December 12, 1912] 



NATURE 



429 



December 2. — M. Lippmann in the chair. — A. 

 Lacrois : The existence of nepheline rocks in the 

 crystalline schists of Madagascar. Details of the 

 appearance, occurrence, and composition of a nepheline 

 gneiss and its comparison with a similar rock of 

 Portuguese origin. — Charles Deperet : The Oligocene 

 of the Roanne basin and its fauna of fossil mammals. 

 — Ph.-A. Guye was elected a correspondent for the 

 Section of Chemistry in the place of Adolf von Baeyer, 

 elected foreign associate, and M. Balland a corre- 

 spondent for the Section of Rural Economy, in the 

 place of the late M. Pagnoul. — Charles Gallissot : Con- 

 tribution to the study of scintillation. The effect of 

 twinkling of a star has been studied from the photo- 

 metric point of view. It leads to an error in the 

 determination of the magnitude of a star depending 

 on the change of colour. — Patrick Browne : A problem 

 of inversion proposed by Abel. — M. d'Ocagne : The 

 reduction of equations with three variables to the 

 canonical forms. — M. Roussiihe : The variation of levels 

 in the Congo rivers. The Congo basin is divided into 

 two distinct zones, in only one of which there is a 

 clear seasonal variation, culminating at definite dates. 

 — M. Charcot: Maps of the second French Antarctic 

 expedition. — C.-G. Darwin : Remarks on the com- 

 munication of M. Gouy on the theory of ionised gases 

 and Carnot's principle. Reasons are adduced show- 

 ing that the case imagined by M. Gouy in opposition 

 to Carnot's principle is impossible, and that a mag- 

 netic field will not alter a statistical distribution of the 

 ions. — L. Houllevigue : The reflection of slow kathode 

 rays.- — E. Brlner : The limit of formation of endo- 

 thermic compounds at very high temperatures. In 

 the van't Hoff equation for the equilibrium of the 

 reaction between N, and O^, with production of nitric 

 oxide, the heat of reaction is negative. If, however, 

 the temperature of the reaction is sufficiently high 

 to dissociate entirely the molecules of nitrogen and 

 oxygen the heat of reaction will be negative and the 

 concentration of XO will then diminish with rise of 

 temperature. The increase of dissociation of the 

 elementary molecules will thus lead to a temperature 

 for which the concentration of the nitric oxide will 

 pass through a maximum. — Henri Bierry, Victor Henri, 

 and .\lbert Ranc : The inversion of saccharose by the 

 ultra-violet rays. Experiments are described proving 

 that the hydrolysis of the saccharose produced after 

 irradiation either in neutral solution or slightly acid 

 solution, in presence or absence of oxygen, is a direct 

 product of the action of the ultra-violet rays. — Daniel 

 Berthelot and Henri Gaudechon : The photolysis of 

 several kinds of sugars bv ultra-violet light. The 

 gases produced by the degradation of sugars by ultra- 

 violet light consist of carbon monoxide and hydrogen 

 in simple proportions. — Marcel Guerbet : The action of 

 caustic potash on cyc/ohexanol ; the synthesis of cyclo- 

 hexanylcyciohexanol and of dicyciohexanylcyc/ohexanol. 

 — Lucien Daniel : The grafting of Nasturtium 

 officinale on Brassica oleracea. An example of the 

 effect of modifying the habitat of one or both of the 

 plants on successful grafting. — M. Servettaz : Cultures 

 of mosses in sterilised media. — Mile. Marie Korsakoff : 

 Researches on the variation of fats, sugars, and of 

 saponine in the course of the ripening of the seeds 

 of Lychnis GHhago. — Marc Bridel : The presence of 

 gentiopicrin, gentianose. and of saccharose in the fresh 

 roots of Gentiaiia Asclcpiadea. — G. Gin : The black 

 earths of the valley of I'oued R'Dom in Morocco. — P. 

 Nottin : .\ study of manganese in its relation to soils. 

