200 



NA TURE 



IJan. 7, 1875 



Sumatra. They are said to be still in use, and differ entirely from 

 early letters in other parts of the island. The natives have a tra- 

 dition that some descendants of Alexander settled there ; and if 

 Nearchus' second expedition, the account of which is lost, 

 reached the Bay of Bengal, the date, Mr. Harrison considered, 

 would agree sufficiently well with the letters. His sailors were 

 principally Tyrians.— Col. Lane Fox read a paper on early modes 

 of navigation, in which he described the various contrivances 

 employed by savage races for transit on the water. Com- 

 mencing with the simple trunk canoe, the author traced the deve- 

 lopment of the art of boat and ship-building through the stages 

 of stitched plank canoes, bark canoes, rafts, outrigger canoe?, 

 single and double, the double canoe, the variation of hull, the 

 weather platform, the rudder, and the rude sail, and gave the 

 distribution of their many forms and modifications. It was 

 argued that the rude bark float of the Australian, the Tasmanian, 

 and the Kthiopian, the catamaran of the Papuan, the dug-out 

 canoe of the New Zealander, and the built-up canoe of the 

 Samoan, were survivals representing successive stages in the 

 development of the art of shipbuilding, not lapses to ruder 

 methods of construction as the result of degradation ; that each 

 stage supplies us with examples of what at one lime was the 

 perfection of the art countless ages ago. Some of the more 

 primitive kinds spread over nearly the whole world, whilst 

 others had a more limited area of distribution. Taken together, 

 they enabled us to trace back the history of shipbuilding from the 

 time of the earliest sculptures to the commencement of the art. 



Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, Jan. 4. — A paper by 

 Mr. J. E. Howard, F.R.S., entitled "Early Dawn of Civihsa- 

 tion considered in the Light of Scripture," was read by the 

 author. 



Berlin 

 German Chemical Society, Dec. 14. — A. W. Hofmann, 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Two physiological researches of 

 interest were communicated by Prof. Jaffe, of Konigsberg. 

 Nitrobenzol being poisonous, it appeared reasonable to expect, 

 what experiments luUy bore out, that ortho-nitrotoluol, which 

 resists oxidation most completely, should be more poisonous 

 than the two isomeric bodies. Pam-nitrolohiol is almost without 

 effect upon the health of dogs. Five grains daily were given for 

 several weeks without producing more than a slight inflammation 

 of the mucous membrane of the stomach, and at last jaundice. 

 The urine contained niirobenzoic acid {para), but a comparatively 

 small quantity of it only. The rest of the substance had become 

 transformed into introhippuric acid. Tt is acid was found com- 

 bined with urea, and therefore insoluble in ether. As in similar 

 experiments, when substituted toluols or benzoic acids had been 

 given to animals, substituted hippuric acids had not been found 

 in the etherial solution, it is not improbable that such acids, 

 though not found, were yet present in the shape of urea com- 

 pounds. Para-nitrohippiuic acid constitutes orange prisms, 

 fusing at 129°, and forming well-defined salts with barium and 

 with silver, different from a nitrohippuric acid formerly described 

 by Bertagnini. In the urine of one individual dog a new sub- 

 stance has been discovered by the same savant in the following 

 manner : — The alcoholic extract precipitated with H2SO4 

 yielded sulphate of urea, soluble in water, and the sulphate of 

 a tuw base, C|;H|;N„02, which combines with one molecule of 

 HC!, but has a sour reaction, and dissolves bai^ta. It forms 

 prisms, melting and decomposing at 213°. The dog has unfor- 

 tunately been lost. — Messrs. Forst and Zincke, in re-preparing a 

 product formerly prepared from silver by Limpricht and 

 Schwanert, and described as two substances isomeric with 

 hydrobenzoin and isohydrobenzoin, CjjHj.^ (OH)„, have found 

 this opinion to be erroneous ; their experiments yielding but a 

 mixture of the two latter bodies. There are, therefoie, only 

 two, and not four hydrobcnzoins in existence. — M. Wroblewsky 

 described meta-acetyltoluol, prepared from meta-bromotoluol, a 

 li<|uid boiling at 158°, and yielding isophthalic acid and two 

 isomeric sulpho-acids. — A. Ladenburg has undertaken the useful 

 task of submitting to rigid experiments the opinion generally 

 adopted, that the position of one lateral chain in benzol is indif- 

 lerent with regard to the substance thus constituted ; in other 

 words, that no isomeric aromatic bodies can exist with only 

 one lateral chain. He showed this time the identity of ordinary 

 benzoic acid with benzoic acid prepared from phenol, and the 

 complete identity of the three phenols prepared from the three 

 d liferent oxybenzoic acids. The proof will have to be com- 

 jileted by further researches, in which Mr. Ladenburg is still 

 engaged. — Messrs. Michatjlis and Ananoff have undertaken 



researches respecting the constitution of phosphorous acid, 

 for which they have established the formula HP = 0(0H)2. 

