384 



NATURE 



{Feb. i8, il 



preparing orthophosphoric acid, and the titration of phosphoric 

 and arsenic acids by means of various indicators, by M. A. 

 Joly. — Note on the action of acetic acid on the essence of tur- 

 pentine, by MM. G. Bouchardat and J. Lafont. It is shown that 

 acetic acid combines already in the cool state with the essence 

 of turpentine, yielding monacetates belonging to two entirely 

 distinct series. At the same time the uncombined essence is trans- 

 formed into two carburets CodH,^, one monovalent, analogous to 

 terebinthene, the other bivalent, or active terpilene. — Note on 

 a new direct method of studying animal heat, by M. Desplats. 

 The method here described is carried out by means of M. Ber- 

 thelot's water calorimeter, but it is applicable only to small 

 animals, such as rats, guinea-pigs, sparrows, &c. At equal 

 weight and in a given time birds are found to evolve three times 

 more heat than mammals, absorbing thrice the quantity of 

 oxygen and emitting three times inore carbonic acid. — Note on 

 the Eocene Echinida; belonging to the family of the Spantan- 

 gidea;, by M. G. Cotteau. — On some fossil Cycadeje of the 

 Carboniferous formations, by M. Daubree. — On a sub-lacustrine 

 moraine on the bar of Yvoise, which divides Lake Geneva into 

 two distinct basins, liy M. F. k. Forel. The dredgings carried out 

 in September 1SS5 have satisfied the author that this bar is, in 

 fact, a glacial moraine like the neighbouring hills. That this 

 moraine, 60 metres below the surface and 1 kilometre from the 

 sliore, has been kept clear of recent lacustrine alluvial deposits, 

 is attributed to the action of the sub-lacustrine currents. — Re- 

 marks on the geological map of Russian Turkestan prepared by 

 MM. Mtishketoff and Romanovsky — six chromolithographic 

 .sheets to the scale of i : 1,260,000, by M. Venukoff. — N^ite on 

 the relations existing between the geological, topographic, .and 

 chemical properties of the soil and the vegetation covering it in 

 Central Russia, by M. Venukofif. 



Berlin 

 Meteorological Society, December i, 1SS5. — Prof. Born- 

 stein reported on a treatise by Herr van Bebber, which liad just 

 appeared, in which the latter, on the ground that typical 

 weather phenomena accompanied the minima that advanced 

 along the well-known highways of storms over Europe, demon- 

 strated that, from the position of the minimum on one of the 

 five highways of storms, and from the local condition of the 

 weather, might be derived the best data as a basis for a trust- 

 worthy prognostication of the weather. — Prof. Schwalbe made a 

 comprehensive survey of the investigations that had been 

 carried on by him for several years respecting the ice cavities. 

 In supplement of former reports on these investigations (vide 

 Nature, January 28, p. 312) the following is abstracted from 

 the address which dealt at large with the subject. The earliest 

 notice of the occurrence of ice cavities was contained in an 

 account written in the end of the seventeenth century. In the 

 last and in the beginning nf the present century ice cavities 

 had been variously described, but the descriptions were 

 greatly exaggerated. Down even to the present time these 

 enigmas of nature were little known and little investigated. Of 

 all students of natural science whom this subject had engaged, 

 the speaker had assuredly examined the greatest number of ice 

 cavities. Ice cavities formed but one group of ice phenomena, 

 which comprehended likewise dolines, ice holes, rolled ice, 

 ventaroles, and the cold strata of the ground. In the temperate 

 zone they were pretty widely distril)uted, and occurred in the 

 most varied mountain systems of Europe at heights of from 

 2000 to 4000 metres above sea-level, and some individual ones 

 at much lower elevations. They were found principally in 

 limestone, in gypsum, in basalt, and lava, but were present 

 likewise in mica slate and other stones. The most essential 

 condition of their presence was that the stone should be readily 

 percolable by water. In the majority of cases the entrance into 

 these cavities was from above, and the passage was directed 

 downwards, yet there were also cases in which the entrance was 

 from below and the passage upwards. The cavities themselves 

 were completely isolated, and no draught of wind was ever per- 

 ceived in them. The air in the cavities was in winter somewhat 

 colder than in summer, in winter the temperature sinking to 

 o* C, and somewhat lower, in summer ranging from 4° to 5' C. 

