652 



NA TURE 



[October 25, 1906 



textiles are deprived of basic functions, and possess feebly 

 jg!- acid functions comparable to those of the alcohols. Porous 

 p.. substances, such as animal charcoal, are inert from the 

 chemical point of view. — The condensation of acetylenic 

 nitriles with the amines. A general method of synthesis 

 of |8-substituted /3-amino-acrylic nitriles : Ch. Moureu and 

 I. Lazennec. Acetylenic nitriles of the type R — C=C — CN 

 unite directly with primary and secondary amines, giving 

 substituted acrylic nitriles of the type 



R— C(NX,X.)=CH— CN. 

 These are neutral bodies, easily hydrolysable by acids, 

 regenerating the amines, and forming ketones of the 

 general formula R — CO — CH, — CN. E.xamples are given 

 showing the generality of the reaction. — Helicoidal arrange- 

 ment in crystallised bodies : Fred. Wallerant. — A third 

 mandibular canal in the infant : R. Robinson. This third 

 dental duct, which has not hitherto been noted, is always 

 found in young children. From about eight years of age it 

 appears to atrophy, and leaves as the only trace of its 

 existence a more or less marked depression, corresponding 

 to its outlet. This depression has been noted by other 

 anatomists, and has been regarded as a rudimentary 

 alveole. — The penetration of Treponema pallidum in the 

 ovule : MM. Levaditi and Sauvage. A contribution to 

 the study of the hereditary transmission of syphilis. 



New Sovth Wales. 



Linnean Society, August 29. — Mr. Thos. Steel, president, 

 in the chair. — Notes on the native flora of New South 

 Wales, part v., Bowral to the Wombeyan Caves : R. H. 

 Cambaee. This paper deals with the vegetation over a 

 distance of about fifty miles westerly from Bowral, special 

 reference being made to the changes which take place on 

 the different geological formations. The flora of the 

 basaltic area is shown to differ from that of the sand- 

 stone, while that of the syenite hill known as The Gib 

 comprises species common to both. — The Mollusca of 

 Masthead Reef, Capricorn Group, Queensland, part i. : 

 C. Hedley. On the east coast of Australia the best- 

 known points, from the view of a marine zoologist, 

 are Torres Strait and the neighbourhood of Sydney. To 

 investigate an intermediate station, the author organised 

 an expedition to the south end of the Barrier Reef. Mast- 

 head Island, just outside the tropic of Capricorn, was selected 

 for examination. The island and surrounding reef are de- 

 scribed and compared with the coral islands of the Central 

 Pacific. The zonal distribution of coral-haunting mollusca is 

 reviewed. — New Australian species of the family Libellulida: 

 (Neuroptera : Odonata) ; R. J. Tillyard. In this paper 

 eleven new species are added to the list of Australian 

 Libellulida, bringing the total up from fifty to sixty-one. 

 .\11 the new species were taken in the Cairns district of 

 North Queensland during the summer of 1904-5. Of 

 these, three only are new to science. The remainder are 

 species already known in other parts of the world, but 

 so far unobserved in Australia. — Note on the cerebral 

 localisation in the bandicoot (Perameles) : H. G. 

 Chapman. The positions of the cortical motor centres in 

 the brains of marsupials have been described in the 

 opossum (Didelphys virginiana) by Ziehen, and by R. 

 Cunningham, and in the native cat {Dasynrus viverrinus) 

 by Flashman. The results of an investigation of the motor 

 areas observed in Perameles nasuta and P. obesula arc 

 communicated in the present paper. The centres described 

 have been found regularly in each animal and on both 

 sides of the brain. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



FRIDAY. October 26. 



Phvsical Society, at 5. — The Strength and Behaviour of Ductile Mate- 

 rials under Combined Stress: W. A. Scoble.— The Behaviour of Iron 

 under Small Periodic Magnetising Forces : J. M. Baldwin. — Fluorescence 

 and Magnetic Rotation Spectra of Sodium Vapour, and their Analysis : 

 Prof. R. W. Wood. 



SATUKDAV, October 27. 



Essex Field Club (at the Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford), 

 at 6.30. — On ihe Salinity of the Sea-water along the Coast of Essex : Dr. 

 H. C. Sorby, F.R.S.— Sponges : their Life-history and Development: 

 M- Y. Wolfe. 



THURSDAY, November i. 



Royal Society, at ^.-^0.— Probable Papers : Nitrification of Sewage : Dr. 

 G. Reid.— A tJeneral Consideration of the Subaerial and Freshwater 

 Algal Flora of Ceylon : Dr. F. E. Fritsch.— The Ana^sthetic and Lethal 

 Quantity of Chloroform in the Blood of Animals : Dr. G. A. Buckmaster 

 and Dr. J. A. Gardner. 



