432 



NA TURE 



[March 5. 1908 



— On the Nature of the 

 Milner.— The Relation 

 nd the Surface Presiure 



Prof 



Ma 



FRIDAY, Mar 

 9.— The Figure 



ROVAL iNSTITUTtOK 



Prof. Love. 

 Institution of Civil Engixeebs. 

 Branch of the Grand Trunlc Pacifi' 

 British Practice in Railway Sur\'ey 



nd Co 



of the Earth : 



crvstais. melting at 56° C. and boiling at i8q°-5 C. under 

 774 mm. Us vapour density is normal. The heat of 

 formation has also been determined. — The essentially 

 chemical cause? of the allotropic transformation of white 

 phosphorus dissolved in essence of turpentine ; .Albert 

 Colson. — .\n isomeric modification of hydrated hypovanadic 

 acid : Gustave Gain. The acid V„0.,,2H.O exists in two 

 forms, one green and the other rose colour. The change 

 from one of these isomers to the other is accompanied by 

 a thermal change, and this has been measured in the 

 calorimeter. — Lutecium and neoytterbium : G. Urbain. 

 The fact that Marignac's ytterbium can be separated into 

 two elements differing in atomic weight by more than 

 three units was briefly described by the author three months 

 ago. The present communication contains fuller details of 

 the methods and results. These results have been con- 

 firmed by Auer von Welsbach, who has described the two 

 elements thus separated under the names of aldebaranium 

 and cassiopeium. The former of these is identical with 

 lutecium, and the latter with neoytterbium. — The action 

 of sulphosalicylic acid upon borax : L. Barthe. — The j 

 action of nascent hypoiodous acid (iodine and sodium j 

 carbonate) upon some acids of the general formula 



R— cn=cir— CH,,— co.,H, 



R being the phenyl group more or less substituted : J- 

 Bougault. The product of this action is an acid of the 

 general formula R— CO— CH = CH— CO,H.— Antiamylasic 

 serum : C. Gessard and J. Wolff. Quantitative studies 

 on an enzyme preventing the action of malt extract upon 

 starch. — The action of amylase of the pancreatic juice and | 

 its stimulation bv the gastric juice : H. Bierry. — Note on 

 the existence of products of cellular degenerescence re- ' 

 calling Negri's bodies : Y. Manouelian. — The measure- 

 ment of the ventricular wave in man : Gabriel Arthaud. 

 — The fixation, multiplication, and mode of attack of 

 pathogenic trvpanosomes in the proboscis of the tsetse- 

 fly : E. Roubaud. — The genus Doliocystis : L. Braail.— 

 Stratigraphical researches in eastern Morocco : Louis 

 Gentil. — Primary strata of Morvan and the Loire : Albert 

 Michel-Levy. — ^The extension of the Oligocene depressions 

 in a part of the central massif, and their role from the 

 hydrological point of view : Ph. Glang;eaud. — New re- 

 searches on the rare gases of thermal springs. Yields of 

 gas in certain cases : Charles Moureu and Robert 

 Biquard. The gases from nine springs have been ex- 

 amined. The proportions of the rare gases, taken 

 together, vary from 1-24 per cent, to 6-39 per cent., the 

 helium from 0097 per cent, to 534 per cent. The total 

 quantity of helium thus obtainable is very large, a spring 

 at Bourbon-Nancv giving 10,000 litres per annum. The 

 helium was separated by means of charcoal at the tempera- 

 ture of liquid air boiling under reduced pressure, and con- 

 tained only a trace of neon as impurity. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSnAV. Makch -,- 

 RovAL SociETv, at 4.:|o.-On the Atomic Weight of Radium: Dr. T. E, 



Thorpe, C.E., F.R..S.— On the Electrical Resistance of Moving Matt. 



Prof. F. T. Trouton, F.R.S.. and .\. O. Rankin 



Streamers in the Electric Spark: Dr S. R. 



between Wind Velocity at 1000 Metres .Altitude 



Distribution : E. Gold. 

 RovAL Ini;titution, at 3.— Early British History and Epigraphy 



John Rhys. 

 Chemical Societv, at S.30.— The Solubility of Iodine in Water 



Hartley and N. P. Campbell. — Traces of a New Tin-group EIem< 



Thorianite : Miss C- de B. Evans. 

 Institution- of Electrical Engineers, at S.— Fu 



A. Schwartz and W. H. N. James. 

 I.innean Society, at 8.— On the Morphology of Stigmana in Compansoi 



with Recent Lycopodiacex : Prof. F. E. Weiss.— On Trkhoiiiscoide. 



nlbid%is:mi\ T. sarsi : Alexander Patience.— /;.i-///i//j- : Fruit Destroyin( 



Flies: W W. Froggatt. — Mimicry in the Common Sole: Dr. \. T 



8.— Surveying on Thunder Bay 

 ailway, Canada: R. V. Morris.— 

 W. Graham. — Railway .Surveying 

 Britain : W. C. Crawford. 

