196 



NATURE 



[August ii, 1910 



form of electrical oscillations, have been of the same order 

 in these experiments as in actual practice. The chief 

 fact brought to light is that the power curves of all the 

 detectors are straight lines, which suggests that all the 

 detectors are fundamentally thermal in their action. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August i — M. Emile Picard in 

 the chair. — M. Bassot : The geodesic expedition to the 

 equator. A description of the first two volumes dealing 

 with the results of the expedition under Col. Bourgeois 

 for measuring the arc of the meridian at Quito. — A. 

 Gautier and P. Clausmann : The action of mixtures 

 of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, or of carbon dioxide 

 and hydrogen, upon the oxides of iron. Carbon monoxide 

 and hydrogen with FcjO,, at 500° C. gave a mixture of 

 ferrous oxide and a carbide of iron, the latter correspond- 

 ing to the composition Fe,,C. The bearing of the results 

 on the composition of the gases issuing from fumerolles 

 is discussed. — Paul Sabatier and A. Maiihe : The 

 catalytic preparation of alkyl-aryl ethers. A mixture of 

 methyl alcohol and phenol vapours passed over thoria at 

 390°-420° gives a good yield of anisol, C^Hj.O.CHj. If 

 the phenol is replaced by its higher homologues, the corre- 

 sponding homologues of anisol are obtained, and the 

 substitution of ethyl alcohol for the methyl alcohol gives 

 CjHj.O.C.Hj and its homologues, some unsaturated 

 hydrocarbon being produced by a secondary reaction 

 between the ethyl alcohol and the thoria. — M. Schwoerer : 

 The thermal phenomena of the atmosphere. — G. Gaiffe : 

 A method of stereoscopic and kinematographic radio- 

 graphy. — E. M. Antoniadi, F. Baldet, and F. 

 Quenisset : The occultation of it Gemini by the planet 

 Venus. Observations made at the Juvisy Observatory on 

 July 26. The duration of the occultation was 

 3m. 30s. +2-5S. The variations in the luminosity of the 

 star when approaching contact lead to 80 to no kilometres 

 as the height of the atmosphere of Venus. — Jos^ Comas 

 Sola : The discovery of a small planet, presumably new. 

 This was found on a photograph of Halley's comet, taken 

 on June 6 last. — Jos^ Comas Sola : Study of Halley's 

 comet. — M. Cogrgia : The occultation of i; Gemini by 

 Venus, observed at Marseilles. — Th. de Donder : Poisson's 

 theorem and the differential invariants of Lie. — Paul 

 Levy : Some equations defining line functions. — Harald 

 Bohr : The convergence of Dirichlet's series. — -A.. Sainte- 

 Lagrue : Proportional representation and the method of 

 least squares. — William Duane : The evolution of heat in 

 a mixture of radium and a phosphorescent salt. The rate 

 of evolution of heat by a radium salt is not affected by 

 admixture with a phosphorescent substance. — Pierre 

 Jolibois : The relations between white phosphorus, red 

 phosphorus, and pyromorphic phosphorus. By a study of 

 the vapour pressures, the author concludes that these three 

 varieties of phosphorus are distinct, and criticises the 

 theory recently proposed by Cohen and Olie. — Henri 

 Leroux ; The heats of combustion of some hydronaphtha- 

 lene derivatives. — Ed. Chauvenet : The combinations of 

 thorium chloride with ammonia. — Georges Charpy : 

 Behaviour of steel analogous to the " tin disease." A 

 study of the conditions leading to an increase of the 

 velocity of crystallisation in steel on annealing. — J. B. 

 Senderens : Catalytic reactions in the wet way based on 

 the use of aluminium sulphate. In the preparation of 

 ethylene by the interaction of alcohol and sulphuric acid, 

 the presence of aluminium sulphate lowers the temperature 

 of the reaction and increases the velocity of evolution of 

 the gas. The same salt also possesses a favourable cata- 

 lytic effect in the preparation of ether. — Daniel Berthelot 

 and Henry Gaudechon : The mechanism of photochemical 

 reactions and the formation of plant principles : the decom- 

 position of sugar solutions. The mechanism of the re- 

 actions caused by exposure to ultra-violet rays is analogous 

 to that in living plants. Exposed to these rays, solutions 

 of glucose give carbon monoxide, dioxide, methane, and 

 hydrogen. Levulose, maltose, and saccharose behave 

 similarly, but the proportions of the gases are different in 

 each case. — Andr^ Piedallu : A new mould in oil tanning. 

