232 



NA TURE 



[y^ 



ficially developed virus attenuated by heat, intended to be used 

 in prophylactic inoculations against charbon, by M. A. Chauveau. 

 — On the remarkable sun-.et'^ observed during the months of 

 November and December, 1883, by M. P. de Gasparin. The 

 author considers that these luminous effects cannot be due to 

 falling stars, and must be referred to the solar light acting on an 

 atmosphere charged with particles of matter whose nature has 

 not yet been determined. — On thedeterniinalionof elasticfirces, 

 by M. Fontaneau. — On the processes adopted by M. Mandon 

 and M. Aman-Vigic in the treatment of vines affected by phyl- 

 loxera, by M. F. Henneguy. The process of Dr. Mandon, 

 which consists in saturating the sap with a solution of 

 phenic acid, appears to h.xve little or no effect on the parasite. 

 That by M. Aman-Vigie, an injection of a mixture of vapours of 

 sulphur and sulphuric acid into the ground, has been tried on too 

 limited a scale to warrant any definite judgment as to its efficacy, 

 but the experiments already made do not appear to have proved 

 very beneficial, because tlie vapours of sulphuric acid do not 

 penetrate to a sufficient depth into the ground, and evaporate 

 too rapidly. — Observations of the Pons-Brooks comet made at 

 the Paris Observatory with the bent equatorial, by M. Perigaud. 

 — Observations of the planet 235 Carolina and of the Pons- 

 Brooks comet made at the Paris Observatory (west equatoreal 

 in the garden), by MM. Henry. — On the multipliers of linear 

 differential equations, by M. Halphen. — On a point in the theory 

 of elliptical functions, by M. Lipschitz. — On a theorem of M. 

 Liouville in mathematical analysis, by M. Stieltjes. In continua- 

 tion of his previous paper, the author here shows how the 

 theory of elliptical functions leads to the theorem of M. Liou- 

 ville. — On algebraic equations, by M. H. Poincare. — Demon- 

 stration of the fundamental properties of the system of geodesic 

 polar coordinates, by M. G. Ossian-Bonnet. — On a method of 

 generating the ovals of Descartes proposed by Chasles in his 

 "Apercju Historique," by M. Maurice d'Ocagne. — On the 

 measurement of the specific heats and variations of temperature 

 of two bodies in contact, by M. Morisot. — On a practicable 

 method available for the photometric comparison of the usual 

 source; diversely coloured, by M. J. Mace de Lepin.ay. — On the 

 influence of colour on the sensitiveness of the eye to different 

 degrees of luminosity, by M. Aug. Charpentier. — Researches on 

 the permanence of the solidification of i^uperfused sulphur (con- 

 tinued), by M. D. Gernez. — Second note on chromic selenite ; 

 preparation of biselenite, by M. Ch. Taquet. The author has 

 obtained a biselenite of chromium by the action of nitric acid on 

 neutral selenite. It is almost insoluble in water, but soluble in 

 acids, and decomposable by heat. — Note on the action of 

 bromium on pilocarpine (CooHj^AzjOj), by M. Chaasling. — On 

 emetics of mucic and saccharic acids, by M. D. Klein. — Third 

 note to serve as a contribution to the history of the formation of 

 coal ; genus ArthropilJis, Goeppert, by M. B. Renault. — On 

 the artificial reproduction of schistosity and slate layers, Ijy M. 

 Ed. Jannettaz. — Experiment relative to the mode of formation 

 of bauxite and gypsum, by M. Stan. Meunier. — On the glaucous 

 amphibolic schists of the island of Groix, by M. Barrois. — On 

 an anorthite rock di covered at Saint Clement, Canton of Saint- 

 Anthene (Puy-de-D6me), by M. F. Gonnard. — On the fall of 

 cosmic dust, by M. E. Young. — On the coincidence of the 

 recent phenomenal after-glows with the passage of the cosmic 

 meteors, by M. Chapel. 



December 24, 1883. — M. Blanchard, president, in the chair. 

