178 



NA TURE 



[December io, 1908 



four out of 100 affected with mesenteric tuberculosis 

 coming into this category ; between the ages of two and 

 5i years, however, sixty-two such cases occurred. This 

 led him to look to the milk of tuberculous cows as a 

 source of infection, as children below the age of twelve 

 months seldom receive much milk except that from the 

 mother^-especially amongst the poorer classes — whilst 

 from one to 55 years milk usually forms some part, at 

 any rate, of a very mixed diet. He mentioned the work 

 of other observers, who have come to the conclusion that 

 bovine tuberculosis may be the source of infection of 

 children, especially of the alimentary canal. There could, 

 of course, be no doubt that there were two (or more) types 

 of tuberculosis, marked differences of virulence, of growth, 

 &c., being observed, but he was satisfied that these differ- 

 ences were not specific, and that sometime or other we 

 should be able to find links connecting the extremes. — The 

 transmission of Trypanosotna leivisi by fleas and lice : 

 Prof. Nuttall. The author described e.xperiments which 

 demonstrated that Ccratophyllus fasciatits and Hacmato- 

 pintis spinulosus are capable of transmitting Trypanosoma 

 Icwisi. In one experiment three fleas, transferred from a 

 diseased to a healthy rat, gave a positive result. On the 

 other hand, thirty to sixty lice were required for the trans- 

 mission of the trypanosome. No signs of any develop- 

 ment of the trypanosomes were observed in the bodies of 

 the lice. — The presence of anticoagulin in the salivary 

 glands of Argas persicus : Prof. Nuttall. Experiments 

 conducted with Mr. C. Strickland have shown that the 

 salivary glands and intestine of Argas persicus contain an 

 anticoagulin which is inactivated by exposure to a tempera- 

 lure of 80° C. for ten minutes. The organs of the tick 

 do not contain haemolyslns. — The mode of action of specific 

 substances : W. E. Dixon and P. Hamill. Evidence was 

 brought to show that drugs having a specific action on a 

 definite tissue do not bring about that effect by chemical 

 combination with protoplasm or with a constituent of the 

 living cell. It was concluded that the mode of action of 

 Galenical drugs was different from that of the hormones. 

 — The action of specific substances in toxaemia : W. E. 

 Dixon and W. H. Harvey. In this paper it was shown 

 that certain toxins, such as that of diphtheria, cause death 

 by vasomotor failure. It was found that in animals 

 affected with such a toxaemia death can be greatly delayed 

 by the injection of normal saline solution. The action of 

 drugs becomes progressively less according to the degree 

 of toxaemia ; those drugs which act on the central nervous 

 system arc the first to lose their effect, and those which 

 act on muscle-fibre retain their characteristic effect longest. 

 — Therapeutic inoculation for generalised bacterial infec- 

 tions : L. Noon. Opsonic observations show that rabbits 

 and guinea-pigs, with an experimental peritonitis due to 

 the B. -pseudotuberculosis, do not react to the infection for 

 the first five days or more. An inoculation of killed 

 bacilli under the skin of a normal rabbit produces a good 

 opsonic reaction within forty-eight hours. A similar in- 

 oculation in a rabbit already diseased calls forth a still 

 more prompt reaction. — The examination of living leuco- 

 cytes III vitro : C. Ponder. The satisfactory examination 

 of leucocytes attended with many difficulties. A method 

 described and demonstrated, whereby, with the aid of a 

 new form of blood chamber, the leucocytes are allowed 

 to escape from a clot of fresh blood, and as thev adhere 

 to the surface of a glass slide the clot can be washed 

 away ; the leucocytes can be kept alive some time, and 

 their movements and other physical properties observed. 

 — The mode of growth of bacteria : Dr. Graham-Smith. 

 — The radiation of various spectral lines of neon, helium, 

 and sodium in a magnetic field : J. E. Purvis. Photo- 

 graohic observations were made with Prof. I.iveing's 

 2i-feet Rowland grating, and eye observations with an 

 'rholon spectroscope in the case of neon. The strengths 

 if the magnetic fields varied from 24,000 to 26,100 units. 

