5'4 



NATURE 



[July 17, 1913 



have brought forward additional evidence in support 

 of the generally accepted view that traces of formalde- 

 hyde are present in the foliage leaves of plants during 

 the period of active assimilation under the influence 

 of sunlight; they show, moreover, that formaldehyde 

 is absent when the same plants are kept in darkness 

 so as to suppress the chlorophyllian function. Parasitic 

 plants, such as Psalliota campestris and Coprinus, 

 which do not contain chlorophyll, also fail to give 

 any indication of the presence of formaldehyde. The 

 authors made use in their experiments of the gluco- 

 side atractylin, which is present in Atractylis gummi- 

 fera ; this substance they find to be the most delicate 

 test vet devised for minute traces of formaldehyde; 

 a solution obtained, for example, by adding three 

 drops of 40 per cent, formaldehyde to one litre of 

 water gives, under suitable conditions, a distinct 

 violet coloration with the reagent. This behaviour is 

 quite specific, no other aldehyde or substance respond- 

 ing in the same way. 



The report of the meeting of the Swiss Scientific 

 Association held last autumn at Altdorf includes 

 accounts of the many permanent commissions which 

 the association has instituted. One of the most 

 notable is in charge of the definitive edition of Euler's 

 works; five volumes, including the "Algebra," " Diop- 

 trica," and " Mechanica," have been published since 

 191 1. The work of the geological commission and 

 the glacier commission is prolific in measurements, 

 maps, and observations. The nature protection com- 

 mission, instituted in 1906, is successfully carrying 

 out the project of a grande reserve, or national park, 

 in the Grisons (the commune of Zernetz). Newly 

 instituted is the commission for the study of atmo- 

 spheric electricity. Among the papers read, a com- 

 prehensive study of the mountain structure of central 

 Switzerland, by Dr. P. Arbenz, is one of the most 

 considerable. Mr. Weiss discusses recent research in 

 molecular physics, and his own work on magnetons. 

 " Radiation and Matter," by von Kowalski, includes 

 investigations in atmospheric electricity ; Mr. R. 

 Chodat describes the problems of plant-coloration and 

 his own important experiments in this difficult sub- 

 ject. Mr. Pictet shows that the flight of insects in 

 relation to artificial light is not a case of tropism. 

 Very interesting conclusions on the effects of storms 

 upon forests are drawn by Mr. van Ufford from the 

 destruction of the forest at The Hague in 191 1. Mr. 

 Mirimanoff carries further than Poisson and Oettinger 

 the mathematical theory of the game trente et qua- 

 rante. The sixty-nine papers read at the meeting are 

 well distributed among the various sciences, and deal 

 in many cases with significant and important 

 research. 



Prof. J. Walker, F.R.S., of Edinburgh Univer- 

 sity, is just completing a "Text-book of Organic 

 Chemistry for Students of Medicine," which will 

 shortly be published by Messrs. Gurney and Jackson, 

 London, and Messrs. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.— 

 Dr. Reinheimer is about to issue through Messrs. 

 Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner and Co., Ltd., a 

 NO. 228l, VOL. 91] 



volume entitled "Evolution by Co-operation: A Study 

 in Bio-Economics." — "The Living Plant," a descrip- 

 tion and interpretation of its functions and structure, 

 by Dr. W. F. Ganong, will be published shortly by 

 Messrs. Constable and Co., Ltd. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



A Meteorite Seen to Fall and Found. — It is not 

 often that a meteorite is actually seen to fall to the 

 ground, but this was the case with the specimen 

 described by Messrs. Masumi Chikashige and Tadasu 

 Hiki, in the Memoirs of the College of Science and 

 Engineering, Kyoto Imperial University (vol. v., 

 No. 1, September, 1912). It was at 6.30 on the 

 morning of April 7, 1904, that the meteorite fell at 

 the village of Okano, in the neighbourhood of the 

 town Sasayama, in the province of Tamba, Japan. 

 The white glowing mass was observed by a peasant, 

 and when he came to the spot he found a stone 

 which looked like a block of iron with the long point 

 upwards, and imbedded about 80 cm. A teacher 

 30 km. to the north observed the meteorite also as 

 a white glowing mass, at an altitude of about 70 . 

 The chemical analysis, which is given in the paper, is 

 as follows, in percentages : — Iron, 94-85 ; nickel, 4-44 ; 

 cobalt, 048 ; copper, trace ; phosphorus, 0-23. Thus 

 nickel-iron amounted to 9852 per cent., and phosphor- 

 nickel-iron 1-48 per cent. This result is very similar 

 to that obtained in the De Sotoville meteorite, namely 

 nickel-iron 98-71 per cent., and phosphor-nickel-iron 

 1-29 per cent. The authors complete their monograph 

 with three excellent plates showing the external 

 appearance of the meteorite and sections before and 

 after treatment. 



Measures of Proper Motion Stars. — The 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington has just issued 

 another large volume (No. 168), the contents of which 

 in this case consist of the valuable series of measures 

 of proper motion stars made by Mr. Burnham with 

 the 40-in. refractor of the Yerkes Observatory in the 

 years 1907 to 1912. Attention may be directed in the 

 first instance to the promptitude of publication of such 

 a mass of valuable data, for this large volume, con- 

 taining no fewer than 311 pages, includes measures 

 so recently made as last year. The total number of 

 measures made in the present work is about 9500, and 

 all places are given for 1880 unless otherwise men- 

 tioned. The original places as given in the General 

 Catalogue of Double Stars have been retained, and 

 the stars in part i. reduced to the same epoch. The 

 measures are published in two parts. The larger 

 number of stars selected for measurement are given 

 in part ii. of this volume, and are taken from the 

 General Catalogue of Double Stars for reasons stated 

 in the notes and observations in that work. Part i. 

 includes all other stars for which prior observations 

 with the micrometer have been made. The small 

 stars from zone 26 of the Oxford Astrographic Cata- 

 logue were compared with one or more fainter stars 

 in the field. Mr. Burnham has added three more 

 stars, namely 37 Tauri, 55 Tauri (02 7g),and 02 82, 

 to the list of Boss's thirty-nine bright stars, prin- 

 cipally in Taurus, which appeared to have a common 

 proper motion of approximately o-io" in the general 

 direction of about ioo°. 



The Total Solar Eclipse of August 30, 1905. — 

 In a beautifully got-up portfolio measuring about 

 20x25 in., just issued by the Hamburg Observa- 

 tory, Prof. R. Schorr publishes a series of nine 

 reproductions illustrating the photographs of the 



