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SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



ProccciVtiizs c/ the Liitntvan Socuty of Ne-cO South Wales, vol. 

 iv. Part 3, 1S79, contains: — W. A. Hasvvell, on the Australian 

 an'iphipodi, with thirteen plates, describes many neiv species 

 and several new genera ; of these latter, one, Amaryllis, is un- 

 fortunately already familiar to the botanist ; another, Glycera, 

 has been in use since the days of Savigny as a generic name in 

 the animal kingdom ; on the phyllosoma stage of Ibaciis 

 feronii ; notes on the anatomy of birds ; on the cylostomatous 

 polyzoa of Port Jackson. — E. P. Ramsay, notes on birds from 

 the Solomon Islands. — Prof. F. W. Hutton, on the genus 

 Phalacrocorax. — W. Macleay, on the Clupeidae of Australia. — 

 Dr. James Cox, on the genus Cyprrca. — Rev. J. Tenison Words, 

 on some new Australian echini (plates 13 and 14), describes 

 Heiniaster apicatus (sp. n. and Phyllacanthns parvispina (sp. n.l, 

 and gives a revised list of all Australian echini (fifty-eight in 

 number) ; on Hetcrosainmia iiiichdinii (plate 15) ; on a new 

 species of Disticophora ; on some fossils from Fiji ; on some 

 post-tertiary fossils from New Caledonia, — R. B. Read, on 

 Doris arbtdiis, Angus (plate 17). 



Alti delta R. Accademia dei Lined, Fasc. 4, vol. iv., March. — 

 Liglit and the transpiration of plants, by Dr. Comes. — The 

 Ciminna volcano, by S. Verri. — On Edwardsia claparedia (Hal- 

 campa clap, of Panceri), by Dr. Andres. — Fierasfer, by Prof. 

 Emery. — On some ancient eclipses of the sun, and that of Aga- 

 thocles in particular, by S. Celoria. — On movements of a surface 

 which does not constantly touch another fixed surface, by Prof. 

 Gautero. — The Bacillus malariii; in the region of Selinunte and 

 Campobello, by S. Tommasi-Crudeli. — Studies in experimental 

 pathology on the genesis and the nature of abdominal typhus, by 

 Prof. Tizzoni. — On the vari.itions of area de-cribed by the moon 

 about the earth, produced by solar action, by .S. de Gasparis. — 

 Reply on the secular variations of the magnetic needle in Rome, 

 by Dr. Keller. — On neutral tungstates of cerium, by SS. Cossa 

 and Zecchini. 



Fasc. 5, April. — The colours of animals, by Dr. Camerano. — 

 On some noteworthy configurations of points, straight lines, and 

 planes, of conies and of surfaces of the second order, by Dr. 

 Veronese. — On some observations of S. Klocke on stride of dis- 

 solution of chrome alum, by Prof. Uzielli. — On yellow incnista- 

 tion of the Vesuvian lava of 1631, by S. Hofman. — On bro- 

 mocamphor, by Prof. Schiff. — On the chemical constituents of 

 Stereocanlon vestivianum, by Prof. Paterno. — On som.e new 

 reactions of guanina, by Prof. Capranica. 



The Bitlhtht de V Aeadetnie Royale dcs Sciences de Belgique, 

 No. 3. — Researches on the nervous system of the Arthropoda ; 

 constitution of the o:sophagean ring, by M. I.ienard. — Notice on 

 the Austro-American Cucurbitacen; of M. Ed. Andre, by r\I. 

 Cogniaux. — Aspect of the planet Mars during the oppoition of 

 1S79, and observations of the red spot of Jupiter and of the 

 spots of Venus, by M. Zerby. — Several reports on memoirs. 



The Rivisla Scieutifico-Industriale, No. 8, April 30. — The 

 nefodoscope, a new instrument for showing the direction of 

 motion of cloud":, by Prof. Kornioni. — The Etna observatoiy, 

 by .S. Da Roberto. — Considerations on regular polygons, by 

 Prof. Mantino. 



yournal of the Franklin Institute, June. — Influence of speed 

 on the frictional and air resistances of an unloaded steam-engine 

 and its connected lines of shafting, by Chief-Engineer Isherwood. 

 — The decimal gauge, by R. Briggs. — Review of the report on the 

 Irwin injector, by W. Lewis. — Eye memory (continued), by C. 

 G. Leland. — Nodal estimation of the velocity of light, by P. E. 

 Chase. — Early use of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania. — On the 

 adhesion of belts, by J. II. Cooper. 



Reale IsUtuto Lomlardo di Scienze e Lettere, vol. xiii. Fasc. viii. 

 and ix — Geo-mechanical solution of some problems of interpola- 

 tion, by Prof. Jung. — Compensation of proportional errors by a 

 given system of direct observations, by the same.^On cooling 

 of a liquid in contact with a body in course of liquefaction or of 

 vaporisation, by S. Cantoni. — Influence of temperatiu-e on the 

 distribution of magnetism in a permanent magnet, by Dr. Poloni. 

