45t> 



jVA TURE 



'\_AJarch a, lotb 



author siiggei^ts that a secondary movement in the opposite direc- 

 tion may perhaps occasionally be produced, which would serve to 

 explain many phenomena difficult to account for on anyone theory. 

 — On the equivalent of the terbenes ; explanatoiy note, by M. 

 Lecoq de Boisbaudran. — On the employment of the azimuthal 

 co-ordinates in geodetic surveys, by M. Halt. — Communication 

 on the approaching centenary of Arago, by M. Mouchez. It 

 was announced, on behalf of the Committee, that the in- 

 tended banquet in the Hotel de Ville has been abandoned, 

 and that it has been decided to erect a more lasting monu- 

 ment to the memory of the illustrious astronomer, to take 

 the form of a colossal statue to be raised by national 

 subscription on the Boulevard bearing his name. — Remarks on 

 the Year-book of the Imperial Oliservatory of Rio de Janeiro, 

 presented to the Academy on behalf of the Emperor of Brazil, 

 by M. Faye. — Position of telescopic stars in the constellation 

 of the Pleiades, by M. G. Rayet. A complete list is given of 

 143 stars observed with the 14 inch equatorial of the Bordeaux 

 Observatory during the winters of the years 1884-85 and 

 1885-86. — Observations on Fabry's comet made at the Obser- 

 vatory of Algiers with the 050 m. telescope, by M. Ch. 

 Trepied. — Orbit and ephemeris of the same comet, by M. 

 Lebeuf. From the observations taken at Algiers, Hamburg, 

 Nice, and Paris, the elements of the new orbit have been deter- 

 mined as under : — 



T= 18S6 April 5-9580 Paris Mean Time 



u = 126 36 67 1 



n. = 36 22 32 'o !• Equinox lS86'0. 

 i = 82 36 34-9 ) 

 log (/ = 9 '807626 



-On the angle of the line of depression below the horizon at sea, 

 by M. E. Perrin. The observations of depression here pub- 

 lished were taken in 18S4-S5 on board the Galissonniere in the 

 Chinese seas by means of a Lorieux reflection circle furnished 

 with Daussy's additional small mirror. The mean value of 

 apparent depression was determined at 5' 3i"'S. The cor- 

 responding geometric depression being 5' 46"'8 for an altitude 

 of 9 metres, about 1/23 was fixed for the coefficient of geodetic 

 refraction at sea. — Calculation of mechanical re ;ulators ; the 

 proper course to follow in practice in order to establish a 

 regulating apparatus with indirect action, by M. H. Leaute. — 

 "Note on the articulated hyperboloid and the application of its 

 properties to the demonstration of De Sparre's theorem, by 

 M. A. Mannheim. — On Deprez d'Arsonval's aperiodic galvano- 

 meter employed as a ballistic galvanometer, by M. Ledeboer. — 

 On the spectrum of erbine, by Prof. W. Crookes. The phos- 

 phorescent spectrum of this earth, of which a comparatively 

 pure specimen has recently been obtained by the author, showed 

 four green bands coinciding with none of those of the spectra of 

 yttrium and samarium. — On the crystallisation of the paratartrate 

 of soda and ammonia, by M. J. Joubert. — On the relations exist- 

 ing between the variations of terrestrial magnetism and the pro- 

 tuberances and other phenomena observed on the sun, by M. II. 

 Wild. As far as the question has hitherto been studied the author 

 considers it well-nigh established that the great movements of the 

 solar atmosphere are revealed on the globe by corresponding dis- 

 turbances of the magnetic needle. — Actinometric observations 

 made at Montpellier during the year 1885, by M. A. Crova. — On 

 the hygroscopic properties of tobacco, by M. Th. Schlcesing, jun. 

 — On the isomeric states of the sesquichloride of chromium, 

 green sesquichloride, by M. A. Recoura. — On some immediate 

 principles of the peel of the bitter orange, by M. Tanret. — On 

 the respiratory centres of the spinal marrow, by M. E. Wert- 

 heimer. Numerous experiments made on dogs show that in the 

 spine there exist nervous centres, some determining inspiration, 

 others expiration. — On the character of an anomalous rock in 

 the Aspe Valley, Lower Pyrenees, by MM. E. Jacquot and A. 

