January i6, 1908J 



NATURE 



263 



The palate is very dolicho-uranic. The thickness of the 

 liontal bone, measured on one side of the crista galli, is 

 24 mm. The prognathism of the upper jaw, in whatever 

 way measured, is extremely small, so that the skull must 

 bi' classed as orthognathous. 



The cranial capacity,' is estimated at 1250 c.c, a close 

 approach to that of the Ncandertal calotte. The average 

 capacity of South Australian skulls is very similar, but 

 ranges from 1460 c.c. to iioo c.c. If the calotte of 

 Pithecanthropus represents the mean of a similarly variable 

 race, then the extreme forms of such a race would almost 

 completely bridge over ihc hiatus between man and the 

 higher apes. 



Society of Chemical Industry, Tanuary 6. — Dr. J. 



Lewkowitsch in the cliair. — Some observations on the 

 keeping power of Fchling's solution, together with notes 

 on the volumetric process of determining reducing sugars 

 ■with it : Dr. Francis Watts and H. A. Tempany. The 

 authors point out that, contrary to the commonly expressed 

 Idea, Fehling's solution, or at least Violette's modification 

 of it, is not liable to deteriorate rapidly if kept in (he 

 dark, and if access of air is prevented. The solution can 

 thus be kept mixed ready for use for many months, and it 

 is not necessary to keep the stock in the form of two 

 solutions to be mi.xed as required. — The determinations of 

 small quantities of bismuth : H. \V. Rowell. Methods of 

 separation suitable for ores, copper, and base bullion are 

 given which eventually precipitate the bismuth, together 

 with various impurities which do not affect the subsequent 

 colorimetric estimation, but aid in the collection of the 

 bismuth. The colour tost depends upon the solubility of 

 bismuth iodide in excess of potassium iodide producing a 

 yellow colour. The test is very delicate, and the amount 

 of bismuth in copper or base bullion may be determined 

 within five hours. 



Mathematical Society. Tanuary 9.— P. of. W. Burnside, 

 president, in tlie chair. — Tlie distinctive character of Lord 

 Kelvin's mathematical investigations ; Prof. K. E. H. 

 Love. — \ formula of interpolation : C. S. Jackson. — 

 Hubert's invariant integral in the calcijlus of variations : 

 T. J. V\. Bromw/ich. — -\ii operator related to c]-series : 

 Rev. F. H. Jackson. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, lanuary 6. — M. Henri Becquerel 



in the chair. — Report presented in the name of the section 

 of geography and navigation concerning a subject put 

 forward by the Geographical Society of Paris relating to 

 ineteorological telegrams from Iceland : Bouquet de la 

 Grye. — The transformations of the comet 1907^ : Ernest 

 Esclangron. The variations in the form of the comet 

 on approaching perihelion were studied under very favour- 

 able conditions of weather and atmosphere, and are illus- 

 trated by six diagraftis. — The use of flames .as valves for 

 alternating high-tension currents : .■Xndr^ Cathiard. 

 When two electrodes, one of which has a verv small 

 section compared to the other, are placed in a flame and 

 in a high-tension (2000 volts to 10,000 volts) circuit, a 

 small continuous current passes, a sort of faintly luminous 

 arc being produced in the flaine. In the experiments 

 described, the frequency was forty per second, and a 

 current was obtained, not exceeding 003 ampere, capable 

 of producing galvanic deposits. The nature of the current 

 has not yet been studied with the oscillograph. — Contribu- 

 tion to the study of the formation of certain precious 

 stones of crystallised .Tlutiiina : F. Bordas. Exposure to 

 a temperature of 300° C. for a long time causes the yellow 

 colour of both natural (Oriental topaz) and artificial 

 yellow corundums to disappear. The Oriental emerald, a 

 very rare stone, can be produced by starting with a 

 sapphire-blue stone and subjecting it to the above tempera- 

 ture for a certain time. Further experiments with the 

 Icathode rays, analogous to the /3-radium rays, do not 

 cause colourless corundums to pass to yellow, and the 

 yellow stones are not affected. — The harmonics of a 

 vibrating body : G. Sizes and G. Massol. — Some new 

 Tiomologues of diglycollic acid : E. Jiing^fleisch and M. 

