January 23, 19 13] 



NATURE 



587 



Pussenot : The lower Stephanian (Cevennes zone) in 

 the axial Alpine zone. An attempt at the coordination 

 of the various levels of the coal strata in the western 

 Alps. — De Montessus de Ballore : Earthquakes and 

 the phases of the moon. These appear to be un- 

 related. 



January 13. — M- F. Guyon in the chair. — G. 

 Bigourdan : Description of an apparatus for sending 

 time signals automatically. A diagram is given of 

 the time signal agreed upon by the recent Inter- 

 national Conference, and form of commutator de- 

 scribed bv means of which such a signal may be sent 

 automaticallv with high accuracy. — Lord Rayleigh : 

 The resistance of spheres in air in motion. Referring 

 to some experimental results published in a recent 

 number of the Comptes rendus (December 30) by M. 

 Eilel, it is pointed out that the law of dynamical 

 similitude as developed by Stokes and Reynolds for 

 viscous liquids is applicable, at least as a first 

 appro.\imation. — R. Lepine and M. Boulud : Feebly 

 combined sugar in the blood. — Jules Baillaud : An in- 

 tegrating opacimeter for stellar photographs. The 

 Hartmann microphotometer is based on the assump- 

 tion of a homogeneous photographic plate ; a new 

 form of photometer is described which is independent 

 of this condition. — P. E. Gau : The most general 

 transformations of partial differential equations of the 

 second order. — Maurice Janet : The characteristics of 

 systems of partial differential equations. — M. Schwartz 

 and M. Villatte : The application of an optical method 

 of coincidences to the transmission of time. The 

 apparatus used consists of two optical telegraphs of 

 the military type using acetylene, a Leroy electro- 

 man^netic pejidulum with variable contact, and chrono- 

 meters beating half-seconds. Two methods have 

 been devised, one optical, the other partly optical and 

 partly auditory. Results are given for distances be- 

 tween 6 and 45 kilometres, with an accuracy of 0^05 

 second. — Marcel Brillouin : The theory of black radia- 

 tion. — M. Costanzo : The occlusion of the products of 

 radium. Palladium occludes the products of the dis- 

 integration of radium. These phenomena can be 

 applied to the estimation of radium. — Adrien Gueb- 

 hard : The theoretical possibility of a reversible 

 arrangement for the automatic reconstitution of the 

 natural colours by projection. — E. Mathias, H. Kamer- 

 lingh Onnes, and C. A. Crommelin : The rectilinear 

 diameter of argon. The densities of the liquid and 

 saturated vapour at the same temperature of argon 

 are given for eight temperatures ranging from 

 — I25'i7° to — i83'i5°. Argon follows the law of the 

 rectilinear diameter approximately, but the deviations, 

 although small, are too systematic to be assigned to 

 experimental error. — A. Perot : The movement of the 

 luminous centres in hydrogen tubes. — Ch. Boulanger 

 and G. Urbain : Theory of the efflorescence of saline 

 hydrates. The influence of temperature. — Marcel 

 Boll : The relation between the velocity of a photo- 

 chemical reaction and the incident radiant energy. 

 The velocity coefficient of a photochemical reaction is 

 proportional to the incident radiant energy, even if 

 the reaction is bimolecular. — Nicolas Czako : The 

 alloys of aluminium with vanadium allovs were pre- 

 pared, containing from i to 80 per cent, of vanadium, 

 and these were studied bv the metallographic method. 

 Crystals of A1,V and .WV were identified, and indica- 

 tions of the existence of AlV, were obtained. — Jacques 

 Duclaiix : The elements of energy. — P. Lebeau and .\. 

