466 



NATURE 



[oa. 3, 1872 



dispersion would not weaken the phenomenon to such an extent 

 as perhaps to render it impossible to see anything at all. 



The second method, to which he is inclined to give the 

 preference, consists in attaching to the eye-piece of a good tele- 

 scope a spectroscope which shall form a real spectrum, well 

 defined and sufficiently extended. A diaphragm is provided with a 

 fine moveable slit, adjusted so as to permit the passage only of 

 the Fraunhofer line C and the line D3. This slit acts like the 

 blit of a second spectroscope of high dispersive power. 



The advantage of this constraction consists in intercepting all 

 the solar rays excepting those which correspond to the lines 

 which it is desired to study, or those in their immediate vicinity. 

 The extraneous solar ligl.t is thereby arrested, and by dispersing 

 ihis isolated beam by means of a second powerful spectroscope. 

 Prof. Blassrna believes tliat we must ultimately succeed in see- 

 ing the protuberances on the full. solar disc. 



The importance of such a fact for spectroscopy induced him 

 to associate himself with Professors Cacciatore and Tacchini, for 

 the purpose of putting it to the test ; but the means at their dis- 

 posal were too slender, and neither did nor could yield any 

 result. For this reason he believes that it will be Clseful to ex- 

 plain the method, in the hope that some other spectrocopist, 

 and perhaps Donati himself, may follow it out with better 

 means and greater success. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, vol. vi., part 2, May. 

 A large portion of this number of the journal is occupied by a 

 s-'ries of papers on Myology, by Prof. Humphry ; among them 

 by far the most important is one in which the writer indicates 

 a general plan on \\\\\c\\ the muscles of vertebrate animals are 

 arranged. Prof. Humphry's scheme is simply this : — Theloco- 

 motory system of a vertebrate animal consists fundamentally of 

 a successional series of alternating skeletal and muscular planus, 

 having generally a transverse direction between the axial line and 

 the circumference. The skeletal planes, "sclerotomes," are re- 

 presented in the high vertebrate classes by the vertebral processes, 

 ribs, limb and hyoid girdles, tendons of the dorsal muscles, Pou- 

 patt's ligament, tendinous inscriptions on the rectus abdominis, 

 &c. The muscular planes, "myotomes," are made up of muscular 

 fibres, the general arrangement of which is in an antero-posterior 

 direction. The muscles of the trunk may be grouped under two 

 heads, the dorsal muscles and the ventral muscles, the latter 

 being disposed in three layers. The muscles of the limbs are 

 derivatives from the middle stratum of the ventral muscle with a 

 funnel-shaped investment derived from the external stratum. 

 Prof. Humphry's other papers are on the arrangement of tlie 

 muscles of the Lepidosiren, the Ceratodus, the smooth dog-fish, 

 and the glass-sn.ike. — Prof Turner furnishes a description of this 

 Bternum of the sperm whale. Hitherto in the specimens of the 

 cetacean that have been examined the sternum was incompletely 

 ossified, so that the present communication fiU.s up a gap in our 

 knowledge. — Dr. Hollis, in a paper entitled "Tissue jletabo- 

 lism, or the artificial induction of Structural Changes in Living 

 Animals," describes some experiments mide with mechanical 

 and chemical irritants on the now nervous, now vascular tissues 

 of Actinia. Tlie results point to nothing beyond what has been 

 before observed, a swelling and softening of the tissues, with a 

 proliferation of the nuclear elements. Dr. IloUis ,ilso furnishes 

 a short paper "On the Homology of a Mandibular Palp in certain 

 Insects," and a note " On the Growth of the Masticatory Organs 

 of Isopod Crustaceans." — Dr. Garrod, in a paper " On Sphyg- 

 mography," points out the objections to tlie ordinary " knife- 

 edge" sphygmograph, and describes a new instrument by Bregnet, 

 in which these defects are remedied by a rack-work plan of con- 

 struction. He further points out most clearly and forcibly the 

 direction in which this apparatus is most useful as a means of 

 observation, both to the physiologist and physician. — Dr. Brax- 

 ton Hicks brings forward some most valuable evidence against 

 the idea of a placental sinus system into which the fcetal silli 

 protrude, and almost proves that normally no blood exists 

 among the silli. — Prof. Traquair describes the caudal fin of the 

 tailless trout of Islay. — Mr. Stirling notes Trichiniasis in a lat 

 caught in the neighbourhood of a dissecting-room. Several 

 anatomical anomalies occurring in the human subject are recorded 

 in this journal. Mr. Bradley provides some notes onmyological 

 peculiarities. — Mr. Champneys describes a communication 

 between the external Ilian and Portal veins. —Dr. Watson men- 

 tions a case of the termination of the thoracic duct at the junc- 



tion of the Right subclavian and internal jugular veins'; and Mr. 