 Godchot. — The mechanism of the transpositions of the 

 phenyl group in the iodohydrins and aromatic glycols : 

 Marc Tiffeneau. .Although the mechanism of the trans- 



NO. 1994, VOL. 77I 



positions of iodohydrins of the type Ar(R)C(OH).CHI.R 

 is definitely established, the interpretation of the 

 mechanism of the transpositions of the aromatic glycols 

 by the formation of diethylene oxides can only be con- 

 sidered as provisional. — The structure of the fundamental 

 substance of hyaline cartilage : Ed. Rettersr. From the 

 morphological and structural point of view, the funda- 

 mental substance of hyaline cartilage is identical with 

 bone substance. It represents, in fact, only the second 

 stage of evolution of the cytoplasma of the cartilaginous 

 cell. — The development and structure of the spores of 

 Thelohania Giardi : L. Mercier. — The existence of six 

 branchial arches and six aortic arches in the embryo of 

 the .inole : A. Soulie and C. Bonne. — The fertilisation 

 and development of the eggs in lihopalura ophiocomae : 

 Maurice Caullery and Alphonse Lavallee. The egg 

 evolves into an embryo with perfectly individualised cells, 

 and having none of the plasmodial structure of the ulterior 

 parasitic stages. Ten figures of the egg in different stages 

 of development accompany the paper. — Prolonged anaes- 

 thesia by mi.xtures of oxygen and ethyl chloride : Pierre 

 Rosenthal and Albert Berthelot. The authors have been 

 able to prolong the ana?thcsia due to ethyl chloride by 

 administering it mixed with o.xygen. In experiments with 

 animals, a true anaesthesia lasting an hour was obtained, 

 the subject going under very rapidly, the narcosis quiet, 

 and recovery prompt. They hope to be able to apply the 

 method to huinan subjects, more especially as this 

 anaesthetic has the great advantage of not causing the 

 after effects of ether and chloroform. — The slow action 

 of chlorinated products derived from bacilli : MM. Moussu 

 and Goupil. — The value of the magnetic elements at the 

 Observatory of Val-Joyeux on January i, iqoS : Th. 

 Moureaux. — The study of a series of specimens of sea- 

 water collected in the English Channel : A. Chevallier. 

 Determinations were made of the density, temperature at 

 the time of collection, chlorine, and sulphuric acid. A 

 curve is given showing the difference of density as 

 ordinates, and the distance from Dieppe as abscissa?. 



New South W.\les. 



Royal Society, October 2, 1907. — Mr. H. Deane, 

 president, in the chair. — Law of meteorological pheno- 

 mena : A. G. Williams. — A simple form of Sprengel 

 vacuum pump : Prof. J. A. Pollock. A modified short- 

 fall Sprengel vacuum pump of moderate dimensions is 

 described, in which the raising of the mercury, necessary 

 for continuous working, is effected by evaporating the 

 mercury at a lower and condensing it at a higher level. — 

 Note on the internal structure of some gold crystals : Prof. 

 A. Liversidge. The author exhibited sections of isolated 

 crystals and groups of gold crystals, mainly octahcdra and 

 rhombic dodecahedra, and photographs of the same before 

 and after cutting. The simple faces on polishing and 

 etching showed that the internal structure did not corre- 

 spond with the external ; e.g. in one case the rhombic 

 planes of an externally simple dodecahedron were found to 

 be made up of two triangular faces ; on these triangles there 

 were also faces of smaller crystals. Some showed a still 

 more complex structure. 



November 6, 1907. — Mr. H. A. Lenehan, vice-president, 

 in the chair. — Notes on the Arranda tribe : R. H. 

 Mathews. — .\ short, accurate method for the estimation 

 of iron, alumina, and phosphoric acid when occurring 

 together : Dr. T. Cooksey. When iron, alumina, and 

 phosphoric acid occur together the iron is estimated by a 

 volumetric process (as, for instance, by means of potassic 

 iodide and thiosulphate of soda) ; the phosphates of the 

 two metals are weighed, and the phosphoric acid in filtrate 

 estimated, as previously described. These data are 

 sufficient for the determination of all three quantities. The 

 method is short and very accurate. — Note on the formation 

 of formaldehyde in solutions of cane sugar, and its bear- 

 ing on Hehner's test for formaldehyde in saccharine 

 mixtures : A. A. Ramsay. The author directs attention 

 to the production of formaldehyde when cane sugar and 

 water are heated at a temperature below that at 

 which raramelisation might take place. This fact ex- 

 plains how a reaction for formaldehyde by the Hehner 

 test (which is one generally used, and particularly 

 delicate) may be obtained from manufactured products 



