48 



NA TURE 



\_Nov. II, 1886 



elements that are found in Nature not only always together, 

 but always together in like proportions. — On a new 

 function of the otocysts in the invertebrate.^, by M. Yves 

 Delage. A long series of researches recently conducted at the 

 laboratory of Roscoff leads to the conclusions that these organs, 

 occurring chiefly in the higher crustaceans and mollusks, serve 

 not only as organs of hearing, but also, and perhaps mainly, as 

 organs of locomotion, thus corresponding to the labyrinth of 

 higher animals. — On Gymuodinium polypluiiius. P., by M. 

 Pouchet. Although hitherto regarded as a member of the 

 vegetable kingdom, this organism presents the remarkable 

 peculiarity of possessing an organ of vision of a somewhat com- 

 plicated type. It is a headless Peridinian, occurring on the 

 French coast, and, like all Peridinians, feeds on vegetables by 

 endosmotic absorption. The eye, which always occupies a 

 uniform position, is formed of two parts — a true crystalline and 

 a true choroid — and its real character cannot be mistaken, resem- 

 bling, as it does, in the most striking manner, the eyes of certain 

 worms and Turbellariae. — Saturation of selenious acid by the bases, 

 and acidimetric analysis of this acid, by M. Ch. Blarez. — On the 

 heat of neutralisation of the homologous or isomerous monobasic 

 acids, by MM. H. Gal and E. Werner. The heat of neutralisa- 

 tion, already determined by Berthelot and Louguiuine for formic, 

 butyric, and some other fatty acids, is here determined, together 

 with the heat of dissolution for others, such as isobutyric, iso- 

 propylacetic, trimethylacetic, caproic, &c. — Synthesis of penta- 

 metliylenediamine, of tetramethylenediamine, of piperidine, and 

 of pyrrolidine, by M. A. Ladenburg. — On two new chloruretted 

 derivatives of methylbenzoyl, by M. Henri Gautier. The pro- 

 cess is explained by which the author has obtained a tri- 

 chloruretted and a bichloruretted methylbenzoyl. — A new reac- 

 tion of the chloride of aluminium : syntheses of the fatty series, 

 by M. Alph. Combes. The chloride of aluminium, which has 

 effected so many syntheses in the aromatic series, is liere for the 

 first time systematically applied to the production of substances 

 of the fatty series.- — Ha:matoscopy, a new method of analysing 

 blood, based on the employment of the spectroscope, by M. 

 Henocque. This method, already tested on 200 subjects, com- 

 prises two classesof observations: (i) determination of the quantity 

 of oxyhfemoglobin, or active colouring-matter of the blood, by 

 means of instruments here figured, and named "ha;niato- 

 scopes" and " hcematospectroscopes " ; (2) duration of the 

 reduction of the oxyhajmoglobin estimated by specti-oscopic 

 examination. — Fresh remarks on the stem of Poroxylon, a 

 fossil Gymnosperm of the Carboniferous epoch, by MM. C. Eg. 

 Bertrand and B. Renault. By comparing together homologous 

 sections of stems of the same order but of different periods, the 

 authors have succeeded in determining the variations introduced 

 by time into the normal stem of this plant. — On a fundamental 

 condition of equilibrium for the living cells of plants, by M. Leo 

 Errera. — Petrographic study of a carboniferous diabase from the 

 neighbourhood of Dumbarton, by M. A. Lacroix. The rock 

 here under consideration, a vertical greenish stratum traversing 

 the old red sandstone, presents an opportunity of studying in a 

 small space the various structural forms which a volcanic rock 

 may assume under the influence of a progressive cooling process. 

 — The dislocations of the globe during recent periods, their lines 

 of fracture, and the conformation of the continents, by M. 

 Jourdy. — On the unity of forces in geology (continued), by 

 M. H. Hermite. It is argued that simple oscillations of sea- 

 level, produced by meteorological causes, would suffice, with- 

 out having recourse to internal agencies, to explain the apparent 

 oscillations of the land in relation to latitude, which are character- 

 istic of the Quaternary epoch. — On the pathologic physiology of 

 the supra-renal capsules, by M. Guide Tizzoni. — On the con- 

 tractions determined by the currents of polarisation of the living 

 tissues, by MM. Onimus and Larat. The experiments here 

 described place beyond doubt the existence and energy of the 

 currents of polarisation in our tissues, thus exposing the errors 

 of the fundamental experiments carried out by Du Bois-Raymond 

 and most German physiologists. — Note on a remarkable sub- 

 stance collected at Luchon on July 28, 1885, after the fall of a 

 thunderbolt, by M. Stanislas Meunier. 



