n8 



NA TURE 



\_May 29, 1884 



Biology. The generous gift by an anonymous donor of 500/. 

 towards new apparatus has been a great boon. A gas-engine 

 and many valuable pieces of apparatus have been added. 



Prof. Macalister states that the number of students dissecting 

 has been nearly one hundred, and a still larger number attended 

 the lectures on Human Anatomy. Many important specimens 

 have been presented to the Museum of Human Anatomy by 

 Prof. Macalister. 



The Philosophical Library is increasingly used, and many 

 valuable donations of books have been received by Mr. J. W. 

 Clark, Prof. Humphry, Prof. Babington, Mr. D. McAlister, and 

 Mr. Pitman of Bath. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



American Journal of Science, May 1S84. — Remarks on Prof. 

 Newcomb's "Rejoinder," in connection with his review of 

 "Climate and Time," by Dr. James Croll. — Communications 

 from the United States Geological Survey, Rocky Mountain 

 Division, VI. — On an interesting variety of Lollingite and other 

 minerals (one illustration), by W. F. Hillebrand. Amongst the 

 ores analysed by the author there is one from the Missouri Mine, 

 Park County, Colorado, which he thinks may probably be a new 

 mineral. It is composed largely of a sulphobismuthitc of copper 

 and silver, and occurs in a quartz gangue associated with chalco- 

 pyrite and wolframite. — Notes on American earthquakes, with 

 tabulated record of seismic disturbances in every part of the 

 continent during the year 1S83, by Prof. C. G. Rockwood. — 

 Thermometer exposure, by H. A. Hazen. The paper is chiefly 

 occupied with questions relating to the locality in large regions 

 where the thermometer should be exposed in order to obtain 

 the most trustworthy results, and to the immediate environment 

 of the thermometer best calculated to fulfil the same requirement. 

 There are several comparative tables of results obtained with 

 various instruments under varying conditions of time, aspect, 

 and altitude. — Hillocks of angular gravel and disturbed stratifi- 

 cation associated with glacial phenomena (four illustrations), by 

 T. C. Chamberlain. The paper deals especially with the kames 

 or eskers analogous to the osars of Sweden, occurring in various 

 parts of New Hampshire. Massachusetts, New York, and 

 Wisconsin. The author infers from their inherent characteristics 

 and their association with morainic belts, that the gravel hills in 

 question were formed, not by beach action, but by numerous mar- 

 ginal streams along the edge of the great ice sheet during the Glacial 

 period. — Extinct glaciers of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, 

 byR. C. Hills. — On thegenderofnames of varieties andsubspecies 

 in botanical nomenclature, by Asa Gray. — On secondary enlarge- 

 ments of feldspar fragments in certain Keweenawan sandstones 

 (four illustrations), by C. A. Vanhise. — Principal characters of 

 American cretaceous Pterodactyls, part i., the skull of Ptera- 

 nodon (with plate), by Prof. O. C. Marsh. The skull of these 

 Pterodactyls from the Middle Chalk, West Kansas, is described 

 as differing from that of other known Pterosauria in the absence 

 of teeth and of anterior nasal apertures distinct from the ant- 

 orbital openings ; in the presence of the elongated occipital 

 crest ; lastly, in the whole jaws, which appear to have been 

 covered with a horny sheath, as in recent birds. All belong to 

 the genus Pteranodon, some of the species of which were of 

 prodigious size, with a spread of wings of about twenty-five 

 feet. Remains of over six hundred individuals are now in the 

 museum of Vale College. 



Journal of the Russian Chemical and Physical Society, vol. 

 xvi., fasc. 2. — On the action of the bromide of aluminium on 

 ethylene and on the bromides of saturated hydrocarbons, by M. 

