118 
NATO 
[JUNE 1, 1899 
More than one hundred pages of the journal are devoted to this 
subject ; and the elaborate genealogical tree given on p. 464 
supplies in concise form the general results of the authors’ investi- 
gations. The other articles include one on the Infusoria found 
in the stomachs of domestic Ruminants, by A. Giinther ; one on 
ihe urinogenital system of certain Chelonians, by F. von 
Miiller ; a third, by J. Meisenheimer, on the morphology of the 
kidneys of the Pulmonate Mollusca; and a fourth, by G. 
Forssell, on the Lorenzinian ampullz in the Spiny Dogfish. 
After describing in detail the histology of these head-organs, the 
author considers that further experiments must be made before 
their precise function can be fully determined. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LONDON. 
Physical Society, May 26.—Mr. T. H. Blakesley, Vice- 
President, in the chair.—A paper, by Prof. S. Young and Mr. 
Kose-Innes, on the thermal properties of normal pentane 
(Part 2), was read by Mr. Rose-Innes. In the first paper on 
this subject, read before the Physical Society last December, 
it was shown that the relations existing between the volume 
temperature and pressure of normal pentane could be closely 
represented by the equation 
RT f e \ Z 
Seedy ah eas — re 
v \ vth— gs wu + &) 
This formula was first used in connection with isopentane, and 
it has been shown that the values of R and Z/e are the same for 
the two isomers. The authors find that if 7 and e be taken 
separately equal to each other, and if the constants 4 and ¢ be 
calculated from experiments on normal pentane, errors of 2 per 
cent. occur between the calculated and experimental results. 
This point has been investigated both algebraically and graph- 
ically, and the supposition that these constants are separately 
equal has been thought incorrect. Taking the values of R, 
i/e, and gas being the same in the two pentanes, the constants 
¢and & have been determined, and by this means the relations 
letween volume temperature and pressure have been represented 
ly the formula to within 1 percent. The authors conclude 
that the difference in pressure of two isomeric substances at a 
given volume and temperature is of the same order as the devi- 
ation from Boyle’s law, and involves the second power of the 
density. Mr. Rose-Innes said the formula proposed was not 
an absolute solution of the problem, although it was the best 
of a large number which had been tried. It has been applied 
with success to Andrews’ experiments on carbonic acid, and 
to experiments which have been made upon ether and hexane. 
In the latter case, the range in volume was too small to afford 
a rigorous test of the value of the formula. The range in 
volume in isopentane was from 4000 to 3°4 ; in normal pentane, 
from 300 to 3°43 and in ether, from 350 to 3°4. The tem- 
perature varied in different experiments from 40° C. to 280° C. 
Objections have been raised to the formula on account of the 
number of constants it contains and its complexity. Mr. Rose- 
Innes pointed out that it was necessary to have a complex 
formula, as they were not dealing with a simple problem, but 
with the results of experiments which went so far below the 
critical temperature that the volume occupied was only 34 times 
as great as the space which would have been occupied by the 
molecules at their closest packing. The reader of the paper 
compared the proposed formula with formule of Clausius, 
Sutherland, and Tait containing four, four, and six constants re- 
~pectively, and finally with the original equation of Van der 
Waals applied to experimental results by Amagat. It was 
shown that the agreement was much closer and the range 
greater. Prof. Callendar expressed his interest in the wide ap- 
plicability of the authors’ formula, and asked if any theoretical 
significance could be assigned to the various constants which 
appeared. Mr. Rose-Innes said the R of their formula was the 
K of the perfect gas equation, and that the / and e corresponded 
respectively to the 8 and a of the ordinary Van der Waals ex- 
pression. So far as he knew, the £ and ¢ were meaningless. — 
A paper on the distribution of magnetic induction in a long iron 
bar, by Mr. C, G. Lamb, was postponed until the next meeting. 
