Feuruary 1 1, 1909] 



NATURE 



449 



which they were joined, were of acacia, a harder and 

 tougher wood. — The diatomaceous deposit of the Lower 

 Bann \'allcy, N. Ireland, and prehistoric implements found 

 therein : J. W. Jackson. The diatom deposit occupies a 

 considerable area on both sides of the river Bann, and 

 varies in thickness from 6 feet at Culbane to 18 inches 

 near l.ough Beg. At Toome and the Ferry near Lough 

 Beg the clay is cut out in brick form, dried, milled, and 

 put up in sacks for export. The prepared material, known as 

 '■ Kicselgiihr, " is used in about fifty manufactures as varied 

 as " polishing powder," " filtering material," " insulating 

 medium," and '" tooth and face powders." The prehistoric 

 implements found in worlcing the clay were collected by 

 the late Mr. R. D. Darbishire and Mr. Bell, of Belfast. 

 They comprise large numbers of worked flint flakes, viz. 

 knives, borers, and scrapers, a few flint celts and arrow- 

 heads, a number of implements made of coarse clay-slate, 

 and several others. Other objects described were grind- 

 stones, found near Culbane ; clay-slate whetstones, one being 

 of peculiar interest from bearing on its face a number of 

 rune-like characters, possibly inscribed thereon to convey 

 a message; and a large saddle-quern, weighing 62 lb., 

 also found at Culbane. Some Oghamic scribings from 

 other parts were referred to. The tools probably range 

 from the Neolithic to the Bronze age. 



Dublin. 



Royal Irish Academy, January 25. — Dr. F A. 

 Tarleton, president, in the chair. — The Irish horse and its 

 early history : Dr. R. F. Scharff. That the modern Irish 

 horse shows remarkable traces of an eastern strain is well 

 known, and has been alluded to by many writers. This 

 is currently believed to be due to human introduction of 

 .Spanish horses possessing eastern characteristics. Prof. 

 Ridgcway contended that a superior class of horses re- 

 sembling the Libyan race had been sent to Ireland even 

 .since pre-Christian times. The author exhibited Irish horse 

 remains from crannogs, bogs, marls, and caves, and 

 showed that all these were quite as Arab-like as any 

 modern Irish horse, even more so. He expressed the view 

 that, as some of these bones belonged to wild horses, the 

 eastern features in the modern races were not altogether 

 the result of artificial introduction, but due to inheritance 

 from the original wild stock of the country. — k supple- 

 mentary list of the spiders of Ireland : Denis R. Pack- 

 Beresford. The list contains the record of fifty-eight 

 species of spiders taken in Ireland since the publication of 

 Prof. Carpenter's " List of the Spiders of Ireland " in 

 1898. Only one species — Lopbocarenum straminctini, 

 Menge — has not yet occurred in Great Britain, though it 

 has been taken in two localities in the south of Ireland. 

 A single specimen of the rare Etignatha striata, L. Koch, is 

 recorded from Sligo, and Gongylidiellum paganum, Sim., 

 l.ophoinma slatiorum, Sim., and Widcria inelaiiocephala, 

 Camb., have been taken in Co. Carlow, having only 

 previously been found in single localities in England. .An 

 exotic species — Triaeris stenaspis, Sim. — a native of 

 X'enezuela, has been taken in the Botanic Gardens, Glas- 

 nevin, in the hot-houses. A second list contains a few 

 corrections in nomenclature of species in Prof. Carpenter's 

 list, and a third gives all the records available at present 

 of new localities for some of the rarer species inhabiting 

 Ireland. — Contributions towards a monograph of the 

 British and Irish Oligoch.xta : R. Southern. Ten new 

 species were described, and twenty-one additions to the 

 fauna of the British Isles were recorded. The total 

 number of species and subspecies now known to occur in 

 the British Isles is i-;5. A consideration of the distribution 

 of the Irish earthworms leads to the conclusion that the 

 I.usitanian speries, at least, are part of a pro-Glacial fauna, 

 (his is opposed to the " glacial " theory advanced by 

 Prof. MIchaelsen to explain the present distribution of the 

 l.innbricid.-e. 



P.\Kis. 



Academy of Sciences, February i. — M. Bouchard in the 

 ih.iir. — The diffu=^inn of saline manures in the soil : .A. 

 Muntz and II. Gaudechon. .\ patch of .soil containing 

 a salt such as potassium chloride or nitrnle attracts 

 moisture from the surrounding earth, giving a damp patch. 

