November 17, 1898] 



NA TURE 



71 



result is that the reflection-factor for amplitude seems to pass 

 continuously from ( + l) to { - i) -i'lt/ioiil passing through zero. 

 Using the numbers given by Dr. Harton, it is found that the cor- 

 rections to the simple theory are extremely small, so that in 

 actual cases the damping may be ignored, and the circuit may 

 be regarded as distortionless. — Mr. Oliver Heaviside (abstract 

 of communication) : Mr. He.avislde, using his own notation, 

 exhibits mathematically the connection between the case investi- 

 gated by Mr. Morton, of a wave-train arising from a damped 

 source, and the standard case of an undamped source. The cause 

 of the attenuating rocflicient coming out twice as great in Dr. 

 Barton's cxperimonlal conditions, as when the resistance is cal- 

 culated by Lord Kayleigh's formula, is attributed to lack of 

 correspondence between the experimental conditions and those 

 of the ideal theory. For : (l) The external resistance, of un- 

 known amount, is ignored. (2) It is not certainly to be expected 

 that the formula in (piestion is true for millions of vibrations per 

 second. It may, however, be concluded from the experiments 

 that the theory furnishes an approximation to the real resistance. 

 (4) The magnetic vibrations to which the wires are subjected arc 

 not lung-continued and undamped, as assumed by the formula. 

 When a wave-train passes any i>oinl on a wire, its surface is sub- 

 jected to an impulsion vibration lasting only a very minute frac- 

 tion of a second : a vibration, moreover, which is very rapidly 

 damped. So there is no definite resistance, and the resistance 

 is greater than according to Lord Kayleigh's formula. (5) 

 Perhaps, also, the terminal-reflections involved in Dr. Barton's 

 calculations may introduce error. — The President proposed 

 votes of thanks to the authors, and the meeting was adjourned 

 until November 25. 



Chemical Society, November 3. — Prof. Dewar, President, 

 in the chair. — Tlie following papers were read : — Determination 

 of the equivalent of cyanogen, by G. Dean. By determining 

 the qu.antity of potassium bromide which will react with a known 

 weight of silver cyanide dissolved in nitric acid, the equivalent 

 of cyanogen was ascertained to be 26 '065 ; if the atomic weight 

 of carbon be I2'0i, tliat of nitrogen is I4'055. — The composition 

 of American petroleum, by S. \'oung. The hydrocarbons 

 boiling between 25° and 1 1 5" contained in American petroleum 

 are isopentane, pentane, pentamethylene, isohexane, hex.ine, 

 methylpentamethylene, lienzene, isoheptane, heptane, methyl- 

 hexamethylene ami toluene. — The separation of normal and iso- 

 heptane from American pelroleum, by F. E. Francis and S. 

 Voung. The presence of nai>hthenes in American petroleum 

 renders it impossible to separate pure iso- and normal heptane 

 from this source by fractional distillation ; the inijiure heptane 

 was brominated, and the heptyl bromides separated by dis- 

 tillation. The pure hydrocarbons were then isolated by 

 reduction with a copper-zinc couple. — The boiling points and 

 specific gravities of mixtures of benzene and normal hexane, by 

 I). M. Jackson and S. Voung. It is impossible to separate pure 

 normal hexane by distilling mixtures of this hydrocarbon with 

 benzene. — The action of fuming nitric acid on the paraffins and 

 other hydrocarbons, by F. I'",. I'rancis and S. A'oung. The iso- 

 paraflins react readily with fuming nitric acid yielding nitro- 

 compounds, hut the normal paraffins are only very slowly 

 attacked. — A composite sodium chlorate crystal in which the 

 twin law is not followed, by W. J. Pope. In a composite 

 j crystal of sodium chlorate a four-fold axis of symmetry of the one 

 I individual was found to coincide in direction with a three-fold 

 I symmetry axis of the other ; the plane (on) on the latter is 

 j parallel to the plane (010) upon the former. — Stereoisomcric 

 I bromonitro- and chloronitro - camphors, by T. M. Lowry. 

 Nitric acid acts on bromo- or chloro-camphor with production of 

 I only one nitro-derivalive in each case ; on brominating or 

 chlorinating nitrocaniphor in alkaline solution, however, two 

 ' stercoisomeric nitro-halogen derivatives are olitained in each 

 j case. — Camphoryloxime (camjihonitrophenol), by T. M. Lowry. 

 I Camphonitrophcnol is an oxime of camphoric anhydride. — The 

 formation of ethereal salts of polycarboxylic acids, by S. Kuhemann 

 ] and j\. V. Cunnington. — Note on the action of light on platinum, 

 I gold and silver chlorides, by K. Sonstadt. During the action of 

 : light on wet silver chloride, a subchloridc, hydrogen chloride 

 • and hydrogen peroxide are formed. — Methanetrisulphonic acid, 

 by E. 11. Bagnall. Fuming sulphuric acid acts upon diacetyl- 

 benziditie, its dichloro-derivative, a-acenaphthalide and 

 acetanilide with formation of methanetrisulphonic acid, 

 I €11(1150;,).,. — The nutrition of yeast, by A. L. Stern. An in- 

 I crease of nutriment beyond a definite limit does not materially 

 increase the amount of nitrogen .a.ssimilated by yeast, the per- 



I NO. 15 16, VOL. 59J 



centage of nitrogen in the ye.isl, the weight of the yeast, or the 

 amount of .sugar fermented. — The yellow colouring matters of 

 A'liiis coiinus and J\/iiis rhodatithea. Part vi., by A. G. Perkin. 

