624 



NA TURE 



[April 2'i, 1887 



soma, &c. — Mr. H. Goss announced the capture by Mr. G. D. 

 Tait, at Oporto, of a specimen of Anosia plexippus, and re- 

 marked that, although some twenty specimens had been caujht 

 in the South of England, only two specimens had been previously 

 recorded from the continent of Europe. — Lord Walsingham 

 read a paper entitled " A Revision of the (Jenera Acrolophiis 

 (Poey) and Aiiat'koi-a (Clem.)"; and exhibited about twenty 

 new species of these and allied genera. Mr. Stainton made 

 some remarl<s on the genera, and said he was glad Lord 

 Walsingham was working at them and their allies. — Mr. 

 Toulton read "Notes in i8ii6 on Lepidopterous Larvae." In the 

 discussion which ensiied, Lord Walsingham referred at some 

 length to instances of protective resemblance in iarvK, and 

 alluded to the existence in certain species, especially of the 

 genus MeUtita, of prothoracic glands. — Dr. F. A. Dixey re- 

 marked on the extraordinary powers of contraction which 

 appeared to be possessed by the retractor muscle of the flagellum 

 in D. '■ii:iila, and inquired whether any corresponding pecu- 

 liarities of minute structure had been observed in it. The dis- 

 cussion was continued by Mr. G. F. Mathew, Mr. W. White, 

 Dr. Sharp, Mr. Porritt, and others. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, April 18. — M. Janssen, President, 

 in the chair. —On an absolute unity of time ; electric standards 

 of time and chrono?copes of their variations, by M. Lippmann. 

 It is shown that from the study of certain electric phenomena an 

 absolute invariable unity of time maybe obtained. The electric 

 apparatus here described yields more accurate results than the 

 best constructed astronomical clock. It has the further advant- 

 age of indicating, recording, and, where needed, automatically 

 correcting, its variations of velocity. — Solar observations made at 

 Rome during the first quarter of the year 18S7, by M. Tacchini. 

 The period of minimum activity for the spots and faculse, as 

 recorded in November 1886, has continued throughout the first 

 three months of 1S87. The protuberances also continued to de- 

 cline during the same period. — On antipyrine, an antidote against 

 pain, by M. Germain See. Antipyrine, with the formula 

 CjiAjoN^O, discovered by Knorr in 1884, is shown to be not 

 only a good febrifuge, but also a most efficacious remedy for 

 gout, rheumatism, and similar affections. — On the earthquake of 

 Febrt;ary 23. by M. J. L. Soret. Certain derangements of the 

 telephonic apparatus in the central office at Cannes seem to show 

 that the violent shock which occurred at 5.50 a.m. was accom- 

 panied by strong electric discharges. — On a .special circumstance 

 connected with the production of the bicarbonate of soda, by 

 M. Paul de Mondesir. An experiment here described shows 

 that the carbonate of soda, combined with a single equivalent of 

 water, scarcely absorbs carbonic acid at the ordinary tempera- 

 ture at all. But when it is mixed with a slight portion of dry 

 bicarbonate the reaction on the contrary begins at once, and with 

 an energy in direct proportion to the quantity of the bicarbonate 

 and the thoroughness of the mixture. — Method of determining 

 the relative value of the four unities of chemical action of the 

 atom of carbon, by M. Louis Henry. At the base of the 

 doctrines of organic chemistry as now understood lie the two 

 principles of the quadrivalence of the atom of carbon, and the 

 identity in value of its four unities of chemical action. The 

 former is an accepted fact proved by experiment, while the latter 

 is far from possessing the same degree of objective certainty. 