Stockholm 



Academy of Sciences, October 14. — Contributions to the 

 anatomy and histology of the limnivore Annelids, by Dr. A. 

 Wiren.— On the electric nature of drift-snow, by 'Prof A. 

 Holmgren.— On the work and activity of the Ornithological 



Committee of the Academy for studying birds of passage, &c. , 

 by Prof F. A. Smitt. — On new acquisitions to the Botanical 

 Garden of the Bergian donation, by Prof. V. Wittrock. — On 

 the lichens of the islands of the west coast of Sweden, by Dr. 

 P. Hellborn. — Contributions to the anatomy of the Marcgravia- 

 ceas, by Hr. H. O. Juel. — Studies of the influence of woods 

 and forests on the climate of Sweden, by Dr. Hamberg. — On 

 remains of Dryasoctopetala, L. , in calcareous tuff near Vad- 

 stena, by Prof. A. G. Nathorst. — On combinations of phenyl- 

 methyl-triazol, by Hr. J. A. Bladin. — On the orbit of the comet 

 1S77, VII., by Dr. R. Larsen. — Demonstration of the propo- 

 sition that the complete integral of differential equations of the 

 «th order contains n arbitrary constants, by Dr. G. Enestrom. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



Chemical Arithmetic, 2nd edition : S. Lupton (Macmillan).— Ch.irter, 

 By-Laws, and List of Members of the Institution of Civil Engineers (25. 

 Great George Street).— Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers, vols. Ixxxiii. to Ixxxvi (25. Great George Street).— Lectures and 

 Essays, 2nd edition: W. K. Clifford (Macmillan).— The Rotife.-a or 

 Wheel Animalcules, part 6 : C. T. Hudson and P. H. Gosse (Longmans) — 

 Calendar of University College of North Wales, 1886-E7 (Cornish. Man- 

 chester).— Persia .15 it is ; Dr. C. J. Wills (S. Low).— High Life and Towers 

 of Silence : Mrs. Fred Biirnaby (S. Low).— Smithsonian Report, 1884, 

 part 2 (Washington). — Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, vol. 

 viii., i88s (Washington).- Practical Dynamo-Building : F. W. Walker 

 (Iliffe and Son). — Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, October (J 



Murray). — Rendiconto dell' Accad. delle Sc' 



NatureMusingsonHoiy-days and Holiday 

 mer). — Commercial Organic Analysis, vol. i 

 — A .Synopsis of Elementary Result; 

 (Hodgson). — Our Temperaments : A. 

 Deluge of Russian Petrol 



Fisiche e Matematiche, 



sc. I, 2, 3 (Napoli )- 



. N. Curnock (Wool- 



H. Alien (Churchill). 



in Pure Mathematics : G. S. Carr 



Stewart (Lockwood). — The Coming 



(Anderson). — Methods 



lysis of Commercial Fertilisers (Waihingion).- Publications of the 

 Leander McCormick Observatory of the University of Virginia, vol. i., 

 part 3, Nebula of Orion, i88s. 



CONTENTS p.^GE 



Letters and Journals of W. Stanley Jevons ... 25 



General Pathology ;6 



Plane Geometry 27 



Our Book Shelf:— 



" American Journal of Mathematics " 2S 



Casey's "Sequel to the First Six Books of the Ele- 

 ments of Euclid " 28 



Lilley's " Geometrical Drawing for Army Candidates " 28 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



The Enormous Loss from Ox-Warble. — Dr. John 



Wrightson 29 



"Lung Sick." — E. J. Dungate 29 



The Beetle in Motion. — C. J. G 29 



Meteors. — Rev. John Hoskyns-Abrahall; E. Parry 29 

 Influence of Wind on Barometric-Readings. By 



Prof Cleveland Abbe 29 



M. Pasteur's Treatment of Rabies 30 



Report on the Charleston Earthquake. By Prof 



T. C. Mendenhall. [With a Map) 31 



The Similarities of the Physical Geography of the 



Great^Oceans. By J. \. Buchanan 33 



Notes 3.^ 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Stellar Photography at Harvard College 37 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1886 



November 14-20 37 



The Erosion of the English Coasts. By 'W. Topley 37 

 Observations on Heredity in Cats with an Abnormal 

 Number of Toes. By Edward B. Poulton. (lUus- 



trated) 38 



Lighthouse Illuminants, I. By A. 'Vernon Har- 



court, F.R.S 41 



The Lumbar Curve in Man and Apes 46 



Scientific Serials 47 



Societies and Academies 47 



Books and Pamphlets Received 48 



