568 



NATURE 



\Oct. 25, 1877 



yet sufficient data to decide on the subject. The depth of the 

 ocean should be considered. He could not agree with Mr. 

 Carruthers that earthquakes extended over so large an extent of 

 the ocean bed. The >iresident said that the works of Darwin, 

 Humboldt, and Mallett on this subject, would be found interest- 

 ing. He agreed with Dr. Hector that we must look outside our 

 globe fir the prime causes of such disturbances, such as sun- 

 spots, influence of the moon, &c. — Before the close of the meet- 

 ing. Dr. Hector drew attention to several exhibits on the table, 

 mo'e especially to an albino of the New Zealand crow (Glaucopis 

 ■wilsoni), and to a Tui (Frosthfrnadera lui, Zel.) with brown 

 plumage. A fine series of Crustacea from the Californian coast, 

 and a selection of the more interesting fossils obtained during the 

 past year by the Geological Department, were also exhibited and 

 explained. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, October 15. — M. Peligotin the chair. 

 —The following papers were read :— On some applications of 

 elliptic functions, by M. Herraite.— On the movements of the 

 apsides of the satellites of Saturn and on the determination of 

 the mass of the ring, by M. Tisserand.— On the nori-trans- 

 parence of incandescent iron and platinum, by M. Govi. He 

 denies the assertion that iron raised to a red or white heat 

 becomes transparent. — Employment of lime-water to fix fatty 

 acids of feed-water of boilers in engines provided with surface- 

 condensers, by M. Hetel. The fatty matters become fixed in 

 insoluble combinations, so that the water reaching the boiler is 

 neutral or even slightly alkaline, containing only a calcareous 

 soap and free glycerine, which is inoffensive and non-adherent to 

 the boiler.— On the ravages produced in the vines of Narbonnais 

 by the disease of anthracnose, by M. Porte. — On the employ- 

 ment of colza and rape, sown in v'meyards to preserve the vine 

 from frost, by MM. Serres and Rerat. These seeds are sown in 

 October [or November, and by May, when the frosts are most 

 to be feared, the plants have grown to more than a metre in 

 height, giving good protection. When the frost is fairly gone 

 the rape or colza is cut and the vines then grow with more vigour. 

 — Reply to a fonner note by M. Stephan on the discovery of the 

 planet 174, by M. Watson. — On cases of reduction of Abelian 

 functions to elliptic functions, by M. Hermite. — Formation of 

 allylene at the expense of bromocitrapyrotartaric anhydride, by 

 M. Bourgoin. — On dibromomethylcarbylamine, by M. Tcher- 

 niak. — Researches on the physical constitution of the blood 

 corpuscle, by M. Bechamp. He has succeeded in demon- 

 strating the separate Existence of an enveloping membrane by 

 nourishing the corpuscles in a solution of fecula. The membrane 

 is thus made both more resistant to the action of water, and more 

 visible, while retaining its osmotic properties. The effects 

 obtained in thus treating the blood of duck, &c., are minutely 

 described. — On the organic dibHs contained in the quartz and 

 silex of Roannais, by M. Renault. — Researches on vegetable 

 glycogenesis, by M. Jodin. /«/<;• alia, the constant presence of 

 certain sugars in all champignons, proves the independence of 

 the glycogenic function, and the chlorophyllian function. 

 Researches are desirable on the influences which cause the 

 saccharimetric quantity in leaves to vary, and the nature of 

 the relation between these variations and the exercise of the 

 chlorophyllian function, &c. — Researches on fatty bodies intro- 

 duced fraudulently into butter, by M. Husson. — Relation 

 between barometric variations and the sun's declination, by M. 

 Poey. Low pressures follow exactly the course of the sun, 

 while high pressures follow an opposite course. The observations 

 were made at the Observatory of Havana, 



Geneva 

 Society of Physics and Natural History, July 5.— M. 

 Loret continued the account of his researches on the polarisation 

 of quartz, carried on in conjunction with M. Ed. Sarasin. A 

 first series of measurements of the solar light with a spectro- 

 scope having a fluorescent eye-piece, had been extended as far as 

 the Fraunhofer line R. In the new series, and in order to carry 

 further their observations on the ultra-violet part of the 

 spectrum, they operated upon the light proceeding from a strong 

 induction discharge issuing between two points of cadmium. 