Chemical Society, at 8.30. — A Development of the .Atomic Theory which 

 correlates Chemical and Crystalline Structure and leads to a Demon- 

 stration of the Nature of Valency : W. Barlow and W. J. Pope. — The 

 Explosive Combustion of Hydrocarbons, ii. : W. A. Bone, J. Drugman 

 and G. W. Andrew.— Contributions to the Theory nf Solutions : (i) The 

 Nature of the Molecular Arrangement in Aqueous Mixtures of the Lower 

 Alcohols aad Acids of the Paraffin .Series ; (2) Molecular Complexity in 

 the Liquid State; (3) Theory of the Intermiscibility of Liquids: J. 

 Holmes.— The Hydroly.sis of Nitrocellulose and Nitro-glycerol : O. 

 Silberrad and R. C. Farmer.— The Determination of the Rate of Chemical 

 Change by Measurement of Gases Evolved : F. E. E. Lamplough.— 

 Experiments on the Synthesis of the Terpenes Part IX., The Preparation 

 of 5-Ketohexahydrobenzoic Acid (6-Ketot;>'(7(Jhexanecarboxylic Acid) 

 and of -y-Ketoo't/cpentanecarboxylic Acid : F. W. Kay and W, H. 

 Perkin, jun. — Experiments on the Synthesis of the Terpenes, Part X., 

 Synthesis of A'-«/-Menthcnol (8) and of Carveslrene: W. H. Perkin, jun., 

 and G. Tattersall. — Some Derivatives of Catechol, Pyrogallol, Benzo- 

 pbennne and of Other Substances allied to the Natural Colouring 

 Matters : W. H. Perkin, jun., and C. Weizmann. 



Linnean Society, at 8 —The Structure of Bamboo Leaves : Sir Dietrich 

 Brandis, K.C'.LE., F.R.S. — On a Collection of Crustacea Decapoda and 

 Stomatopoda, chiefly from the Inland Sea of Japan, with Descriptions of 

 New Species : Dr. J. G. de Man.— On Hcctorella cncspitosa. Hook. f.. 

 with Remarks on its Systematic Position: Prof. A. J. Ewart. — jE^.r/i/^'- 

 tions: Young Plaice Hatched and Reared in Captivity: the President. — 

 Abnormal Specimens of A^w/^^^ww; Teliitaieia, Ijlhrh. : George Talbot. 



Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, at 8. — Bridge Work 

 Design: P. J. Waldram. 



CONTENTS, PAGE 



The Geological History of Sea-level. By J. W. G. . 629 



Refuse Destructors 630 



Some Recent Works on Physiology 631 



Matter and Radio-Activity. By F. S 632 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Rodet : " Resistance, Inductance et Capacite'' . . . 633 

 Black : " Natural Phenomena. A Collection of De- 

 scriptive and Speculative Essays on some of the 



By-paths of Nature " 633 



Linville and Kelly: "A Text-book of General 



Zoology " , ■ ^33 



Murche: " Science Readers. Book VII " ; Murche: 

 " Object Lessons in Elementary Science. Stage 



VII." 633 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Absorption of the Radio-active Emanations by Char 



coal.— Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S 634 



The Recent Radium Controversy. — Prof. E. Ruthe.-- 



ford, F.R.S • . ... 634 



Radium and Geology.— Prof. J. Joly, F.R.S. ; T. 



Mellard Reade ; Rev. O. Fisher 635 



Meteorological Data.— Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S. . 635 

 The Breeding Habits of the Tsetse-fly. — Prof. E. A. 



Minchin 636 



Suspended Germination of Seeds. — Sir Archibald 



Bucban-Hepburn 636 



Biometry and Biology. — Prof. Karl Pearson, 



F.R.S 636 



Speed and Stability in Railway Travelling. (With 



Diagram.) By G. R. Dunell 636 



Estimation of Blood-pressure. (Illustrated.) .... 63S 

 Mendel's Correspondence with Nageli. ByA.D. D. 640 



Notes 641 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A New Form of Photometer 644 



A Novel Planisphere 645 



The Oxford University Observatory 645 



The Ponca Sun Dance. (Illustrated.) By N. W. T. 645 

 Geological Studies in South Africa. (Illustrated.) 



By Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole 646 



Aeronautics and Meteorology 647 



Modern Needs in Universities 648 



Agricultural Notes 649 



University and Educational Intelligence 650 



Societies and Academies 651 



Diary of Societies 652 



NO. 1930, VOL. 74] 



