June 19, 1913] NATURE 



417 



very good yields, but there is an increase in the 

 secondary products as the molecular weight of the 

 acid is higher. Benzoic acid gives no bcnzophenone, 

 but mixtures of benzoic and fatty acids give fair yields 

 of the mixed fatty-aromatic ketones. — A. de Gr'amont 

 was elected a member of the section of free 

 academicians in succession to the late Alfred Picard. — 

 J. 1 in ilia nine : Observation of the occultation of a star 

 of the eighth magnitude by Jupiter made at the Ob- 

 servatory of Lyons. — J. Guillaume : A curious aspect of 

 the third satellite of Jupiter. Instead of the usual 

 round disc the satellite Ganymede presented a gibbous 

 appearance recalling that of Mars at certain periods. 

 Two illustrations of the satellite are given. — L. 

 Godeaux : The classification of the involutions of 

 genus 1 belonging to a surface of genus I. — A. 

 Buhl : Formulae analogous to the formula of Stokes. — 

 Th. Got : The fundamental domains of certain Fuch- 

 sian groups. — M. Schwarz and M. Villatte : The first 

 determination of the difference of longitude by wireless 

 telegraphy in western French Africa. The stations 

 were Kissidougou and Conakry. — A. Magnan : Data 

 for the construction of an ideal monoplane based on 

 the flight of birds. — M. Levavasseur and M. Gastam- 

 bide : An aeroparachute. — Eugene Bloch : The prin- 

 ciple of an electrostatic motor. An ordinary quadrant 

 electrometer is modified to serve as a motor. — M. de 

 Broglie : The diffraction and reflection of the Rontgen 

 rays. — Jacques Carvallo : The electrical conductivity of 

 some pure liquids : ammonia, acetone, ethyl and 

 methyl alcohol. The method used was to seal up the 

 purified liquids in glass tubes furnished with elec- 

 trodes, and apply a constant electromotive force. The 

 liquid is purified by the action of the current, without, 

 however, any electrolytic phenomena being observable, 

 and the current is noted as a function of the time and 

 voltage. — A. Tian ; The determination of the order of 

 a photochemical reaction. An attempt to elucidate the 

 effect of abs.orption on the reaction velocity. — Eugene 

 Fouard : A law of tonometry and its consequence as 

 regards the ionic theory. — P. Leroux : Magnetic study 

 of the constitution of some antimony alloys. Curves 

 given for the tin-antimony and lead-antimony 

 alloys. — Daniel Berthelot and Henry Gaudechon : The 

 photochemical synthesis of a new compound, carbon 

 oxycyanide, by means of ultra-violet light. Mixtures 

 of carbon monoxide and cyanogen are acted upon by 

 ultra-violet light of wave-length less than 0-25^. the 

 sjases combining in equal volumes. The substance 

 formed is gaseous at about ioo° C, and solid at the 

 ordinary temperatures. An analysis, combined with 

 a study of the reactions of this compound, shows that 

 it is carbonyl cyanide, CO(CN),, analogous with car- 

 bonyl chloride. — F. Bourion and A. Deshayes : The 

 quantitative separation of iron and chromium. — H. 

 Copaux : The constitution of the para-molvbdates and 

 the para-tungstates. — Le^on Guillet : The transforma- 

 tion points and the structure of nickel-chrome steels. 



- Jean Niviere : The preparation of diglyceric alcohol. 

 — Marcel Godchot and Felix Taboury : Some derivatives 

 of /8-methylrvrfopentanone. The 'preparation of the 

 monochloro-derivative and some substances obtained 

 from this are described. — A. Guilliermond : New ob- 

 servations on the chondriome of fungi. — D. Chouchak ; 

 The absorption of different forms of nitrogen by 

 plants; the influence of the medium. The absorption 

 of mineral or organic nitrogen by young wheat plants 

 does not depend immediately upon the living material. 



It is determined by substances which are contained in 

 the roots and which are not removed by boiling water. 

 — R. Argaud : A directlv excitable endocardiac region. 

 — Jacques Mawas : Action of the traction of the zonule 

 on the general configuration of the human crystalline 



lens. The possibility of flattening the periphery of 

 the crystalline lens during accommodation. — Em. 