 Galton reports from Vienna the case of a man possessing two 

 supernumerary teeth beliind the upper median incisors. The 

 number concludes with the usual review of books and the reports 

 on the progress of anatomy by Prof. Turner, and on physiology 

 by Drs. Rutherford, Brunton, and Ferrier. 



Journal of the Chemical Society, May. — This number opens 

 with the proceeding at the anniversary meeting of the Chemical 

 Society, and also the address of the president on that occasion. 

 Dr. Frankland in his address reviewed the present condition of 

 chemical research in this country, as exemplified by the number 

 of original papers received and read Ijefore the society, pointing 

 out that during the past year only 22 papers have been received 

 from the members, the number of whom has reached 656, 32 of 

 these being foreign members ; whilst, (Jii the other hand, the 

 German Chemical Society, which numbers 52S native members, 

 has received during the same period the results of no less than 

 23S original researches. Dr. l'"rankland mentioned one fact 

 which he believed to be one of the principal causes of this com- 

 parative lethargy on the part of English chemists. It is that our 

 Universities and examining bodies do not recognise original re- 

 search, but are content to accept book knowledge to a great 

 extent ; and that, on the other hand, in Germany a candidate 

 for a scientific degree has to submit a memoir or dissertation on 

 some original investigation before he is admitted to examination. 

 The only original communication in this number of the journal is 

 by Dr. Debus, on "The action of sodium amalgam on alcoholic 

 solution of ethylic oxalate.'' In the year 1S64 Friedlander, ex- 

 perimenting on this subject, obtained a substance which he named 

 glycolinic acid, to which he assigned the formula C2H4O.1, that 

 is isomeric with glyoxylic acid. Dr. Debus has now carefully 

 repeated Friedlander's experiments, but has not succeeded in 

 obtaining this body, but instead of this the sodium salt of glycolic 

 acid. Several attempts were made under varying conditions, 

 but all failed to produce the first -named body, sodium glycollate 

 being obtained. As one of the l.iy-producis of the reaction in 

 question. Dr. Debus has isolated tartaric acid. It is probably 

 formed by the action of a molecule of hydrogen on one of oxalic 

 ether, which woul I yield ethylic glyoxalate and alcohol ; and it 

 will then be seen that one molecule of hydrogen, combining 

 directly with two molecules of ethylic glyoxalate, would yield 

 ethylic tartrate. The abstracts of foreign papers contain many 

 of great value, several of which have already been noticed in 

 these pages. 



Verhamllnngcn tier k. k. geologisc/ien Reichsanstalt, No. 9, 

 1872. There is not much of special interest for English geolo- 

 gists in this number of the Proceedings. Amongst the papers 

 are the following : — " On the movements which tlie sedimentary 

 formations of France have undergone," by M. Delesse ; in 

 which the author's studies lead him to the conclusion that the 

 sedimentary strata that are buried in the earth's crust, are always 

 in a more or less soft condition ; and " A Contribution to Richt- 

 hofen's theory of the Loess," by D. Stur. The literary notices 

 and reviews which complete the number are unusually full. 



PitOF. E. D. Cope contributes to the American Xaluralist for 

 July an exceedingly interesting account of the Wyandotte Cave 

 "and its Fauna, to which we shall probably take an opportunity of 

 again referring. Another important anicle in the same number 

 is by Dr. H. llageu on Mimicry in the Colours of Insects. Dr. 

 Hagen distinguishes three different kinds of colours as present in 

 insects — viz., colours produced by interference of light, colours 

 of the epidermis, and colours of the hypodermis. The colours 

 produced by the iiiterferenceof hght are only optical phenomena. 

 The epidermal colours belong to the pigment deposited in the 

 cells of the chitinised external skin or epidermis, and are .mostly 

 metallic blue, green, bronze, golden, silver, black, brown, and 

 rarely red ; they are persistent and never change, either during 

 life or after death. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



PuiLADELrill.^ 

 Ainerican Philosophical Society, December 15, 1S71. — A 

 sum of money was appropriated for the planting and preservation 

 of a grove of oaks in Fairmount Park, to be called the Michaux 

 Grove, in accordance with the will of the botanist Michaux. — 

 Prof E. D, Cope read a paper " On the Pythonoinorpha of the 

 Cretaceous Strata of Kansas." Tliis embraced a synopsis of the 



