January 2, 1913] 



NATURE 



507 



National Antarctic Expedition. The fishes, which were 

 collected in the vicinity of the South Orkneys, Falk- 

 land Islands, and Gough Island, include forty-eight 

 species, of which ten are new to science. The report 

 is supplemented with a monograph on the Noto- 

 theniida^ and related families, a revision of the 

 Qoarcidae, and notes on the systematic position and 

 distribution of the Galaxiida;. It also includes an 

 account of a new genus taken in South Georgia, and 

 named Cliacnocephalus salveseni. Prof. Eniile 

 Topsent : the Porifera of the Scottish National 

 Antarctic Expedition. Several new genera and many 

 new species are described from high southern latitudes 

 and also from great depths. 



P.VRIS. 



Academy of Sciences, December 23, 1912. — M. Lipp- 

 mann in the chair. — Gaston Darboux : Surfaces of 

 translation. — G. Lippmann : An electric time-measuring 

 apparatus for the comparison of two periodic 

 phenomena. An arrangement of two electrical con- 

 tacts on a tube rotating at a known uniform rate, and 

 each separately adjustable, so that the time elapsing 

 between the two contacts can be made any fraction 

 of a second, read directly from the instrument. As 

 examples of applications of the instrument are given 

 the comparison of two sidereal clocks, the reception of 

 Eiffel Tower signals, and the emission of time signals. 

 — Th. Schloesing, Jun. ; The detection and estimation 

 of free white phosphorus in phosphorus sesquisulphide. 

 The method is based on extraction with a low boiling 

 petroleum ether, and subsequent determination of the 

 ratio of phosphorus to sulphur in the residue left after 

 evaporating the ether. — M. Gouy : The spontaneously 

 ionised gases. A reply to some criticisms by C. G. 

 Darwin. — M. Guntz was elected a correspondant for 

 the section of chemistry in the place of the late M. 

 Cannizzaro, and M. Lehmann a correspondant in the 

 section of mineralogy in the place of the late M. 

 Zirkel. — Kr. Birkeland : The source of the electricity 

 of the stars. A discussion of the possibility of the 

 stars and the sun becoming negative by the loss of 

 positive electrons. — E. Belot : The material of satellites 

 with respect to the density of the planets, their time 

 of rotation, and their superficial structure. — D. Th. 

 Egoroff : The integration of functions. — N. Lusin : The 

 properties of Denjoy's integral. — P. Montel : The exist- 

 ence of derived functions. — W. H. Young : Fourier's 

 series convergent nearly throughout. — S. Lattes : The 

 reduction of linear substitutions. — M. Norlund : Linear 

 equations with finite differences. — Witold Jarkowski : 

 The equation of the barogram of the ascent of an 

 aeroplane. — Jules Roux : The law of Stokes and the 

 charge of an electron. A study of the fall of sulphur 

 spheres of small radius in xylene and the application 

 of Stokes's formula, modified by Cunningham, to the 

 results. — M. Jouguet : The stability of equilibrium of a 

 system enclosed in a cover impervious to heat. — E. 

 Briner and E. L. Durand : The action of temperature 

 on the equilibrium of nitric and nitrous acids, formed 

 by starting with the oxides of nitrogen and water. 

 An increase in the pressure of the J^O and lowering 

 of temperature both favour the formation of nitric 

 acid. — .\uguste Piccard : The Cv - *^"ftition of water and 

 the thermal variation of its iN.,,netisation. On the 

 assumption that any body has a constant diamagnetism 

 so long as there is no change of state the tempera- 

 ture coefficient of magnetisation described in an 

 earlier paper has been applied to determine the con- 

 stitution of water. The results are in general agree- 

 ment with those deduced from the change of densitv 

 with temperature. — J. A. Muller : The mode of ionisa- 

 tion of sulphuric acid in dilute aqueous .solution. .A 

 discussion of the experimental data given appear.s to 

 show that in dilute aqueous solution sulphuric acid 

 NO. 2253, VOL. 90] 