 .'Vrable earth renders manganese salts insoluble, and 

 retains it in a manner analogous to that in which it 

 absorbs ammonia, potash, and phosphoric acid. — 

 Pierre Teissier and Pierre Gastinel : Reactions in 

 human and experimental vaccine. — J. Bergonie : The 

 applications of diathermy as forming part of the 

 yo. 2250, VOL. QO] 



energy balance of the body. .An account of the thera- 

 peutic action of d'Arsonval's method of using high- 

 frequency currents of low electromotive force. Details 

 are given of the application of this method to one case 

 in which a marked improvement resulted. — M. Ardin- 

 Delteil, L. Negre, and Maurice Raynaud : The vaccin- 

 therapy of typhoid fever. An account of the applica- 

 tion of Besi-edka serum in thirty-seven cases. The 

 gravity of the disease was reduced, not one death in 

 the thirty-seven cases taking place. The number of 

 relapses was reduced to about one-half of the average, 

 and the duration of the disease appeared to be some- 

 what shortened. — Henri Pieron : The relation connect- 

 ing the time of latency of reaction and the intensity 

 j of stimulation. — E. Kohn-Abrest : The action of active 

 aluminium on alkaloidal extracts. Its use in toxi- 

 ! cology. Amalgamated aluminium may be used for 

 ! purifying visceral extracts from fatty and colloidal 

 I impurities. Certain alkaloids, such as strychnine, 

 quinine, and cocaine, are partially retained by the 

 aluminium, whilst nicotine is almost totally retained. 

 Other alkaloids examined 4^■ere not appreciably re- 

 tained bv the aluminium.— B. Sauton : The compara- 

 tive influence of potassium, rubidium, and caesium on 

 the developijient of the spores of Aspergillus niger. — 

 A. Trillat and M. Fouassier ; The action of infinitesimal 

 doses of various alkaline, fixed, or volatile sub- 

 stances on the vitality of micro-organisms. — H. Agul- 

 hon and R. Sazerac : The increase of activity of certain 

 microbial oxidation processes by uranium salts. — 

 Philippe de Vilmorin : Observations on the Glandins 

 at Verrieres-le-Buisson.— A. Brachet : The development 

 in vitro of blastoderms and young embryos of mam- 

 mals. — Charles Jacob : The local glacial deposits of 

 Vercors and the neighbourhood of Villard-de-Lans. — 

 I. Assada : The morphological study of the terraces 

 in the neighbourhood of Lyons.— Alphonse Berget : 

 The magnetic role of the oceans and the constitution 

 of the earth's crust.— De Montessus de Ballore : The 

 earthquakes of the Baltic provinces of Russia 

 (Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland).— A. Laborde and 

 A . Lepape : Study of the radio-activity of the Vichy 

 springs and of some other spas. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



A Manual of Zoology. By Prof. R. Hertwig. 

 Third American from the Ninth German Edition. 

 Translated and edited by Prof. J. S. Kingsley. Pp. 

 xii + 606. (New York : H. Holt and Co.) 



The American Annual of Photography, 1913. Vol. 

 xxvii. Edited by P. Y. Howe. Pp. 328. (New- 

 York : G. Murphy, Jun.) 75 cents. 



Mathematics from the Points of View of the Mathe- 

 matician and of the Physicist. By Prof. E. W. Hob- 

 son. Pp. 24. (Cambridge University Press.) is. 



Radioactive Substances and their Radiations. By 

 Prof. E. Rutherford. Pp. vii + 699. (Cambridge 

 Universitv Press.) 15X. net. 



The Concept of Sin. By Dr. F. R. Tennant. Pp. 

 v+282. (Cambridge University Press.) ^s. 6d. net. 



The Geology of Soils and Substrata, with Special 

 Reference to .Agriculture, Estates, and Sanitation. By 

 H. B. Woodward. Pp. xiv4-366. (London : E. 

 Arnold.) ys. 6d. net. 



The British Journal Photographic Almanac and 

 Photographer's Daily Companion, 1913. Edited by 

 G. E. Brown. Pp. '1448. (London : H. Greenwood 

 and Co.) is. 6d. net. 



L'niversity of California Publications in American 

 .A.rchaeologv and Ethnology. Elements of the Kato 

 Language.' By P. E. Goddard. Pp. 176 + 45 plates. 

 (Berkeley : University of California Press.) 



Guide to the Collection of Gcmstones in the Museum 