 They determined the rotatory power of the quartz for eight of 

 the principal lines of the ultra-violet spectrum of that metal, for 

 which M. Ma^cart has given the wave-lengths, and for two lines 

 situated still farther beyond. Their experiments show that in 

 these limits, much more extended, the law of Boltzmann is con- 

 !inned in a very satisfactory manner. It appears, however, 



necessary to add a third term to his formula. — Prof. Schift com- 

 municated the results of his experiments on the contractions 

 presented by the diaphragm after its nerves have been cut. — 

 M. H. Fol described observations made by him on the origin of 

 the follicle which surrounds the egg of ascidians. It has been 

 wrongly supposed that the cellules of the follicles form part of 

 the stroma of the ovary. The cellules originate in the interior 

 of the young eggs, at the surface of the germinative vesicle, and 

 traverse the whole thickness of the vitellus to reach the surface 

 of the ovule and detach themselves from it. This example of so 

 singular a mode of formation of the follicular cellules is unique, 

 so lar as known, in the animal kingdom. 



August 2. — Major Ed. Pictet presented the hydrographic chart 

 of the Lake of Geneva, in its south-west part, from its line 

 Coppet-Hermame to the exit of the Rhone. The form of the 

 bed of the lake is defined Viy equidistant curves of fi' e metres, 

 vertical distance. The work will be published as the first deve- 

 lopment of an old investigation by Sir H. de la Beche. — Prof 

 CoUadon has investigated new cases of lightning-strike, which 

 has confirmed his former conclusions on the effects of lithtning 

 upon trees. One of the determining causes of a stroke of 1 ightning 

 on a tree is the neighbourhood of a spring or of a subterranean 

 sheet of water. That cause acts more powerfully than the relative 

 height of different tides. He shows that most of the metallic 

 wires used as lightning conductors are too slender ; he calculates 

 that they ought to have a ssction of at least 500 square milli- 

 metres. 



CONTENTS p 



*' Scientific Worthies," XT. — Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker. By 



Prof. Asa Gray (I^VM Steel Engraving 



Notes on the Botany of the Rocky Mountains. By Sir J. D. 



Hooker, K.C.S.I-,C.B, P.R.S 



Shaepe's Catalogue OF Birds 



The Alps 



Our Book Shelf : — 



"Cryptogamic Flora of Silesia."— W.R. McNab 



Brown's " Countries of the World': being a Popular Description of 

 the various Continents, Islands, Rivers, Seas, and Peoples of tlie 



Globe" 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Radiometer and its Lessons — Dr. William B. Carpenter, 



F.R.S. : Prof. G. Carey Foster, F.R.S 



Mr. Wallace and Reichenbach's Odyle.— Dr. William B. Car- 

 penter, F.R.S. 



Potential Energy.— G. M. MiNCHiN ; Z 



Origin of Conugious Diseases —D. W. ; Dr John Grove . . . 

 The Zoological Relations of Madagascar and Africa. — Alfred R. 



Wallace 



Selective Discrimination in Insects —Sir John Lubbock, Bart., 

 F.R.S 



Protective Colouring in Birds.— Thomas Belt 



'■ On the Question of Free-Will."— P. Q 



Early Observations of the Solar Corona —J. L. E. Dreyer . 



.Senss Perception of Electricity.— Henry Cecil 



The Future of our British Flora — J. Shaw 



The Towering of Wounded Birds.— Sir J. Fayrer, F.R.S. . . 

 Meteors —W. F. Denning; John L. McKenzie ; Waltj 



548 

 54S 



Ke 



Curious Phenomenon during the Late Gale.— G. A. M 



Wine-Coloured Ivy.— Joseph John Murphy 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Satellites of Mars 



The Saturnian Satellite Hyperion 



The Satellite of Neptune 



The Variable Nebula in Taurus (G.C. No. S39) 



F. L. Alphons Oppenheim 



Electric Lights for Ljchthouses 



The Movements of a Submerged Aijuatic Plant. By E. RonlER 



{ll^M Illustration) 



Notes 



The Limits of Natural Knowledge, II. By Prof C. voN Nagsli 

 On the Solar Eclipse of Agathocles. By the Rev. Dr. Samuel 



Hau&hton, F.R.S. (IVithlllustralwns) 



STitiDUL.\TiNGOKCANS IN Scorpions 



University and Educational Intelligence 



ScisNTiFic Serials 



SociBTiss ANP Academies 



48 



«> 17 '> 