 Geologists' Association, at 8. — The After-history of the West Indian 

 Eruptions of 1902 : Dr. Tempest Anderson. #1- ,^ 



SA TURD A y March 7. 

 RoVAL Institution, at 3. — Electric Discharge"^ through Gase.s : Prof I. J. 

 Thomson, F R.S. 



:\IONDAY, March 9 

 RiiVAL Society of Arts, at 8.— Fuel and its Future : Prof. Vivian B. 



Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — Exploration in Southern 

 Nigeria : Lieut. E. A. Steel. 



TUESDAY, March 10. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— Membranes : Their Structure, Uses and 

 Products : Prof. W. Stirling. 



Roy.ai. Antiirotoi.ogical Institute, at 8.I5.-The Origin ofthe Crescent 

 a;; _a_Muhammadan Badge: Prof. W. Ridgeway.— Some Prehistoric Anti- 

 quities in Central France: A. L. Lewis. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at i.— Further discussion : The New 

 York Rapid-transit Subway : W. B. Parsons. 



WEDNESDAY, March ii. 



Rr.vAi. Society of Arts, at 8.— The Use of Reinforced Concrete in 

 Engineering and .'Vrchitectural Construction in America : Ernest R. 

 Matthews. 



RoVAL Meteokological Society, at 7.30. — Lecture on the Dawn of 

 Meteorology: Dr. G. Hellmann. 



THURSDAY, March 12. 



RoVAl. Society, ^X. ^.-1,0.— Probable /"a/fri;— Description ofthe Brain of 

 Mr. Charles Babbage, F.R S. : Sir Victor Horsley, F.R S.— The Origin 

 and Destiny of Cholesterol in the Animal Organism. Part II., The 

 E.\cretion of Cholesterol by the Dog : C. Doric and J. A. Gardner.— 

 On Reciprocal Innervation in Vasomotor Reflexes and the .\ction of 

 Strychnine and of Chloroform 1 hereon : Dr. W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S.— 

 Bacteria as Agents in the Oxidation of Amorphous Carbon : Prof. M. C. 

 Poller. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— Early British History and Epigraphy: Sir 

 John Rhys. 



RovAL Society op Arts, at 4.30.— Progress in the Native States of India 

 during the past Forty Years : Sir David W. K. Barr, K CS I. 



IMathematical Society, at 5.^0. — On the Projective Geomeiry of some 

 Covariants of a Binary Quintic : Prof. E. B. Elliott.— On the Inequalities 

 connecting the Double and Repeated Upper and Lower Integrals of a 

 Function of Two Variables: Dr. W. H. Young.— CJn the Operational 

 Expression of Taylor's Theorem : W. F. Sheppard.— .\ Proof of a "Theorem 

 of Fermat's : Dr. H. A. P. de S. Pittard. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — America Re-visited, 1907 : 

 Sir W. H. Preece, K.C.B.. F.R.S. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Evolution of Astronomical Instruments . . . 409 



Nature and Nurture of the Child. By T. P. N. . . 410 

 Our Book Shelf: — 



Walker: " The Essentials of Cytology."— J. B. F. . 410 



Bolduan : " Immune Sera" 411 



Rainbow : " A Guide to the Study of Australian 



Butterflies."— W. F. K 411 



Polak : " The Theory and Practice of Perspective 



Drawing" 411 



Popplewell : " Strength of Materials" 412 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Lithium in Radio-active Minerals. — Sir W. Ramsay, 



K.C.B., F.R.S 412 



Formalion of Ground-ice. — Prof. H. T. Barnes . 412 



The Possibility of Life on Mars.— Dr. J. W. Evans 413 

 A Fundamental Contradiction between the Electrical 

 Theory of Dispersion and the Phenomena of 



Spectrum-series. — Dr. G. A. Schott 4:3 



Notes on Ancient British Monuments. VI. — 

 Dolmens. (Illiis/ni/ui.) By Sir Norman Lockyer, 



K.C.B., F.R.S 414 



Experiments on Screw Propellers 416 



Notes 417 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in March 421 



Micrometer Observations of Phcebe 421 



F-phemeris for Daniel's Comet, 1907a? 421 



The Spectrum of the Aurora Borealis 421 



Sun-spot Spectra 421 



Astronomy in Wales 421 



Recent Advances in Radio-Activity. ( // 'i/li Diagram.) 



By Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S 422 



Medical Inspection of School Children 426 



Forthcoming Books of Science 427 



University and Educational Intelligence 428 



Societies and Academies 430 



Diary of Societies 432 



SlTPLEMENT. 



Physiological Stimulus and Response. By L. H. . iii 



The Stereoscope and Stereoscopic Instruments . . iv 



American Physical Geography. By J. W. G. . . . v 



Folyperiodic Functions. By G. B. M v 



Reinforced Concrete. By T. H. B vi 



The Evolution of Dress vii 



Modern Views of Electricity. By N. R. C viii 



England an Example for Germany viii 



Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony. By M. S. . ix 



The Tabernacle and the Temple x 



NO. 2001, VOL. 77] 



