bodies from the experi- 

 mental and theoretical standpoints. 



Bordin : Researches on the origin of atmospheric electricity, 

 and on the causes of the great development of electric pheno- 

 mena in thunderstorms. 



L. Lacaze : For the best treatise on physics, chemistry, and 

 physiology. 



Delesse: For a work on geological sciences, or, failing this, 

 on mineralogical sciences. 



GNE : For important works on the anatomy, physio- 

 development, or description of the lower cryptogamous 

 plants. 



1. Prize of the Physical Sciences: Study of the 

 intimate structure of the tactile organs in one of the chief natural 

 groups of Invertebrates. 



: Comparative study of the freshwater fauna of 

 Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. 



Measure of the intensity of weight by the pendulum. 



Cuvier : For the most important treatise either on the animal 

 kingdom or on ge 



Petit d'Ormoy : Pure or applied mathematical sciences and 

 the natural sciences. 



1SS6 



De la Fons Melicocq : For the best treatise on the flora of 

 North France. 



CHAUSSIER : For important works on legal and practical 

 medicine. 



1S93 

 Morogues : For the most useful work in stimulating the 

 progress of agriculture in France. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society. April 24.— "On the Relation between the 

 Electrical Qualities and the Chemical Composition of Glass and 

 Allied Substances." Parti. By Thomas Gray, B.Sc, F.R.S.E., 

 and Andrew Gray, M.A., F.R.S.E., Assistant to the Professor 

 of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, and J. T. 

 Dobbie, M.A., D.Sc. (Edin.), Assistant to the Professor of 

 Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. Communicate. I by 

 Prof. Sir William Thomson, F.R.S. 



This paper describes some further experiments as to the rela- 

 tion between the chemical composition of glass and its quality 

 ol resistance to electrical conduction through its substance. 



The experiments were made on specimens of flinl 

 different densities, made by different makers, and varying con- 

 siderably in chemical composition. The method of experiment- 

 ing was that described in Mr. T. Cray's paper on the same sub- 

 ject (Pi or. A'. S., Nee 222. 18S2). Each of the specimens, 

 which were in the form of globular flasks of nearly three inches 

 in diameter, was filled up to the bottom of the neck with 

 mercury, and immersed to the same level in mercury contained 

 in an outer vessel. A wire dipping in the mercury within the 

 flask was connected, without touching the table or any of the 

 supports, to one terminal of a sensitive galvanometer of high re- 

 sistance, and the circuit completed, through a battery of about 

 120 Daniell's cells, from the other terminal to the mercury in the 

 outer vessel. (The galvanometer was well insulated, and was 

 the high resistance astatic instrument described in Proc. R. S., 

 February 14, 1884.) The outer vessel, containing the flask, was 

 immersed in a sand-bath which was heated by a Bunscn burner 

 to temperatures above 100° C, and readings of the galvano- 

 meter taken at different temperatures, with precautions to insure 

 that there was no error due to leakage. By means of a suitable 

 reversing key in the circuit, the direction of the electrification, 

 which lasted in each case about three minutes, was reversed 

 between each pair of readings. From the observed deflections, 

 and the constants of the galvanometer and battery, which were 

 frequently determined, the resistance of the flask at each tem- 

 perature could be calculated. 



The results of the electrical experiments and of complete 

 analyses of the specimens of glass are detailed in the paper, and 

 show that the specific resistance of glass of the kinds experi- 

 mented on increases with the percentage of lead contained in 

 the glass and also with the density ; and that further, as had 

 been previously found by different experimenters, the resistance 

 diminishes as the percentage of alkali present in the glass in- 

 creases. The best specimen experimented on contained over 40 

 pel 1 ent. of oxide of lead, and had a density of 3'i4i. and a 

 specific resistance at 130° C. of 8400 X to 10 ohms between two 

 opposite faces of a centimetre cube. From this result, as it has 

 been found by these and former experiments that the resistance 

 is halved, over a considerable range of temperature, by an in- 

 crease of temperature of about 8J° C, the approximate resistance 

 of the glass at other temperatures may be found. 



The paper concludes with a short statement of further work 

 which the authors have in hand with respect to the electrical 

 qualities of glass and minerals. 



Linnean Society, May 1. — Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Messrs. Wm. Dennison-Roebuck 

 and F. Newton-Williams were elected Ordinary Fellows, and 

 Profs. F. Haeckel of Jena, A. Kowalevsky of Odessa, and 

 S. Schwendener of Berlin, Foreign Members of the Society. 

 — Mr. S. O. Ridley exhibited and made remarks on a series of 

 drawings of sponges (and their spicuke) and of Actinia; drawn 

 from the living objects, as obtained in Ceylon and forwarded by 

 Dr. W. C. Ondaatje, F.L.S.— Prof. Jeffreys Bell also drew 

 attention to sketches of living Ceylonese Comatulids sent by 

 Dr. Ondaatje as an earnest of progress in researches on the 

 marine fauna of that coast. — Mr. T. Christy showed the leaf 

 of a China grass rich in fibre useful for textile purposes. — Mr. 

 R. Bowdler Sharpe read a paper on a collection of birds from 



