January 9. 1908] 



NA TURE 



239 



amine in which the hydrogen of the a-position adjacent to 

 the amino-group had been substituted by a halogen, either 

 Reed's dinaphthacridine or a meso-derivative thereof was 

 formed, thus completing the proof that this base has the 

 constitution assigned to it. — Cobaltamine compounds (pre- 

 liminary note) : C. E. Croves. Carycino-cobahamine 

 carbonate is produced wlien freshly precipitated cobalt 

 carbonate suspended in dilute ammonia is agitated with 

 air and then exposed to the air for three or four days, in 

 the form of bright crimson crystals. When the crimson 

 carbonate is treated with excess of nitro-hydrochloric acid 

 it is ultimately converted into " bluish-black " crystals. A 

 bronze-green nitrate is prepared by gradually adding a 

 solution of cobalt nitrate in dilute nitric acid to a mixture 

 of dilute ammonia with a solution of ammonium per- 

 sulphate, and, after it is thoroughly oxidised by shaking 

 it with air, acidifying the mixture with dilute nitric acid. 

 The bronze-green hydrochloride is easily obtained from the 

 nitrate by heating the latter with dilute hydrochloric acid. 

 .■X grass-green compound obtained from purpureo-cobaltic 

 chloride is also described. — The direct interaction of aryl 

 halides and magnesium : J. F. Spencsr and Miss E. M. 

 Stokes. The authors find that the Grignard reaction 

 between cyclic halogen compounds and magnesium powder 

 takes place without the use of ether when the two sub- 

 stances are heated together. In the case of aliphatic 

 compounds, methyl iodide, methylene iodide, and iso- 

 propyl iodide were indifferent, but bromosuccinic acid gave 

 succinic acid. — Derivatives of tetramethyl glucose: J. C. 

 Irvine and Miss A. M. Moodie. The constitution of 

 tetramethyl glucoseoxime, deduced from its behaviour on 

 alkylation and the hydrolysis of the product, shows that 

 it is produced by the reaction of the sugar in its 7-oxidic 

 forms, and this also seems to be the case with tetramethyl 

 glucoseanilide. It was found that the silver oxide method 

 of alkylation can be applied to the methylation of oximes, 

 thus furnishing a convenient method of determining the 

 hydroxyl content of such compounds. — The characterisation 

 of mercerised cotton. Preliminary note : J. Hubner. 

 After treatment with iodine in potassium iodide, mercerised 

 cotton becomes brownish-black, whilst cotton remains 

 white. Similarly, non-mercerised cotton remains prac- 

 tically white, whilst the mercerised material becomes dark 

 navy-blue on treatment with iodine in zinc chloride solu- 

 tion. — Note on the action of metallic calcium on alcohols : 

 F. M. Perkin and L. Pratt. The statement that metallic 

 calcium has no action on alcohol is inaccurate. With 

 ethyl or methyl alcohol, after from thirty to sixty minutes, 

 reaction ensues, and may become very vigorous, a calcium 

 alkyloxide being formed. — Note on the iodatcs and pcrio- 

 dates of the alkalis and the ammonium radicle : T. V. 

 Barker. Specific gravity and solubility determinations of 

 the iodates of rubidium and caesium, and the periodates of 

 sodium, potassium, rubidium, ca?sium, and ammonium, are 

 given. — The colour of cupric salts in aqueous solution : 

 N. y. Sidgrwick and H. T. Tizard. From the results 

 obtained, it seems probable that ionisation affects the 

 intensity of the colour but not the tint. — Derivatives of 

 S-phenylphenazothionium, part i. : S. Smiles and T. P. 

 Hilditch. — A colorimetric method for the determination of 

 small percentages of iron in copper alloys : A. W. 

 Gregory. The method is based upon the colour reaction 

 given by salicylic acid and ferric chloride. The interfering 

 action of the blue copper salts is overcome bv the addition 

 of a weak solution of potassium cyanide. Zinc and 

 antimony do not interfere with the reaction, but lead 

 must be removed as sulphate. — The effect of heat on the 

 alkyl iodides : Z. Kahan. — The influence of acids and 

 alkalis on the velocity of formation of acetoxinie : E. 

 Barrett and .\. Lapworth. — .Action of metallic calcium 

 on ketones : H. D. Law and F. M. ?erkin. — The so- 

 c.nlled " tetrabromodiphennquinone " and the constitution 

 of r(T?rulignone : J. Moir. — \ note on certain pvrogenic 

 reactions : \. T. M. Wilsmore and A. W. Stewart. 



Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, December 17, 1907.— Prof. G. H. 

 Carpenter in the chair. — The separation and quantitative 

 spectra of cerium, lanthanum, and yttrium : Dr. J. H. 

 Pollok and A. G. G. Leonard. — The quantitative spectra 

 of molybdenum, tungsten, thorium, and zirconium : 



NO. 1993, VOL. ']^'\ 



\. G. G. Leonard. These two papers are in continua- 

 tion of the authors' joint work on the quantitative spectra 

 of the elements, undertaken to facilitate the use of the 

 spectroscope in its application to ordinary chemical 

 analysis. A reproduction of the spectrum of each element 

 was given, together with a table of the wave-lengths of 

 the most persistent lines, Greek letters being added to 

 indicate the order of disappearance of the lines as the 

 quantity of the element present diminished. In the first 

 paper an account was given of the method of separating 

 the rare metals of the cerite group. 



Royal Irish Academy, November 30, 1907. — Dr. F. A. 

 Tarleton, president, in the chair. — The dynamics of a 

 rigid electron : Prof. A. W. Conway. A rigid electrified 

 system of any shape is in general motion. A direct 

 calculation is made in a series of approximations of the 

 resultant force and couple due to the internal electric 

 forces. To the first approximation the motion is formally 

 the same as that of a general body moving in a liquid, 

 to the second the motion is found to be aided by a force 

 proportional to the rate of change of the acceleration and 

 independent of the shape. This leads to the ordinary ex- 

 pression for the radiated energy. The third approxima- 

 tion introduces the " transverse " masses. It is shown 

 that the usual expressions for electromagnetic mass be- 

 come correct if we neglect powers and differential 

 coefficients of the acceleration beyond the first. 



December 9, 1907. — Dr. F. A. Tarleton, president, in 

 the chair. — Presidential address on the relation of mathe- 

 matics to physical science : Dr. Tarleton. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, December 30, 1907. — M. H. 



Becquerel in the chair. — Grafting in plants containing 

 hydrocyanic acid : L. Guignard. The question as to 

 whether chemical substances secreted by the plant can 

 pass into the graft, or vice versa, has been much contested. 

 The author has grafted a plant producing a hydrocyanic 

 glucoside on to another plant totally free from this com- 

 pound, and inversely ; in neither case was there any trans- 

 port of the glucoside from the graft or the plant. In- 

 the artificial symbiosis produced by grafting, each species 

 preserves its chemical ch.aracteristics and its autonomy. — 

 Some examples of a collective reasoning in bees : Gaston 

 Bonnier. A description of some interesting experiments 

 proving the discipline and division of labour among bees. 

 — The recent determinations of the volume of the kilo- 

 gram of water : Ren6 Benoit. A resume of the work done 

 at the Bureau international des Poids et Mesures by the 

 method of contact, and methods based on the phenomena 

 of interference. The mean of the whole of the experi- 

 ments is that a kilogram of pure water, at its maximum 

 density and under a pressure of 760 mm., measures 

 1-000028 cubic decimetres, with an uncertainty of about 

 two units in the last figure. — Tables of Uranus and 

 Neptune by Le Verrier. Rectification of the analytical 

 theory : some new tables : A. Gaillot. The method 

 followed in this re-calculation was that of Le Verrier, 

 making use of the rectified values for the masses and 

 elements of the orbits. A comparison of the calculated 

 and observed positions furnishes no indication of the in- 

 fluence of any possible planet beyond the orbit of Neptune. 

 — The theory of the moon : H. Andoyer. — Vectorial 

 differential invariants and the theory of binary forms : E. 

 Waeisch. — The decomposition of a number into a sum of 

 eighth powers of integers : Edmond Maillet. — The equa- 



dh dz 

 tion _-„==.-: E. Holmgren. — The definition of the area 



ex- cy 

 of a portion of a curved surface : E. Cartan. — Inverse 

 functions of integral functions : Pierre Boutroux. — The 

 statics of the deformable line : Eugene and Francois 

 Cosserat. — The variations of the absorption bands of 

 didyniium and erbium salts in a magnetic field : Jean 

 Becquerel. — The spectrophotometry, viscosimetry, and 

 electric signs of solutions : Charles Henry. — The specific 

 heat and molecular field of ferromagnetic substances ; 

 Pierre Weiss. The hypothesis of the molecular field gives 

 a quantitative explanation of the anomalies of the specific 

 heats of ferromagnetic substances. — The electrolytic reduc- 

 tion of indigo : Henri Chaumat. The negative electrode 



