FEBRUARY I, 1917 | 
NATURE 
443 
thing is what it is, not only because it has a place in 
the universe, and because of its relations to other things, 
but also because those relations are not the thing. To 
assert that a thing is its relations involves a second 
and quite different proposition. A thing indeed pre- 
supposes reality and its connections with it, just as 
our apprehension of a truth presupposes reality. But 
when we assert that a thing is what it is because of 
its connections with reality, we do not mean that the 
thing is its connections. They condition it, but it is 
separate from them. The other main monistic argu- 
ment is to the effect that the ultimate Real being one 
and indivisible, all analysis by means of which we 
arrive at a world composed of things and relations .is 
a false abstraction of thought, which leads us away 
from Reality. It is true that a whole, although created 
by its parts, is more than their sum. A whole, as 
opposed to an aggregate, is a unity—a new entity 
which has come into being by their synthesis. But 
such a whole clearly has parts which it cannot be a 
fiction to distinguish from one another. The fact that 
analysis of a whole into parts destroys the whole does 
not mean that it also destroys the parts, or that the 
parts are not really its parts, or that they cannot exist 
as distinguished from one another. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, January 2.—M. C. Jordan (later 
M. A. d’Arsonval) in the chair.—G, Bigourdan: The 
principle of a new zenithal telescope.—Ch. Depéret and 
L. Gentil: An upper Miocene marine fauna in the 
R'arb, western Morocco.—C. Guichard: The K_ net- 
works of general quadrics.—W. Kilian and J. Reévil: 
The Pleistocene formations and the morphology of the 
Arc valley, Savoy.—G, Julia: The reduction of binary 
forms with real coefficients of any degree whatever.—- 
G. H. Hardy and °S.° Ramanujan: An asymptotic 
formula for the number‘ of partitions of n.—E. Belot : 
The theory of spiral nebulz and the true sense of their 
rotation.—J. Guillaume ; Observations of the sun made 
at the Observatory of Lyons during the third quarter 
of 1916. Observations were possible on eighty-nine 
days, and the results are given in three tables showing 
the number of spots, their distribution in latitude, and 
the distribution of the faculz in latitude—C. K. 
Reiman: The absolute density of hydrobromic acid. 
The gas was prepared by three independent methods, the 
final purification being by liquefaction and fractional 
distillation in a vacuum. The mean of thirty-one 
determinations is 36442 grams per litre.—P. Gaubert : 
The indices of refraction of the rhombohedral carbon- 
ates. Figures are given for gioberite, siderite, dialo- 
gite, smithsonite, dolomite, ankerite, and mesitiite. 
The value of the indices of refraction of various dolo- 
mites, ankerites, etc., agrees with that obtained by 
calculation on applying the laws governing the rela- 
tions between. the indices of an isomorphous mixture 
and those of its components, but*the agreement is 
only approximate.—V. Commont: Tihe Pre-Quaternary 
Somme-Oise.—E. Harlé and J. Harlé: The maritime 
dunes of the coast of Gascony.—A, Nodon: Observa- 
tions of the atmospheric disturbances during the months 
of October and November, 1916. Confirming earlier 
researches, there is found to be a close relation between 
the solar perturbations, electromagnetic disturbances, 
and disturbances of the terrestrial atmosphere.—Ph. 
The relative réle of surface and perimeter in the 
phenomenon of cicatrisation of wounds at the surface 
and the formula which jinterprets them. 
January 8.—M. A. d’Arsonval in the chair.—The 
president announced the death of Prof. Chauveau, in his 
ninetieth year.—M. Hamy: The approximate value of 
a definite jntegral—P. Appell: An extension of the 
equations of the theory of vortices and of the equa- 
tions of Weber.—M. de Sparre: Calculation of the 
hammer jin a water-main formed of two sections of 
different diameters.—M. Depage : The secondary trans- 
formation. of open into closed fractures. A detailed 
description of a new application of Carrel’s method: 
for irrigating fractures.—W. H. Young: A new set of 
conditions for the convergence of Fourier’s. series.— 
M. Petrovitch : Phe limit of extensibility of an arc of 
certain curves. The curves, the deformation of which 
is examined, are such that on going from one ex- 
tremity to the other none of the x co-ordinates changes 
the sense of its variation, each of them increasing or 
decreasing along the arc.—M. Souslin: A definition of 
measurable B ensembles without transfinite numbers. 
—N. Lusin: The classification of M. Baire. Some 
consequences of the results of M. Souslin in the pre- 
ceding paper.—L. Hartmann: The systematic variation 
of the value of the kinetic energy in the elastic re- 
bound of bodies. According to experiment, in the 
elastic shock of bodies the sum mV?+m'V” is not 
constant and independent of V and V’, contrary to the 
proposition of Leibnitz.—J. Olive: The mechanical 
trace of the ballistic hodograph.—E. Esclangon: The 
reflection and refraction of isolated waves at the sur- 
face of separation of two fluids in repose or in motion. 
—A, Pereira-Forjaz: Spectrographic. studies of Portu- 
guese minerals of uranium and _2irconium. Results 
are given. for chalcolites. from Sabugal and _Nellas, 
autunite from Nellas, and zircon from Alter Pedroso. 
Radium was present in the chalcolites.—P. Fallot: 
The geology of the island of Ibiza—F. Grandjean : 
The orientation of anisotropic liquids on the cleavages 
of the crystals. An account of the examination of 
anisaldazine, p-azoxyanisol, and p-azoxyanisolphenetol. 
It is concluded that the property of orientation of an 
anisotropic liquid on a determined cleavage is not a 
reticular property.—J. Deprat : The geological explora- 
tion of the part of Yun-nan comprised between the 
Tonkin frontier, the Kwang-si, and the Kwei-tcheou.— 
Ph. Glangeaud : The substratum of the volcanic massif 
of Mont Dore.—E. Belot: Provisional trace of the 
curve described by the magnetic north pole since 1541. 
Mile. Y. Dehorne: A new Stromatopore from the 
Lusitanian of Cezimbra (Portugal).—P. Lesage: The 
germination of the seeds of Lepidium sativum in solu- 
tions of electrolytes.—C. Galaine and C. Houlbert : A 
new arrangement for the rapid filtration of potable 
waters after their purification by the Lambert-Laurent 
process. After treatment with potassium perman- 
ganate, the removal of the precipitated oxide of man- 
ganese presents practical difficulties. It is proposed to 
modify the apparatus so that the purification and 
filtration take place in the same vessel, without trans- 
ference and possible re-contamination.—F. Dienert and 
G. Mathieu: Search for typhoid and paratyphoid 
bacilli. : 
Flajolet : Disturbances of the magnetic declination at 
Lyons (Saint-Genis-Laval) during the third quarter 
of i916.—P. de Beauchamp: New researches on 
sexuality in  Dinophilus.—L. Lindet: Waste in 
alcoholic fermentation.—F. Garrigou ; Special examina- 
tion of urines for the rapid and correct choice of a 
thermal station.—O. Laurent: The realisation of sia- 
moisism in animals, Experiments on grafting to- 
gether two different animals.——P. Lecomite du Noiiy : 
NO. 2466, VOL. 98] 
BOOKS~ RECEIVED. 
Recherches sur les Mouvements Propres des Etoiles 
dans la Zone Photographique de Helsingfors. By R. 
Furuhjelm. Pp. 190.  ‘ (Helsingfors: ‘Société de 
Littérature Finnoise.) ; 
Compressed Air Practice in ‘Mining. By D. Pen- 
man. Pp. vii+221. (London: C. Griffin and Co., 
Ltd) > genet. 