 The walls were always colder than the air in the central part, 

 and the air, moreover, was always completely saturated with 

 moisture. The ice is formed in spring, when the water began 

 to filter through the ground, and almost exclusively on the 

 floor of the cavities. The ceiling was always free of ice, the 

 floor more or less uniformly covered with a thick Layer of 

 ice, which, on being broken, splits into prismatic pillars re- 



sembling honeycombs. The walls were covered with pearl- 

 like ice-crystals, and stalactitic ice formations came multifariously 

 to view. There was frequent opportunity for observing in an 

 ice cavity how the water-drops, having filtered through the 

 stone, fell to the ground, and there at once congealed. The 

 speaker then referred to and combated the various theories which 

 had been brought forward to explain the ice formation in the 

 cavities. His own view was that the water filtering through 

 the cold stone became refrigerated to excess, and therefore, on 

 falling, at once congealed. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



"Report of the Meteorological Council to the Roy.il Society for the 

 Year ending March ^i, 1SS5."— " Jubilee Volume of the Statistical 

 Society" (Stanford).— '"' British Petro'graphy," P.art I.: J. J. H. Teall 

 (Watson, Bros., and Douglas, Birmingham).—" Register zu den Banden 

 86 bis 90 der Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschafilichen 

 Classe der KaiserUchen Akademie der Wissenschaften "XI. (Gerold's Sohn, 

 Wien). — " Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften ; 

 Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe : — Zoologie, Geologic, und 

 Palaontologie," June and July, October to December, 1884, January to 

 April, 1885. Ditto, '* Mathematik, Physik, Chemie, ^lechanik, Meteoro. 

 logie, und Astronomie," June and July, October to December, 1884, 

 January to March, 1885. Ditto, Physiologie, Anatomie, und theoretischen 

 Medicin," March to July, October to December, 1884 ; January and 

 February, 18S5 (Gerold's Sohn, Wien). — "Contributions to Canadian 

 Palajontology,' vol. i. part i : J. F. Whiteaves (Dawson, Bros., Montreal).— 

 "Report of the Meteorological Service of the Dominion of Canada for the 

 Year ending December 31, 1883 " : C Carpmael (MacLean and Co., Ottawa). 

 — "Common-Sense Euclid": A. D. Capel (J. Hughes). — "Poultry for 

 Prizes and Profit," parts 4 and 5 : J. Long (L. U. Gill)— " British Cage- 

 Birds," parts 5 and 6: R. L. Wallace (L. U. Gill).— " Bees and Bee- 

 keeping," pans 5 and 6: F. R. Cheshire (L. U. Gill).— " Book of the 

 Goat," parts 5 and 6 : H. S. H. Pegler (L. U. Gill).—" Fancy Pigeons," 

 parts 5 and 6: J. C. Lyell (L. U. Gill).— " Why we do not adopt the 

 French Metrical System in place of our Anglo-Saxon Metrology " : C. Giles 

 (Banks and Son). 



CONTENTS Page 



Practical Bacteriology 361 



The Anatomy of the Nettle 363 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Smith's "Magnetism" 364 



Flower's " Introduction to the Osteology of the 



Mammalia" 364 



Lydekker's "Catalogue of the Fossil ^lammalia in 



the British Museum " 365 



Letters to the Editor : — 



On "Seter," or Parallel Roads. — Dr. Andr. M. 



Hansen 365 



Mimicry in a Neuropterous Insect. — Dr. E. R. 



Johnson 365 



Fabry's Comet.— T. W. Backhouse 366 



Mist-Bow.— A. E. E 366 



Movement of Telegraph-Wires. — F. T. Mott . . . 366 



Henry Bradshaw 366 



The Coal-Dust Question. By W. Galloway . . . 366 

 Vesuvian Eruption of February 4, 1886. By Dr. 



H. J. Johnston-Lavis 367 



Tidal Friction and the Evolution of a Satellite. By 



Prof G. H. Darwin, F.R.S 367 



On the Sound-producing Apparatus of the Cicadas. 



By Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan. [Illustrnted) .... 368 

 Radiant Light and Heat, V. By Prof. Balfour 



Stewart, F.R.S. [Illustrated) 369 



Notes 374 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Naval Observatory, Washington 376 



The Secular Nutation of the Earth's Axis 376 



Astrophysical Observatory, Potsdam ... • . . . 376 



Comets Fabry and Barnard 376 



Stellar Photography 376 



Harvard College Observatory 376 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1886 



February 21-27 377 



Geographical Notes 377 



The Lumbar Curve in Man and Apes. By Prof. 



D. J. Cunningham 378 



Snow-Covering and the Weather 379 



University and Educational Intelligence 380 



Scientific Serials 380 



Societies and Academies 3S1 



Books and Pamphlets Received 384 



