March 5, 190S] 



X.4 TURE 



431 



eighth of the series on the results obtained by the Duke 

 of Bedford's zoological exploration in eastern Asia. No 

 properly collected material from the Mongolian plateau had 

 been previously available to students, and these specimens, 

 representatives of its comparatively poor fauna, were there- 

 fore of much interest. — Butterflies of the division Rhopalo- 

 eera from Africa and from New Guinea : G. T. Bethune- 

 Baker. 



Chemical Society, February 20. — Sir William Kani'say, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Organic deriva- 

 tives of silicon, part vi., the optically active sulphobenzyl- 

 ethylpropylsilicyl oxides : F. S. Kipping^. The sulphonic 

 acids obtained by resolving d2-sulphobenzylethylpropyl- 

 silicyl oxide have been further studied, and the two acids 

 are shown to be optically active, enantiomorphously related 

 compounds having the constitution 



(S03H.CH,.C,H^.SiEtPr)jO. 



— The preparation of conductivity water : H. Hartley, 

 N. P. Campbell, and R. H. Poole. A still has been 

 constructed which in one operation gives a fair yield of 

 water with a conductivity 075 gemmho at 18°, starting 

 from ordinary distilled water with a conductivity of 

 5 gemmhos. — Derivatives of /jora-diazoiminobenzene : 

 G. T. Morgan and Miss F. M. G. Micklethwait.--The 

 affinitv constants of bases as determined by the aid of 

 methyl-orange ; ^^ H. Veley. Results were given for the 

 hydrochlorides of (i) bases not containing an alkyl group- 

 ing ; (2) aliphatic amines ; (3) amino-acetic acids ; and 

 (4) uric acid derivatives. — The action of thionyl chloride 

 and of phosphorus pentachloride on the methylene ethers 

 of catechol derivatives : G. Barger. — .\ study of the diazo- 

 reaction in the diphenyl series : G. T. Morgan and Miss 

 F. M. G. Micklethwait. The arylsulphonylbenzidines, 

 RSO,.NH.C.H,.C,H,.NH,, furnish yellow crystalline 

 diazonium salts giving rise on treatment with aqueous 

 sodium acetate to dark brown crystalline compounds, which 

 are either monohydrated nitrosoamines, 



R.SO,.NH.CjH,.C„H,.NH.NO,H,0, 



QHj.N., 

 ir dihvdrated diazoimides, I I . The 



QHj.N.SO.,R,2Hp 

 diazonium salts of the arylsulphonylalkylbenzidines, 

 RSO,.N(C,H,).C5H,.C,H,.NH,, 



although distinctly less coloured than those of the un- 

 alkylated bases, have nevertheless not been obtained in a 

 colourless condition. There is accordingly no reason for 

 supposing that the diazonium salts of the alkylated bases 

 are differently constituted from those which still contain the 

 labile acidic hydrogen atom (*). — A simple manometer for 

 vacuum distillation ; N. L. Gebhard. — Researches on the 

 anthraquinones : W. H. Bentley and C. Weizmann, The 

 condensation products of phthalic and hemipinic anhydrides 

 with veratrole and pyrogallol trimethyl ether are described. 

 — The formation of 4-pyrone compounds from acetylenic 

 acids, part i. : S. Ruhemann. — The action of mustard oils 

 on the ethyl esters of malonic and cyanoacetic acids : S. 

 Ruhemann. — The triazo-group, part ii.. azoimides of 

 propionic ester and of methyl ethyl ketone : M. O. Forster 

 and H. E. Fierz. On comparing the behaviour of the 

 o- and /3-triazo-derivatives of ethyl propionate towards 

 alkali, it was found that, whilst the first-named resembles 

 triazoacetic ester, ethyl ;8-triazopropionate rapidly parts 

 with hydrazoic acid. — Brazilin and hfematoxylin, part viii., 

 synthesis of brazilinic acid, the lactones of dihydro- 

 brazilinic and dihydrohEBniatoxylinic acids, anhydrobrazilic 

 acid, &c. The constitution of brazilin, hsematoxylin, and 

 their derivatives : W. H. Perkin, jun., and R. Robinson. 

 Further confirmation of the constitution (Proc. 1907, 

 xxiii., 291) of the members of this group is afiforded by the 

 synthesis of anhydrobrazilic acid, which has been proved 

 to possr-ss the formula 



O 



MeO 



nCH 



.^ ^C.CIT, COJI 

 CO 

 NO. 2001, VOL. 77I 



Edinburgh. 