 Venetian sumach, the leaves of A', (otiiius, contains myricelin ; 

 the leaves of R. rhodaiil/ua, the yellow cedar of New South 

 Wales, contain quercetin and gallotannic acid. The stems of 

 both plants contain fisetin.— Colouring matters of the New 

 Zealand dyewood " puriri," by A. G. Perkin. The New 

 Zealand tree, " puriri ( Vilcx litloralis) contains two colouring 

 matters as glucosides ; these are vitexin 0,511,407 or 

 C„II,c08 and homovitexin Ci„n,„0, or C,8II,hOs. The 

 former yields a penta- or hexa-acetyl derivative. — Cannabinol, 

 by T. B. Wood, W. T. N. Spivey, and T. II. Easterfield. A 

 number of derivatives of cannabinol are described. — Derivatives 

 of hesperitin, by A. G. Perkin. Hesperitin combines with 

 sodium or potassium acetate yielding crystalline compounds ; 

 the ex.imination of these shows hesperitin to have the composi- 

 tion C3.2II.2jiO,.,. The azobenzene derivative and hexacetyl 

 derivative of hesperitine have been prepared. 



Pauis. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 7. — M. Wolf in the 

 chair. — Preparation of lithium-ammonium, calcium-ammonium, 

 and the amides of lithium and calcium, by M. Henri Moissan. 

 .•\t low temperatures lithium and calcium dissolve in liquid am- 

 monia, forming deep blue solutions similar to those obtained 

 from sodiuiTi and pota.ssium. The lithium and calcium- 

 ammoniums are more stable than the other analogous alkali 

 compounds. Analyses showed that these substances are 

 represented by the formulae LiNIIj and Ca(NIl3)4; both 

 catch fire in contact with air at the ordinary temperature. 

 — Keinarks by M. Cnmtz relating to the preceding com- 

 munication. — Preliminary note on the presence of free hydro- 

 gen in atmospheric air, by M. Armand (jautier. Air taken 

 from the open sea or from mountains at high altitudes is very 

 free from combustible hydrocarbons, traces of which are always 

 present in the air of towns. The pure air, however, contains 

 small quantities of free hydrogen amounting to about 1 1 to 

 18 c.c. per 100 litres, about one-half the carbonic acid pre- 

 sent in the same air. — Comparison between the methods of 

 Lagrange and Gauss for the resolution of entire numbtfrs 

 of indeterminate equations of the second degree, by M. 

 de Jonquieres. — Effects of the section of the nerves of the 

 sphincter aiii on the functions, physiological and anatomical 

 properties of this muscle, and on the organism in gener.al, by 

 MM. S. Arloing and Edouard Chantre. If the muscle is 

 completely isolated from the spinal column, real incontinence 

 does not necessarily follow, the ela.sticity of the sphincter being 

 .sufficient to cause the expulsion of the faeces and urine. — 0\\ 

 the genesis of epithelium, by MM. Armand .Sabatier and 

 Etienne de Rouville. It is generally admitted that epithelium 

 is always capable of regenerating itself, and that it borrows 

 nothing from the neighbouring tissues. This is contrary lo the 

 results obtained by the authors, who find that in many cases the 

 underlying conjunctive tissue also takes an active i>art in this 

 regeneration. — Observations on the sun, made at the Observ- 

 atory of Lyons during the first quarter of 1898, by M. J. 

 Guillaume. — Geodesic, magnetic, and a.stronomical surveys of 

 Madaga.scar, by M. P. Colin. — On the convergence circle of 

 some series, by M. Lean. — On stability, by M. J. Andrade. — 

 Hertzian telegraphy without wires between the Eifl'el Tower 

 and the Pantheon, by M. E. Ducretct. The s|iace over 

 which the signals were transmitted was about four kilo- 

 metres, and the clearness of the record .showed that this 

 distance could be considerably increased. — On the com- 

 pound winding of alternators of constant voltage, by 

 M. Maurice Leblanc. An alternator constructed on the 

 principles here laid down was found to have a very constant 

 volt.age, even when changed rajiidly from no load to full lo.ad. 

 The residual magnetism is sufiicient to render the dynamo self- 

 exciting.— Contribution to the .study of the boric ethers. 

 Properties of triethyl borate, by M. M. Copaux. Chlorine 

 gives trichlorethylether, CHjCl.j.CIICl.O.CjIIii ; sodium ethylate 

 in absolute alcohol gives a precipitate of BNa(OC.jI 1,1)4. — 

 Combinations of phenyl-hydrazine with the halogen .salts of the 

 alkaline earth met.als, by M. I. Moitessier. A description of the 

 preparation of CaBr.,.3H./).4"C„Ilr,N.JI;, ; and SrI.j.4C„H„.N.,H3. 

 — Elstimation and detection of gelatine in gums and food sub- 

 stances, by M. A. Trillat. The aciueous solution of the gum is 

 treated with formaldehyde. The gelatine is rendered insoluble. 



