6i6 



NATURE 



{Oct. 19, i ! 



Archives des Sciences Physiques d Xalurellcs, August 15. — On 

 the rotatory polarisation of quartz (second part), by L. Soret and 

 E. Sarasin. — Some new aromatic ketones obtained by molecular 

 condensation, by A. Claparede.— On the quantity of hail that 

 fell during the thunderstorms of August 21, 1881, and of July 13, 

 1788, and some words on the history of hail-preventers, by P. 

 Dufour. 



Gegenbawf 's Morphologisches Jahrbuch, 8 Bd. Heft 1, 1SS2, 

 contains: — Contributions to the morphology of the oral glands 

 in vertebrates, by P. Reichel (plate 1) — On Rhodopc veranii, 

 Koll = SitUma eligatu, M. Schultze, by Prof. Dr. L. v. Graff 

 (plate 2). This little animal, found on Ulva, at Trieste, belongs 

 not to the Gastropods, as Kolliker thought, but to a section of 

 the Rhabdocrela. — Notes on the calcareous skeleton in the 

 Madrepores, by G. v. Koch (plate 3). — Contributions to the 

 anatomy of the organs of vision in fish, by Dr. E. Berger (plates 

 4 and 5). Contains an account of researches made on one Cyclos- 

 tomous nine Sc-lacboid and nine Teleosteous fishes, and is accom- 

 panied by an account of the literature of the subject. 



Nicderldndisches Archiv fur Zoohgie, Supplement Band 1, 

 Lief. 3, 1SS2, contains a report on the sponges dredged up in the 

 Arctic Sea by the Willtm Barents, in the yeirs 1878 and 1S79, 

 by Dr. G. C. J. Vosmaer, with four plates. Vosmaer differs 

 from Sollas, though apparently without the same amount of 

 material to judge from, regarding Thenea murica/a, Bwk., as 

 the same species as 77/. wallkhi. This very excellent memoir 

 is written in good English, but as the sheets were not corrected 

 for press by the author, several very perplexing mistakes occur, 

 which are corrected in the appendix. — Report on the Echino- 

 derms of the same expedition, by Dr. C. K. Hoffman, with one 

 plate. — On the Nemertians of the expedition, by Dr. A. A. 

 \V. Hubrecht. — On the Gephyrea, by Dr. R. Horst, second 

 portion, with two plates. Stephanostoma bartntsii is described 

 as a new species. — A catalogue of the Polyzoa, by D. W. J. 

 VigelinJ, with one plate. — On the Crustacea, by Dr. P. P. C. 

 Hoek, with three plates. — List of the Mollusca, by Th. W. 

 Van Lidth de Jeude ; and list of the Birds, by Dr. H. Schlegel. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Entomological Society, October 4. — Mr. H. T. Stainton, 

 president, in the chair. — Two new Members were elected. — Mr. 

 K. McLachlan exhibited nymph-skins of Hagenius brevistylus , 

 Selys (a dragon-fly occurring in Texas). — Mr. C. O. Water- 

 house stated that the beetle exhibited at the August meeting as 

 destructive to beer-casks at Rangoon was not XyL bonis Saxesenii, 

 Ratz., but Bosttichus perforans, Woll. A discussion followed 

 as to whether wood-feeding beetles attack healthy as well as 

 unhealthy trees. — Papers read Prof. J. O. Westwood, Further 

 descriptions of iiv-ects infesting figs. — Mr. G. C. Lewis, A sup- 

 plementary note on the specific modficalions of Japanese Carabi, 

 and some observations on the mechanical action of sun-rays in 

 relation to colour during the evolution of species. 

 Paris 



Academy of Sciences, October 9. — M. Blanchard in the 

 chair. — M. Dumas communicated the results of the labours of 

 the International Committee of Weights and Measures for 18S2. 

 The comparison of a new metre and kilogramme of iridised 

 platinum with the old French standards of platinum proved very 

 satisfactory (showing close similarity). — On a new theory of the 

 sun, by Dr. C. W. Siemens, by M. Faye. He urges that gas 

 rarefied to toVif would be, for the astronomer, a dense medium, 

 presenting much greater resistance than is observed, to celestial 

 movements. Moreover, the hypothesis adds 100000 times the 

 mass of the sun, to those masses which celestial mechanics has 

 hitherto reckoned so minutely. — On the shock of two spheres, 

 having regard to their degree of elasticity, and to the friction 

 developed on contact, by M. Ledieu. These chiefly apply to 

 the prevalent notion of electromotive forces, (total or partial) 

 and of currents. — Observations of the great comet (Cruls) 

 at Marseilles Observatory, by M. Borrelly. — Theorems on 

 the functions of an analytical point, by M. Appell. — On. 

