November 21, 19 12] 



NATURE 



ooJ 



ing to the gradual modification of the species. (8) But 

 neither chance-wise mutations in all directions nor 

 the vicissitudes of changing climates and distributions 

 can account for the orderly phylogenies which larger 

 groups of organisms frequently show. (9) There is 

 no single evolutionary factor, but the process is a 

 multifarious one. — H. N. Ridley: A collection of 

 plants from Mount Menuang Casing, Selangor. In 

 I'ebruary, 1912, Mr. C. B. Kloss made an expedition 

 to Mt. Menuang Casing in Selangor to collect the 

 fauna and flora of this mountain. In this paper is 

 an account of the expedition and of the plants col- 

 lected by him in four or five days spent at an altitude 

 of 4900 ft. there. Menuang Casing is the most 

 southern high point of the great chain of the granite 

 mountains which form the backbone of the peninsula, 

 and the object of the expedition was to discover 

 whether the high mountain fauna and flora descended 

 so far south as this point. The mountain is 4900 ft. 

 high, and tliough there are other hills a little south 

 of this, this is the highest and most likely to bear 

 the high hill flora. The fauna was found to belong 

 to that of high northern ranges, and the flora shows 

 clearlv that it corresponds. Among the characteristic 

 plants found were the golden balsam, Impatiens 

 oncidioides, Ridl., Bucklandia populnea, R. Br., the 

 rare Polyosma parviflora, King, Pratia begonifolia, 

 Lindl., Dilochia Cantlcyi. Rid!., and Goodyera gracilis. 

 Hook. fil. The only mountain south of this one of 

 aooroximate altitude is Mt. Ophir in Malacca ; the 

 flora of this is well known, and is very different from 

 that of the main range. Indeed, there is every evidence 

 that Mt. Ophir w-as never connected with the main 

 chain, at least during the period of the evolution of 

 the flora. One hundred and forty-three species were 

 collected by Mr. Kloss, of which fourteen were un- 

 described ; of these the most noteworthy were what 

 is nrobably the biggest species of the large genus 

 Oberonia, a remarkable species of Blastus, and a new 

 species of Balanophora. 



Mathematical Society, November 14. — Annual meeting. 

 — Dr. H. F. Baker (president, 1910-11), and after- 

 wards Prof. A. E. H. Love (the newly elected presi- 

 dent), in the chair. .After the election of council and 

 officers for the coming session, the following papers 

 were communicated : — A. B. Grieve : Some properties 

 of cubic surfaces. — Prof. W. H. Young : The deter- 

 inination of the summability of a function by means 

 of its Fourier constants. — Prof. W. Burnside : Groups 

 of linear substitutions which possess quadratic in- 

 variants. — J. B. Holt : The irreducibilitv of Legendre's 

 polynomials. — Prof. E. VV. Hobson : The representa- 

 tion of a summable function by means of a series of 

 finite polynomials. — E. Cunningham : Theory of func- 

 tions of a real vector. — G. N. Watson : Some solutions 

 of Laplace's equation. 



Paris. 



.\cademy of Sciences, November ti. — M. Lippmann in 

 the chair. — Edouard Branly : The intermittent conduc- 

 tivity of thin dielectric layers. An experimental study 

 of the electrical conductivity of thin sheets of dielectrics 

 (gutta-percha, collodion, mica, celluloid, varnish) under 

 varying conditions of pressure and electromotive force, 

 and submitted to the effects of shock or induced 

 oscillatory currents set up at a distance by the spark 

 discharge of a condenser. The results are applied to 

 explain the action of radio-conductors utilised in wire- 

 less telegraphy.— M. Borrelly : Observations of the 

 Borrelly comet (1912c) made at the Observatory of 

 Marseilles with the comet-finder. Positions are given 

 for November 3, 6, and 8. — M. Coggia : Observations 

 of the Borrelly comet (c, November 2, 1912) made at 

 the Observatory of Marseilles with the 26 cm. Eichens 

 equatorial. Positions given for November 4 and 8. — 



NO. 2247, VOL. go] 



