548 



NA TURE 



{April Z, 1886 



(plate 6). — On " central " light in resolution, by J. W. Stephen- 

 son, F. L. S. — With the usual summary of current researches and 

 the proceedings of the Society. 



The Journal of Physiology, vol. vii., No. I, January i8S6, 

 contains but one memoir, but that an important one by Dr. 

 W. H. Gaskell, on the structure, distribution, and function of 

 the nerves which innervate the visceral and vascular systems 

 (plates 1-4). If the various nerves of different function which 

 are described as innervating the viscera have a real and separate 

 existence, then, as in the case of the motor nerves of ordinary 

 skeletal inuscle=;, a similar correlation must exist between their 

 function and their morphological arrangement. In a series of 

 papers the author proposes to deal with this question for all the 

 different groups of nerves, classifying them according to function, 

 and including afferent as well as efferent nerves. In the present 

 memoir he confines himself to the efferent nerves of the vascular 

 and visceral muscles, treating of the structure and distribution 

 of these nerves ; of the nature of the action of the motor and 

 inhibitory nerves of the same, and he further treats of the mor- 

 phology of the superior cervical ganglion ; on the centr.al origin 

 of the ramus visceralis ; on the relation of the posterior root 

 ganglia to the visceral nerves ; and on the roots of the cranial 

 nerves. 



The American jfoiiriial of Science, February. — The story of 

 Biela's comet, a lecture delivered at the Sheffield Scientific 

 School of Yale College on March 9, 1S74, by A. Newton. This 

 paper is here reproduced in consequence of the renewed interest 

 created in Biela's comet by the meteoric display of November 

 27, 1885. — Relation between direct and counter-electromotive 

 forces represented by an hyperbola, by H. S. Carhart. In dis- 

 cussing the relations between the electromotive force (E.M.F.) 

 of the generator, the counter E.M.F. resulting from the electro- 

 magnetic reactions taking place in the motor, and the rate at 

 which energy is absorbed by the Latter in the electrical trans- 

 mission of power, it is implicitly assumed that E is constant. 

 Here it is sliown that, with an assumed amount of work spent 

 upon the motor per second and a given resistance R, E has a 

 minimum value equal to twice E ; this corresponds withjacobi's 

 law of maximum rate of working or greatest electrical activity 

 and constant E.M.F. — Tendril movements in Ciicurbita maxima 

 and C. Pepo (continued), by D. P. Penhallow. From 436 

 distinct observations upon the motion of the tendrils and ter- 

 minal bud under all conditions of temper.ature, sun and humidity, 

 a normal rate of movement under all conditions to which the 

 plant is ordinarily subjected, has been determined at 0-351 m. 

 per minute. In the terminal bud the greatest movement 

 occurred about noon under conditions of great humidity, the 

 least at night, also during great humidity. In all the results so 

 far obtained we have still further proof of the influence of 

 meteorological conditions on the growth of the plant. — A 

 theorem of maximum dissipativity, by George F. Becker. The 

 proposition here demonstrated is that in all moving systems 

 there is a constant tendency to motions of shorter period, and 

 that, if there is a sufficient difference between the periods com- 

 pared, this tendency is always a maximum. Hence all natural 

 phenomena occur in such a way as to convert the greatest 

 possible quantity of the energy of sensible motion into heat, or 

 the greatest possible quantity of heat into light, &c., in a given 

 time, provided that the interval of time considered exceeds a 

 certain fraction of the period of the most rapidly moving par- 

 ticles of the system.— A ne'V law of thermo-chemistry, by George 

 F. Becker. Considering chemical energy as a form of motion, 

 and accepting Berthelot's thermo-chemical law of maximum 

 expenditure, the author seeks to ascertain whether any definite 

 results may be reached as to the rate of evolution of heat. The 

 principle arrived at is set forth in the previous paper, the 

 chemical interpretation of which is thus summed up : the sum 

 of the chemical and physical transformations in any chemically 

 active system will be such as to convert higlier forms of energy 

 into heat, light, &c., at the greatest possible rate, provided that 

 the interval of time for which the comparison is made is a 

 multiple of a certain fraction of the period of the most rapidly 

 moving particles of the system. This is practically equivalent 

 to the statement that the transformation will be such as to evolve 

 heat, light, &c., at the highest possible rate.— Recent explora- 

 tions in the Wappinger Valley limestone of Dutchess County, 

 New York, by William B. Dwight. This paper, the fifth con- 

 tribution on the subject, deals with the discovery of fossiliferous 

 Potsdam strata in the Poughkeepsie district, New York. — 



Wind-action in Maine, by George H. Stone. Drifting sands, 

 partly of marine, partly of fresh-water deposition, are common 

 in Maine. But here two less common phases of wind-action 

 are considered, — till-burrowing, such as is frequently observed 

 in Colorado, and sand-carving, as seen in the grooves, scratches, 

 and striated polished surfaces of the boulders scattered over 

 several square miles, and already described in Hitchcock's 

 Report on the Geology of Maine (1861). — The westward exten- 

 sion of rocks of Lower Helderberg age in New York, by S. G. 

