2*8 



NATURE 



[August 17, 191 1 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, July ji.— M. le General Bassot in the 

 1 hair. — R. Radau : The tables of the moon, based on 

 Delaunay's theory. The solar perturbations of Dclaunay, 

 with some additional corrections suggested by Andoyer, 

 may be considered as sufficiently exact from the point of 

 view of practical astronomy, but there is still a lack of 

 agreement with the observed figures as tabulated by 

 Hansen. Means are suggested for further reducing the 

 differences between the observation and calculation. — P. 

 Villard : A self-recording electrometer with carbon fila- 

 ments. A U-shaped carbon lamp filament, carrying a small 

 cylindrical mirror made of a short piece of glass capillary 

 tube silvered inside, forms the moving part of the electro- 

 meter. The sensibility of the instrument can be readily 

 modified so as to be suitable either for use in an observatory 

 or in a balloon. — Lecoq de Boisbaudran and A. de 

 Gramont : The spectrum of gluanum and its bands in 

 diffi rent sources of light. The wave lengths of the prin- 

 cipal components of three bands (green, blue, and indigo) 

 are given. The general similarity with the corresponding 

 aluminium bands is pointed out. — Edouard Heckel : The 

 genus Spermolepis of New Caledonia and its relations with 

 the genus Schizocalyx. — M. Javelle : The Wolf comet 

 (1911a). Observations made at Nice with the 76 cm. 

 equatorial. Data are given for July 15, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 

 28, and 29. The comet appeared as a feeble nebulosity, 

 about 10 inches in extent, and with a nucleus below the 

 14th magnitude. — M. Esmiol : Observation of the Brooks 

 comet (iqiic) made at the observatory of Marseilles with 

 the Eichens equatorial of 26 cm. aperture. Data given for 

 July 22. The comet appeared as a round nebulosity, 

 0-2' in diameter, with a nucleus of about the 12th 

 magnitude. — M. Borrelly : Observations of the Brooks 

 comet (ionr) made at the observatory at Marseilles with 

 the comet-finder. Data given for July 22 and 23. — 

 A. Korn : An important class of asymmetrical nuclei in 

 the theory of integral equations. — May Sybil Leslie : The 

 molecular weight of the thorium emanation. An applica- 

 tion of the apparatus used by Debierne (effusion through a 

 small orifice) for the determination of the molecular weight 

 of the radium emanation to the thorium emanation. The 

 results show that the molecular weight of the thorium 

 emanation is in the neighbourhood of 200. — Edm. van 

 Aubel : Hall's phenomenon and the transversal thermo- 

 magnctic effect in graphite. Graphite shows Hall's pheno 



n m in the opposite sense to antimony, or in the same 



sense as pure bismuth, like the other varieties of carbon. — 

 L. Dunoyer : Researches on the fluorescence of the vapours 

 of the alkaline metals. — William Duane : The mass of the 



us ions. Under the experimental conditions described 

 in the paper, all the results obtained were opposed to the 

 hypothesis of the existence of positive ions. — J. Danysi 

 The d rays of the radium group. The j3 rays from the 

 radium emanation have yielded a magnetic spectrum of 



1 homogeneous bundles, the velocities of which have 

 been exactly determined. — Eugene Cornec : The cryoscopic 

 study of some mineral acids and some phenols. The 

 method used consists in neutralising the acid or pheno! 

 gradually by a strong has.' and determining the freezing 

 point for each mixture; the neutral point is indicated by 

 an angular point on the curve. — M. Pelabon : The metallo 

 graphy of the selenium-antimony systems. The results 

 obtained confirm the conclusions drawn in an earliei pi pet 

 from a study of the fusibility curves. M. Joueuct: 

