6o4 



NA TURE 



[October i i, 1906 



field is known to be of great intensity. For example, the 

 luminous layer covering the kathode (the dark space being 

 0-5 cm. to 4 cm.) gave hydrogen lines 0-4 Angstrom unit 

 in width, but the lines of the second hydrogen spectrum 

 and certain air lines were not appreciably broadened. This 

 broadening seems to be due mainly to motion of the 

 particles rather than change of free periods, for it is found 

 to the same extent behind the kathode in the canal rays. 

 The broadening is so great that it is not possible with the 

 instruments at the author's disposal to determine the shift 

 of these lines except to fix a superior limit of o-i Angstrom 

 unit to its possible magnitude. The amount is probably 

 considerably less than this. On the other hand, the shift 

 of the lines of the second spectrum of hydrogen is so small 

 as to approach the limits of error, viz. 0005 Angstrom 

 unit. The mercury lines show no shift but a slight 

 broadening. 



The experiments thus. show that any electrical analogue 

 of the Zeeman effect is, under the above conditions, largely 

 masked by a widening of the lines. 



"The Alcoholic Ferment of Yeast-juice. Part II. — The 

 i'ofcrment of Yeast-juice." By Dr. A. Harden and \\'. J. 

 Voung. 



Suiinuary. — 1, — (i) Phololylic decomposition of aqueous 

 carbon dioxide can take place in the presence of chlorophyll, 

 independently of vital or enzymic activitv, provided that the 

 necessary physical and chemical conditions are strictly 

 adhered to. 



(2) The products of the decomposition are formaldehvde 

 and hydrogen peroxide, formic acid being an intermediate 

 product. 



(.1) It is possible to recojistruct the process of photo- 

 synthesis outside (he green plant, (<i) as far as the produc- 

 tion of formaldehyde and o.xygen, by introducing a suitable 

 catalysing enzyme into the system, and (b) as far as the 

 production of oxygen and starch, by introducing, in addi- 

 tion to the enzyme, certain kinds of non-chlorophyllous 

 living protoplasm. 



II. — (i) There is direct experimcnt.il proof that forn-ir 

 acid is a product of the photolytic decomposition of carbcn 

 dioxide in the presence of an inorganic uranium salt. 



(2) Formaldehyde has not been isolated and identified, in 

 the case of an inorganic uranium salt, but a studv of the 

 reactions involved favours ihc \]t w ihal it is fornied as a 

 transitory intermediate product 



Manchester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, October 2. — 

 Dr. W. E. Hoyle in the chair. — An account of Eucommia 

 iilnioides. a Chinese tree yielding gutta-percha. : Prof. F. E. 

 Weiss. The author exhibited a young specimen of the 

 tree, and mentioned that he had two. larger ones growing in 

 the open in his garden at Withington. The special interest 

 in this tree lies in the fact that it is the only known plant 

 yielding gutta-percha which can be grown outside the tropics. 

 — .\ preliminary account of the life-historv of the common 

 house-fly (Musca domestica, L.) : C. Gordon Hewitt. The 

 female fly lays her eggs in the crevices of horse excrement, 

 which for 'this purpose must be fresh. Despite the difficulty 

 met with in getting the flies to lay their eggs in confine- 

 ment, five lots of larvae were reared, each batch experiencing 

 different conditions of temperature. A rise in temperature 

 produced an acceleration of the rate of development at any 

 stage. In the larval state three stages are recognisable. 

 The shortest period for the egg state was twentv-four 

 hours, and remained constant. Those for the larval stages 

 were two, two, and four days respectivelv, whilst that" of 

 the pupal state was six days. If these times be taken, the 

 whole period from the deposition of the egg to the ex- 

 clusion of the imago would last about fifteen davs. In 

 the actual experiments the total period varied from 'twentv 

 to thirty davs. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



IfEPXESnAV. OcToi 



L MlCKOSCOlMCAL SOCIFTY, at S — So 



na'aya : J. Myinay.—Coi'inivm scrpula 

 ■ to Britain : J. M. Coon. 

 MOLOGicAL Society, at 8. 



NO. 1928, VOL. 74] 



Rotifera of the Sikkii 

 a Species of Mycetozo 



THURSDAY, October 18. 



Chemical Society, at 8.30.— Presenlation of the Longstaff Medal to Prof. 

 W. Noel Hanley.— The Amino-dicarboxylic Acid derived from Pinene : 

 \V. A. Tilden and D. F. BIyther —The Preparation and Properties of 

 Dihydropinylamine <Pir.ocamphylamine) : W. A. Tilden and F. G, 

 Shepheard.— Delfrmination of N'iirates: F. S. Sinnatt — The Valure of 

 Atnmoniacal Copper Solutions: H N. Dawson.— Malacone, a Silicate of 

 Zirconium containini; Argon and Helium : S. Kitchen and W G. 