ionises into the ions H and HSO^, and this ionisation 

 takes place with evolution of heat within the limits 

 of temperature studied. — M. Hanriot : Tempering of 

 metals without deformation. — Marcel Ostwald : Some 

 properties of the alkaline nitrites. A description of 

 the mode of preparation of the pure nitrites, followed 

 by data relating to the appearance, melting points, 

 densities of solids and solutions of sodium and 

 potassium nitrite. — Daniel Berthelot and Henry 

 Gaudechon : The photolysis of various bioses and 

 trioses by the ultra-violet rays. — Jacques Duclaux : The 

 polymerisation of bodies at low temperatures. — 

 CEchsner de Coninck : The determination of the atomic 

 weight of uranium. The value 238'4 is derived from 

 the ignition of the oxalate. — LfSon Guillet : The copper- 

 zinc-nickel alloys. — Leo Vignon : The fractional dis- 

 tillation of coal. Five samples of coal were heated 

 successively to 400°, 600°, 850°, 1000°, and 1200° C., 

 and analyses made of the gas given off at each tem- 

 perature. — Maurice Lanfry : The action of hydrogen 

 peroxide on oxvthionaphthene, oxythionaphthene- 

 carboxylic acid and thioindigo.— P. Carre : Contardi's 

 glvcerotriphosphoric acid. An adverse criticism of 

 Contardi's results. — Marcel Godchot and Felix 

 Taboury : The bromination of cycZopentanone. — A. 

 Maiihe : The nitro-derivatives of the oxide of meta- 

 cresyl. — Georges Tanret : The presence of stachyose in 

 the bean and in the seeds of some other Leguminosae. 

 Stachyose forms a strontium compound, and this was 

 utilised in the detection of this sugar in various 

 I^eguminosEe. — G. Andre : The hydrolysis and displace- 

 ment bv water of the nitrogenous and mineral matters 

 contained in leaves.— Marin Molliard : The hyper- 

 trophiant action of the products elaborated by Rhizo- 

 bium radicicola. An account of comparative experi- 

 ments on the growth of the pea in water and in water 

 containing the secretory products of the above-named 

 parasite. — L. Armand : Germination and development 

 of the embryo in the Lobeliacea;. — Pierre Teissier and 

 Pierre Louis Marie : Attempts at variolic serotherapy. 

 — J. Renaut : The direct connective filiation and 

 development of arterial muscular cells. — Jacques 

 Mawas : The form, direction, and mode of action of 

 the ciliary muscle in man. — Jacques Pellegrin : New 

 contribution to the ichthyological fauna of Lake Vic- 

 toria (Africa). — A. Magna'n : The functional adaptation 

 of the intestine in ducks. A reduction in the length 

 of the intestine has been obtained experimentally by 

 change of food. — D. Keilin : The structure of the 

 pharynx in the larva; of some Diptera as affected by 

 the nature of the food. — M. Javillier : The substitution 

 of various chemical elements for zinc in the culture 

 of Sterigmatocystis nigra. Cadmium is the only 

 element analogous to zinc in its action on the growth 

 of this fungus. The presence of a ten-millionth part 

 of cadmium'increases the yield 2'6 times. — Em. Bourque- 

 lof and H. Herissey : The synthetical reaction between 

 galactose and ethvl alcohol under the influence of 

 kephir. — L. C. Maillard : The formation of humus and 

 of mineral combustibles without the intervention of 

 atmospheric oxvgen, of micro-organisms, of high tem- 

 peratures, or of strong pressures. The interaction of 

 amino-acids with sugars gives brown condensation 

 products containing nitrogen, and regarded by the 

 author as analogous w-ith the humus extracted from 

 soil. Carbon dioxide is evolved in this reaction, which 

 takes place in the absence of oxygen. This reaction 

 is regarded as explaining the natural formation of 

 humus.— Gabriel Bertrand and F. Medigreceanu : The 

 temporary fixing and mode of elimination of man- 

 ganese in the rabbit.— H. Bierry and Mni'-. Z. 

 Gruzewska : .<\ new method for the determination of 

 elycogen in the liver. A modification of Pfliip-er's 

 method, permitting more rapid estimations \vithout 

 loss of accuracy. Comparative figures are given for 