 Gustavson. — On the specific heat of solutions, and on the thermal 

 effects at their formation, by W. Alexeyeff. Submitting to a 

 closer investigation those solutions which are accompanied by a 

 lowering of temperature, the author comes to the conclusion that 

 such is the case for those liquids which have not a chemical 

 affinity, and that those are true solutions ; while in those cases 

 where a rise of temperature is noticed, the dissolved liquid 

 enters into chemical combination with the dissolving one. He 

 makes a series of very interesting experiments in order to deter- 

 mine the thermal effects of various solutions. — On the rela- 

 tions between the chemical composition and the refractive 

 power of chemical compounds, by J. Kanonnikoff (second 

 paper). — On the structure of nitro-compounds of the saturated 

 series, by J. Kissel. — On the composition of the mineral waters 

 of Caucasus, by J. Barsilovsky. — On the structure of the blue 



indigo, by P. Alexeyeff. — On the action of alkalies on chondrine, 

 by M. Schwarz. — On the azocuminic acid, by P. Alexeyeff (first 

 paper). — On chemical affinity, by A. Bazaroff. — Analysis of the 

 epidermis attacked by the Prosyarsis rubra, by K. Wagner. — On 

 the preparation of pure albumin, and on the determination of 

 chlorine in urine, by W. Mikhailoff. — On the structure of the 

 atmosphere and on the general laws of the theory of gases, by 

 E. Rogovsky. The strong mathematical inquiry of the author 

 brings him to the following conclusions : — However the atmo- 

 sphere has no limits, but at a height of 1000 km. the density of 

 air is very near to zero ; its constitution varies with the height, 

 the content of oxygen decreasing as the height increases ; this 

 change is very slow for heights less than 10,000 m., still it might 

 be ascertained by accurate measurements ; for heights less than 

 10,000 m. the density of air can be calculated as if it were a 

 simple gas ; the decrease of density with the height goes on 

 slower when the temperature at the surface of the earth is 

 higher. The paper has to be continued. — On the theory of 

 measurements, by N. Sloughinoff. — On galvanic batteries, by P. 

 Novikoff. 



Rivista Scicntifico-Industriale, March 31 and April 15. — 

 Electric currents through contact with earth, by Prof. A. Volta. 

 — Experiments with electrified paper, by D. Surdi. — Variations 

 in the electric resistance of solid and pure metallic wires, with 

 variations of temperature, by Prof. Angelo Emo. — On the 

 Gauthier and Walrand methods of distinguishing steel from iron, 

 by the editor. — Note on two hybrids of Anas base has and Daiila 

 acuta, by Dante Roster. 



Rendiconti del R. Istititto Lombardo, April 3 and 17. — Pro- 

 gramme of prize essays in various departments of Science, Art, 

 and Letters proposed for the years 1884-91. — The Castle of 

 Milan, its historic and artistic associations, by Prof. Giuseppe 

 Mongeri. — On some unpublished fragments of Anatolius's Greek 

 version of the " Codex Justinianus," by Dr. C. Ferrini. — Note 

 on Virgil and his Italian imitator, Parini, by Prof. Cr. Fabris. — 

 On Antonio Angeloni Barbiani and his literary productions, by 

 E. B. Prina. — Analysis of the mineral waters of Acquarossa, 

 Canton of Ticino, by Prof. G. Bertoni. — Malformations in the 

 urinary ducts in Blight's disease, by Prof. C. Golgi. — Meteoro- 

 logical observations made at the Brera Observatory, Milan, 

 during the month of March. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society, May 1. — "Report to the Solar Physics 

 Committee on a Comparison between Apparent Inequalities of 

 Short Period in Sun-spot Areas and in Diurnal Temperature 

 Ranges at Toronto and at Kew." By Balfour Stewart, M.A., 

 LL.D., F.R.S., and William Lant Carpenter, B.A., B.Sc. 

 Communicated to the Royal Society at the request of the Solar 

 Physics Committee. 



It has been known for some time that there is a close connec- 

 tion between the inequalities in the state of the sun's surface 

 as denoted by sun-spot areas and those in terrestrial magnetism 

 as denoted by the diurnal ranges of oscillation of the declination 

 magnet ; and moreover the observations of various meteorologists 

 have induced us to suspect that there may likewise be a connec- 

 tion between solar inequalities and those in terrestrial meteoro- 



lo ey- . . 



This latter connection, however (assuming it to exist), is not 

 so well established as the former, at least if we compare to- 

 gether inequalities of long period. It has been attempted to 

 explain this by imagining that for long periods the state of the 

 atmosphere as regards absorption may change in such a manner 

 as to cloak or diminish the effects of solar variation by increasing 

 absorption when the sun is strongest, and diminishing absorption 

 when the sun is weakest. 



On this account it seemed desirable to the authors to make 

 a comparison of this kind between short-period inequalities, 

 since for these the length of period could not so easily be 

 deemed sufficient to produce a great alteration of the above 

 nature in the state of the atmosphere. 



The meteorological element selected for comparison with sun- 

 spots was the diurnal range of atmospheric temperature, an 

 element which presents in its variations a very strong analogy to 

 diurnal declination-ranges. 



There are two ways in which a comparison may be made 

 between solar and terrestrial inequalities. We may take each 



