286 



NATURE 



[May 15, 1913 



wood-swallow, birds are not formidable enemies to 

 butterflies ; (2) that owing to the propensity of the 

 wood-swallow for members of the genera Danais and 

 Euploea, a resemblance to them would be not a safe- 

 guard but a danger. 



Mathematical Society, May 8.— Prof. A. E. H. Love, 

 president, in the chair. — Prof. W. Burnside : Some pro- 

 perties of groups the orders of which are powers of 

 primes. Prof. H. S. Carslaw : The Green's function 

 for the equation \-'// + k-u =0. — Prof. W. H. Young: 

 The usual convergence of a class of trigonometrical 

 series. — W. F. Sheppard : (1) Factorial moments in 

 terms of sums or differences; (2) fitting of polynomials 

 by the method of least squares. — S. Lees : The effect 

 of internal friction on stress-strain relationships for 

 elastic solids. 



Royal Astronomical Society, May 9. — Major Hills, 

 C.M.G., F.R.S., president, in the" chair.— Rev. A. L. 

 Cortie : The mode of propagation of the sun's influ- 

 ence in magnetic storms. The author considered that 

 the rays which proceed from the sun are not single 

 kathode rays, as frequently assumed, but divergent. 

 The solar corona as photographed at the eclipses of 

 1893, 1898, 1905, and 1908 showed systems of diverg- 

 ing rays apparently connected with spot groups. The 

 study of these led to the conclusion that the mode 

 of propagation of the influences which condition mag- 

 netic storms from the sun has the form of rays 

 diverging from the foci of sun-spot disturbance-. The 

 sun-spots would not directly cause the storms, but 

 rather condition them, perhaps by rendering: the upper 

 atmosphere a better electrical conductor. — H. Kimura ; 

 The harmonic analysis of sun-spot relative numbers. 

 - H. H. Turner : The harmonic analysis of Wolf's 

 sun-spot numbers, with special reference to Mr. 

 Kimura's paper. — J. Jackson: The discordance be- 

 tween the observed and predicted positions of Jupiter's 

 eighth satellite. The author made an appeal for 

 further observations during the present year, which 

 is a favourable occasion, as the satellite is now as 

 much as 3 from the planet ; the observations would 

 have to be made in southern latitudes owing to the 

 position of Jupiter. — R. A. Sampson : The correction 

 of the field of a Newtonian reflector. The various 

 defects of spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism, 

 curvature of field, and distortion were separately 

 dealt with, and an arrangement of three lenses was 

 sugeested, which would render the field of a New- 

 tonian reflector practically perfect. — C. V. L. Charlier : 

 An investigation on the motion of the stars. — Royal 

 Observatory, Greenwich : The photographic magnitudes 

 determined with the Greenwich astrographic equa- 

 torial ; corrections depending on distance from the 

 plate-centre. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, April 28. — M. F. Guyon in the 

 chair.— A. Haller and Edouard Bauer : The methylation 

 of /sovalerone by means of sodium amide and methyl 

 iodide. Tetramethyljiovalerone or 2:3:3:5:5:6- 

 hexamethvl-4-heptanone. The di-, tri-, and tetra- 

 methyltsovalerones were isolated from the crude pro- 

 duct of the reaction between sodium amide, iso- 

 valerone, and methyl iodide. The tetra-derivative was 

 reduced to the corresponding alcohol by means of 

 sodium and ethyl alcohol.— A. Laveran and M. 

 Marullaz : Contribution to the morphological study of 

 toxoplasma gondii and of T. funiculi. From the 

 morphological point of view the differences between 

 T. cuniculi and T. gondii are not sufficiently marked 

 to justify their distinction into two species. — M. Gouy 

 was elected a non-resident member, M. Schwoerer a 



XO. 2272, VOL. 91] 



correspondant for the section of mechanics (in the 

 place of the late M. Dwelshauvers-Dery), and Prof. 

 W. M. Davis a correspondant for the section of geo- 

 graphv and navigation (in the place of the late Sir 

 George Darwin).— M. Simonin ; Results of the dis- 

 cussion of the observations made during the eclipse 

 of the sun of April 16-17, 1912. From a discussion 

 of all the available observations it is concluded that 

 the first external contact was observed on the average" 

 six seconds too late, and the last contact three seconds 

 too soon ; the observations of the interior contacts 

 appear to be free from systematic error. — G. H. Hard> 

 and ]. E. Littlewood : The Fourier's series of a squared 

 function capable of summation. — Louis Roy : The 

 movement of viscous media and quasi-waves. — Albert 

 Turpain ; The application of highly sensitive galvano- 

 meters i<> geodesy. A description of a special type 

 of galvanometer capable of registering the time signals 

 of the Eiffel Tower.— J. M. Lahy : The rectification 

 ol records deformed by the circular movements of the 

 inscribing point. — Georges Claude : The absorption of 

 neon bv the electrodes of luminescent tubes. Neon is 

 character! .ed bv a remarkable resistance to absorp- 

 tion bv til- electrodes, as compared with helium or 

 nitrogen. Th : s fact is of practical importance in 

 connection with the use of neon tubes for lighting 

 purposes. — Ed. Chauvenet and G. Urbain : The density 

 of the double salts. The case of the chlorides of 

 copper and ammonium. — Jean Bielecki and Victor 

 Henri : The quantitative study of the absorption of 

 the ultra-violet ravs by ketones, diketones, and the 

 ketonic acids. — A. Guyot and A. Kovache : The action 

 of formic acid upon the colouring matters derived 

 from triphenylmethane. — Gustave Chauveaud : The 

 evolution of the conducting apparatus in Veronica. — 

 Raoul Bayeux : The comparative resistance of the dog 

 and the rabbit to intravenous injections of oxygen. 

 In proportion to its weight, the dog can tolerate in 

 its veins a quantity of oxygen more than twenty-five 

 times greater than a rabbit. — H. Charrier ; Some modi- 

 fications of the muscular tissue at the moment of 

 sexual maturity in Nereis fucata. — Bernard Collin ; A 

 new Ellobiopsis, a parasite of Parallobiopsis coutieri. 

 F. Picard and G. R. Blanc : A bacillary septicaemia in 

 the caterpillars of Arctia caja. — R. Marcille : The use 

 of ammoniacal salts in vinification. Musts deficient in 

 volatile nitrogen and requiring an undue length of 

 time for complete fermentation can be made to fer- 

 ment normally bv the addition of ammonium phos- 

 phate or sulphate. — H. Dorlencourt : Study on the 

 urinary elimination of morphine injected into an 

 animai not previously treated with the drug. A small 

 proportion of morphine injected into the rabbit is 

 always eliminated by the kidney. The morphine is 

 recovered from the urine, unchanged, traces only of 

 oxydimorphine being detected.— Ph. Glangeaud ; The 

 eight eruptive phases of the volcano of Puy de C6me. 

 — M. Aubert : Revues in prehistoric times. 



May 5. — M. F. Guyon in the chair. — Armand 

 Gautier and Paul Clausmann : Fluorine in the 

 animal organism. The skin and its appendages. 

 A method for the exact determination of minute 

 amounts of fluorine was worked out by the 

 authors and described about a year ago. This 

 method is now being applied to the systematic 

 examination of various parts of the body for the 

 amount of fluorine. The results for the skin, hair,' 

 dental enamel, and nails are given in the present: 

 paper. — M. Bazin was elected a non-resident member. 

 — Charles Nordmann : The effective temperatures of 

 the stars. A comparison of the results obtained for 

 twelve stars by' Rosenberg and the author. Although 



