October 12, 191 1] 



NATURE 



507 



half of the site acquired. The new buildings consist of two 

 blocks, one for the University College and the other for 

 the Day Training College. 



The opening lecture of the course of instruction on 

 " Colloids " was given by Mr. E. Hatschek at the Sir 

 John Cass Technical Institute on Friday, October 6, when 

 the chair was taken by Dr. Rudolf Messel, president of 

 the Society of Chemical Industry. Mr. Hatschek com- 

 menced his lecture by referring to the early work of 

 Thomas Graham on colloids, and then dealt with the sub- 

 sequent development of the subject as a borderland study 

 between physics and chemistry. The characteristics of 

 colloids were then examined, and an account given of 

 laboratory products that have been prepared and of the 

 large number of natural organic products which can be 

 dissolved direct to form colloidal solutions such as starch, 

 gelatine, agar, and the albumins. The importance of the 

 subject in relation to industrial problems was next specified, 

 reference being made to the tanning and dyeing industries, 

 the photographic plate and paper industry, the fermenta- 

 tion industries, and the treatment of effluents and sewage. 

 At the close of the lecture an experimental demonstration 

 of the properties and methods of preparation of some 

 colloidal solutions was given. 



Among the scientific lectures arranged this term for 

 advanced students, in connection with the University of 

 London, we notice the following. A course of eight 

 lectures on " Principles of Systematic Botany (Flowering 

 Plants) " will be given by Dr. C. E. Moss, curator of 

 the herbarium, University of Cambridge, in the botanical 

 department, University College, on Thursdays, at 5 p.m., 

 beginning on October 10. Informal meetings for the dis- 

 cussion of important contributions to current meteorological 

 literature will be held at the Meteorological Office on 

 alternate Mondays, at 5 p.m., beginning on October 23 and 

 ending on March 25, [912. Students who wish to attend 

 are requested to communicate with the Reader at the 

 Meteorological Office. A course of eight lectures on " The 

 .Manipulation and Theory of the Microscope " is being 

 gi"«-n by Mr. J. E. Barnard at King's College, on Wednes- 

 days, at 5 p.m. A course of four lectures on " The History 

 of Plague " wili be given by Dr. C. Creighton at the 

 University, South Kensington, on Fridays, October 20 and 

 27, and November 3 and 10, at 4 p.m. In all cases the 

 lectures are addressed to advanced students of the Uni- 

 versity and to others interested in the subjects, and the 

 ion is free, without ticket. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, October 2. — M. Armand Gamier 

 ir. the chair. — The president announced the loss, by death, 

 o.' Augusts Michel-Levy and Joseph Louis Troost. — Emile 

 I'icard : Continuous solutions of integral equations of the 

 chird species. — Paul Appell : Functions of the fourth 

 degree. — MM. Esclangon and Courty : Observations 

 of the Quenisset comet and of the Brooks comet made with 

 the large equatorial (38 cm.) of Bordeaux Observatory. 

 Dates are given for September 26, 27, and 28. The 

 Quenisset comet appeared as a circular nebulosity of 4' 

 to 5' diameter, with a clear nucleus. The tail of the 

 Brooks comet has been visible to the naked eye since 

 September 17. — M. Borrelly : Observations 'of the 

 Quenisset comet (191 1/) made at the Marseilles Observa- 

 tory with the comet finder. Positions of the comet are 

 given for September 27 and 28. It appeared to be nearly 

 circular, about 2' diameter, with glimpses of a small 

 nucleus of about the twelfth magnitude. — F. Baldet and 

 F. Quenisset : Observation of the gegenschein. Atten- 

 tion is directed to the remarkable intensity now exhibited 

 by the gegenschein, or zodiacal counterglow ; it is pointed 

 out that there is no satisfactory explanation for this 

 phenomenon. — M. Giacobini : Observations of the 

 Quenisset (1911/) and Beljawsky (1911^) comets made at 

 the Observatory of Paris with the eastern tower equatorial 

 of 40 cm. aperture. Positions are given for September 25, 

 27, anc 30 for the Quenisset comet, which appears as a 

 nebulosity of sensibly elliptical shape 45" to 50" in extent. 

