82 NATURE. 

a table of the logarithms of numbers recently com- 
piled, by the use of which involution and. evolution 
are also completely simplified. The. frequency with 
which: fractional indices, positive and negative, occur 
in most branches of modern experimental science 
gives rise to the hope that the tables in question will 
accomplish for the modern investigator what 
logarithms did for the man of science of the seven- 
teenth century.—F. E. Rowett: The elastic properties 
of steel at moderately high temperatures. The differ- 
ence in the behaviour of hard-drawn steel tubes, 
before and after annealing, under stress, led to the 
experiments described in the paper. At a suitable 
temperature a hard-drawn tube, which contains a 
good deal of amorphous material, behaves like a 
viscous fluid, that is, it flows more or less freely 
under stress, whereas, at the same temperature, an 
annealed tube being crystalline will flow in a much 
less degree, corresponding to the small amount of 
amorphous material in it. At a temperature of about 
300° C. a hard-drawn tube shows properties similar 
to those of pitch at ordinary temperatures or of glass 
at a temperature rather below its softening point. It 
is still highly elastic under rapidly varying stress, 
but flows perceptibly when the stress is applied for a 
long time. On the other hand, in the annealed tube 
at 300° C, the energy dissipated in a cycle of stress 
is still almost independent of the time taken over 
cycle. At a higher temperature, for example, at 
540° C., the hard-drawn tube flows rapidly and con- 
tinues to flow for a long period, though at a diminish- 
ing rate, under a shear stress of less than one ton per 
square inch. Moreover, like pitch or glass, the steel 
at this temperature shows considerable elastic after- 
working. If the stress be suddenly removed the 
immediate elastic recovery is followed by a slow back- 
ward flow which persists for many minutes.—Prof. 
J. W. Nicholson: The laws of series spectra. The 
paper contains a critical analysis of the diffuse, sharp, 
and principal series of helium, especially in the light 
of recent interferometer measurements of the leading 
lines of these series. The investigation depends on 
a mode of accurate calculation of the limits of series, 
not dependent on the type of formula used. The 
limits of series with many lines, for which a Hicks 
formula is already known, can be calculated with 
extreme accuracy by a new method. Interferometer 
measures of leading lines of helium series enable the 
best form of the series to be obtained. This form is 
an extension of that of Rydberg, dependent on m+p 
and not m. The value of Rydberg’s constant, 
109679:2, given by Curtis for hydrogen, is the true 
value for the are spectrum of helium, and is, in fact, 
a rigorous constant for arc spectra. Spark spectra 
are not treated. The Rydberg-Schuster law of limits 
is exact for helium. It seems probable that p is a 
simple fraction the denominator of which is a multi- 
ple of 5, as Halm has suggested. It is exactly 0-7 for 
the short series of helium. 
March 11.—Sir William Crookes, president, in the 
chair.—E. Heron-Allen: Contributions to the study of 
the bionomics and reproductive processes of the 
foraminifera. The mechanical functions of the proto- 
plasm in locomotion and food catching and its reaction 
to stimuli are considered. The phenomenon hitherto 
known as plastogamy is only fortuitously connected 
with reproduction, and is in most cases a budding-off of 
a daughter-individual from a parent shell. Certain 
species of foraminifera, if not all, vary the processes 
of reproduction by amcebule formed of protoplasm 
discharged from the shells, and by flagellispores, by 
the formation of fully formed and calcareously in- 
vested polythalamous young inside the parent shell 
which are set free by the resorption of the parent shell. 
NO. 2368, VOL. 95] 
[Marcu 18, 1915 



The dual nature of the terminal chamber in Cym- 
balopora brelloides, d’Orbigny, is confirmed, and its. 
functions in the life-history of the organism are dis- 
cussed. A new species, C. milletti, Heron-Allen and 
Earland, is established. - The species, C. tabellae- 
formis, Brady, is recorded as exhibiting a new pheno- 
menon in the bionomics of foraminifera, namely, the 
excavation of crypts in suitable hosts where it passes 
its life, boring by chemical action tunnels for the pro- 
trusion of its pseudopodia. The secretion of calcium 
carbonate by porcellanous and hyaline foraminifera is 
considered, and the phenomena of “purpose” and 
“intelligence ’’ are claimed as being exhibited by cer- 
tain species of arenaceous foraminifera in the con- 
struction of their tests, either with a view to adapta- 
tion to environment or for defensive purposes. The 
‘““monadiform bodies’? of Cymbalopora and _ the 
siliceous foraminifera from great depths, attributed 
to the late Sir John Murray, are expiained by pub- 
lication of his original notes made on board H.M.S. 
Challenger.—G. E. Nicholls: The occurrence of an 
intracranial ganglion upon the oculomotor nerve in 
Scyllium canicula, with a suggestion as to its bearing 
upon the question of the segmental value of ‘certain 
of the cranial nerves. The occurrence of actively 
functional ganglion cells in large number, associated 
with numerous smaller and more deeply staining cells 
to form a small ganglion upon the oculomotor nerve 
in the adult §. canicula, has not hitherto been re- 
corded. The true sensori-motor character of this 
nerve has recently been established by Sherrington. 
and Tozer. This fact, in conjunction with the exist- 
ence of the ganglion, becomes extremely significant,. 
when it is remembered that the oculomotor plays an 
important part in the development of a related sym- 
pathetic ganglion (the ciliary). The author’s sugges-— 
tion is that the oculomotor be regarded as a distinct 
segmental nerve, not merely as a ventral root. From, 
this it follows that the ophthal. profund. is not the 
dorsal root of the oculomotor neuromere, but has 
encroached upon that segment, while itself related to 
another (probably more posterior) head segment.— 
Prof. R. Kennedy : Experiments on the restoration of. 
paralysed muscles by means of nerve anastomosis. 
Part III.—Anastomosis of the brachial plexus, with 
a consideration of the distribution of its roots. The 
experiments recorded consist of division of one or, 
more roots of the brachial plexus and anastomosis 
of the divided root or roots either to another part of 
the plexus or to the spinal accessory. Restoration of 
function took place, and physiological examinations 
showed that this was due to the nerve which was 
substituted for the severed roots. When fewer than 
two roots were divided restoration of function tool: 
place much earlier, and was shown to be a spon- 
taneous recovery due to the affected muscles being 
each supplied through more than one root.—A., F. S. 
Kent: The mechanism of the cardiac valves—a pre- 
liminary communication. The communication deals 
with the structure and mode of action of the auriculo- 
ventricular valves of the mammalian heart. Muscular 
tissue derived from the auricular wall runs for a con- 
siderable distance into the substance of the valve flaps, 
being situated principally towards their auricular sur- 
faces. _It is permissible to conclude that this muscle. 
exercises an important function in connection with 
the closure of the valves. Receiving its stimulus from 
the base of the auricle, of which it is indeed an exten- 
sion and with which it is directly connected, it comes 
into action at the appropriate moment in the cardiac 
circle, and contracts—and remains contracted—last of 
all the auricular muscle. Thus it keeps the valve 
| flaps away from the ventricular wall, and ensures free 
play to the retro-valvular eddy right up to the time 