 Michel Levy. This rock, by Charpentier called compact jeUispar, 

 is interstratified at the base of the Carboniferous formations, its 

 age coinciding with the end of the granulite and beginning of 

 the microgranulite eruptions. Although soft and oily to the 

 touch, like the steatites, its dust scratches glass. Chief con- 

 stituents : silica, 76"33 per cent. ; alumina, I4'30 ; potassa, 

 3 "33 ; lime, 0^90. — On the stratigraphic relations existing 

 between the miliolite limestones and the Micraster lercensis 

 formation in the department of the Haute-Garonne and the 

 canton of Sainte-Croix (Ariege), by M. J. Roussel. The new 

 acts determined by the author show that in the Pyrenees the 



relations of the Chalk and Tertiary formations are sometimes o 

 an extremely complicated character. But in his remarks on this 

 paper M. Hebert was unable to accept the view that the 

 A/icrai/er lercensis of the Pyrenees, essentially a Cretaceous 

 rock, was contemporary with the Terti.iry formations containing 

 Ccfithiiiin lailevezij Oslrca itncifera^ and similar fossils, 

 Stockholm 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, February 10. — On Binuclearia, 

 a new genus of Confervacea, by Prof. V. B. Wittrock. — On the 

 biology of some Ai'ctic plants, by Prof. E. Warming. — Contri- 

 butions to the anatomy of the cotyledons of the monocotyle- 

 donous plants, by Miss M. Lewin. — On the amount of the rain- 

 fall on bare and wooded ridges in the North of Halland, by Dr. 

 H. Hamberg. — Insects collected in the Cameroon Mountain, by 

 G. Waldau and H. Knutson : L Coleoptera, Cetoniidse, 

 described tiy Prof. Chr. Aurivilius. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



"Across the Jordan," by G. Schumacher (Bentley)^" Marvels of Animal 

 Life,- by C. F. Holder (Lo%v).—" Japanese Homes,'' by E S. Morse (Low) 

 —"Highlands of Cantabria," by Ross and Cooper (Low).— " The Rain 

 Band," by J. R. Capron (Stanford). — "Lessons in Elementary Chemistry," 

 new edition, by Sir H. E. Roscoe (Macmillan).— " Rotifera," part 2, by 

 Hudson and Gosse (Longmans). — " Bees and Bee-keeping," part 7, byF. R 

 Cheshire (Gill)— "the Western Pacific and New Guinea," by H. H 

 Romilly (Murray). — "British Petrography," part 2. by J. J. H. Teall 

 (Watson, Birmingham). — " Indian Meteorological Memoirs," vol. ii. part 5 

 (Calcutta) — " Report on the Administration of the Meteorological Depart- 

 ment of the Givemment of India in 1384-85."— " The Monthly Weather 

 Report," Oct. and Nov.. 1885.— " Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New- 

 South Wales," vol. X. part 3 (Cunninghame, Sydney) —Pamphlets:—" La 

 Sensioilite et la Motilite des Veg^taux," by E. Morren (Hayez, Bruxelles). 

 — "Une Experience sur I'Ascension de la Sexe chez les Plantes," by L. 

 Errera. — " Fremdlandische Zierfische. mit Abbildungen," by B. Diirigen 

 (P. Matte, Berlin), — "The Fixed Idea of Astronomical Theory," by A 

 Tischner (Fock, Leipzig). — " Report on the Action of the Sheffield Water on 

 the Lead Communication Pipes," by S, White. 



CONTENTS PAGE 



The Scientific Relief Fund 433 



The Botany of the Rocky Mountain Region . . 433 

 Morley's " Organic Chemistry." By Dr. F. R. Japp, 



F.R.S 435 



The Springs of Conduct. By Prof. George J. 



Romanes, F.R.S 436 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Roscoe's "Spectrum Analysis" 437 



Lock's "Trigonometry for Beginners, as far as the 



Solution of Triangles " 438 



Peck's " Apparent Movetnents of the Planets and the 

 Principal Astronomical Phenomena for the Year 



1886" 43B 



Letters to the Editor : — 



An Earthquake Invention.— Prof. John Milne . . 438 

 The Velocity of Light as Determined by Foucault's 

 Revolving Mirror. — Dr. Arthur Schuster, F.R.S. 439 



Variable Stars.— Edmund J. Mills 440 



Do Young Snakes take Refuge in the Stomach of the 



Mother? — Prof, John Le Conte 441 



The Coal-Dust Question.— W. Galloway .... 441 

 Permanent Magnetic Polarity of Quartz. — Dr. 



Arthur Schuster, F.R.S 441 



The "Muir Glacier" of Alaska.— Lieut. Chauncey 



Thomas, U.S.N 441 



The Survey of India 441 



Aerial Navigation. By Dr. William Pole, F.R.S. . 441 



Medical Study in Oxford 445 



Charles William Peach 446 



Professor Edward Morren 447 



The Weather 447 



Notes 44S 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Lunar Inequalities due to the Action of Jupiter . . 450 

 Spectroscopic Determination of the Motion of the 



Solar System in Space 45" 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 18S6 



March 14-20 451 



Geographical Education and Natural Science. By 



Prof. H. N. Moseley, F.R.S 451 



University and Educational Intelligence 453 



Societies and Academies 453 



Books and Pamphlets Received 456 



