404 



NA TURE 



{Feb. 24, 1887 



solution of polassium carbonate. We may hope that, before long, 

 further light will be thrown on the constitution of these bodies. 



The action of alkalies on soil is quite in accordance with the 

 assumption of the amide nature of its nitrogenous compounds. 

 Boussingault long ago showed that the agricultur.al operation of 

 liming a soil caused the production of ammonia. It has re- 

 cently been shown by Baumann, and others, that a solution of 

 soda, even in the cold, develops a notable amount of ammonia 

 in soil, while at a high temperature the action becomes very 

 considerable. 



Nor are facts wanting which seem to exhibit the actual syn- 

 thesis of amides from ammonia and humic acids. Knop long 

 ago observed that when peat was treated with ammonia the 

 ammonia disappeared, and could no longer be detected. Joulie 

 found, in his experiments on the changes which take place in 

 farmyard manure, that when finely divided straw, horse-dung, 

 and ammoniacal urine of known composition were mixed, and 

 allowed to ferment, a great disappearance of ammonia took 

 place, accompanied by a gain of 35 to 63 per cent, in the organic 

 nitrogen. The ammonia had in this case clearly united with 

 some of the organic compounds present. 



The view of the constitution of the nitrogenous matter of the 

 soil which has been now brought forw.ard will, we think, prove 

 fruitful : it throws much light on the chemical changes within 

 the soil ; it has also possibly important bearings on plant- 

 nutrition. That the acid sap contained in roots is capable of 

 rendering soluble, and thus effecting the assimilation of various 

 mineral matters with which they come in contact, is admitted 

 to be a fact by physiologists. May it not equally follow that 

 the insoluble amides of the soil are also attacked by the acid 

 root-sap ? We know not yet the properties of the soluble amides 

 which result from the action of acids on the insoluble amides of 

 the soil ; but if they are diffusible through a membrane, they must 

 enter the plant, and it is certainly very probable that they would 

 then be found capable of taking part in plant-nutrition. A reac- 

 tion of the kind we have supposed between the root and the soil 

 would probably take place to a very different extent with dif- 

 ferent plants, much depending on the character of the root-sap. 

 When the subject has been more fully investigated, it may per- 

 haps be found that we have in this action of the roots an explana- 

 tion of those obscure cases of plant-nutrition which at present 

 puzzle the agricultural chemist. R. Warington 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Cambridge. — The following is the speech delivered by the 

 Public Orator, Dr. Sandys, in presenting for the honorary degree 

 of Doctor of .Science, Prof Alexander Ag.assiz, Curator of the 

 Museum of Zoology, Harvard College, Massachusetts: — 



Cum Collegio Harvardiano antiquitus consociati, nuper Vetera 

 amicitiae iura auspiciis aptimis renovavimus ; litteris datis 

 acceptisque trans maria lata dextras iunximus ; legatis denique 

 insignibus missis, ludis illis saecularibus, etiam absentes, velut 

 praesentes interfuimus. Hodie vero e Collegii illius professoribus 

 unum revera praesentem videmus, virum et suo et patris et Collegii 

 sui nomine nobis dilectum. Donee Alpium inter culmina ingenfes 

 illae glaciei moles desuper pauUatim descendunt, tam diu patris 

 illius nomen superstes vivef, qui, in Republica non magna natus, 

 Rempublicam maximam gloriae suae fecit participem, expertus 

 scilicet Vetera ilia verba quam vera essent : — 



" Omne solum forti patria est, ut piscibus aequor, 

 Ut volucri vacuo quicquid in orbe patet." 

 Filii vero famam patre tanto non indignam, quibns potissimum 

 verbis exsequi potero ? Utinam tu mihi hodie adesses : — 

 testudinis aureae 

 Dulcem quae strepitum, Pieri, temperas ; 



O mutis quoque piscibus 

 Donatura cycni, si libeat, sonum. 



Atqui Musa ilia vocata non audit ; rogata tacet ; virumque 

 praeconio altiore dignum sermone pedestri laudandum relinquit. 

