24 



NATURE 



[March 6, 1913 



towns, mining camps, &c, at various altitudes from 

 5000 to 14,000. ft. in the Colorado portion of the 

 Rocky Mountains. The main conclusions reached are 

 as follows : — (i) The volume of air breathed per unit 

 mass of CO, produced by the body is always increased 

 in persons acclimatised at high altitudes. The mean 

 increase of breathing is such as to produce a fall of 

 about 42 mm. (or roughly 10 per cent, of the normal 

 for sea-level) in the partial pressure of CO. in the air 

 normally present in the lung alveoli for every ioo mm. 

 of fall in the barometric pressure. Both men and 

 women show this fall, after allowance is made for the 

 normal difference in the alveolar CO, pressure of men 

 and women. (2) The percentage of haemoglobin in 

 the blood of acclimatised persons is likewise increased, 

 the mean increase being about 10 per cent, of the 

 normal at sea-level in men for every too mm. of 

 diminution in the barometric pressure. Both men and 

 women show this fall. (^) It may take some weeks 

 for these changes to establish themselves fully in per- 

 sons passing to a high altitude or to disappear in 

 persons passing to sea-level. 



Zoological Society, February 18. — Prof. E. A. 

 Minchin, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — H. B. 

 Preston : Diagnoses of new species and varieties of 

 agnathous mollusca from equatorial Africa. The 

 author directed attention to the enormous field for con- 

 chological research awaiting the student of this very 

 fruitful region, and stated that in many parts each 

 range of hills appeared to have, to a certain extent, 

 its own special molluscan fauna, often characterised 

 by certain local and peculiar phases common not only 

 to the species but also to the genera occurring in that 

 particular locality. — YV. A. Lamborn : Notes on the 

 habits of certain reptiles in the Lagos district. An 

 account was given of the habits of the lizard Agama 

 colouoritin, especially relating to courtship, polv- 

 gamous practices, and combativeness, and of native 

 superstitions in regard to chameleons. Observations 

 were also recorded on a batch of eggs of a crocodile, 

 probably Crocodilus niloticus, on their hatching, on 

 the behaviour of the newly hatched young, and on 

 the native beliefs as to the habits of the mother 

 crocodile. — Dr. R. Broom : The Gorjjonopsia, a sub- 

 order of the mammal-like reptiles. Descriptions of a 

 new genus and two new species of Gorgonopsids, 

 based on well-preserved skulls discovered bv Mr. S. H. 

 Haughton and the Rev. J. H. Whaits. The Gorgon- 

 onsia were re-established as a distinct suborder of the 

 Therapsida, and a list of the characters distinguishing 

 the Gorconopsians from the Therocephalians was 

 given. — Dr. R. Broom : The South African Rhvncho- 

 cephaloid reptile, Euparkeria capensi-:. A detailed 

 account of this species was given, and its affinities 

 with allied forms discussed. The evidence at present 

 seemed to show that Euparkeria was to be regarded 

 n^ a member of an order of generalised Rhvncho- 

 cephaloid reptiles, and might be taken as the tvpe of 

 a most important suborder of this group containing 

 the ancestors of the Dinosaurs, the Pterodactvles, and 

 the birds. — R. Lydekker : The heads of a male and 

 female dwarf buffalo shot by Lieut. A. W. Hunt, 

 R.N., in Southern Nigeria. The nam. /; >> caffer 

 h-unti was suggested. This race agrees with the 

 Gambian B. c. planiceros in that the adult bulls are 

 darker than cows, but is of smaller size, with the 

 orange' band on the throat narrower. Mr. Lvdekker 

 also proposed the name B. c. beddingtoni for a 

 mounted bull of a red dwarf buffalo from Ashanti. 

 mainly on the ground that it is cut off from the red 

 Congn B. c. nanus bv the above-mentioned Nigerian 

 race. — Dr. G. Stewardson Brady : Descriptions of two 

 British Entomostraca apparently new to science. One 

 was a Diaptomus, obtained abundantlv in Loch Ness 



NO. 2262, VOL. Qll 



many years ago, but hitherto unnoticed; the other 

 an Ostracod, of which one specimen only was found 

 in brackish water in Sussex. The latter formed the 

 type of a new genus, and possibly also a new family. 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, February 20. — 

 Mr. Edward Hooper, president, in the chair. — J. 

