July 25, 1872] 



NATURE 



255 



normal butyl derivatives. The author inepared the noritial butjric 

 acid from iodide of propyl, which he obtained from theproducis 

 of fermentation. This was boiled with polassic cyanide, and 

 the product treated with a'coholic potash, yielding potasjic 

 butyrate ; from this it is easy by well-known methods to pre- 

 pare the alcohol and its derivative?, many of which have been 

 carefully studied and are described in these pages. — Gorup-licsancz 

 contributes a paper on the ozone reactions in the neighbourhood 

 of the evaporating houses of salt springs (Gradirhiiusein) ; he 

 finds that when large quantities of water evaporate spontaneously 

 or in a current of air, amnionic nil rate and ozone arc fornud 

 in appreci.-ible cpiantities, and that the nearer to the evaporaiing 

 surface the ozone paper was pl.iced the more intense W'as the czone 

 reaction. — .Schorlemmer has contributed a paper on the normal 

 paraffines. lie h.is e.\.aniined many of them, such as ptntan or 

 amyl hydride, and liexan and heptyl lijdiide ; he finds that by the 

 action of chlorine on these pure bodies in each case two isomeric 

 chlorides are obtained, and from which a primary and secondary 

 alcohol can be produced, which yield a ketone and an acid by 

 oxidation. — The next paper is by I'atera " On the means of pro- 

 tecting textile fabrics, &c., from fire." The author's only objec- 

 tion to the use of tungstate of soda, which he considers very 

 efficient, is on account of its price, lie proposes as a substitute 

 a mixture of four parts of borax and three parts of magnesic 

 sulphate, which is freshly prepared and dissolved in 20 to 30 parts 

 of warm water ; the fabric to be protected is dipped in the solu- 

 tion, wrung out ard dried. A second substitute is a mixture of 

 ammonic sulphate and gypsum. These mixtures can be used for 

 such things as crape, tulle, muslin, canvas, wood, and rope. — 

 Wartha has a short note on the action of potassic hydrate on 

 anthraquinone. He finds that at high temperatuies these two 

 react and form small quantities of alizarin. — Sintenis contributes 

 a long and interesting paper " On our knowledge of the benzyl 

 ethers;" and I'opoff another on the oxidation of the ketones, 

 both of which deal very thoroughly wilh their respective subjects. 



The .liih-i-iian yoiirnal 0/ Scil-iicc and Arts for June opens 

 with a paper on ihe early stages of the America Loljster (//tf- 

 mariis aiiicr'uaniis Edu-.) by Mr. S. J. Smith illustrated with a 

 plate. Dr. J. J. Woodward contributes some Remarks on the 

 nomenclature of Achromatic Objectives for the Compound Mi- 

 croscope, and Prof. A. M. Mayer a description of a new form of 

 Lantern-Galvanometer. Mr. S. W. Kord describes some new 

 species of Primordial Fossils, and Mr. F, B. Meek some new 

 fossils from the Cincinnati Group of Ohio ; and a further im- 

 portant contribution to palccontological science is found in Prof. 

 O. C. March's paper on the Structure of the Skull and Limbs 

 in Mosasauroid Reptiles, with descriptions of new genera and 

 species, illustrated by four plates. The new genera described are 

 Listosaurus, four species, and Jx/iiiiosaiinis, one species. The 

 continued articles from preceding Nos. aic Prof. VerriU on Ra- 

 diata from the Coast of N. Carolina, and Prof. Norton on 

 Molecular and Cosmical Physics. 



The Sco/tis/i Xalnmlisl for July consists mainly of short 

 notes of observations and discoveries relating to Scottish Natural 

 History, chiefiy Zoology. We find also the following articles of 

 somewhat greater length; — Description of a new Ilemipter, 

 Aiil/iomyia Son<-/ii (the sow-thistle fly), by Mr. Jas. Hardy ; on 

 the Nest of Funnica nifa and its inhabitants, by Dr. Buchanan 

 White ; Notes on Scottish Hemiptera, also by the Editor; On 

 the " Yellow Fins " of the Allan-water, by Dr. W. C. M'Intosh , 

 and the continuation of the Lists of Scottish Lepidoptera and 

 Coleoptera by Drs. Buchanan White and Sharp. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Society, June 20—" On the present amount of Wes- 

 terly Magnetic Declination (Variation of the Compass) on the 

 Coasts of (ireat Britain, and its Annual Changes." By Staff- 

 Captain Frederick J. E\ans, R.N.,F.R.S. 



The rapidly accelerating value within the last few ye.ars of the 

 westerly magnetic declination over the whole area of the United 

 Kingdom and the adjacent seas, as observed at the fixed mag- 

 netic observatories of Greenwich, Kew, Brussels, Paris, and also 

 at Christiana in Xorw.ay, is a subject of importance in practical 

 navigation as affecting the compass bearings derived from chaits 

 and tho.se laid down for the guidance of pilots. 