 Damiens : A method of analysis of mixtures of 

 hydrogen and gaseous saturated hvdrocarbons, 

 hydrogen, methane, ethane and propane. 'The method 

 is based on the fractional distillation of the liquefied 

 gases. Hydrogen and methane cannot be separated 

 in this way, but a good separation of hydrogen from 

 NO. 2256, VOL. 90] 



ethane and propane was obtained. — Ed. Lasausse : The 

 fixation of the alkaline bisulphites on the salts and 

 ester salts of the acetylenic acids. One or two mole- 

 cules of sodium sulphite are fixed, giving mono- or 

 di-sulphonates. The reaction has been studied with 

 phenylpropiolic acid, methyl phenylpropiolate, and 

 methyl amylpropiolate. — Paul Gaubert : Some com- 

 pounds of cholesterol giving liquid crystals. — Lucien 

 Daniel : New researches on grafting of Brassica. — 

 J. Stoklasa : The influence of uranium and lead on 

 vegetation. Minute proportions of nitrates of lead 

 and uranium in the soil cause a distinct increase in 

 plant growth. — M. Marage : The action of complex 

 and intermittent sound vibrations on the auditive 

 centres. — J. Ma was : The form, direction, and mode of 

 action of the ciliary muscle in some mammals. — R. 

 Anthony and L Bortnowsky : A pleuropatagium of 

 peculiar type in Microcehtts minor minor. — H. Agul- 

 Iion and R. Sazerac : The action of uranium salts and 

 of metallic uranium upon the pyocyanic bacillus. — P. 

 Becquerel : The influence of uranium salts and of 

 thorium salts on the development of the bacillus of 

 tuberculosis. — Ph. Lasseur and G. Thiry : Coloured 

 cultures of bacteria considered up to the present as 

 achromogens. — Em. Bourquelot, H. Herissey, and M. 

 Bridel : The biochemical synthesis of glucosides of 

 alcohols with the aid of a ferment (a-glucosidase) con- 

 tained in air-dried low yeast. a-Ethylglucoside has 

 been obtained in a pure crystallised state biochemic- 

 ally. — Robert Douville : The influence of the mode of 

 life on the sutural line of the Ammonites belonging 

 to the family of the Cosmoceratideas. — Alfred Angot : 

 Value of the magnetic elements at the Val Joyeux 

 Observatory on January i, 19 13. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



An Elementary Course of Magnetism and Elec- 

 tricity. By Dr. C. H. Draper. Pp. vii + 86. (Lon- 

 don : Blackie and Son, Ltd.) 2s. 



Safety 'in Coal Mines. By Prof. D. Burns. Pp. 

 158. (London : Blackie and Son, Ltd.) 2s. 6d. net. 



The Principles of Stock-breeding. By Prof. J. 

 Wilson. Pp. vii + 146 (London: Vinton and Co., 

 Ltd.) 5i. net. 



Journal of the Institute of Metals. Vol. viii., No. 2. 

 Edited by G. Shaw Scott. Pp. IX + 37S + plates 32. 

 (London : Caxton House.) 



Die neuere Entwicklung der Kolloidchemie. By 

 Dr. W. Ostwald. Pp. 23. (Dresden and Leipzig : 

 T. Steinkopff.) i mark. 



.\ New Geometry. Parts i. and ii. By S. Barnard 

 and J. M. Child. Pp. xviii + 315. (London: Mac- 

 niillan and Co., Ltd.) 2s. 6d. 



A Vertebrate Fauna of the Malay Peninsula from 

 the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore, including the 

 Adjacent Islands. Reptilia and Batrachia. By Dr. 

 G. A. Boulenger. Pp. xiii + 2g4. (London: Taylor 

 and Francis.) 15s. 



The Electron Theory. By Prof. T. Mizuno. Pp. 

 336. In Japanese. (Tokyo: Z. P. Maruva and Co., 

 Ltd.) 



Notions de Math^matiques. By Prof. A. Sainte- 

 Lague. Pp. vii + 512. (Paris: .'\. Hermann et Fils.) 

 7 francs. 



Explosives. By Dr. H. Brunswig, translated and 

 annotated by Drs. C. E. Munroe and .\. L. Kibler. 

 Pp. XV 4- 350. (New York: J. Wiley and Sons; Lon- 

 don : Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 



Building Stones and Clay-products. By Dr. H. 

 Ries. Pp. xv4-4is + lix. (New York: J. Wiley and 

 Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. 

 net. 