Chemical Society, May 18.—Prof. Thorpe, President, in the 
chair.—The following papers were read :— Corydaline (Part vi.), 
by J. J. Dobbie and A. Lauder. Corydaldine, C, H;,NO(OMe)s, 
NO. 1544, VOL. 60] 
an oxidation product of corydaline, is shown to be closely re- 
lated to oxyhydrastinine ; the so-called corydalinic acid is an 
acid ammonium hemipinate.—Oxidation of furfural by hydrogen 
peroxide, by C. F. Cross, E. J. Bevan and T. Heiberg. Fur- 
fural is oxidised by hydrogen peroxide in presence of iron salts 
to a hydroxyfurfural and the corresponding hydroxypyromucic 
acid ; the hydroxyfurfural reacts with phloroglucinol and resor- 
cinol in a similar way to the lignocelluloses. It is shown thus 
that a furfuralphenol is a constituent of the lignocelluloses.— 
Note on the reactions between sulphuric acid and the elements, 
by RK. H. Adie.—On the action of ethylene dibromide and of 
trimethylene dibromide on the sodium derivative of ethylic 
cyanacetate, by H. C. H. Carpenter and W. H. Perkin, jun. 
Improved methods for preparing tri- and tetra-methylene deri- 
vatives are given. Ethylic trimethylenecyanocarboxylate (1,1), 
is prepared by the action of ethylene bromide on ethylic sodio- 
cyanoacetate, and ethylic tetramethylenecyanocarboxylate (1,1), 
is obtained by the action of trimethylene bromide on ethylic 
sodiocyanoacetate ; the salts are hydrolysed by cold alcoholic 
potash with formation of the corresponding acids.—The maxi- 
mum vapour pressure of camphor, by R. W. Allen. Experi- 
mental values for the maximum pressures of camphor vapour 
at o-8o° are given. 
Linnean Society, May 4.—Mr. A. D. Michael, Vice- 
President, in the chair —Mr, I. H. Burkill exhibited speci- 
mens of a daisy (Belles perennis), found at Kew, in which 
the ray of the outer florets was so nearly absent that these 
consisted of scarcely more than ovary, naked style, and 
stigma.—Mr. F. G. Parsons read a paper on the position of 
Anomalurus as indicated by its myology. The paper contained 
an account of the muscles of Anomalurus, and a comparison 
of them with those of the different suborders of rodents, From 
previous examination of the muscles of rodents, the author 
arrived at the conclusion that Azomalurus should be placed 
among the Sciuromorpha, but that it had certain Myomor- 
phine tendencies. He contrasted its muscles with those of Pedetes 
caffer, but found little reason to regard these two animals as 
nearly related. —Mr. George Murray, F.R.S., on behalf of Miss 
Ethel S. Barton, communicated a paper on Votheza anoma/a, an 
obscure species of parasitic Alga, and described its mode of 
growth and reproduction, some remarks being made by Mr. W. 
Carruthers, F.R.S.—A paper by Mr. George West on variation 
in Desmids was read. The Desmidieze was shown to be morpho- 
logically specialised and to exhibit a marked pattern and 
symmetry of form, major and minor symmetries being recognis- 
able in many species. Variations in form and symmetry were 
specially dealt with, and a summary given of all that is known 
concerning the variation in the cell-contents and in the conju- 
gation of these plants. Observations were also made on the 
variability of the pyrenoids and moving corpuscles in the genus 
Clostertum. 
Geological Society, May 1o.—W. Whitaker, F.R.S., 
President, in the chair.—The geology of the Davos district, by 
A. Vaughan Jennings. Alpine geology has attracted many 
workers since the date of Prof. Theobald’s classic memoir on 
the district of which Davos forms part, and new principles of 
interpretation have been established. The author has more 
especially studied (a) the age of certain rocks formerly classed 
as ‘‘ Biindner Schiefer,” but distinct from the grey shales 
variously regarded as of Jurassic or Tertiary age ; (4) the origin 
and date of the serpentine near the Davoser See ; and (c) the 
tectonic structure of the district. The author discusses at length 
the physical structure of the district. The general trend of the 
Davos Valley is rather oblique to that of the greater rock- 
masses, which, however, is somewhat irregular. He shows 
that these (which have a general dip towards the south and 
east) form three great acute and rudely parallel over-folds, the 
westernmost being theemost complicated ; of this fold, the ser- 
pentine forms a part. It is more recent than the crystalline 
schists and the Casanna Schiefer, and is associated with the red 
and green schistose rocks already mentioned, in a way which 
he considers indicative of intrusion; but it nowhere cuts the 
Haupt-Dolomit. Accordingly he considers it to be later than 
the Verrucano, and not earlier than the middle part of the 
Trias. Certain crystalline breccias occur in the neighbourhood 
of the serpentines ; these the author considers to be due to 
earth-movement, and he goes on to give reasons for regarding 
them as the equivalent of the Casanna Schiefer of other locali- 
ties. There is, in his opinion, no evidence of the presence of 
EE 