 Fuchsian functions, by M. Poincare.— On a series for de- 

 veloping the functions of a variable, by M. Halphen. — On 

 the gravity-barometer, by M. Mascart. lie made a rough trial 

 of his in-trument in a journey to the north of Norway. He 

 finds that it is easily transportable, and that its precision is 

 apparently not less than that obtained w ith the pendulum. One 

 has merely to observe the mercury-level and the temperature, 



and the installation may be done in less than an hour in a hotel- 

 room. — Transmission of work a great distance, on an ordinary 

 telegraph-line, by M. Deprez. Between Miesbach and Munich 

 (57 km.) he used two telegraph wires of galvanised iron 4'5 mm. 

 thick. The total resistance of the circuit, including the two 

 quite similar Gramme machines (each 470 ohms) was about 19CO 

 ohms. In a first experiment, a work of 3S kgm. per second (cr 

 i a horse-power) was got directly at Munich with a velocity of 

 1500 turns a minute (the Miesbach machine giving 2200 turns). 

 More than 60 per cent, of the work expended was recovered. 

 Hravy rain fell all the time of the experiments. The receiving 

 machine fed a cascade through a centrifugal pump. The 

 heating after two hours was hardly appreciable. — Thermoscoj ic 

 method for determination of the ohm, by M. Lippmann. This 

 differs from Mr. Joule's calorimetric method in not requiring 

 measurement of the quantities of heat, nor a knowledge of the 

 mechanical equivalent of heat. After measuring the heat from 

 passage of a current of known intensity through a wire in a 

 calorimetric vessel, equal heat is developed by friction in the 

 vessel, and from the work expended, and the intensity of the 

 current, the electric re-istance may be deduced. — On the rotatory 

 polarisation of quartz, by MM. Scret and Sarasin. A new 

 method is described, which yields results closely agreeing with 

 those got before. — On experiments made to determine the com- 

 pressibility of nitrogen gas, by M. Amagat. He notes impor- 

 tant points of difference between M. Cailletet's method and h : s 

 own (which some have affirmed to be quite similar), shows that 

 the curves obtained are quite different, and contends for the 

 greater accuracy of his ow n results. • — On some combinations of 

 bisulphide and biselenide of tin, by M. I'itte. — On the ferment- 

 ation of nitrates, by MM. Gayon and Dupetit. Their experi- 

 ments confirm the hypothesis that the reduction of nitrates, as 

 well as nitrification, is a physiological phenomenon. Thus, in 

 sewage water containing a little nitrate of potash, with some 

 altered urine, the nitrate disappears gradually, and the liquid is 

 filled with microscopic organisms. Chicken broth does better 

 than sewage-water. (The presence of organic matters is neces- 

 sary.) Carbolic acid and salicylic acid in antiseptic, or even 

 higher doses, not only do not hinder the life of the reducing 

 microbe, but themselves disappear completely with the nitrate. — 

 Note on the transformation of amides into amines, by M. 

 Baubigny. — On the decomposition of the tertiary acetate of amy] 

 by hear, by M. Menschutkin. — Observation of the aurora borealis 

 of October 2, 1SS2, by M. Renou. Accounts of the phenomenon 

 were received from the Park of Saint Maur, from Nantes, Evreux, 

 and Cherbourg. — M. Maumenc said that black phosphorus 

 appears nearly always in the first drops of phosphorus which 

 distil in a current of hydrogen (prepared from zinc and sulphuric 

 acid). The following drops are colourless and destroy the 

 colour of the first by liquefying them and mixing with them. 

 COo does not give the phenomenon. 



CONTENTS p..c» 



TheBurman. By Dr. E. B. Tylor, F.R.S 593 



Pkof. Strasburger's Recent Researches. By Sydney H. Vines 595 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



The Behaviour of Sulphate of Lead in a Secondary Barren - -— Prof. 



Oliver J. Lodge 596 



On rhe Conservation of Solar Radiation.— G. B. S. ; Dr. C. W. 



Siemens. F.R.S 597 



The Great C met and Schmidt's Comer.— WentWORTH Erck . . 597 



The B A. Unir.— R. T. Glazebrook 597 



The African Rivers and Meteorology.— Prof. J. P. t i'Reilly . . 597 

 A " Natural" Experiment in Complementary Col .urs —Walter 



R. Browne 597 



Ventilation of Small Houses.— A. H 597 



On the Proposed Forth Bridge (With Diagrams) 598 



The Late Dr. van Monckhovkn 601 



'1 hi; Chemistry of the Plante and Faurb Accumulators. By 



Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S.. and Dr. Alfred Tribe, F.R.S.. . 603 

 Reflections on Reading "Degeneration": an Essay ty 



E. R. L.. F.R.S 603 



Illustrations op New and Rare Animals in the Zoological 



Society's Collection. IX 603 



The Rot in Sheet, or the Life-History of the Liver-Fluke. 



Ey A. P. Thomas 606 



A NewCaseofCommensalism <5o8 



TheComet. By A. Ricco (With Illustrations) 609 



Notes • 611 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Observatory ar Chicago "3 



Comer 1882* (Finlay. Septembers) 614 



Chemical Notes 5 14 



Geographical Notes «"4 



University and Educational Intelligence 015 



Scientific Serials 015 



Societies and Academies °»<5 