 The author here proposes a method by means of which its truth 

 may be rigorously determined. — Artificial reproduction of rose- 

 red spinel (balas raby), by M. Stanislas Meunier. The author, 

 who has been for several years incidentally occupied with the 

 synthesis of spinel, has lately again attacked the problem in a 

 way quite different from his first method. He now crystallises 

 the aluminate of magnesia, tinted a rose colour by traces of 

 chromium, the result being a stone absolutely identical withthe 

 balai ruby of nature. The experiment here described has 

 already been varied in several ways, yielding a series of products, 

 such as the aluminates of zinc, iron, &c. , besides secondary com- 

 pounds, whose study is still in progress. — On the functions of 

 the semicircular ducts, by M. J. Steiner. From experiments 

 made on Cnistaceans at the Zoological Station at Naples, the 

 author shows that these organs exercise little or no influence on 

 the locomotion of the lower animals, as supposed by Delage, 

 Viguer, and others. — On a station of the Stone Age discovered 

 at Chaville, by M. E. Emile Riviere. This station of Chaville 

 lies on the skirt of the wood of like name on the right side of the 

 road between Paris and Versailles. Here the author has just 



discovered a large number of flint implements of the Neolithic 

 epoch, scrapers, knives, arrow-heads, and the like. .Ml lay on 

 or near the surface, and were of a more or less deep gray colour, 

 some showing clear traces of the action of fire. They closely 

 resemble the objects found by the author at the Neolithic station 

 of Trou-au-Loup, Clamart, in 1884-85. Amongst them was a 

 small fr.agment of black, siliceous pottery without any ornamenta- 

 tion, and also perfectly analogous to the pottery of the Neolithic 

 beds in the same neighbourhood. — The members of the Inter- 

 national Conference on Celestial Photography were present at 

 the sitting, and v\ere welcomed by the President in an appro- 

 priate address dwelling especially on the importance for 

 astronomy of the photographic labours of MM. Henry, of Paris. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED 



Hyderab.id. Kashmir. Sikkim, and Nepal : Sir R. Temple and Capt 

 R. C Temple (Allen). -Geology of England and Wales, 2nd edition • H B 

 Woodward (Philip).— An Elementary Treatise on the Mathematical Theory 

 of Perfectly Elastic Solids : W. J. Ibbetson (Macmillan).-Dvnamics for 

 Beginners; Rev. J. B. Lock (Macmillan).— Catalogue of Lizards, 2nd 

 edition, vol. 111. : G. A. Boulenger (British Museum).— Mineral Resources of 

 the United States, 1885 (Washington).— Photography of Bacteria : E M 

 Crookshank (Lewis).— Chemistry for Beginners ; R. L. Taylor (Low) — 

 Woodland Tales: J. Stinde (Unwin).— Geological and Natural History 

 Survey of Minnesota, 13th and 14th Annual Reports: W. H. Winchell 

 (St. Paul).— Longmans' New Geographical Readers, Standard VII. (Long- 

 mans).— The Prevention of Consumption : C. Candler (K. Paul).— Picto- 

 graphs of the North American Indians : G. Mallery (Washington).— Der 

 Bau de; Jlenschen : Dr. R. Wiedersheim (Williams and Noreate) — 

 Thomas Young : Prof. Tyndall.-Oberpliocan-Flora aus den Baugruben 

 des Klarbeckens bei Niederrad und der Schleuse bei Hochst A. M. • Drs 

 Geyler and Kinkelin (Frankfort).— The Eruption of Krakatab ; E D. 

 Archibald.— City Government of St. Louis : IL S. Snow(Baltiraore).— Notes 

 to Accompany a Geological Map of Northern Canada : G. M. Dawson 

 (Montreal)— Etude Nume'rique des Concours de Compensation de Chrono- 

 metres: G. Celle'rier (Geneve).— Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 

 March (Stanford).— Zeitschrift ftir Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, xlv. Band 

 2 Heft (Leipzig).— Bulletin de TAcad^mie Royale des Sciences de Belgique' 

 No. 3 (Bru.xelles). 



CONTENTS PAGE 



Practical Electricity. {Ulustratcd) 601 



Spolia Atlantica 605 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Salomons: " Complete Hand-book on the Manage- 

 ment of Accumulators " 603 



Newsholme : " School Hygiene " 604 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Mass, Weight, and Dynamical Units.— Robt. F. 



Hayward, F.R.S 604 



LInits of Weight, Mass, and Force. — Archd. C. 



Elliott 605 



Seismometers. — Prof. J. A. Ewing . 606 



April Meteors. — W. F. Denning 606 



Vertical Decrement of Temperature and Pressure. — 



S. A. Hill 606 



Royal Society's Soiree. — Herbert Rix 607 



Hoineric Astronomy, II. By A. M. Clerke .... 607 



On Ice and Brines, I. By J. Y. Buchanan .... 608 



Notes 611 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Barnard's First and Second Comets 1887 614 



Probable Re-discovery of Hesperia • . 614 



The Ellipticity of Uranus 614 



The Washington Observatory 614 



The Paris Conference 614 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1887 



May 1-7 614 



Geographical Notes 615 



Preliminary Note on the Fossil Remains of a 

 Chelonian Reptile, Ceyatocluiys slficnunis, from 

 Lord Howe's Island, Australia. By Prof. Thomas 



H. Huxley, F.R.S. {J///is/>afe,f) 615 



The 'Work of the Imperial Institute, I, By Sir 



Frederick Abel, C.B., F.R.S. • 617 



University and Educational Intelligence 621 



Scientific Serials 621 



Societies and .Academies 622 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 624 