NO. 2277, VOL. 91] 



Bourquelot and II. Herissey : The biochemical synthesis 

 with the aid of emulsin of a glucoside isomeric with 

 salacin. 18-Salicylglucoside.— L. Cayeux : The mean- 

 ing of mineral gravels included in the Hettangian 

 iron deposits of Burgundy.- Jean Groth : The southern 

 border of the Iberian Meseta. — Lucien Mayet and 

 Joseph Mazenot : The discovery of a prehistoric cave 

 of the Aurignacian age at Brandon (Saone-et-Loire). 

 The cave showed three different archaeological levels 

 and a fairly uniform fauna of the middle Quaternary. 



Cape Town. 

 Royal Society of South Africa, April 16. — The president 

 in the chair. — .Miss K. L. Stephens: A new species of 

 Hasmatoxylon (Leguminosae-Cassalpineae) from Great 

 Namaqualand. The discovery of a South African 

 species of Hematoxylin is of particular interest, as 

 the genus has hitherto been represented only by one 

 species — H. campecheanum, L., the log-wood tree, a 

 native of Mexico, Central America, the northern parts 

 of South America, and the West Indies. The species 

 here described was found among rocks near Holoog, 

 in Great Namaqualand, by Dr. H. H. W. Pearson, in 

 February, 1909, during the Percy Sladen Memorial 

 Expedition in South-West Africa, 1908-9. It is a 

 shrub, 1-1-5 metres high, and it differs from H. 

 campecheanum by its shrubby habit, its more or less 

 pilose and glandular young parts and inflorescence, 

 its smaller leaves, its' longer flowered and terminal 

 inflorescence, its bilabiate calyx, and its longer petals 

 and stamens. On a more recent expedition, Dr. Pear- 

 son has obtained some wood of this species, which 

 has yielded the characteristic log-wood dye.-— G. 

 Rattray : Notes on the pollination of some South African 

 Cycads. Encephalartos Altensteinii, Lehm., is pol- 

 linated bv insect agency, the pollen bearer being a 

 weevil belonging to the genus Phlasophagus. Anemo- 

 phily may still occasionally occur in this species. E. 

 villosus, "Lehm., from its habitat and cone structure, 

 appears to be exclusively entomophilous. No evidence 

 of entomophilv has been found in Stangeria Katzeri, 



Rg] R. A. Diimmer : A synopsis of the species of 



Lotononis and of Pleiospora.— T. Muir : Note on an 

 overlooked theorem: regarding the product of two 

 determinants of different orders.— R. T. A. Innes : 

 Note on the Newcomb operators used in the develop- 

 ment of the perturbative function. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Herpetologia Europaea. By Dr. E. Schreiber. Pp. 

 c 4 . (Jena: G. Fischer.) 2 marks. 



County Borough of Halifax. Bankfield Museum 

 Notes. Second ^Series. No. 2, Ancient Egyptian 

 , and Greek Looms. By H. Ling Roth. Pp. 41 + 

 plate. (Halifax : F. King and Sons, Ltd.) zs. bd. 



National Antarctic Expedition, 190 1-4. Meteoro- 

 logy. Part ii. Prepared in the Meteorological Office, 

 under the superintendence of M. W. C. Hepworth. 

 Pp. 26 + charts. (London: The Royal Society.) 



Konstitutions-Formeln der organischen Chemie in 

 graphischer Darstellung. Bv J. Loschmidt. Edited 

 by R. Anschiitz. Pp. 154- (Leipzig : W. Engelmann.) 



3 Handworterbuch der Naturwissenschaften. Edited 

 by E. Korschelt and others. 43 and 44 Lief. (Jena : 

 G. Fischer.) 5 marks each Lief. 



Die Chemie als mathematisches Problem. By C. 

 Mezger. Pp. 108. (Metz : G. Scriba.) 3 marks. 



Das selbstgefertigte Lichtbild. By W. Dix. Pp. 

 -o. (Leipzig": Quelle and Meyer.) 1 mark. 



Ausliindische Kultur- und Nutzpflanzen. By L. 

 Trinkwalter. Pp. vi+120. (Leipzig: Quelle and 

 Meyer.) 2.40 marks. 