The attention of the Hydrographic Department of the Admi- 



8 '24 

 778 



7 '34 



7'i4) 

 7' 10 



6-85 



6-26 



rally has been constantly directed to this interesting physical 

 fact ; and as the duties of Her Majesty's surveying vessels em- 

 plo)edonour shores letwecn the years 1S66 — 1870 embraced 

 neaily the whole extent of coast line, advantage was thus taken 

 lo deiermine, wilh great altention to accuracy, the magnetic 

 declination at widely spiead and favourable localities. 



The obseivations thus made by the surveying officers of H.M. 

 ravy are given in detail, wilh the corrections for secular change, 

 to Jan. I, 1872,"" for which epoch a chart of the British Islands, 

 exhibiting the lines cf magnetic declination of ecpial value, is 

 .also appended. Byccniparing these lines wilh the correspond- 

 ing lines given in the Declination Chart for 1S42-5, Phil. Trans, 

 for 1870, art. xiv., " Conliibuiions to Terrestiial Magnetism," 

 No. xii. , by Geneial Sir Edwaid Sabine, the annual decrease of 

 the westerly dechnation, in tlie interval 29 '5 years, over various 

 geographical districts is thus shown : — 



Shetland Islands and N.E. coast of Scotland, 



between 56th and 60th parallels 

 E. coast of England, between 56th and 51st 



parallels ... ... 



S. coast of England, between 51st and 49th ) 



parallels f 



Dungeness to Scilly Islands, with the Channel ( 



Islands ) 



(Greenwich Observatory ... 



Iiish Channel, between 52nd and 54th parallels 



Hebrides and W. coast of Scotland, between 56th 



and 5Slh parallels 



Ireland, S.W.,W., and N. W. coast, between 52nd 

 and 55th parallels 

 It is thus seen that in the area included by the shores of the 

 United Kingdom, ihe change was greater on the eastern than on 

 the western side ; as .also that in the higher parallels of latitude 

 of this area the change was greater than in the lower parallels. 



By a further comparison of results as observed within the last 

 ten to twelve years, at the same stations within the same geo- 

 graphical districts, the following approximate values of the 

 present rate of annual charge (westerly declination, decreasing) 

 are obtained : — 



Shetland Islands and N.E. coast of Scotland... If2 



v.. ccast of England (Bridlington) 10-3 



S. coast of England (Plymoulh)... 

 Scotland, W. and N.W. coasts ... 

 Ireland, .S.W. coast 

 These values are in satisfactory accordance with those obtained 

 in the interval (1865-71) at the following fixed magnetic obser- 

 vatories : — 



8'33 me.an annual decrease of westerly 



declination. 

 S-oS 



r% „ ',', 



"On the Physical Nature of the Coagulation of the Blood," 

 by Alfred Hutchison Smee. 



"On the Detection of Orgimic and other Nitre genised Matter 

 existing in the Atmosphere," by Alfred Hutchison Smee. 



"Contributions to Terrestrial Magnetism, No. XIII.," by 

 General Sir Edward S.abine, K.C.B., V.P.R.S. 



The author presents this paper as the companion of No. XI. 

 of his "Ccntiibutions to Terrestrial Magnelism," which con- 

 tained the Magnetic Survey of the Southern Hemisphere from 

 40° S. lat. to the e-xtreme limit towards the Southern Pole, as 

 dc-es the present memoir. No. XHI. of ihe same series, the 

 three msgnelic elements from 40' N. lat. to the furthest attained 

 limit of the Northern Pole. In both papers the mean epoch is 

 the s.ame, viz., 1842-5. Where it has been possible to do so, 

 corrections to this mean epoch have been obtained and applied 

 to earlier and later observations. 



The determinations are derived from observers of all countries, 

 and are arranged in zones, each of 5° of lat., passing round the 

 globe. The table thui loimed contains between 3,000 and 4,000 

 stations at which the magnetic elements have been determined. 

 The observers .ire named, and references are made to the sources 

 from whence I heir observations are taken. The paper is accom- 

 panied by maps of the resulting Isrgonie, Isoclinal, and Isody- 

 namic Lines, executed at the Hydrographic Office. 



"On the Law of Extraordinary Refraction in Iceland Spar," 

 by G. G. Stokes, Sec. R.S. 



* A nie.in value of 15' 4c' beii g assumed for the westerly m.iguclic decli- 

 itatioii M Giteiiwich Ub:eT\atoiy for this epoch. 



7-9 

 9-5 

 6-6 



Greenwich 



Kew... 

 Stonyhurst 