 Royal Society, February 17. — Dr. Juhn Home, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — The systematic motion of the 

 stars : Prof. Dyson. A careful study of 1500 stars having 

 large proper motions corroborated Kapteyn's hypothesis 

 that the stars moved in two well-defined streams crossing 

 each other in space. — Preliminary note on Lepidophloios 

 Scotti, a new species from the Calciferous Sandstone series 

 at Pettycur, Burntisland : W. T. Gordon. Some of the 

 diagnostic features of this new species named after Dr. 

 D. H. Scott are : — (i) the short straight ligular canal the 

 opening of which is protected by the overlying leaf base, 

 and which opens far back from the leaf scar ; (2) a marked 

 concavity of the leaf base from half-way between the 

 opening of the ligular canal and the leaf scar to the leaf 

 scar itself ; (3) the comparatively long course of the 

 parichnos before it forks. — The middle cells of the grey 

 matter of the spinal cord : Dr. J. H. Harvey Pirie. The 

 description of the anatomical arrangement of these small 

 cells showed that Argutinski was wrong in ascribing a 

 segmented character to the group, and that the cells ex- 

 tended throughout the whole length of the cord, being 

 specially numerous in the two enlargements. — ij-Functions 

 and a certain difference operator: Rev. F. H. Jackson. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 24. — M. H. Eecquerel 

 in the chair. — M. B. Baillaud was elected a member of 

 the section of astronomy in the place of the late M. Loewy. 

 — Results of the measurements of the diameters of Mercury 

 during its transit of November 14, 1907 : Robert 

 Jonckheere. The mean diameter is q'-io, higher than 

 the figure usually accepted, 8".68. A table of results is 

 given. — Observations of the sun made at the Observatory 

 of Lyons during the fourth quarter of 1907 : J. 

 Guillaume. The results are summarised in three tables 

 showing the number of spots, the distribution of the spots 

 in latitude, and the distribution of the faculse in latitude. 

 — Researches on the dispersion of light in celestial space : 

 Charles Nordmann. From measurements on two fixed 

 stars by the photometric method previously described by 

 the author, the conclusion is drawn that light u:idergoes 

 a dispersion in space. These results can be applied to 

 give new indications of the parallax of variable stars. — 

 The congruences of plane curves : C, Popovici. — Remarks 

 on a communication of M. E. E. Levi : E. Holmgren. 

 .\ question of priority. — The singularities of differential 

 equations of the first order : Georges Remoundos. — 

 Images the appearance of which changes with a projection 

 screen ruled as a grating : E. Estanave. — The influence 

 of bunlight on the disengagement and on the orientation 

 of the gaseous molecules in solution in sea-water : Raphael 

 Dubois. If test-tubes containing various coloured solu- 

 tions are plunged into sea-water and the whole exposed to 

 the sun, it is noticed that bubbles of gas are deposited 

 on the outside wall of the tube. If the solution in the 

 tube is green, the evolution of gas, which is rich in 

 oxygen, is much greater than with the other colours. 

 That this is not due to the selective absorption of calorific 

 radiations was shown by substituting water charged with 

 carbon dioxide for the aerated sea-water ; the increased 

 effect with the green tube was not observed. — The curves 

 of induced radio-activity obtained by MM. Sarasin and 

 Tommasina : J. Danne. -An explanation of the results of 

 these authors, by considering the distribution of the field 

 in the different parts of the measuring apparatus. — The 

 method of working of the electrolytic detector : the in- 

 fluence of temperature : Henri Abraham. The change in 

 capacity and resistance of the electrolytic detector caused 

 by raising the temperature to 120° C. gives several 

 advantages in practical working. — The atomic weights of 

 nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon ; A. Leduc. The Inter- 

 national Committee on .■\tomic Weights has now lowered 

 the atomic weight of nitrogen from 14-044 to 14-01. Using 

 this figure and the ratio of the densities of carbon mon- 

 oxide and nitrogen, as determined experimentally by Lord 

 Rayleigh and by the author, it is shown that the atomic 

 weight of carbon must lie between 12-011 and 12-016. — 

 Phosphorus o.xybromide : E. Berger. Phosphorus penta- 

 bromide heated with phosphorus pentoxide gives a good 

 vield (R:; per cent.l of phosphoryl bromide. — This forms 



