December 19, 1901] 



NA TURE 



167 



Scolopacina;. In a second paper Mr. Beddard pointed out the 

 structural differences between the common snipe ^Gallinago 

 coelcslis) and the jack snipe {G. galiiiuila). — A communication 

 from Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe contained an account of the birds 

 collected by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith during his last expedition 

 to Lake Rudolf and the Nile. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., 

 described two new fishes under the names Phractura ansovgii 

 and Funditlus gtilaris, recently discovered by Dr. W. J- 

 Ansorge in southern Nigeria. 



Aeronautical Society, December 3. — Mr. E. P. Frost in 

 the chair. — Papers were read by Sir Hiram Maxim on aerial 

 navigation by bodies heavier than air, by Mr. William 

 Marriott on atmospheric currents, and by Mr. Eric Stuart 

 Bruce on navigable balloons and the scientific aspects of 

 M. Santos Dumont's experiments. Sir Hiram Maxim dis- 

 cussed the work done in navigable balloons by MM. Giffard 

 and Renard. Renard made return journeys, but he never tried 

 a petroleum motor. M. Santos Dumont had done so, had 

 driven his balloon at the greatest pace yet attained, and returned 

 to his starting-point in face of an adverse wind. His motor 

 and balloon had strength and lightness as great as possible, and 

 it did not seem probable they could be improved upon, so that 

 his results seemed carried to the line beyond which no one could 

 go. Turning to the consideration of fiying by means of bodies 

 heavier than air. in which, as yet, only a beginning has been 

 made. Sir H. Maxim recapitulated the details of his own 

 machine, relating his preparatory and subsequent experiments, 

 which latter proved that a machine on a large scale could be 

 made to develop a lifting effect greater than its own weight. 

 The petroleum motor would now probably yield the best results. 

 Now, too, there were aluminium alloys strong as wrought iron 

 and light as aluminium, and at the time that he carried out his 

 experiments engineers had nothing so good in their hands. He 

 considered that a flying machine was not only now possible, but 

 practicable. — Mr. W. Marriott, in his paper on atmospheric 

 currents, explained climate and weather as meteorological terms, 

 mentioned the instruments used for meteorological observations, 

 dwelt on pressure records taken on the earth, alluded to the 

 connection between heat and pressure, and by means of a series 

 of charts explained the direction of currents in cyclones and 

 anticyclones. A knowledge of the velocity and direction of 

 winds in the upper air is needed, and he called upon the 

 Aeronautical Society to here help meteorology. Speaking of 

 the valuable kite-observation work of Mr. L. Rotch, up to a 

 height of 8000 feet, Mr. Marriott said that at present a free 

 balloon drifting with the wind can obtain no record of wind 

 pressure or wind velocity ; it can only ascertain the direction of 

 the upper currents. — Mr. Eric Stuart Bruce pointed out that 

 for the first time in history M. Santos Dumont had succeeded in 

 steering a balloon from a given point to a given point in a given 

 time. His ingenuity and originality had enabled him to make 

 a real, though small, advance in practice in overcoming the force 

 of the wind ; the observations on the Eiffel Tower showed that 

 on the day he won the Deutsch prize the velocity of the wind 

 during his balloon journey was from four to five metres per 

 second. In future navigable balloon competitions, Mr. Bruce 

 thought it should be made a condition that the trials took place 

 when the wind-force was not below a certain value. 



Linnean Society, December 5. — Dr. D. H. Scott, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Dr. W. G. Ridewood exhibited 

 nine specimens of abnormal sacra in the edible frog {Kana 

 escnkitla) and one in the common frog (Kana teniporaria). — 

 Dr. J. H. Salter read a paper on protoplasmic connections in 

 the lichens. The author stated, in conclusion, that the observa- 

 tions tended to show that a complete anatomical union exists 

 between the several tissues of the lichen thallus, due to the 

 innumerable connections which may be traced between the 

 ultimate histological units, the segments of the hyplia;. Many 

 physiological problems are simplified, and a new conception is 

 obtained, by our ability to recognise the essential unity of the 

 living matter throughout the organism. — Mr. F. Chapman read 

 a paper on the foraminifera collected round the Funafuti Atoll 

 from shallow and moderately deep water ; with notes on new 

 species from the sands of the reef slope. The descriptions 

 were based on material collected by Profs. SoUas and Edge- 

 worth David, and included samples from the beaches down to 

 200 fathoms and also from the reef slope. They serve as an 

 index to the forms found in the reef boring. Some idea of the 

 richness of the dredgings may be gathered from the fact that 



NO. 1677, VOL. 65 J 



no less than 273 distinct forms are recorded from the dredgings 

 taken between 16 and 200 fathoms. From these samples 

 fourteen new species and varieties have been described. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, December 9. — M. Fouque in the 

 chair. — On the connection of algebraic surfaces, by M. H. 

