May 23, 1872] 



NATURE 



73 



principle of transformation of energy. At all events, all the 

 luminous, thermic, and detonating phenomena attending the fall 

 of such bodies seem to be fully accounted for by the enormous 

 amount of heat thus generated by their passage through the 

 atmosphere. John Le Conte 



I'niversity of Ca'ifornia 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Annalin dcr Chcmie und P'larmacit, November 1 87 1. This 

 number opens with a lengthy paper by Grasbe and Liebermann 

 on anthracene derivatives ; they have studied in detail anthracene 

 carbonic acid, and the behaviour of anthraq linine with phosphoric 

 chloride and potassic hydrate. They have also experimented with 

 the anthraquinine sulpho acids ; at the present time researches 

 on thi< subject possess considerable technical interest, as it is from 

 disulphanthraquinonic acid that artificial alizarin is prepared, 

 which seems to be fast supplanting the use of ihe m.adder root in 

 dyeing. liottger and Petersen follow on a subject m arly allied 

 to the former, " on the compounds of anthraquinone containing 

 nitrogen." Zinneman contributes a paper on an improvement in 

 the method of distillation ; the method is somewhat similar to 

 that usually employed in chemical laboratories, that is to cause 

 the vapour to pass up a long upright glass tube on which several 

 bulbs have been blown, the exit tube being at right angles nearly 

 at the top ; the new portion of the apparatus consists in placing 

 in the long tube a number of bell-shaped cages made of platinum 

 wire gauze, which fit closely to the sides of the tube, and through 

 which the vapour must pass or filter as it rises in the tube. With 

 this apparatus the author has made an extensive series of experi- 

 ments on the purification and determination of the boiling points 

 of some of the most imporiant of the ethyl compounds, on 

 various acids of the same series, on the separation of propyl and 

 butyl alcohols from the products of fermentation, and on the 

 separation of the iodides of ethyl, propyl, and bulyl. Jtdging 

 by the results of these experiments, the new contrivance seems 

 to work extremely well, and to be an improvement on the 

 original form of apparatus. Several short papers complete this 

 number, but they are not of extreme interest. 



yournal of the Chemical Society, March 1S72. — The compo- 

 sition of the nitural tantalites and niobites forms 'the subject 

 of a very important paper by Rammelsberg. Numerous 

 analyses of various minerals containing the two rare elements, 

 tantalum and niobium, are given, the results of which, how- 

 ever, cannot be usefully condensed. — Dr. Tilden presents a note 

 " On the crystalline principle of Barbadoes Aloes ; " the au'.hor 

 has obtained a chloro-substitution product corresponding to the 

 bromo-derivative, described some years since by Dr. Stenhouse, 

 that is alom in which three atoms of hydrogen are replaced by 

 chlorine. The remainder of this number is occupied by the 

 abstracts of foreign papers, many of which are of great interest. 

 — Dr. de Coppet finds that supersaturated s dutlons of sodic 

 sulphate can be prepared by dissolving the anhydrous salt in 

 cold water ; it is, how^ever, necessary that the anhydrous salt 

 should be heated above 33°, and cooled out of contact with the 

 air, as it is found that the anhydrous sodic sulphate, obtained by 

 drying the ordinary salt (containing ten molecules of water) at a 

 tempeialure lower than 33', always ac's as a nucleus in deter- 

 mining the crystallisation of a supersaturated solution of this 

 salt. From this it appears that from crystallised sodic sulphate 

 different bodies are obtained depending on the temperature at 

 which the salt i? dried.— A long abstract of Linnemann's Im- 

 portant paper "On an improvement in the method of fractional 

 distillation," and also of his researches on the normal propyl 

 alcohol and its compounds are here given. — Another curious 

 example of the lowering of the boiling point of mixtures of 

 water and other liquids forms the subject of another abstract. 

 Is. Pierre finds that a mixture of water and butyl iodide distils 

 at 95-96' (butyl iodide boils at I22'5 ), and that a constant 

 mixture of 79 parts of iodide and 21 of water is found In the 

 distillate. Eihylic iodide (B.P. 72 ) and water distil at 66', only 

 3 to 4 per cent, of water condensing with the iodide. The 

 abstracts as a whole are shorter and more condensed than they 

 were originally ; in some cases this must be regretted, though in 

 others it is, perhaps, an advantage. 