 Williams. It is shown that the Lower Helderberg period, in- 

 cluding all above the Water-lime group, is represented at least 

 as far west as Cayuga Lake by limestones not less than 65 feet 

 thick, containing an unmistakable Lower Helderberg fauna. — 

 Meteoric iron from Jenny's Creek, Wayne County, West 

 Virginia, by George F. Kunz. This specimen, picked up in 

 18S3, is octahedral, belonging to the "grobe Lamellen ' of 

 Brezina's new classification, and yielding on analysis ; iron, 91'56 ; 

 phosphorus, 0'I3; nickel and cobalt, S'3I ; — specific gravity, 

 7-344- 



The American Natiiralisl for February 1S86 contains : — On 

 the post-mortem imbibition of poisons, by Dr. George B. 

 Miller. Treats of a subject of a highly interesting character from 

 its medico-legal aspect. —Notes of an ascent of the volcano of 

 Popocatapetl, by A. S. Packard (woodcuts). The ascent 

 was made from Amecameca (a town forty miles by rail 

 from Mexico, and 8223 feet above the sea) at i p.m. ; a rancho 

 where the party stopped for the night was reached at $.\o, 

 twelve hours after the ascent proper began ; it was for two 

 hours on horselrack, and then on foot for three hours and a half. 

 While it was hard work, there were no dangers or difficulties. 

 No notes of the vegetation are given. — Notes on the CEcodomas 

 or leaf-cutting ants of Trinidad, by C. Brest (woodcuts). — The 

 Flood-Rock explosion, by W. H. Ballou. 



March 1886 : — On the migrations of Siouan tribes, by Rev. 

 J. Owen Dorsey. — The torture of the fish-hawk, by J, Lan- 

 caster. — A study of garden lettuce, by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant. — 

 Aquatic respiration in soft-shelled turtles, by Simon H. 

 and Susanne Phelps Gage. — This is a very valuable contribution 

 to the physiology of respiration in vertebrates. By comparing 

 the free gases found in water with those in the same water after 

 a turtle had been immersed in it without access to air, it was 

 found that a turtle, weighing two pounds, in ten hours removed 

 from the water 71 milligrammes of free oxygen and added to it 

 318 milligrammes of carbon dioxide. — On a new sub-species of 

 tlie common Eastern Chipmunk (Sciuriis siriatus), by Dr. C. H. 

 Munair. — Fish remains and tracks in the Triassic rocks at Wee- 

 hawken, N.J., by O. T. Mason. 



yoitrnttl of the Russian Chemical and Physical Society, vol. 

 xviii. fasc. i. — On the influence of contact on the course of 

 chemical transformations, by Prof D. G. Mendeleeff. — On the 

 specific gravity of aqueous and alcoholic solutions of mercuric 

 chloride, by J. Schreder. — Thermic data for the group of aro- 

 matic compounds, by Werner. The thermic effects at;company- 

 ing the neutralisation and dissolution of di- and tri-oxybenzoic 

 acids and di- and tri-phenols are determined and verified. — On 

 tire action of the tri-carbonate of potassium on salts of nickel 

 and cobalt, by F. P. Rosenblatt. This reaction is proposed as 

 a new method of separation of the above metals and of their 

 (jualitative determination also. — On the action of sulphuric acid 

 on oleic acid, by M. Sabaneyeff. Important for dyeing industry ; 

 the literature on the subject is given. — On azocumol, by 

 Pospekoff ; and on one of the xylidines, by E. Wroblewski. — 

 On the heating of the glass of condensators in consequence of 

 the alternative electrisation, by M. J. Borhman. The author 

 comes to the conclusion that the heating of the glass in conse- 

 quence of the rapid successive charges and discharges is very 

 nearly proportional to the square of difference of potentials of the 

 charges. — On the demonstration of the second Kirchhoff's 

 theorem concerning the ramification of electric currents, by J. 

 Borhman. — On the geometrical demonstration of the conditions 

 of minimum declination of a ray in the prism, by V. 

 Lermontoff. 



Bulletins de la Sociili d' Anthropologie de Paris, tome viii., 

 fasc. 3.— Sequel to M. Verrier's paper on the various modes 

 of delivery practised among the women of civilised and savage 

 nations. — Report of M. Hovelacque's address at the third meet- 

 ing of the Transformist Conference, on the evolution of lan- 

 guage. Tliis treatise cannot be commended on the score of 

 originality or profoundness of knowledge, or even as contri- 



