February i6, 1899] 



NATURE 



3^3 



deposited on adding ammonia to dilute potassium hypoiodite 

 solution; they are copper-coloured and have a density of 3 '5. 

 Part II. The action of reducing agents on nitrogen iodide, by 

 F. D. Chattaway and H. P. Stevens. Part III. The composi- 

 tion of nitrogen iodide, by F. D. Chattaway. Nitrogen iodide, 

 however prepared, has the composition N.,H3l3. Part IV. 

 The action of light on nitrogen iodide, by F. D. Chattaway and 

 K. J. P. Orton. Nitrogen iodide is decomposed by light, yielding 

 nitrogen and hydrogen iodide ; slight hydrolysis also occurs 

 with formation of ammonium hypoiodite and ammonia. Part 

 V. The action of alkaline hydrates, of water and of hydrogen 

 peroxide on nitrogen iodide, by F. D. Chattaway and K. J. P. 

 Orton. AlkaHne hydrates hydrolyse nitrogen iodide with form- 

 ation of ammonia and an hypoiodite ; some decomposition 

 occurs simultaneously, nitrogen and hydrogen iodide being 

 produced. Water causes a similar decomposition, but the 

 hypoiodous acid and hydrogen iodide in this case react with 

 liberation of iodine. Hydrogen peroxide in potash solution 

 decomposes nitrogen iodide with formation of ammonia, potas- 

 sium iodide and a little iodate, whilst oxygen and nitrogen 

 are evolved. Part VI. The action of acids on nitrogen iodide, 

 by F. D. Chattaway and H. P. Stevens. Part VII. Theory 

 of the formation and reactions of nitrogen iodide, by F. D. 

 Chattaway and K. J. P. Orton. Iodine and aqueous ammonia 

 react with formation of equimolecular quantities of ammonium 

 iodide and hypoiodite ; the latter then decomposes with form- 

 ation of nitrogen iodide in accordance with a reversible reaction. 

 — An isomeride of amarine, by H. L. Snape and A. Brooke. 

 The action of chlorosulphonic acid on paraffins and other hydro- 

 carbons, by S. Young. — Derivatives of dibenzylmesitylene, by 

 W. H. Mills and T. H. Easterfield. Dibenzoylmesitylene on 

 reduction yields dihydroxydibenzylmesitylene, which on further 

 reduction gives dibenzylmesitylene. — On pseudocampholactone 

 and pseudolauronolic acid, by F. H. Lees and W. H. Perkin, 

 jun. Camphoric anhydride is converted by aluminium 

 chloride in chloroform solution into isolauronolic acid and a 

 new lactone, i^-campholactone ; the latter on hydrolysis yields a 

 mixture of two isomeric acids of the composition CsHjuOs. — 

 Nitrocamphor as an example of dynamic isomerism, by T. M. 

 Lowry. — Position-isomerism and optical activity ; the niethylic 

 and ethylic salts of benzoyl-, and of ortho-, meta- and para- 

 toluyl-malic acid, by P. Frankland and F. M. Wharton. A 

 considerable quantity of data respecting the rotations of the 

 aromatic derivatives of methylic and ethylic malate is given. — 

 Some regularities in the rotatory power of homologous series of 

 optically active compounds, by P. Frankland. — On brasilin 

 and ha;matoxylin, by A. W. Gilbody and W. H. Perkin, jun. 



Zoological Society, February 7. — Prof. G. B. Howes, 

 F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.— Mr. F. E. Beddard, 

 F.R..S., read a paper on the cerebral convolutions of the gorilla, 

 in which he reviewed our previous knowledge of the subject, 

 and recorded his own observations on five brains of this animal 

 which he had in his possession. — A communication from Dr. R. 

 O. Cunningham, contained a note on the presence of super- 

 numerary bones occupying the place of prefrontals in the skulls 

 of certain mammals. These bones had recently been observed 

 by the author in skulls of AJiicroptis giganteus and Phascoloinys 

 platyihiHUS. — Mr. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton read a paper on 

 the mice of St. Kilda, of which he recognised two species — Mils 

 hirtcnsis, sp. nov. , a representative of M. sylvaliais, and M. 

 muialis, sp. nov., representing M. musculus. Both of these 

 species showed good distinctive characters from their well- 

 known prototypes.— A communication was read from Prof. W. 

 Blaxland Benham containing a detailed anatomical account of 

 the structure of Notornis, based on the examination of a young 

 female specimen of this bird recently received at the Otago 

 Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand. — A communication was read 

 from Mr. E. N. Buxton, containing some notes on the herd of 

 bisons living in the Emperor of Russia's forest of Bielovege in 

 Lithuania, which he had made during a visit to that place in 

 the past autumn. — Mr. G. \.. Boulenger, F. R.S. , described two 

 new species of lizards, under the names of Lacerta jacksoni and 

 Chaniaesaufa annectens, from specimens contained in a collec- 

 tion of reptiles recently sent to the British Museum by Mr. F. 