 Winterson.— The Relalionship of Colour and Fluorescence to Constitu- 

 tion, Part i.. The Condensation Products of Mellitic and Pyromellitic 

 Acids with Resorcinol : O. Silbeirad.— The Colouring Matters of the 

 Stilbene Group, Part. iii. : A. G. Green and P. F. Crosland.-(i) Separ- 

 ation of oa. and ^^■-Dlmethyladlpic Acids : (2) Action of Alcoholic 

 Poiassium Hydroxide on 3-Bromo-i : i fJimethyl-hexahydrobenzene : 

 A. W. Crossley and N. Renouf— (t) The Compounds of Pyridine with 

 Bichromates ; (2) The Normal Chromates and the Unsaturated Character 

 of the Chromate Radical : S. H. C. Briggs.— (i) Inleraction of Succinic 

 Acid and Poiassium Dichromate, Note on a Black Modification of 

 Chromium Sesquioxide : (2) Derivati\-es of Polyvalent Iodine ; the Action 

 of Chlorine on Organic lodo-derivatives, including the Sulphonium and 

 Tetra-substituted Ammonium Iodides: E. .\. Werner.- (i) New Deriva- 

 tives of Diphenol (4-4 -Dihydroxydiphenyl) ; (2) The so-called " Benzidine 

 Chromate" and Allied Substances: I. Moir.— The Interaction of the 

 Alkyl Sulphatfswith the Nitrites of the Alkali Metals and Metals of the 

 Alkaline Earths : P. C. Rs'iy and P. Neogi 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, at 8.— The Auriferous 

 Rocks of India, Western Australia, and South Africa; M. Maclaren.— 

 Sand Sampling in Cyanide Works: D. Simpson.— Treatment of the 

 Precipitate and Manipulation of the Tilting Furnaces at the Redjang- 

 Lebong Mine, Sumatra: S. I. Tiuscott.— A Combined Air and Water 

 Spray : T. White. 



FRIDAY. October 19. 



Institution of Mechanical Engineers, ^li.—Discussioti: Railway- 

 motor-car Iraffic: T. H. Riches -and S. B. Haslam.— /'a/<'r: Some 

 Notes on the Mechanical Equipment of Collieries : E. M. Hann. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Elements of Electrical Engineering. By D. K. M. 5S1 



Collected Wcrks of Ernst Abbe 5S2 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Ebert : " .M;ignetische Kraltfelder.''— S. P. T. . . . 5S; 

 Davenport: " Inheritance in Poultry." — F. A. D. . 583 

 Classen and Lustgarten : "German Scientific and 



Technological Reader" 5S3 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Biometry and Biology : A Reply to Pro''. Pearson. — 



J.J. Lister, F.R.S 584 



Radium and Geology.— Rev. O. Fisher, F.R.S. ; 



B. J. Palmer .' . . 5S5 



Vectors, &c., at the British Association. — Dr. C. G. 



Knott; the Writer of the Report 5S5 



Remarkable Rainbow Phenomena.— C. T, Whitmell 5S6 

 Suspended Germination of Seeds. — G. Claridge 



Druce . 586 



The Rusting of Iron. — Hugh Richardson .... 586 



Colour Illusions.— B. J. P. R 586 



Lowell's Observations of the Planet Mars. (Illus- 

 trated.) By Dr. William J. S. Lockyer 5S7 



The Place of the Modern University in the State . 5S9 



Notes 591 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Relation between the Spectra of Sun-spots and 



Stars 595 



The Mount Wilson Spectroscopic Laboratoiy .... 595 



The Utility of Short-focus Reflectors 595 



Prof. Barnard's " Unexplained Observation " .... 595 



Jupiter's Sixth Satellite 595 



Observations of Long-period Variables 595 



The Congress of Americanists at Quebec. By Dr. 



A. C. Haddon, F.R.S 595 



The Study of Fossil Fishes. (Illtcslraled.) By Dr. 



A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S 597 



Forthcoming Books of Science 599 



University and Educational Intelligence .... 602 



Societies and Academies 603 



Diary of Societies . 604 



SuPn.E-ME.NT. 

 The Entropy of Radiation. By Prof. G. H. Bryan, 



F.R.S iii 



Elementary Botany v 



The Photography of Colour. By C.J vi 



Essays and Addresses on Chemistry and Physics. 



By J. B. C vii 



Science and Art of Medicine viii 



Practical Zoology. By F. W. G viii 



Tariff Reform and the Empire. By J. H. S ix 



Imperial Forest Policy x 



