1 66 



NA TURE 



[Decembek 19, 1907 



the west side the conglomerate is bounded by the " Tapley's 

 Hill Clay-slates," and there is evidence that the con- 

 glomerate is isoclinally folded. In that portion of the 

 conglomerate adjacent to its confines, " boulders " of 

 quartzite are apparently disrupted portions of quartzite- 

 bands, since these are in alignment with the truncated 

 portions of bands still existing, and are of similar com- 

 position. The presence in the conglomerate of boulders of 

 rocks foreign to the beds that border the conglomerate is 

 not yet accounted for. 



Entomological Society, Noi^ember 20. — Mr. G. H. Verrall, 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Exliihits. — \V. West : Ex- 

 amples of Tropideres scpicola, F., taken in the New Forest 

 near Matley Bog, July 7, 1904; Oxylaemus variolosus, 

 Dufs., from Darenth Wood, March 2, 1903 ; and Apioii 

 annulipes, Wenck, from Darenth Wood, August 27, 1905. 

 — H. J. Turner : Two cases to show the complete life- 

 histories of Coleophora onosmeUa and C. bicolorella. — 

 Dr. F. A. Dixey : .Several species of five African genera 

 of Pierine butterflies for the purpose of showing the strong 

 mimetic parallelism that existed between them. — W. 

 Gardner : A remarkably small specimen of Meloe pro- 

 scarahaeus, with an example of the normal size. — W. G. 

 Sheldon : A case containing many examples of Araschnia 

 levaiia, var. prorsa, and intermediates, bred from larva; 

 found in the department of the Aisne, France, in June last. 

 — Dr. T. A. Chapman : Specimens of Araschnia levana, 

 type, bred 1907, to give a fuller view of this form in assist- 

 ance to Mr. Sheldon's report. — Mr. Sheldon also showed 

 strings of the ova in silii on nettle, these being base to 

 apex, and in position resembling those of Polygonia 

 c-alburn. — G. Arrow : A specimen of a handsome exotic 

 cockroach (Dorylaea rhombifolia) found alive in the Natural 

 History Museum, one of an apterous species inhabiting 

 China, India, Madagascar, South .Africa, &c. — Dr. G. B. 

 Longrstaff : A case containing thirty-five Ithomiine butter- 

 flies of eleven species, belonging to six genera, taken at 

 Caraccas, Venezuela, some 3600 feet above sea-level, and 

 affording a striking exception to Darwin's principle that 

 closely allied forms are not usually found together. — Lieut. - 

 Colonel N. Manders : A collection of some 200 specimens 

 of tropical butterflies belonging to the genera Melanitis, 

 Mycalesis, .Attella, Papilio, and Catopsilia, which had been 

 subjected to abnormal degrees of temperature, mostlv in 

 the pupal stage. The object of the experiments was to 

 ascertain the effect of climate on the colours of tropical 

 butterflies. — W. J. Kaye : A convergent group of Heli- 

 conine butterflies, from the Potaro Road, Potaro River, 

 British Guiana. — Papers. — Mimicry in North American 

 butterflies of the genus Limcnitis (Basilarchia) : Prof. E. B. 

 Poulton. — The lifc-hislory of Lomecosiis stninwsa. F. : 

 H. St. J. Donisthorpe. 



Chemical Society, December 5.— Sir William Ramsay, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., president, in the chair.— The affinity 

 constants of bases determined by the agency of methyl 

 orange. Preliminary note : V. H.' Veley. The author h.is 

 applied his tintometric method to the determination of the 

 degree of hydrolysis of hydrochlorides of a large number 

 of organic bases ranging in type from hydroxylamine to 

 cinchonidine. Several results are found to be in accord- 

 ance with the expression of .\rrhcnius, ki,lt,„= (i - x)v/x\ 

 whilst. in the case of bases of analogous composition the 

 ratio of the hydrolysis values found is nearly equal to the 

 ratio of the heats of neutralisation with hydrochloric acid. 

 — The constituents of essential oil of nutmeg : F. B. 

 Power and A. H. Salway. Ceylon nutmeg oil contains 

 eugenol, I'ioeugenol, <f-pinene, d-camphene, dipcntene, 

 (J-linalool, rf-borneol, i-terpincol, geraniol, a new alcohol 

 yielding on oxidation a diketone, a citral-like aldehyde, 

 safrole, myristicin, myristic acid (free and in the forni of 

 esters), formic, acetic, butyric, and octoic acids, and a 

 new monocarboxylic acid, C.jHi.O,, all in the form of 

 esters. — The resolution of -scc-octyl alcohol : R. H. 

