March 12, 1908] 



NA TURE 



455 



Dublin. 



Royal Dublin Society, Febmary i8. — Prof. Sydney Younji, 

 F.R.S., in ihe chair. — Spongospora Solani, Bruncii. : Prof. 

 T. Johnson. The author gave an account of a scab 

 which he found last summer doing much harm to the 

 potato crop along the west coast of Ireland. The scab 

 is caused by Spongospora Solani, Brunch., a slime-fungus 

 allied to Plasmodiophora. The author describes the 

 j^ermination of the spores, as well as the resting Plas- 

 modium, and concludes that Spongospora agrees in its 

 mode of reproduction with Ceratiomyxa, as described bv 

 Jahn, not with the other Myxomycetes. The author had 

 the opportunity, through the kindness of Colonel Prain, 

 F.R.S., the director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, of ex- 

 amining the spore-balls of Sorosporium scabies (Berl<.). 

 Fisch. d. Wald., which agree with those of Spongospora 

 Solani. He expresses the opinion that S. scabies may 

 prove to be, not a member of Ustilaginaceae, but identical 

 with Spongospora Solani, a slime-fungus. — The radium 

 content of deep-sea sediments : Prof. J. Joly. The paper 

 is a record of experiments on material kindly supplied by 

 Sir John Murray, F.R.S. The quantity of radium is found 

 to increase with distance from land, the 'Central Pacific 

 oozes {Radiolarian ooze and Red Clay) rising above 

 50x10-'- grams radium per gram. Manganese nodules, 

 f'.lobigerina ooze, and Blue Mud were also examined. The 

 Blue Mud is poorer in radium tlian many terrestrial sedi- 

 ments. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, March 2. — M. H. Becquerel in 

 the cliair. — -Some phosphorescence spectra : Henri Bec- 

 querel. .\ comparison of the phosphorescent and flame 

 spectra of various specimens of fluor-spar, apatite, and 

 scheelite from different localities. The bands cannot be 

 wholly attributed to the traces of rare earths present in 

 these minerals. — Reversible photographs : G. Lippmann (see 

 p. 452). — Machines for driving away hail : J. Violle. So far 

 as can be settled by direct experiments, a single detonation 

 is practically without effect on a storm cloud. The effects 

 of volleys from a large number of hail cannon seem to be 

 capricious ; a violent storm is practically unaffected by 

 Ihem, but a slowly moving cloud approaching the district 

 by a known path may be diverted successfully. — Lithium 

 in active minerals : Sir William Ramsay and .Alex. 

 Cameron. Referring to the results of Prof. McCov and of 

 Mile. Gleditsch on the presence of lithium in certain radio- 

 active minerals, it is pointed out that lithium is not re- 

 garded as the sole product of change when copper salts 

 iu'e treated with the radium emanation ; other members 

 of the alkali group may also be produced (see N.ature, 

 March 5, p. 412). — The direct hydrogenation of the aromatic 

 t|uinones : Paul Sabatier and A. Mailhe. With reduced 

 nickel at 100° C, quinnne is converted nearly quantitatively 

 into hydroquinone. .At higher temperatures products of de- 

 composition, phenol and benzene, are found. The reaction 

 also applies to toluquinone, paraxyloquinone, and thymo- 

 quinone. — .Surfaces with coincident lines of curvature ; L. 

 Raffy, — The case of reduction of the differential equations 

 of the trajectory of an electrified corpuscle in a mag- 

 netic field : Car! Stormer. — Electrical measurement 

 of small lengths : A. Guillet. — The voltaic arc working in 

 an enclosed space limited by a thick wall: .Adolphe Minet. 

 — The heat of vaporisation of propionic acid : A. Faucon. 

 This constant, measured with the Berthelot apparatus, was 

 found to be 90-4. This gives a Trouton constant of 1(1-2, 

 lower than the normal figure of 20 to 21. Formic and 

 acetic acids show the same abnormality. — The determina- 

 tion of the atomic weight of europium : G. Jantsch. The 

 purity of the europium preparation and its freedom from 

 samarium and gadolinium was proved by superimposing 

 the arc spectra of all three on the same plate. The only 

 lines common to the three were the parasitic lines from the 

 arc, belonging to iron, silicon, and magnesium in the 

 carbon electrodes. The ratio Eu,(S0,),8H,0 : Eu,0, was 

 determined experimentally, and gave an atomic weight of 

 152 (0=i6). This is in close agreement with the number 

 previously found by MM. Urbain and Lacombe. — The 

 oxidation of platinum : C. Marie. Evidence has been 

 obtained that a minute amount of an oxide of platinum 

 can be produced by the action of v.irlous oxidising agents 



NO. 2002, VOL. yy~\ 



at the ordinary temperature.— .A new tvpe of combination 

 of sulphur with certain iodides : V. Auger. The prepara- 

 tion of the following compounds is described : — CHI3.3S,, 

 C,D,.4S„ ASI3.3S,, Sblj.sS,. All these are well crystal- 

 lised, and have been analysed.— Syntheses by means of the 

 mixed organometallic derivatives of zinc. Ketone alcohols : 