 — Henri Labb£ ; Contribution to the study of nitrogenous 

 exchanges. — Gabriel Bertrand and .A. Compton : The 

 individuality of cellase and emulsin. Comparative experi- 

 NO. 2128, VOL. 84] 



ments on the hydrolysis of cellose by cellase and of amygda- 

 lin by emulsin show that these two diastases are quite 

 distinct. — N. A. Barbieri : The non-existence of free or 

 combined lecithins in yolk of egg. — Etienne Sergent and 

 Edmond Sergent : Immunity against malaria in birds. 

 Conservation in vitro of the sporozoites of Plasmodium 

 rclictum. Relative immunity obtained by inoculation with 

 these sporozoites. — B. Brunhes : Telluric currents. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, June 29. — Mr. C. Ilcdle), president, 

 in the chair. — R. J. Tillyard : Monograph of the genus 

 Synthemis (Neuroptera : Odonata). The most important 

 points discussed are : — (i) The position of the genus in 

 the subfamily Corduliins. The view is put forward that 

 it should be separated from the Macromina, so as to con- 

 stitute a subgroup Synthemina. (2) Subdivision of the 

 genus itself. — T. G. Sloane : Studies in Australian 

 entomology. No. 16. New species of Carabidae. A new 

 genus, Stichonotus, referable to the subfamily Carabinae, 

 and eighteen species belonging to the subfamily Harpalinae, 

 are described as new, including a species of the Asiatic 

 genus Holcoderus, now first recorded from Australia. — 

 W. W. Frogrgatt : The entomological fauna of Narru 

 Island, of the Ocean Island group. — A. H. Hamilton : 

 Description of a new species of Lepidosperma (Cyperaceae) 

 from the Port Jackson district, with some miscellaneous 

 botanical notes. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Recent Earthquake Investigations. By Prof. John 



Milne, F.R.S 165 



Tar, Acid, and Alkali . . 166 



Sounding Round the Antarctic Continent. By 



J. W. J 167 



Readable Books in Natural Knowledge. By 



T. P. N. . 168 



Salmon and Trout. By L. W. B 168 



Non-Euclidean Geometry. By G. B. M 169 



Forest Flora of the Bombay Presidency 170 



Applied Chemistry. By W. A. D 170 



Our Book Shelf 171 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Pwdre Ser.— Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, F.R.S. 171 



The Bloodsucking Conorhinus, — ^J. D. H 172 



The Early History of Non-Euclidean Geometry. — 



D. M. Y. Sommerville ... 172 



The Total Solar Eclipse of April 28, 191 1. —Dr. Pio 



Emanuelli 172 



Mars in 1909 as seen at the Lowell Observatory. 



(////(.f/rato/.)— Prof. Percival Lowell 172 



Treatment of Storage Cells. — Dr. Bertram B. 



Boltwood . . 174 



The .Sheffield Meeting of the British Association. — 



S. R. Milner 174 



Yellow Jack and the West Indies. [Illustrated.) . 174 



The Vertebrate Fauna of Cheshire. [Illustrated.) . 175 



Across Yunnan. [Illustrated.) By J. T 177 



Does the Indian Climate Change.' By Dr. William 



J. S. Lockyer 178 



Notes 179 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Pholographs of Nebula; 183 



Halley's Comet 183 



The Accurate Measurement of Photographs .... 184 



Observations of Perseids in 1909 184 



Results from the Micrometric Observations of Eros, 



1900 184 



Wild Plants on Waste Land in London .... 184 



Agricultural Investigations in Egypt 184 



Science in Bengal ... 185 



Australian and Argentine Biology 186 



Rainfall of Rhodesia and Australia 187 



The Chemical Significance of Crystal Structure. 



[Illustrated.) By Prof. William J. Pope, F.R.S. . 187 

 Results of some Recent Investigations on Mag- 

 netic Disturbances. By Dr. L. A. Bauer .... 192 



University and Educational Intelligence 194 



Societies and Academies 195 