 Poincare. — Studies on radium, by M. Berthelot. A detailed 

 study of the action of radium salts upon iodic anhydride. The 

 experiments were carried out at two temperatures, 10" and 100°; 

 blank experiments were carried out, always in the dark, in such 

 a manner as to distinguish between the effects of the phos- 

 phorescence produced by the radium and the effects produced by 

 the radium rays in the absence of this phosphorescence. In the 

 case of the iodic .acid submitted to the action of the radium tube 

 wrapped round with black paper, that is, protected from the 

 phosphorescence, no reduction took place, whilst in the tube not 

 thus protected iodine was formed. The amounts produced 

 were of the same order of magnitude as the effects observed 

 previously by M. Curie and M. Becquerel. — On the radio-activity 

 of uranium, by M. Henri Becquerel. The observations pub- 

 lished by Crookes and by Giesel would tend to show that the 

 activity of uranium may be due to the presence of a small 

 quantity of a very active compound, and that uranium itself is 

 really inactive. This, however, is hardly consistent with the 

 fact that the radio-activity of a commercial uranium salt, what- 

 ever may have been its origin, is practically constant. In some 

 earlier work, some uranium salt was fractionated and the radio- 

 active effects concentrated in certain fractions ; after the lapse 

 of about eighteen months these fractions were re-examined and 

 were found to have practically the same activity. The lost 

 activity is thus regained spontaneously. A hypothesis is de- 

 veloped which is in accord with most of the observed facts. — 

 The production and maintenance of low temperatures, by M. 

 d'Arsonval. For temperatures down to about — 1 10^ the use of 

 solid carbonic acid oracetylene in acetone is recommended, and the 

 necessary precautions given for the maintenance of a steady 

 temperature. For lower temperatures liquid air must be used ; 

 it has been found possible to use a bath of carefully rectified 

 petroleum spirit, which remains liquid even at — 194°. — Remarks 

 by M. Deherain on his treatise on agricultural chemistry. — 

 On persistent conjugated systems, by M. A. Demoulin. — On 

 transcendental equations and numbers, by M. Edmond Maillet. 

 — The determination of the observed heights of shooting stars 

 in August, 1901, between the Observatory of Juvisy and the 

 auxiliary station of Antony (Croix-de-Berny), by M. C. Flam- 

 marion. The results of the measurements of eight meteors are 

 given, the heights of the first appearance varying between 119 

 and 15 kilometres, and the heights of the disappearance varying 

 between 68 and 14 kilometres. — A method allowing of the 

 determination of the true velocity of navigable aerostats, by 

 M. H. Deslandres. — A note completing that of November 25 

 and giving the trace of the trajectory on the ground, with an ' 

 approximation of about 1/25, of the course of M. Santos 

 Dumont's aerostat on the trial of October 19, by M. J. Armen- 

 gaud, jun. — The influence of stray currents upon the terrestrial 

 m.agnetic field, by M. Th. Moureaux, It has been found 

 that in spite of tlie employment of deadening apparatus the 

 establishment of electric tramways aftects, not only the diurnal 

 variation, but also the absolute magnetic elements. — On the 

 auscultation of storms and on the study of the diurnal variation 

 of atmospheric electricity, by M. Th, Tomniasina. — On the 

 alloys of aluminium and magnesium, by M. O. Boudouard. 

 The compound AljMg was isolated, and its properties are given. 

 Particulars are also given of the preparation and properties of 

 AlMg3 and AlMg. — On the alloys of strontium with zinc and 

 cadmium, by M. Henri Gautier. — On the state of silicon in cast 

 iron and in ferrosilicons containing a small amount of silicon, 

 by M. P. Lebeau. The compound SiFe cannot exist in the 

 presence of an excess of iron and consequently cannot form a 

 constituent of siliceous cast irons. All the silicon in c.^st iron 

 would appear to be in the state of the silicide SiFe.,. — On a 

 practical means of obtaining trichlorbutyl alcohol, by M. Marcel 

 Guedras. Trichlorbutyl alcohol is prepared by the action of 

 caustic potash upon a mixture of acetone with chloroform. 

 This alcohol is a local anaesthetic, and also possesses antiseptic 

 properties. — On the nutrition of the embryo at the expense of 

 the cotyledons, by M. G. Andre. — The structure of the lymphatic 

 ganglions of the goose, by MM. L. Vialleton and G. Fleury. — 

 The inoculation of cancer from man to the white rat, by M. .Mayet; 