 J. lackson, C.B., from the interior of British East Africa. — Mr. 

 Boulenger read the second patt of a memoir, entitled "A 

 Revision of the African and Syrian Fishes of the Family 

 CichUdae." Owing to the large amount of material contained 

 in collections recently received from Lake Tanganyika and the 

 Congo, the author had been obliged to make an alteration in 



NO. 1529, VOL. 59] 



theiplan of arrangement proposed in Part I. of the tpaper, and 

 instead of dividing the family into nine genera, he had found it 

 necessary to recognise nineteen genera. The present part con- 

 tained a synopsis of all the known African and Syrian genera, an 

 enumeration of all the species, and definitions of the genera 

 Tilapia, Steatocranus, Dociiiiodiis, and Paretropliis, and their 

 species, several of which were described as new. 



Edinburgh. 

 Mathematical Society, January 13. — Dr. Morgan, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Elementary notes, by Mr. C. Tweedie. — 

 Against Euler's proof of the binomial theorem for negative and 

 fractional exponents ; a note on continued fractions ; a proof of 

 the binomial theorem when the exponent is a positive integer, 

 by Mr. R. F. Muirhead. 



Paris. T 

 Academy of Sciences, February 6. — M. van Tieghem in 

 the chair. — New researches relating to the action of sulphuric 

 acid upon acetylene, by M. Berthelot. — The Hall phenomenon 

 and Lorentz's theory, by M. H. Poincare. The application of 

 the theory of Lorentz to the Hall phenomenon leads to the con- 

 clusion that if the conductor is very strongly charged the electro- 

 motive force produced should change in sign. The author points 

 out that although it would be of great interest to examine this 

 experimentally, the result, if in agreement with the above con- 

 clusions, would not necessarily prove the Lorentz theory to be 

 true, as a similar expression can be got in other ways. — Life in 

 a confined space, by M. d'Arsonval. The apparatus described 

 is so arranged that after the carbon dioxide produced by the 

 breathing of the animal has been absorbed by soda lime, the 

 diminution of pressure thus produced within the closed appa- 

 ratus is caused to bring together chromic acid and hydrogen 

 peroxide, the oxygen thus being automatically evolved, and the 

 composition of the air remaining constant. — New facts relating 

 to the subperiosteal amputation of the elbow. Autopsy of an 

 elbow totally amputated twenty-eight years ago, by M. Oilier. 

 — Remarks by M. Lrewy on the presentation to the Academy of 

 the eighth volume of the Annates dc t Obseniatoire de Bordmiix. 

 — On a theorem of M. Hadamard, by M. A. Ilurwitz. — Mole- 

 cular theory of friction of polished bodies, by M. Marcel 

 Brillouin. — Disruptive discharge in a vacuum. Formation of 

 anode rays, by M. Andre Broca. — On the effects of light at very 

 low temperatures, by MM. Auguste and Louis Lumiere. A 

 sensitised gelatino-bromide plant, immersed in liquid air and 

 exposed for a short time to light, shows no appreciable tint on 

 developing. Quantitative experiments showed that with plates 

 of maximum sensibility, to produce equal effects, the exposure 

 at - 191° must be about four hundred times as great as at 

 ordinary temperatures. Plates immersed in liquid air and allowed 

 to regain ordinary temperatures without exposure, undergo 

 no change in any of their properties. — On the employment of 

 sodium peroxide in the study of the respiratory function, by 

 MM. Desgrez and Balthazard. In respiratory studies in a 

 confined space, the products of the reaction between water and 

 sodium peroxide (oxygen and caustic soda) are just those 

 necessary to absorb carbon dioxide and replace it with oxygen. — 

 Formaldoxim as a reagent for detecting minute traces of copper, 

 by M. A. Bach. The chlorhydrate of trioximidomethylene 

 (CHoiNOHjjHCl gives in presence of caustic potash and traces 

 of copper salts, an intense violet coloration. This violet tint is 

 clearly perceptible in a solution containing one part of copper 

 sulphate in 1,000,000 of water. — On the oxidation of some 

 ureas, by M. CEchsner de Coninck. — Studies of the latent 

 heat of vaporisation of piperidine, pyridine, acetonitrile, 

 and capronitrile, by M. W. Louguinine. — New observ- 

 ations on the development of aromatic principles by al- 

 coholic fermentation in presence of certain leaves, by 

 M. Georges Jacquemin. The addition of an extract of vine- 

 leaves containing glucosides to the must before fermentation 

 causes a distinct improvement in the flavour of the resulting 

 wine. — On methyloctenonal, by M. G. Leser. -A study of the 

 products arising from the action of hydroxylamine, aniline, and 

 methylaniline upon this /3-ketonic aldehyde. — On crystallised 

 fibrin, by M. A. Maillard. The crystallised fibrin was iioticed 

 in some antidiphtheric serum tubes which had been standing for 

 some months.— On the nature of the sugar in diabetic urine, by 

 M.M. G. Patien and E. Dufau. The difterences frequently 

 obtained between sugar estimation, by Fehling and by the 

 polariscope, are often due to the fact that lead sub-acetate does 