 E. E. Blaise and I. Herman. The ketone alcohol 

 C,H5.CO.C(CH3),.OH has been obtained bv the action of 

 C,H,,.Zn.I upon CH,,.CO.O.C(CH3),.COCl, 'and subsequent 

 saponification with cold dilute caustic soda solution. — The 

 preparation and characters of crystallised d-talite : Gabriel 

 Bertrand and P. Bruneau. A detailed description is 

 given of the improvements in E. Fischer's method of pre- 

 paring d-talite, by means of which, starting with 

 galactonic acid, 7-5 per cent, of the re-crystallised sub- 

 stance is obtained instead of i per cent, of the carbo- 

 hydrate in the form of syrup. The physical and chemical 

 properties of the crystallised product are given. — Physico- 

 chemical researches on soaps considered as colloids : Andre 

 Mayer, Georges Schaeffer, and E. F. Terroine. — The 

 sorting of minerals by the electromagnet : A. Chevallier 

 and L. Verain. — The application to thoria of a general 

 method of synthesis of fluorides and silicates : A. Duboin. 

 — The existence of cephalic glands in Machilis maritimu : 

 L. Bruntz. — A Lepidoptera (Zeuzera pyrina) causing 

 damage to the cork tree in .Algeria : P. Lesne. — Spectro- 

 scopic examination of the bile : A. Auche. The method 

 is based on the production of a characteristic absorption 

 spectrum by bilirubin when oxidised under certain con- 

 ditions which are defined. — .Some new work on kala-azar 

 cultures : inoculation of the dog ; etiology : Charles 

 Nicolle. — The rocks and Permian strata at Chatillon-sur- 

 Safine (V'osges) : A. Doby. — The existence of a Permian 

 fauna and flora at Madagascar : Marcellin Boule. — The 

 infra-Lias of Hodna (.Algeria) : J. Savornin. 



C-VLCUTTA. 



Asiatic Society of Bengal, February 5. — Hindustani- 

 English glossary of birds, chiefly from Jerdon : Lieut. - 

 Colonel D. C. Phillott and Pandit Gobin Lai Bonnerjee. 

 — Notes on the pollination of flowers in India. Note No. 5. 

 Some autumn observations in the Sikkim Himalaya : I. H. 

 Burkill. The observations were made above 7000 feet in 

 the autumns of 1904 and 1906, on two journeys from 

 Darjeeling along the .Singlela ridge. The climate of the 

 ridge is a very moist one, and an unusual percentage of 

 flowers are pendent, possiblv profiting thereby because 

 their honey escapes dilution and their pollen injury from 

 the rain. Bombi visit many of the flowers, even working 

 in the rain, and are found at all elevations ; a long- 

 tongued Bombyliid fly of the genus Lycastris is frequent 

 about 8000 feet to 9000 feet. The trees of the ridge are 

 almost all spring-flowering, and the flowering plants of 

 the autumn flora are almost all herbs. — Notes on the 

 pollination of flowers in India. Note No. 6. The spring 

 flora in the Simla Hills : I. H. Burkill. Observations 

 made in the end of April and beginning of May, 1906 and 

 1907, are recorded. The flora and fauna are very 

 European in character, but the flora is of a much more 

 specialised type than is the spring flora of, for instance, 

 the Grampians of Scotland. The weather in May is 

 generally dry, and pendulous flowers are not very 

 numerous. — Fat of the Himalayan bear : D. Hooper. 

 .Analysis of the fat of I'rsus torqiiatus as used medicinally 

 In the Himalaya. — Monograph of sea-snakes : Captain F. 

 Wall. .A full and illustrated account of the sea-snakes of 

 the world based on study in several museums. — A note on 

 the calm region in the atmosphere, which in the neighbour- 

 hood of Calcutta, during the cold season, is at a height of 

 3000 feet to 4000 feet : C. Little. The object of the note 

 is to make known the existence of the calm region at 

 almost a uniform height throughout any one cold season, 

 .as well as from year to year. The information has been 

 collected by observing paper balloons of different sizes, 

 some filled with coal gas and some with hydrogen, and 

 brief details are given of the method of observation. The 

 altitude and azimuth of the balloon were noted at intervals 

 of two minutes, and at the same time the diameter of the 

 image of the balloon in a 3-inch telescope of 42 inches 

 focal length was measured by a micrometer. .Assuming 

 this last measurement to be x thousandths of an inch, the 