 PIckard and J. Kenyon. (i-scc-Octyl hydrogen phthalate 

 is obtained by fractional crystallisation of the brucine salt 

 from acetone and the /-salt" by fractional crystallisation of 

 the cinchonidine salt from aqueous acetone. — The velocity 

 of reduction of the oxides of lead, cadmium, and bismuth 

 by carbon monoxide, and the existence of the suboxides of 

 these metals : F. J. Brislee. The results o* Ihe experi- 



ments confirm Tanatar's statement that the suboxides an 

 definite chemical compounds, but do not prove their 

 stability. — The relation between unsaturation and optical 

 activity, part i., the menthyl and bornyl esters of 0-phenyl- 

 propionic, cinnamic, and phenylpropiolic acids : T. P. 

 Hilditch. The boiling points and specific gravities in- 

 crease with increase of unsaturation, but the refractive 

 indices rise with the change to an ethylenic linking, but 

 fall to an intermediate value for the further change to 

 an acetylenic linking. Walden's view that increase of 

 saturation is accompanied by increase of optical rotation 

 is confirmed so far as the change to an ethylenic linking 

 is concerned, but not with reference to the effect of a 

 triple bond on the optical rotation. — .Methyl ethers of some 

 hydroxyanthraquinones : A. G. Perkin. — The colouring 

 matters of the stilbene group, part iv., action of causlii 

 alkalis on />-nitrotoluene and its derivatives : A. G. Green, 

 A. H. Davies, and R. S. Horsfall. — The replacement of 

 alkyl radicles by methyl in substituted ammonium com- 

 pounds : H. O. Jones and J. R. Hill. The authors find 

 that in amines or quaternary ammonium compounds the 

 ethyl, propyl, I'iopropyl, butyl, i'sobutyl, and isoamyl groups 

 are all replaced by methyl, sometimes in the cold, but 

 more easily on heating with methyl iodide. — Note on the 

 formation of abnormal platinichlorides. A correction : 

 A. E. Dunstan. The three platinichlorides of the type 

 Bj.H^PtCI,^, described previously, are now found to belong 

 to a group of such substances already noted by Werner 

 and others. — The nitrates of dimethyl- and methylethyl- 

 thetine menthyl esters : S. Smiles. These were prepared 

 by precipitating aqueous solutions of the bromides with 

 aqueous ammonium nitrate. — Synthesis of brazilinic acid 

 and the lactones of dihydrobrazilinic and dihydrohsma- 

 toxylinic acids. Preliminary note : W. H. Perkin and 

 R. Robinson. Brazilinic acid is formed when trimethyl- 

 brazilin is oxidised by permanganate, and on reduction is 

 converted into the lactone of dihydrobrazilinic acid. 

 Brazilinic acid is produced synthetically by condensing 

 metamethoxyphenoxyacetic ester with iiiclahemipinic 

 anhydride, and must be represented by the following 

 formula (I.) : — 



■ „ O 

 O.CH„.CO.,H 

 MeOi' 



,/\. 



HO,' 



\CH„ 



\y\ 



\ / 



MeO MeO 



e(OH).^ 

 CH CH, 



\ / 



/ \ 



\ / 



OH OH 



NO. 1990. VOL. yy] 



From this and other syntheses it is concluded that 

 brazilin, the colouring matter of Brazil wood, must be 

 represented by the constitutional formula (II.) first 

 assigned to it bv Werner and Pfeiffer, and that ha?ma- 

 toxylin. the colouring matter of Icgwood, is derived from 

 that of brazilin by the introduction of a hydroxyl group 

 •Tt the point indicated by the asterisk in formula (IL). — 

 Condensations of ketones containing the group 



CH,.CO.CH : 

 with esters in presence of sodium ethoxide : R. W. L. 

 Clarke, A. Lapworth, and E. Wechsler. — .\cyIogens 

 and thiocarbamidcs : A. E. Dixon and J. Taylor. — Thr 

 alkyl compounds of gold : W. J. Pope and C. S. 

 Gibson. — The refractive power of diphenylhexatriene and 

 allied hydrocarbons : Miss I. Smedley. The results re- 

 corded show that in each case the refractive power of the 

 group increases with the number of unsaturated groups 

 present, and that the influence of the hexatriene structure 

 is always greater than that of the benzene ring. 



Royal Anthropological Institute, Dpcemher3. — Prof. W. 

 Gowland, ex-president, in the chair. — Some Papuan 

 children's games : Captain F. R. Barton. The game^ 

 dealt with are those played by children in British New 

 Guinea, and included fishing games, cat's cradle, hide and 

 seek, and others. Whilst the games are being played tht 

 children sing, and the songs are of particular interest, a- 

 in many cases the words are quite archaic, and the mean- 

 ing has been lost. 



