November 7, 19 12] 



NATURE 



325^. 



tory. The photographs showed the usual comet spec- 

 trum, with hydrocarbon and cyanogen hnes. — M. 

 iiorrelly : The discovery and observation of the comet 

 iyi2c^ made at the Observatory of Marseilles. The 

 <;omet is of 95 magnitude, 2' in extent, round, with 

 <i nucleus and without a tail. Its positions are given 

 .for two observations on November 2. — Michel Plan- 

 clierel : The problems of Cantor and of Dubois- 

 Keyniond in the Legendre theory of series of poly- 

 r.omials. — G. Ribaud ; The spectrum of magnetic rota- 

 tion of bromine. The l^ighi effect has been studied 

 with more powerful magnetic fields, up to 24,000 

 ■Gauss. The re-establishment of the light observed 

 longitudinally in the magnetic field cannot be attri- 

 buted to a Zeeman efi'ect ; all the absorption lines of 

 bromine show the phenomenon of magnetic rotatory 

 polarisation, on condition that for any given line a 

 suitable vapour pressure is chosen. The appearance 

 of the magnetic rotatory spectrum changes completely 

 w'hen the pressure is altered. — Leon and Eugene 

 Bloch : The ionisation of gases by the Schumann rays. 

 Ordinary sources of ultra-violet light placed in air 

 emit a considerable proportion of rays sufficiently re- 

 frangible to be partially absorbed by quartz, and brass 

 is very sensitive to the photoelectric effect of these 

 rays. — Georges Meslin : Thermoelectric couples. — A. 

 Leduc : .\ new- method for determining the ratio of the 

 two specific heats of a gas. This is a modification 

 of the Laplace method, and has the advantage of 

 requiring no otlier instrument than a good balance 

 and thermometer. A large globe of not less than 

 three litres capacity is filled with the gas at 0° C, and 

 accurately weighed. It is then placed in a bath at a 

 known temperature, the tap momentarily opened, and 

 the mass of gas remaining in the globe determined by 

 weighing. The theory and limits of accuracy of the 

 method are worked out in the paper. — Henri Sfassano ; 

 The opposed actions of the magnetic field on the 

 electrical conductivity of rarefied gases as a function 

 of the value of the field and the degree of vacuum. — 

 M. Leiarge : A cause of explosion of tubes containing a 

 compressed mixture of air and hydrogen. While 

 measuring the pressure and density of some com- 

 pressed hydrogen, an explosion occurred in which two 

 workmen were killed. The author has investigated 

 the conditions under which such an explosion may 

 take place, and draws some practical conclusions from 

 his experiments with a view to avoid such explosions 

 in future. — J. Couyat : A meteorite from Hedjaz, 

 Arabia. A full chemical and mineralogical analysis of 

 the meteorite is given. — Paul Vuillemin : Periodic 

 variation in specific characters. Studies of the flowers 

 of Phlox siibulnfa.—.\. Petit : The non-fixation of 

 phosphoric acid by an acid forest soil. — L. Lindet : 

 The conditions of combination of calcium and phos- 

 phorus in the casein of milk. About one-half of the 

 phosphorus contained in casein precipitated from milk 

 by rennet is in the condition of calcium phosphate, 

 but the other half is in organic combination as a 

 phosohate. Only three-fifths of the calcium is com- 

 bined with phosphoric acid, the remainder saturating 

 the free aciditv of the casein. — Marcel Mirande : The 

 existence of cyanogenctic principles in Centaurca 

 crocodyliiim and Tinautia fiigax. — A. Desmouliere : 

 The antigen in the Wassermann reaction. .•\ new- 

 method of preparation of the antigen is given possess- 

 ing greater delicacy than the original Wassermann 

 preparation.— Louis Boutan : Observations relating to 

 the vocal manifestations of an anthropoid ape, Hylo- 

 hales leucogenys. The sounds emitted by this ape 

 are classified. They differ from a language, properly 

 so-called, in that they are not produced by education, 

 and hence represent nothing conventional, and are 

 simply spontaneous sounds. 



NO. 2246, VOL. 90] 



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