M. Giacobini ; Observations of tlae new Borrelly comet 

 (1912c) made at the Paris Observatory with the 40 cm. 

 equatorial. Positions given for November 6 and 7. — 

 J. Guillaume : Observations of the Schaumasse comet 

 (1912b) made at the Observatory of Lyons. Positions 

 given for October 2, 3, 6, and 7. — MM. Luizet and 

 Guillaume : Observations of the Borrelly comet (1912c) 

 made at the Observatory of Lyons. Six positions 

 given for November 7, 8, and 9. — P. Chofardet : Ob- 

 servations of the Borrelly comet made at the Besangon 

 Observatorv. Five positions given for November 4, 

 6, and 7. — P. Briick : Observations and elements of the 

 Borrelly comet (i9i2e) obtained at the Observatory of 

 Besangon. — Louis Fabry : The identification of the 

 small planets. — Jean Chazy : A differential system 

 formed by M. Schlesinger. — Ch. J. de la Vallee 

 Poussin : The development of trigonometrical series. — 

 M. Hisely : A new theorem on the effects of moments. 

 — M. Poincet : The wake and suction at the back of 

 ships. A discussion of the results of experiments car- 

 ried out by Creusot on the torpedo-destroyer ST, and 

 their bearing on the propulsion of turbine vessels. — 

 M. Duchene : The use of the carrying planes in the 

 construction of an aeroplane. — .\lphonse Berget : A 

 velocitv formula applicable to aeroplanes. An empirical 



formula, V = A(-- I, is given, in which V is the 



velocity, S the supporting surface of the planes, F the 

 h.p. of the motor, and A a numerical coefficient. In 

 eleven types of aeroplane actually in use the coefficient 

 .'\ varies between 7 and 8.— C. Raveau : The fringes of 

 holohedral crystalline plates with parallel faces. — 

 Georges Claude : The phenomena of electrical pseudo- 

 resonanc.e. — M. Hanriot : Drawing down metals. — L. 

 Grimbert and M. Laudat : The estimation of lipoids in 

 blood serum. .\ description of a rapid and moderately 

 accurate method of determining cholesterol, lipoids 

 containing phosphorus, fatty acids, and neutral fats 

 in a small quantity of blood serum. Analytical figures 

 are given for normal and pathogenic serum. — H. 

 Vincent : The diagnosis of typhoid fever by the spleen 

 reaction. The injection of a preparation made from 

 tvphoid bacilli determines a characteristic hypertrophy 

 of the spleen in cases of typhoid fever, and this 

 reaction appears to be specific. It has given positive 

 results in cases where the blood culture remained 

 sterile.— L^on Bernard, A. Le Play, and Ch. Mantoux : 

 The minimum pulmonary capacity compatible with 

 life. — C. Schlegel : The influence of temperature on the 

 course of development of Maia squinado. — Henri 

 Martin : The distribution of the human deposits in the 

 Mousterian laver of La Quina (Charente).— L^on 

 Bertrand and Louis Mengaud : The structure of the 

 Cantabrian Pvrenees, and their probable relations with 

 the western Pvrenees.— C. Vasseur : The discoverv of 

 a layer of vertebrates in the upper Agenais Aquitanian. 

 The geological age of the fauna of Saint-C^rand-le- 

 Puy. '" 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Der Kautschuk : Fine kolloid-chemische Mono- 

 giaohie. By Dr. R. Ditmar. Pp. viii+ 14J f p!ate. 

 (Berlin : J. Springer.) 6 marks. 



Elektrobiologie : die Lehre von den elektrischen 

 Vorgangen im Organismus auf moderner Crundlage 

 dargestellt. By iprof. J. Bernstein. Pp. ix + 215. 

 (Braunschweig : F. Vieweg und Sohn.) 6 marks. 



The Electrical Conductivity, Dissociation, and Tem- 

 perature Coefficients of Conductivity from Zero to 

 Sixty-five Degrees of .'\queous Solutions of a Number 

 of Salts and Organic Acids. By Prof. H. C. Jones 

 and others. Pp. iv+ 148. (Washington: Carnegie 

 Institution.) 