 1 lie general results were : — (i) the measured shifts of the 

 lines of neon towards the red end of the spectrum ; (2) the 

 values of the divided constituents of the neon lines com- 

 pared^ with those of Lohmann ; (3) the difficulty in dis- 

 tinguishing the various constituents of the neon lines in 

 the more complex phenomena observed by Lohmann with 

 an echelon spectroscope ; (4) the values of the separated 

 constituents of various neon lines, of those of the sodium 



lines 5896 and 5890, and of the helium line 58756 were 

 compared with those of Lohmann, Runge and Paschen, 

 and Rayleigh. — Note on migration constants of dilute solu- 

 tions of hydrochloric acid : C. Chittock, Measurements 

 have been made of the migration constants of aqueous 

 solutions of hydrochloric acid of varying concentration, by 

 a method similar to that which was employed by Whetham 

 and Paine (Proc. Roy. Soc, vol. Ixxxi., A, p. 58) for solu- 

 tions of sulphuric acid, with the object of throwing light 

 on the cause of the abnormally low conductivity of dilute 

 solutions of acids. The experiments show a considerable 

 increase in the migration constant as the concentration is 

 diminished. The bearing of these results on the question 

 of the conductivity of acid solutions is discussed. — The 

 effect of pressure on the ionisation produced by Rontgen 

 rays in different gases and vapours : J. A. Crowther. 

 The effect of pressure on the ionisation produced by 

 Kbntgen rays in different gases and vapours has been 

 investigated for the cases of air, carbon dioxide, ethyl 

 chloride, ethyl bromide, and methyl iodide, for pressures 

 varying from atmospheric down to i mm. of mercury. 

 In all cases (except for ethyl bromide at the higher 

 pressures, where the effect of the penetrating secondary 

 radiation already investigated was appreciable), the 

 ionisation-pressuro curve was found to be sensibly a straight 

 line, even at the lowest pressures reached, and with the 

 electrodes onlv S rnm. apart. There was not in any case 

 anv indication of the presence of a perceptible amount of 

 soft secondarv radiation from the gas, the ionisation being 

 apparently due, in the main, to the direct action of the 

 primarv ravs. — The variation of the relative ionisation pro- 

 duced bv Rontgen rays in different gases with the hard- 

 ness of the rays : J. A. Crowther. Values have been 

 obtained for the relative ionisation produced by Rontgen 

 rays in various gases and vapours compared with air, for 

 varying degrees of hardness of the primary rays. The 

 results give no evidence of any approximation to a density 

 law even for the hardest rays employed. For hydrogen 

 and ethyl bromide the relative ionisation increases with the 

 hardness of the rays ; carbon dioxide, methyl acetate, and 

 methyl iodide show a decrease. — Waves in a stream of 

 viscous liquid : \A\ J. Harrison. 



Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, Nnvember 24. — Prof. Sydney 

 Voung, F.R.S., in the chair. — A new British bird, 

 I.ocustella certhiola, and two birds, Emberiza piisilla and 

 Acrocephalus strcperus, new to Ireland, all killed striking 

 Rockabiil Lighthouse : R. M. Barringrton. The author 

 read a short paper on these birds, stating that Pallas's 

 grasshopper warbler (L. certhiola), an eastern Asiatic 

 species, is new to the British Isles, and that this is the 

 second record of its occurrence in Europe. The little bunt- 

 ing (£. piisilla) and the reed warbler (.4. streperus) are 

 both new to the Irish avifauna. — Vitality, and the trans- 

 mission of water through the wood of plants : Prof. H. H. 

 Dixon. In this paper a comparative method is described 

 for investigating the r61e played by vitality in the trans- 

 mission of water. The results indicate that no sensible 

 force is exerted by the cells of the wood on the transpira- 

 tion current. The author also described some experiments 

 2nd observations going to show that the fading of leaves 

 on killed branches is due to stoppage of the conducting 

 tracts and poisoning of the leaf-cells. With reference to 

 the cohesion theory of the ascent of sap, the author pointed 

 out that Berthelot's experiment, demonstrating the tensile 

 strength of water as at least equivalent to 50 atmospheres, 

 was made with water saturated with air, and not, as 

 usually stated, with water deprived of air. — The origin of 

 the Dexter-Kerry breed of cattle: Prof. J. Wilson. Tlie 

 author showed that the prevalent theory (first published in 

 184^ by Prof. Low in his " Domesticated Anim.nis ") that 

 Dexter cattle were originated by a land agent called 

 Dexter is untenable. The author then traced the migra- 

 tion of cattle first from the Continent to Britain, and then 

 from Britain to Ireland, and showed that there were four 

 possible breeds bv which the native black cattle of Ireland 

 were crossed and by which the Dexter breed might have 

 been produced, viz. the Longhorns, the Shorthorns, the 

 Herefords, and the Devons : hut the first three of these 



N'n. 2041, VOL. 70] 