 This explains why it is not advisable to use sucli manures 



NO. 2050, VCl].. 70] 



at the time the seeds arc planted, since if tlie seed is in 

 a saline patch it is killed by the strong solution, and out- 

 side such a patch the soil is rendered too dry for germina- 

 tion. Even in moist soils diffusion of the salt horizontally 

 takes place with extreme slowness. — A fructification of a 

 Lycopodinium found in the Trias : P. Fliche. — Results of 

 mtcromctric measurements made at the Observatory of 

 Lyons during the eclipse of the sun of June 28, iqoS : J. 

 Merlin. — The comparative activity of the Leonid and 

 Geminid swarms of November 14, 1907 : Maurice Farman 

 and Em. Touchet. — New researches on the selective 

 absorption and diffusion of light in interstellar space : 

 G. A. Tikhotf. Photographs of the Pleiades were made 

 through four screens allowing the passage of the ultra- 

 violet, indigo-violet, yellow-green, and orange rays re- 

 spectively. The proofs thus obtained showed very clearly 

 that, with a few exceptions, the difference of brightness 

 of the brilliant and feeble stars of the Pleiades increases 

 in an unexpected manner in passing from the orange rays 

 to the ultra-violet. The general results are in accordance 

 with the predictions of Prof. Turner in a recent note on 

 the diminution of light in its passage through interstellar 

 space, based on the supposition of the scattering of light 

 by particles disseminated through space. — Families of Lam6 

 composed of Dupin eyelids : A. Demoulin. — Some remarks 

 on geodesic lines, with reference to a recent note by M. 

 Drach : M. Hadamard. — The integrals of an algebraical 

 differential equation of the first order : Pierre Boutroux. 

 — The application of a generalised theorem of Jacobi to 

 the problem of S. Lie-Mayer : W. Stekloff.— The 

 approximate representation of continuous functions by a 

 multiple integral : M. Frechet. — The diminution of 

 phosphorescence at low temperatures : J. de Kowalski. 

 ^'arious derivatives of benzene cooled to the temperature 

 of liquid air were exposed to the rays of a mercury arc 

 lamp. The phosphorescence was then observed through 

 different screens, and the time during which the light was 

 visible noted. It was found that the diminution of 

 intensity was more rapid with the long wave-lengths than 

 with the short wave-lengths. — Some new reactions of 

 dioxyacetone : G. Deniges. A solution containing dioxy- 

 acctone, sulphuric acid, and potassium bromide gives 

 definite colour reactions with gallic and salicylic acids and 

 other organic compounds. — The action of air and other 

 oxidising agents on coals : O. Boudouard. In contact 

 with air, coals absorb oxygen, especially at high tempera- 

 tures. Coking coals, oxidised at 100° C., lose their power 

 of coking, and after such treatment contain humic acid. 

 — The formation of hydrocyanic acid in the action of nitric 

 acid on phenols and quinones : A. Seyewetz and L. 

 Poizat. Hvdrocyanic acid is formed by the action of a 

 boiling solution of nitric acid (20 per cent.) on numerous 

 organic compounds, especially those containing a phenolic 

 or quinonic group. This is due to the presence of nitrous 

 acid, since if urea or aniline be present no hydrocyanic 

 acid is formed, and a theory based on this fact is sug- 

 rtcsted. — The action of nitrosobenzene on the secondary 

 amines : P. Freundler and M. Juillard. — Some reactions 

 of the 9 : lo-dihydride of anthracene and of anthranol : R. 

 Padova. A condensation product with benzophenone 

 chloride is described. — The combustion of gases without 

 ftame and on the conditions of lighting by incandescence : 

 Jean Meunier. — The extension of the notion of solubility 

 in colloids : M. Duclaux. The ordinary definition of 

 solubilitv is inapplicable to colloids. If a colloid solution 

 is placed in a vessel permeable to the solvent, the latter 

 will escape through the walls, and the concentration of 

 the colloid will increase up to a certain limit, which defines 

 the solubility at the temperature of the experiment. The 

 classification of colloids is considered from this point of 

 view. — The action of acids on peroxydiastasc : Gabriel 

 Bertrand and Mile. M. Rozenband. — The maltase of 

 maize : R. Huerre. Different species of maize contain 

 mallases differing in their temperatures of maximum 

 activity, and also in the range of temperature over which 

 hydrolysis of starch takes place. — The use of ferrous 

 arseniatc against the parasitic insects of plants : MM. 

 Vermorel and Dantony. This insecticide possesses the 

 advantages of adhering well to the plants, strong in- 

 secticidal powers, little or no damage to the plant, and less 