 — A curious phenomenon presented by boiling liquids, by Dr. 

 Grassi. 



Fasc. X. and xi. — On the origin of red earth in the vegetation 

 of the calcareous soil, by Prof. Tararaelli. — On the problem of 

 the tautochrone, by Prof. Formenti. — On two new species for 

 the Italian flora, by Prof. Ardissone.— On the aberration of 



sphericity in lenses of ordinary strength and aperture, and in 

 centred dioptric systems, by Prof. Ferrini. — On the necessity in 

 Italy of a geological institute independent of the R. Corps 

 of Mining Engineers, by Prof. Taramelli.— On neuropathic 

 arthritis, by Prof, de Giovanni.— On Cilio-flagelUiti, by Prof. 

 Maggi. — On a theorem of Abel and some of its application', by 

 Prof. Beltrami, fjgi'j 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society, June 17.— "Notes of Observations en 

 Mu-,ical Beats." By A. J. Ellis, F.R.S. 



This paper gave the results of three years of observations 

 made for the purpose of discovering the cause and amount of 

 error in Appunn's reed tonometers, and for obtaining materials 

 for the writer's "Histoid of Musical Pitch" (Nature, vol. xxi. 

 p. 550). The principal results were there: — In free air the 

 number of beats between two musical notes are exactly equal lo 

 the difference of their pitch, or number of double vibrations 

 made in one second by the lowest partial or prime ; this was 

 proved by the exact agreement of the pitch of the forks in 

 Scheibler's tonometer, determined by such beats, with their mea- 

 surement by Professors McLeod and Mayer, and with the results 

 of Koenig when reduced to a uniform temperature. For this 

 reduction the coefficient by which the number of vibrations 

 must be multiplied for each degree Fahrenheit varies from 

 ■00C04 to 'ooooS, and may be assumed as '00005 (forks flattening 

 by heat and sharpening by cold). It differs for different fork-, 

 and depends on the action of temperature on elasticity. Tuniqg- 

 forks are very stable, proved by the fact that Scheibler's extreme 

 forks have not varied by one-tenth of a vibration in a second 

 since his death in 1837, and that a fork measured and mai-ked 

 by himself as 438 single vibrations, that is, 219 double vibrations, 

 fifty years ago, altliough much rusted, has not lost more than 

 0'3 d. vib. Beats which take place in confined compressed air, 

 as in Appunn's reed tonometers, are accelerated by 76 in io,coo, 

 or, say J per cent., as a mean ; proved by taking the bea's 

 within and without the box of the tonometer, and determining 

 the pitch of the reeds by beats with Scheibler's forks, the two 

 means agreeing precisely. All beats are beats of the simple 

 partial tones of which the compound tones are made up ; proved 

 by the belMike beats of the disturbed unisons and higher con- 

 sonances in Appunn's tonometer, w'hile the "surge" of the 

 non-beating partials was distinctly evident, and by the beats of 

 the higher upper partials themselves of very low and very com- 

 pound reed tones in a single note. The independent existence 

 of the partial tones, without any assistance from reinforcing 

 resonance cavities, was proved by determining the pitch of low 

 reeds by the beats of their upper partials with the prime or 

 lowest partial of different forks ; thus the pitch of a reed of 

 31 '47 vib. was determined by beats with partials 7, 9, 10, 11, 

 12, 13, each with a different fork, and the results varied only 

 from 5 to 9 in the second place of decimals; the pitch of a reed 

 of 1 1 '90 vib., of which the priine was quite inaudible, wa.s 

 determined by beats with partials 20 and 28, giving 1 1 "88 and 

 1 1 91 respectively. The best mode of constructing a tuning-fork 

 tonometer was shown to be dependent on the fact that all tuning- 

 forks contained their own octave, or second partial, distinctly 

 enough to count beats between it and a fork fornjing its approxi- 

 mate octave, so that there was no occasion to tune an octave. 

 Practical directions were given for this construction. Practical 

 directions for performing the experiments on Appunn's tonome- 

 ters have been deposited at the South Kensington Museum, 

 where the instruments used exist, especially for the delimitation 

 of the higher considences and consonances where the terms of 

 the ratios are any of the numbers i to 16. 



" Preliminary Note on the Ossification of the Terminal 

 Phalanges of the Digits," by E. A. Schafer, F.R.S., and F. A. 

 Dixey, B. A. 



The diaphyses of the ungual phalanges of the digits offer an 

 exception to the usual mode of ossification of diaphysial bones 

 (including the other phalanges) in the fact that the calcification 

 of the cartilage and its attendant changes begins at the tip and 

 not in the centre of the diaphysis. The subperiosteal intra- 

 membranous ossification also commences at the same point — the 

 tip, namely, of the cartilage — as a cap-like expansion over the 

 end of the cartilage. The irruption of the osteoblastic sub- 

 periosteal ti'sue also first occurs here, so that this part seems to 

 correspond m.orphologically with the centre of the shaft of othe 