 Douglas : Historical sketch of the Copper Queen Mines 

 and Works, Arizona, U.S.A. — A. Notman: Geology of 

 the Bisbee ore deposits. — C. Legrand : The power 

 plant at Bisbee, Arizona ; the power plant at Douglas, 

 Arizona. — G. B. Lee : Reduction works at Douglas, 

 Arizona. These five papers, dealing with different 

 aspects of the famous Copper Queen property, art 

 the amplification of a lecture delivered by Dr. Douglas 

 before a special meeting of the institution in a pre- 

 vious session. The historical portion traces the de- 

 velopment of the copper-producing industry in the 

 Far West from its origin in about 1870 until the 

 present date, incidentally showing the obligation under 

 which mining is placed to the great railroad enter- 

 prises that have linked up the two sides of the con- 

 tinent. With regard to the geological surveys that 

 have, more especially in recent years, supplemented 

 the earlier empirical development work, Dr. Douglas 

 points out that even in recent years the strictly ex- 

 ploratory work represents about one-fourth of the cost 

 of the total mining operations, a proportion which it 

 is hoped will be reduced in the future as the result 

 of more accurate geological research. Mr. Notman 's- 

 contribution to the quintet of papers shows that the 

 system of geological survey has been conducted in a 

 thorough manner, but that there are still unsolved 

 problems W'ith regard to many parts of the field, open- 

 ing up possibilities of valuable discoveries in the sedi- 

 mentary rocks of greater age and the intrusive 

 igneous rock. The two papers dealing with the power 

 insinuation at Bisbee and Douglas show that the con- 

 solidation of the various properties now comprised in 

 the Copper Queen group has enabled a considerable 

 improvement to be effected in this department. A 

 feature of the reduction works is the attempt that has 

 been made to deal with the problem of dust losses 

 in the smoke from the converters and blast-furnaces. 

 — R. Davey : Copper-smelting methods at Bogoslowsk, 

 Perm, Russia. A special interest attaches to the 

 works described in this paper, as they were among 

 the earliest in the eastern hemisphere to adopt the 

 Bessemerising; of copper matte, the plant dating back 

 to 1885: A modern plant is now in course of erection 

 to supersede the somewhat out-of-date methods 

 hitherto in vogue, which have accounted never- 

 theless for a considerable yearly production. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, February 24. — M. F. Guvon in 

 the chair. — Paul Appell ; Functional equation for the 

 relative equilibrium of a homogeneous liquid in rota- 

 tion under the Newtonian attraction of its parts. — 

 H. Le Chatelier and Mile. Cavaignac : The fusibility of 

 the natural fatty bodies. From the study of the melt- 

 ing and solidifying points of two fats, vegetaline and 

 stearin, it is shown that the phenomenon of change of 

 state is strictly reversible. The exact temperature of 

 transformation can be determined with an accuracy 

 of o-i° C, but the experiments require much time. 

 There is no evidence of the existence of polymorphic 

 bodies, the only peculiarity found being that the 

 velocity of change of state is extremely slow. — Stuart 

 Menteath and H. Douville : The Eocene deposits of Bos 

 d'Arros. — Pierre Duhem : The stability of thermal 

 equilibrium. — W. Kilian and Ch. Pussenot : A detailed 

 analysis of the dislocations of the Eastern Brian- 

 connais. — E. Bompiani : The configurations of Laplace. 

 - Gustavo Sannia : Some new properties of the char- 