The Qiiaitcrly Journal of Microscopical Science for April 

 1872, contains memoirs on the Development of the Knamel in 

 the Teeth of Mammals, as illustrated by the various stages of 

 growth demonstrable in the evolution of the fourth molars of a 



young elephant, and of the incisor teeth in the fcetal calf, by 

 Prof. Rolleston,M.D. This paper is a reprint.— Note on Im- 

 mersion Object-glasses for the Microscope, by Dr. Royston Pig- 

 gott, chiefly directed towards the assertion that the aper- 

 ture of an Immersion lens can never exceed So', which this 

 author denies. — Obseri'alions of Pathological Changes in the 

 Red Blood-corpuscle, by J. Braxton Hicks, M.D. — On the Arti- 

 ficial Production of some of the principal Organic Calcareous 

 Formations, by Prof. Ilarting, ot the University of Utrecht. 

 This is an abridged report of researches un-^ertaken with the view 

 of producing, independently of living organisms, certain calcareous 

 formations, which are met with in animals as integral parts of 

 their skeleton, and this by causing calcium carbonate and phos- 

 phate to combine in the nascent state with organic substances. — 

 On the Peripheral Distribution of Non-niedullalel Nerve-Fibres, 

 by Dr. E. Klein ; the third part of a memoir, of which the pre- 

 vious portions appeared in this journal. It treats of the relation 

 of the non-meduUated nerve-fibres to small arteries, small veins, 

 and to capillary vessels in the muscular substance of the frog's 

 tongue ; and the termination of nerve-fibres in the ciliated duct 

 in the tail of the rabbit. — On the Structure of Tendon, by J- 

 Mitchell Bruce, partly in support and partly in con-trover- 

 sion of the views of Boll, as detailed in Max Schul'ze's 

 Archiv. — The Embryology of Chrysopa, and its bearing on the 

 Classification of the Neuroptera, by A. S. Packard, Jun., M.D. 

 Repr'nted from the American A'aturalist. — Preliminary notice of 

 Researches on the Anatomy of the Serous Membranes in Normal 

 and Pathological Conditions, by Dr. E. Klein and Prof. Burdon 

 Sanderson, forming apart of investigations on infectious diseases, 

 undertaken for the Medical Department of the Privy Council. 

 These investigations relate to more than 250 animals, e^pecially 

 rabbits and guinea pigs, many frogs, several cats, dogs, some 

 rats, and one monkey. — The remainder of the journal is occu- 

 pied with abstracts, notices, and reports. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Society, May 16. — " On the Specific Heat and other 

 physical characters of Mixture^; of Methylic Alcohol and Water, 

 and on certain relations existing between the Specific Heat of a 

 Mixture or Solution, and the Heat evolved or absorbed in their 

 formation," by Dr. A. Dupre. — "On Supersatura'eJ Saline 

 Solutions," Part HI., by Chares Tomlinson, F.R.S., and G. 

 Van der Mensbrugghe. — " Remarks on the Sense of Sight in 

 Birds, accompanied by a description of the Eye, and particularly 

 of Ihe CIHiry Muscle in the genus Raptorcs" by \\x. Robert 

 Lee. — Supplement to Mr. Lee's communication on the Sense 

 of Sight in Birds. A Description of the Eye in RJtea anieri- 

 cana, F/iaiiico/'tcnn anliquonim, and Aftcnodytcs Humhohltii. 



Geological Society, May 8. — Mr. Joseph Prestwich, F. R.S., 

 in the chair. — The following papers were read: — i. "Notes on 

 Atolls or Lagoon Islands." By Mr. S. J. Whitnell. The author 

 commenced by indicaiing certain facts which lead him to 

 think that the areas of atolls are not at present sinking, 

 and referred to one Instance (that of Funafuti or Elllce 

 Islands), in which he thought there were signs of a slight 

 upward movement. He noticed the occurrence of a 

 furrowed appearance, or a series of ridges or mounds, in some 

 islands, each of which he regarded as produced by a single gale. 

 He also described a fieshwater lagoon, about three miles in 

 diameter, as occurring in the Island of Quiros. Mr. Thorpe was 

 acquainted with the atolls around the coast of Ceylon, and 

 thought that the local t aditions, untrustworthy as such sources 

 usually were, might afford some evidence as to the date of their 

 origin. The tradition of Ceylon was that the Maldive and Lacca- 

 dive Islands had within the memory of many been connected 

 with Ceylon. If this were so the evidence was in favour of the 

 area being one of subsidence. Mr. D. Forbes, when in 1S59 he 

 spent some months in the Pacific, had been requested by Mr. 

 Darwin to examine into the evidence as to the origin of the^e 

 atolls by elevation, and had found that the asserted cases of the 

 existence of masses of coral at a considerable elevation .above tie 

 sea merely arose from blocks having been transported inland by 

 the natives. Though, however, there was no evidence of eleva- 

 lion, it was still possible that such had In certain cases taken 

 place, as there were still active volcanoes in this region. The 

 freshwater lakes he attributed to the drainage of the islands 



