December io, 1908J 



NATURE 



179 



four breeds are ruled out, probably by time and geo- 

 graphical position, and certainly by size and colour. Had 

 the Dexter been produced by any of these breeds it would 

 have been larger, and it would also have carried some of 

 their colour markings. The Devons, or at any rate red 

 English cattle from the south-western counties, are thus 

 left as the only possible progenitors of the Dexter, and the 

 Mendelian explanation of the variations occurring when 

 Dexters are bred with Dexters and Kerries confirms this 

 view. 



Royal Irish Academy, November 9. — Mr. J Ribtcm 

 Garstin, vice-president, in the chair. — The gravitation 

 stress of the jether : Prof. F. Purser. The author has 

 endeavoured to solve the problem, first started by Max- 

 well, of accounting for the electrostatic or gravitation field 

 by strains and corresponding stresses in the dielectric, or 

 aether. Maxwell left this problem in an unsatisfactory 

 condition, assigning, indeed, a condition of stress, but 

 leaving the necessary corresponding strains unsatisfied. 

 Subsequently it was shown that these strains were 

 impossible in the case of a homogeneous isotropic lEther 

 in the gravitation problem, and the same would hold in 

 the electrical. The author endeavours to extend this 

 impossibility to a general Greenian scolotropic aether. It 

 appears, therefore, necessary to start, as in other elastic 

 problems, not from the state of stress, but from a state 

 of strain, arranging this so as to give suitable stress con- 

 ditions. This method is adopted by the writer (i) in dis- 

 cussing the gravitation stress due to the gravitation of 

 matter confined to a certain sphere. This is approximately 

 the problem of the aether stress due to the earth, a problem 

 discussrd by .Maxwell. The results arrived at agree with 

 Maxwell in giving a uniform pressure at the surface of 

 the snhfrc. While, however, this pressure is with him 

 independent of the constants of the aether, in the solution 

 at present offered this pressure depends on the ratio \/ju 

 for the jether. If, then, we suppose the aether very nearly 

 incompressible, i.e. iijx very small, we shall attain a com- 

 paratively small pressure in place of the 4000 tons per 

 square inch of Maxwell. (2) The case of electricity on 

 the surface of conductors in an electrostatic field is then 

 considered. The stress in the dielectric now obtained is 

 in general quite different from Maxwell's, notably where 

 the point in the dielectric considered is at a great distance 

 from the conductors compared with their linear dimensions 

 and mutual distances. It agrees, however, with the Max- 

 wellian stress in the fundamental requisites of (a) yield- 

 ing no stress on a dielectric cell not containing a nucleus 

 of free electricity ; (fc) giving the requisite electromotive 

 force when it does contain such nucleus ; (c) giving the 

 requisite normal stress at the surface of conductors. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 30. — M. Bouchard in the 

 chair. — Characters of the upper layer of the gaseous 

 atmosphere of the sun : M. Deslandres. The results of 

 a further study of the calcium line K, under a high dis- 

 persion are given, and deductions made regarding the 

 circulation of the upper portions of the sun's atmosphere. 

 — The metamorphosis of hydrocyanic glucosides during 

 germination : L. Guig^nard. The seeds of Phaseolus 

 lunatus were allowed to germinate both in daylight and 

 in the dark, and the amounts of hydrocyanic acid obtain- 

 able from the seeds and the seedlings measured. From 

 the experimental results the conclusion is drawn that if 

 hydrocyanic acid is formed during germination by the 

 action of the enzyme on the phaseolunatin, it disappears 

 as soon as it is formed, entering into new combinations. 

 — The total sugar of the blood : R. Lepine and M. 

 Boulud. The virtual sugar of the blood is obtained by 

 treating the blood clot with hydrofluoric acid. This acid 

 possesses the advantage of causing less secondary action 

 than the acids generally used for hydrolysis. — The per- 

 petual secretary announced the death of M. Fliche, corre- 

 spondant for the section of rural economy. — Study of the 

 photographs of the Morehouse comet, 1908c, obtained at 

 the Observatory of Juvisy : MM. Baldet and Quenisset. 