 Ergo, utcunque possumus, virum libenter laudamus, qui, cum 

 ingenii sui ope aeris thesaurum ingentem invenisset, Academiam 

 suam divitiarum suarum amplitudine ornavit, iudice me (insusur- 

 rare mihi videtur Horatius) iudice me, "non sordidus auctor 

 naturae verique." Quid autem de vivario illo dicam, aequoris 

 Atlantici prope marginem ulteriorem condito, ubi maris immensi 



miracula minutissima ab hoc viro accuratissime examinantur, ubi 

 occ.ani ipsius e penetralibus profundis rerum n.aturae Veritas ipsa 

 audacter extorquetur? .Satis erit hodie de veritate ilia dicere 

 quod olim de Romanorum virtute dictum est : — ■ 



" Merses profundo ; pulchrior evenit. " 

 Duco ad vos marinae praesertim zoologiae indagatorem 

 indefessum, Ale.xandrum Agassiz. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The Quarterly yoiiriml of Mkroscopial Science, January. — 

 The anatomy of the M.adreporian coral Fungia, by G. C. Bourne 

 (plates xxiii. to xxv. ). During a visit to Diego Garcia (an 

 atoll lying in 7° 13' S. lat., 72° 23' E. long. ) which extended 

 from the middle of September 1885 to the middle of January 

 1886, the author was able to collect and preserve a large number 

 of specimens of Fungia liciitata. These Fungiie were very 

 abundant within the lagoon, where at low .spring tides they 

 could be collected by scores from depths of from three to ten 

 feet : a prolonged search failed to secure any specimens under 

 two inches in diameter, or an example of the nurse-stock. It is 

 suggested that the time of the year was the cause of this ; the 

 depth of the water in which the search had to be made was also 

 unfortunate for such investigations. The name "mesoglcea," 

 suggested by Prof. Lankester, is used to denote the supporting 

 lamina of Ccelenterata : the only seeming objection to the name 

 is that it is the name of a well-known genus of Algae. — On 

 some points in the development of Petromyzon fluviatilis, by 

 Arthur E. Shipley (plates xxvi. to xxix.). The material was 

 obtained by fertilising the eggs of the ripe female Lampern, 

 hatching the larvre out, and rearing them in confinement. The 

 summary is too long for .abstracting, but it may be mentioned 

 that the early development of the skeleton is described up to the 

 stage where Prof. Parker commenced his researches. — The 

 ammoniacal decomposition of urine, by Dr. W. R. Smith 

 (plate XXX ). Records a series of observations proving that the 

 ammoniacal decomposition of urine is brought about by the 

 presence of a Micrococcus which differs from that described by 

 Prof. W. Leube, inasmuch as it liquefies gelatine. Though about 

 twenty different organisms were isolated from one sample of 

 healthy urine, only this one acted so. — Notes on Echinoderni 

 morphology, No. 10 ; on the supposed presence of symbiotic 

 .'Mgoe in Antcdon rosacea, by P. Herbert Carpenter (plate xxx.). 

 Discusses the views of Vogt and Yung as to the Sacculi of 

 .\ntedon being symbiotic Alga-, and considers these views as 

 certainly not proven ; an opinion which Perrier seems by 

 intuition to have already ascribed to him. — The function of 

 nettle-cells, by Dr. R. von Lendenfeld (plate xxx.). The 

 plasmotic contractile coat of the cnidoblast is incited to action by the 

 cnidocil : the animal can control this .action. — Some new methods 

 of using the aniline dyes for staining Bacteria, by E. H. Hankin. 

 Illustrations of the structure and life-history of Phytophtlwra 

 iiifestans, by Prof H. Marshall Ward (plates .xxxi. and xxxii. ). — 

 On the formation and liberation of the zoospores in the Sapro- 

 legniea:, by Dr. Marcus M. Hartog. 



The yournal of Bo/any for January is chiefly occupied by a 

 biographical notice of the late Dr. H. F. Hance, of Whampoa. — 

 In the number for February, Dr. Richard Spruce describes and 

 figures a Hepatica from Killarney new to science, to which he 

 gives the name Lcjeunea Holtii ; Mr. .\lfred Fryer continues his 

 notes on the genus Potamogeton ; and Mr. J G. Baker commences 

 a synopsis of the six genera Sodiroa, Caraguata, Schlumliergcria, 

 Guzmannia, Catopsis, and Tillandsia, which make up the tribe 

 Tillandsieae of the natural order Bromeliacex. 



Bulletin de f Academic Royale de Belgiqne, December 18S6. — 

 Determination of the parallax relative to the larger member of 

 the double star 2 1516 of .Struve, by L. de Ball. From previous 

 observations the chief star of this group appeared to have a 

 proper movement in a straight line independently of its com- 

 panion, with which it had no physical connection. By means 

 of a Cointe refractor the author has followed the relative dis- 

 placements of the two stars, and has determined a periodicity, 

 the effect of the relative parallax, which he finds to be 



o"'09i ± o"-0[3, 

 and the distances 



o''ii2 ± o"'oio. 

 From these elements he determines an absolute parallax o"i04, 

 with a mean error o"'ooS, corresponding to a distance which 