 — The President announced the painful loss sustained by the 

 Academy in the person of M. Yvon Villarceau, member of the 

 Section for Geography and Navigation, who died after a short 

 illness on December 23. Funeral orations on the deceased 

 savant were pronounced by Col. Perrier in the name of the 

 Academy, by M. Faye in the name of the Bureau of Longitudes, 

 and by M. Tisserand in the name of the Paris Observatory. — 

 Separation of gallium (continued) : separation from terbium, 

 ytterbium, and the earth provisionally called y, by M. de 

 Marignac, from scandium and fluor, by M. Lecoq de Bois- 

 baudran. — Ob ervations of the comet Pons-Brooks, made at the 

 Observatory of Algiers by MM. Trepied and Rambaud. — Ob- 

 servations of the same comet made at the Lyons Observatory 

 (Brunner equatorial of o'l6o metre), by M. Gonnessiat. — On a 

 special development of the perturbing function 



(r- - 2 rr cos i/ -I- / 2) ° 

 by M. O. Backlund. — On the purely trigonometrical series 



connected with M. Linstedt's new solution of the problem oi 

 three bodies, by M. 11. Poincare. — On the generation of geo- 

 metrical surfaces, by MM. J. S. and M. N. Vanecek. — On the 

 gauging of galvanometers, by M. E. Ducretet. — Researches on 

 the permanency of the solidification of superfused sulphur (con- 

 tinued) ; production of a new crystallised variety of sulphur, by 

 M. D. Gernez. — On the decomposition undergone in the presence 

 of water by the acid phosphates of the alkaline earthy bases, by 

 M. A. Joly. — Determination of the neutralising heat for 

 the fluorhydric acid of the alkaline and alkaline-earthy 

 bases, by M. Guntz. — On the krealines and kreatinines, 

 fourth note, by M. E. Duvillier. — Action of ammoniacal 

 gas on the nitrate of methyl, by MM. E. DuviUier and 

 H. Malbot. — Researches on the compound oxygenised am- 

 monias, by M. Reboul. — On some haloid derivatives of 

 ethane, by M. L. Henry. — On the pathologic anatomy of the 

 phlegmon, and especially on the seat of the bacteria in this 

 affection, by M. Coniil. — On the species of Arctic mollusks 

 found by the Talisman Expedition at great depths in the inter- 

 tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, by M. P. Fischer. — On 

 the morphology of the plumicole Sarcoptides, by MM. E. L. 

 Trouessart and P. Megnin. — On a rapid and economical method 

 of treating vines affected by Peronospora, by M. Senderens. — 

 On a parasitic Nematode of the common onion, by M. Joannes 

 Chatin. — On the cultivation of beetroot and some other plants 

 in solutions of organic substances in decomposition, by M. V. 

 Jodin. — On the relations of the .Serpentine rocks to saline sub- 

 stances, especially in the Pyrenees, by M. Dieulafait. — On a 

 chlorosilicate of lime, by M. Le Chatelier. — Experimental re- 

 searches on the velocity of aqueous or atmospheric currents 

 capable of holding in suspense mineral particles, by M. J. 

 Thoulet. — Note on the sunset glows recently reporteil to the 

 Academy, by M. E. Marchand. — Obsen'ation of the after-glows 

 witnessed at Valence on the evening of December 2, by M. 

 P. du Boys. — Remarks on the sunsets obser\'ed at Rambouillet 

 on the evenings of December 15 and iS, ty M. A. Laugier. — 

 Letter on the sunsets observed at Christiania towards the end 

 of November, by M. Fearnley, director of the Christi.ania 

 Observatory. 



CONTENTS Page 



Thermal Chemistry. By M. M. Pattison Muir . . 209 



A Scientific Catalogue 212 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Elevation and Subsidence. — Prof. Joseph LeConte 212 

 Red-deer Horns. — Sir J. Fayrer, F.R.S. ; James 



Inglis 213 



On the Absence of Earthworms from the Prairies of 



the Canadian Norlh-West. — Robt. MillerChristy 213 

 Magnetic Dip in South China and Formosa. — Dr. W. 



Doberck 214 



The Origin of Coral Reefs. By Surgeon H. B. 



Guppy 214 



A|Forgotten Evolutionist. By W. T. Thiselton Dyer, 



C.M.G., F.R.S 215 



Teaching Animals to Converse. By Sir John 



Lubbock, Bart., MP., F.R.S 216 



The French Deep Sea Expedition of 1883. By Dr. 



J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S 216 



The Sun Motor and the Sun's Temperature. By 



Capt. J. Ericsson {Witit lUustratio'ts) 21 7 



A Christmas Visit to Ben Nevis Observatory. By 



Prof. G. Chrystal 219 



The Remarkable Sunsets. By Rev. Gerard Hopkins ; 



B. Brauner; Joseph Macpherson ; \A^. E.J. ; R. 



Meldola; F. M. Burton; J. Edmund Clark; 



Robert Beadon 222 



Notes 235 



Physical Notes 226 



The Evidence for Evolution in the History of the 



Extinct Mammalia. By Prof. E. D. Cope . . . 227 

 Societies and Academies 250 