 Ninety-six photographs of this comet have been taken 

 between September 17 and November 6, two of which 

 are reproduced in the present paper. — Conjugate networks 

 with equal invariants : M. Tzitzeica. — The eyelid of Lie : 



A. Demoulin. — .\ method of M. Darbou.x : Leopold 

 Fejer. — .\ class of linear differential equations of infinite 

 order : T. Lalesco. — The Brownian motion and Einstein's 

 formula : M. Chaudesaigrnes. Making use of spherical 

 grains of gutta of known diameter, Einstein's formula 

 has been fully confirmed as regards the influence of the 

 radius, the time, and the viscosity. — The chlorides and 

 oxychlorides of thorium : Ed. Chauvenet, The anhydrous 

 chloride, ThCl^, is more readily formed by the action of 

 phosgene upon the oxide ThO, at a red heat. The 

 hydrated chloride, even in acid solution, is readily con- 

 verted into an oxychloride. — The action of antimony 

 trichloride upon cobalt and on its alloys with antimony : 



F. Ducelliez. The antimonide CoSb is the only com- 

 pound formed in this reaction. — The combinations of 

 silicon and uranium. Uranium bisilicide, Si,Ur : Ed. 

 Defacqz. This substance is prepared by firing a mix- 

 ture of aluminium, sulphur, silica, and uranium oxide. 

 The silicide Si„Ur is analogous to the silicides of tungsten 

 and molybdenum already described. — The composition of 

 the colloidal hydroxyferric chlorides, studied by filtration 

 through collodion membranes : L. Michel. — A method of 

 producing ethylene hydrocarbons, starting with esters : 

 .Albert Colson. Ethyl benzoate Is split up into benzoic 

 acid and ethylene when heated in sealed tubes to 310° C. 

 or higher temperatures. Other benzoic esters give the 

 corresponding olcfines under the same conditions, and the 

 esters of fattv and mineral acids behave similarly. — The 

 addition of hydrogen to triphenylmethane : tricycZohexyl- 

 methane : Marcel Godchot. The Sabatier and Senderens 

 reaction applied to triphenylmethane gives tricycZohexyl- 

 mcthane, the physical and chemical properties of which 

 are given. — Observations on a note of M. L. Paris on the 

 reproduction of the blue coloration of the Oriental 

 sapphire : A. Verneuil. It is contended that the method 

 of M. Paris does not give the true Oriental sapphire, 

 and that this gem has not yet been reproduced artificially. 

 — Gabbro and the iron ore of Joubrechkine Kamen (north 

 Ural) : Louis Duparc. — The comparison of the effects of 

 serums with complex mineral contents and with saline 

 water on the phenomena of excretion and nutrition : C. 

 Fleig:. — Normal chlorotropism in Bernhardus : Romuald 

 Minkiewicz. — Sudden disturbances of sight associated 

 with cerebral trouble : Pierre Bonnier. — The identification 

 of the imprint of a blood-stained hand on a sheet : V. 

 Balthazard. Reproductions of the blood stain and of the 

 ordinary imprint of the hand of the suspected murderer 

 are given. In spite of the difficulties caused by the texture 

 of the sheet, the two imprints can be completely identified. 

 — Leucocyiozoon pifoplasmoides, from epizootic lymph- 

 angitis of the horse : .\. Thiroux and A. Teppaz. — The 

 therapeutic value of hordenine sulphate : J. Sabrazfes and 



G. Guerive. An account of the results obtained in the 

 application of this base to the treatment of infantile 

 diarrhoea, intestinal tuberculosis, muco-enteritis, entero- 

 colotis, typhoid fever, and dyspepsia. — The biology of the 

 bradypods : A. Menegraux. — Contribution to the geo- 

 logical history of the Neckar and the Main : Gabriel 

 Eisenmenser and Mile. J. Duprat. — Recent excavations 

 carried out in the valley of the Somme : M. Comment. 

 — The distribution of the levels and facies of the meso- 

 nummulitic in the .Alps : Jean Boussac. — The discovery 

 of Ehphas antiquus at the island of Delos : L. Cayeux. 

 — The density of sea-water at various points in the English 

 Channel : A.'Letalle. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, October z8.— Mr. A. H. S. I "ra=, nresi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Contribution to a further knowledge 

 of Australian Oligochc-Eta, part i. : E. J. Goddard. A 



new genus of fresh-water Oligocha^^ta referable to the 

 family PhreodrilidEe, represented by two species, is 

 described. Individuals of both species are found associated 

 with the large fresh-water crayfish, .istacopsis serratus, 

 Shaw, one set dwelling among the eggs of the parasite. 

 Temnocephala, the other set occurring in the grooves of 

 the carapace. The conditions of habitat, the small number 

 of known species, in conjunction with their geographical 

 distribution, suggest that the Phreodrilidae are the 

 remnants of an old .'\ntarctic stock, the modern repre- 

 sentatives of which are now to be found under conditions 



NO. 2041, VOL. 79] 