 The nucleus is well defined, and is of the eighth magni- 

 IO. 2l89, VOL - 87] 



tude. The positions of the Beljawsky comet are given for 

 September 30 and October 1. This comet is exceptionally 

 bright, and has a nucleus of the third magnitude. The 

 tail is about 15° long. — D. Pompeiu : The functions of 

 complex variables. — Et. Delassus : Non-linear linkages. — 

 G. Reboul and E. Gregoire de Bollemont : The transport 

 of metallic particles under the action of heat. Sheets of 

 copper or silver, near which is placed a sheet of porcelain 

 or another metal, give deposits on the latter when heated. 

 The amount of metal deposited is shown to depend to 

 some extent upon the nature of the gas between the two 

 plates. — Auguste Marie and L. MacAuliffe : The asym- 

 metry of the Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, and Spy No. 1 

 skulls. The application of the method proposed by M. 

 Chervin to casts from these three skulls shows that all are 

 asymmetrical. Three diagrams are given showing the 

 deviations observed. — Paul Marchal and J. Feytaud : A 

 parasite of the eggs of Cochylis and Eudemis. — E. 

 Roubaud : New contribution to the biological study of 

 Glossina. Some data on the biology of G. morsitans and 

 G. tachinoides from the Nigerian Sudan. — L. Boutan : 

 Some peculiarities relating to the mode of fixing of the 

 crustacean Gnathia halidaii. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, July 20. — Mr. W. W. Froggatt 

 president, in the chair. — P. Cameron : Parasitic Hymeno- 

 ptera from the Solomon Islands, collected by Mr. W. W. 

 Froggatt. The parasitic Hymenoptera of the Solomon 

 Islands are practically unknown. Mr. Froggatt's collec- 

 tion comprised representatives of seventeen undescribed 

 species — Chalcididas, 2 ; Braconida?, 6 ; Evaniidse, 1 ; and 

 Ichneumonidae, 8. — R. J. Tillyard : Further notes on some 

 rare Australian Corduliinae, with descriptions of new 

 species. Seven new or rare Australian Corduliinas are 

 dealt with. Two new genera, Lathrocordulia and Hespero- 

 cordulia, are proposed, and four new species described. 

 One of these is the beautiful yellow and black Hemi- 

 cordulia superba from Pallal, New South Wales. From 

 the same locality the female of H. intermedia, hitherto 

 unknown, is also described. Two fine new species sent 

 by Mr. G. F. Berthoud, of Waroona, West Australia, viz. 

 Lathrocordulia metallica and Hespercordulia berthoudi, 

 form the types of two new and interesting genera, which 

 further bridge the gap between the two main groups of 

 the subfamily. The latter species has a bright red and 

 black coloration, unique amongst Corduliinas. Lastly, a 

 female of a magnificent new Macromia, M. viridescens, 

 taken at Cape York, completes the list of new species. — 

 R. J. Tillyard : The genus Cordulephya. This peculiar 

 aberrant genus, originally monotypic and far removed from 

 all existing forms, is enlarged by the addition of a new 

 species, C. montana, from the Blue Mountains. The two 

 species, C. pygmaea, Selys, and C. montana, are described 

 and compared, and their full life-histories given. An 

 interesting " theory of the two broods " is offered as a 

 solution of the differentiation between the two, which occur 

 at different seasons of the year. 



August 30. — Mr. W. W. Froggatt, president, in 

 the chair. — Dr. T. H. Johnston and Dr. J. Burton 

 Cleland : The Hsmatozoa of Australian reptiles, 

 No. 2. — A. M. Lea : Descriptions of new species of 

 Australian Coleoptera, part ix. The paper contains notes 

 on some of the types of King's and Macleay's Pselaphidte ; 

 notes on Xylopsocus bispinosus, Macl., a species of 

 Bostrychida% of which the male protects the female during 



' her egg-laying period, and probably for some time after- 



I wards ; and descriptions of new species of Staphylinida; (1), 

 Pselaphidae (23, including a new genus), Silphidae (9), 



I Byrrhida; (1), Scarabaeidje (2), Lymexylonida? (2), Ptinida; 

 (7), Tenebrionidae (2, including a new genus, with one 

 species of blind insects, the first blind beetle to be recorded 

 from Queensland), and Erotyllida; (1). — Dr. R. Greig- 

 Smith : Contributions to a knowledge of soil fertility. 

 No. 2. The determination of Rhizobia in the soil. From 

 a perusal of the literature upon the fixation of nitrogen 



I by the bacteria in the soil, one is led to believe that 

 Azotobacter is the most active. It is not known how many 



! of these organisms may be contained in 1 gram of soil ; 

 and, from Lohms's work, we imagine that the members 

 of nitrogen-fixing bacteria are small. By making use of 