 Without entering into details, we can only say that the method 

 consisted in the action of C,,H5l'Cl4 on phosphorous acid, when 

 no phosphorous chloride, PCI3, but only oxychloride, PCljO, was 

 formed. They have also prepared a monobasic phenylphos- 

 phorus acid, CgHsP = 0(OH)II.— Prof. Nilson, from Upsala, 

 described as the best method for extracting selenium the treat- 

 ment of the flue-dust with cyanide of potassium. — T. Piccard 

 has found in the sperma of the salmon, besides a new base, pro- 

 tanniii, lately described by Mieschke, also sarkiii &n& !;uaiiin. — 

 C. Schisbler described a volumetric method for determining CO^ 

 in carbonates without introducing temperature and barometric 

 pressure into the calculus. The method consists in making a 

 " normal " analysis with a pure carbonate and comparing the 

 volume of CO„ obtained with that of the unknown quantity of 

 CO^ yielded by the substance analysed the same day. — IT. 

 Uppenkamp described he.\ylic sulphocyanide and isosulpho- 

 cyanide. — C. Biederniann and L. Ledoux reported on the forma- 

 tion and properties of mesitylenic phenol, CjiHioO. — A. W. 

 Hofmann communicated his researches on fractions of beech-tar 

 distilling above z6o°. By oxidation they yield a phenolic sub- 

 stance, CjiHii-Oj, in which 11^ may be replaced by Brj, and a 

 quinone, C5H5O4, which takes'up Ho when treated with reduc 

 ing agents. Prof. Hofmann further reported on the following 

 experiments of Mr. M'Creath: — The action of water on guani- 

 dine, CH5N3, consisting in the loss of ammonia and the forma- 

 tion of urea ; the action of anhydrides has been studied, when it 

 was found that benzoic anhydride acts on guanidine in a similar 

 way, producing ammonia and dibenzoyl-urea.- — A. Oppenheim 

 has submitted crystallised pure glycerine to distillation. The 

 boiling point corrected proved to be very constant at 290°. 

 Nearly every manual and dictionary of chemistry contains erro- 

 neous data in this respect, although the same number has already 

 been published in 1S60 by Mendelejeff. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, Dec. 28, 1874. — This was the anni- 

 versary meeting of the Academy, an account of which appeared 

 in last week's Nature, p. 17b. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



Colonial.— On the General Thcoi-y of Duplex Telcgr.iphy : Louis 

 Schwendler (Asiatic Society of Dengal).— On Earth Currents ; I.ouis 

 Schwendler (Asiatic Society of Bengal).— Second Annual Report of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia). 



FoR&loN. — Anthropologische Ecitrage : Georg. Gerland (Max Niemeyer, 

 Halle).— Classification de 160 Huiles et Graisses Vegitales. 2nd Edition : 

 M. Bernardin (Annoot-Brackman, Gand).— A. Dobsinai Jegbarlang: Dr. 

 Krenner Jozef Sandor.'.Die Eishohle von Dobschan, Dr. Jos. Alex. Krenner 

 (K. Ungar, Budapest). — Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich-KonigUchen Geologischen 

 Reichsanstalt, Bandxxiv. (Wien) — Az ArapAly Fuinei Obolben : E. Stahl- 

 berger (K. Ungar, Budapest) — Essai sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de L. A. J, 

 Quetelet ( F. Havez, Brussels). — Verdhandlung des Naturhistorischen Vereins 

 der Preussischen Rheinlande und Westfalens : Dr. C. J. Andra (Max Cohen 

 and Sohn, Bonn). — Sitzungsberichte der neiderrheinischen Gesellschaft fiir 

 natur, und Heilkunde zu Bonn (Max Cohen und Sohn, Bonn) — Menioires 

 de la Soci^te de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Geneve, vol. xxii. Part 

 ii. (Ramboz et Schuchardt, Geneve). 



CONTENTS Page 



The Geological Survey of Victoria 181 



Livingstone's "Last Journals," II 182 



BfCHANAN ON THE CIRCULATION OF THE BlOOD 184 



Our Book Shelf : — 



Angell's " Animal Physiology " 185 



" The Gardener's Year Book " i36 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Absence of Microscopic Calcareous Organic Remains in Marine 



Stratacharged with Siliceous Ones.— Henry J. Carter . . . 186 



The Constant Currents in the Air and the Sea.— Wivi. Fekkel . . 186 



Mud Banks on Malabar Coast.— Henry F. Blanford .... 187 



Ring Blackbird.— C. M. Incledy 187 



On the MoRrHOLOGV OF Crystals. By Prof. N. S. Maskelvne, 



F.RS 187 



Two Remarkable Stone Implements from the United States. 



By Chas. C. Abbott {With Illustrations) 190 



Protection for Inventions iqi 



Francis Kiernan, F.R.S 193 



The Recent Thaw. By W. de Fonvielle 193 



Earthquakes in the Philippine Islands. By Dr. A. B. Meyer . 194 



The Transit of Venus .' 194 



Notes 195 



The Present Condition of the Royal Society, II 196 



Scientific Serials 199 



Societies and Academies 199 



Books and Pamphlets Received 200 