 Indifferent points. — E. Bodroux and E. Taboury : The 

 action of bromine in presence of aluminium-bromide on 

 cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. — F. Bodroux: The action 

 of anisaldehyde and piperonylaldehyde upon the sodium 

 derivative <<l benzyl cyanide V Barillo : The action of 

 soda water upon lead, tin, and antimony. 11 

 poisoning by chemical alteration. More lead and tin are 

 iter from an allnv of tin and lead than 

 from either of the pure metal's, and this is true even for 

 an alloy containing only o-t; per cent, of lend. The author 

 concludes that .-ill the metallic parts 'if .1 soda-water siphon 

 ought to be protected by enamel or similar means from 

 with the liquid. Marcel Badouin : Study of the 

 action on the brain of the annular deformation of the skull 



of the Gallo-Roman period. — Maurice Arthue and 

 Bolcslawa-Stawska : Poisons and antipoisons. A 

 criticism of the results of experiments by C. J. Martin and 

 T. Cherry, on the interaction of a toxin and antitoxin 

 in vitro. The authors' experiments with mixtures cf 

 cobra-venom and its antiserum lead to the conclusion that 

 the neutralisation of the venom by the antivenom is prac- 

 tically instantaneous, and rather resembles the neutralisa 

 tion of an acid by a base than a diastatic action. 1 hi 

 same conclusion was arrived at when working with the 

 venom of Lachcsis lanceolatus and of Crotahis terrificus 

 arid their corresponding antivenoms. — M. Maze: Re- 

 earches on the formation of nitrous acid in the plant and 

 animal cell. Gabriel Botrand and Arthur Compton : 

 The influence of the reaction of the medium on the activity 

 of rellase. A new distinction from emulsine. — E. 

 Voisenet : A ferment causing bitterness in wine, a 

 dehydrating agent for glycerol. An account of the isola- 

 tion of a. bacillus, capable of transforming glycerol into 

 acrolein. — C. Lovaditi and S. Ivtuttermilch : The 

 diagnosis of sleeping sickness by the examination of the 

 attaching properties of the serum. — Jules Welsch : A 

 depression of the Lower Eocene north of Blaye in Cosnac 

 (Charente-Inferieure). 



NO. 2l8l, VOL. 87] 



CONTENTS. page 



A Polyglot Dictionary of Plant Names. By W. 



Botting Hemsley, F.R.S 205 



Problems of Water Supply. By H. N. D 206 



Parasitism. By Prof. J. S. Macdonald 206 



The Divining Rod. By Prof. J. Wertheimer . . . 207 



Diophantine Analysis, By G. B. M 208 



A Text-book on Heliotropism. By F. W. G. . . . 209 



Pleasant Paths of Nature • ... 209 



Text-books of Physics. By E. Edser 210 



Experimental Psychology. By W. B 211 



Our Book Shelf 212 



Letters to the Editor: — 



On thea-Ray Theory of Aurora Borealis. (Illustrated.) 



— L. Vegard 214 



Occurrence of a Fresh- water Medusa in Indian 



Streams.— Lieut. -Col. A. Alcock, F.R.S. . . 214 

 Interglacial Conditions in the South of England. — 



Rev. Dr. A. Irving 214 



The Anti-kathodes of X Ray Tubes.— J. Schofield . 215 

 The Action ol Carbon Dioxide on Litmus. — M. 



M'Callum Fairgrieve . . 215 



The Bushongo : an Enthnographical Study of the 

 Central Congoland Peoples. (Illustrated.) By Sir 



H. H. Johnston, G. CM. G., K.C.B 215 



The French Antarctic Expedition. (With Map.) By 



J. W. G 217 



Tuberculosis and the Milk Supply 219 



Scientific Work in India 220 



Earthquake Studies. (Illustrated.) By Prof. J. Milne, 



F.R.S. 221 



The Library and the Specialist 222 



Flies as Carriers of Infection. By R. T. H 222 



Notes 223 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Comet 191 \b i Kiess) 22S 



Brooks's Comet, 1911c 228 



Encke's I mi t, 1911a?. 228 



The Observation ol Meteors. 228 



Beta and Gamma Kays in Solar Phenomena .... 228 



Papers on Invertebrates 229 



The Fossil Elephants of Russia. By R. L . . . . 229 

 Work of the Physikalisch - technische Reichs- 



anstalt in 1910. By E. S. Hodgson 230 



Recent Publications of Economic Entomology . . 230 



Water Supply. By J, H. Balfour Browne, K.C. . . 231 

 Self-luminous Night Haze. By Prof. E. E. 



Barnard ... 235 



University and Educational Intelligence 236 



Societies and Academies 237 



