24 



NA TURE 



May 



4. 1905 



as to whetner young shoots, almost colourless, possessed 

 the power of decomposing carbonic acid, his experiments 

 leading to a positive result. The method used was in- 

 direct, the assimilation being proved by the evolution of 

 oxygen. The author has taken up this question again, 

 using the method of gaseous exchanges in a confined atmo- 

 sphere containing from 5 per cent, to 10 per cent, of 

 carbon dioxide. In the cases studied the assimilation was 

 extremely small, and was easily .masked by the respiration. 



Calcutt.^. 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, April 5. — The cclnming 

 principle of the flowers of Nyctanthas arbor tristis : E. G. 

 Hill. The author describes the uses of the flowers of the 

 " Narsinghar " plant in dyeing, and gives an account of 

 the separation and properties of the crystalline yellow 

 colouring matter. A sweet principle, recognised as 

 mannitol, and wax were also extracted from the flowers. 

 — On some forms of the Kris hilt, with special reference 

 to the Kris Tadjong of the Siamese Malay States : N. 

 Annandale. The Kris is the most characteristic weapon 

 of the Malays, but its origin is probably not very ancient. 

 The hilt takes various forms, all of which, however, have 

 much in common, and can be reduced to one general 

 type. Examination of a series of specimens shows that 

 this type was originally Hindu. — On the occurrence of 

 the fresh-water worm Cha?togaster in India, with a 

 diagnosis of a species from Calcutta and notes on its 

 bionomics : N. Annandale. The genus Chajtogaster does 

 not appear to have been recorded hitherto from India. A 

 species {Chaetogaster ben^aletisis, sp. nov.) common in the 

 Calcutta tanks lives in close association w-ith water-snails, 

 but is not parasitic upon them, feeding on small Crustacea. 

 It progresses by the aid of an anterior and a posterior 

 sucker, and uses its setae in insinuating itself between the 

 snail and its shell. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY. May 4. 



, F.R.S 

 bst.-ince! 

 tion of /-Aminobe 



Acid by 

 bodium Alum : 

 Forsttfr and 



e's "f 



ROVAI I NSTITUTION, at 5. — 

 Chkmicai- .SociRTv, at 8. 



Adrenaline: H. D Dakin.— Methy 



Mran^i of Methyl Sulphate : J. John-t 



J. N. Wadinore. — tJamphoryl-i/<-Sei 



H. K. Fierz. 



RoNTGEN SociRrv, at 5, (i) to MeHical Member-; only. Forty-two C: 



Ureteral Calculus Diagnosis; by X-Ravs proved by Operation -n the 



Passage of the Calculi; (2) at 8 1 5 p.m.. to the General Meeting, 



Measurement and Technique in Therapeutic Dosage ; Dr. C. Lester 



Lfonard, Philadelphia. 



LiNNEAN SociETV, at 8.— CEcology : its Present P. silion and Probable 



Development: A. G. 1 ansley.— The Flora of Cough Island: R. N. R. 



Brown. 



Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Soc^etv. ai 7 30.— Annual Geneial 



Meeting —.At 8.— Card-Indexing and Filing : J. C. Osborne. 

 Institution of Ri.ectrical Knginefr'. *t 8.— Di-^cussion on A. M. 

 Taylor's paper " Standby Charges and Motor Load Development." 

 FRtDAV. Mav 5. 

 Royal Institution, at 9.— Problems underlying Nutrition: Prof H. E. 



Armstrong, F.RS. 

 iipiDEMloLOGlCAl. Socie rv, at8.30. — Discussion on Dr. Buchanan's paper 

 on The Spread of Smallpox occv-.ioned by Smallpox Hospitals during 

 1900-1904: Dr. Newsholnie. 

 GKOLOr..sTs' Association, at 8.— Exploraiions for Fosil Bones in West- 

 ern Noith America, with Special Reference to the Skeleton of Diplod-^cus, 

 of which a Plaster Ca-t is now being .Mounted in the British Mustum 

 (Natural History): Dr. W. J. Holland. 



SATURDAY, May 6. 

 RoVAL Institution, at 3. — Moulds and Mouldiness ; Prof Marshall 

 Ward, F.R.S. 



MONDAY, May S. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30.— 'I he Nile Provinc 

 ern Uganda : Lieut -Col. C. DelmS-Radcliffe. 

 TUESDAY, May 9. 

 Royal Institution, at 5.— The Study of Extinct Animals 

 Miall, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, May 10. 

 Society ok Arts, at 8.— The Native Races of the Unkno 



Central Africa : The Viscount Mountmorres. 

 Geological Society, at 8.— The Geology of Dunedin (N. 

 P. Marshall— The Carboniferous Li.i.estone of the Westo 

 District : F. Sibly. 



THURSDAY. May ii. 



■Royal Society, at 4, Election of Fellows. — At 4.30, Probable Papers : On 



the Resemblance existing beiween the " Plimmer's Bodies " of Malignant 



Growths and certain Normal C'-nstituents of Reproductive Cells of 



Animals: Prof. J. B. Faimer, F.R.S., J. E. S. Moore, and C. E. 



; and West- 



Piof. L. C. 



Heart of 



Zealand) : 

 super-Mare 



Walker.— The tftect of Plant Growth and of Manures upon the Soil : the 

 retention of B»ses by the Soil : A. D. Hall and N. H. J. Miller.— 

 A Study of the Process of Nitrification with Reference to the Purification 

 of Sewage ; Miss H. Chick.— Pathological Report on the Histology of 

 Sleeping Sickness and Trypanosomiasis ; with a Comparison of the 

 Changes found in Animals infected with 7". ^(i«.-^/f« jf and other Trypano- 

 somata : Dr. A. Breinl. — (i) The tixperimental Treatment of Trypano- 

 somiasis in Animals ; (2) Remarks on Mr. Plimmer's Note on the Effects 

 produced in Rats by the Trypanosomataof Gamblan Fever and Sleeping 

 Sickness : Dr. H. Wolferstan Thomas. 



NSTITUTION, 



OF Arts, at 4 

 H.J. Tozer. 



i.-Fla 

 -The Ma 



H. L. Webb. 



Socil 



B.— Telephone 

 Guiding Principle! 



III. 



the 



Philosophy of History : Dr. J. H. Bridges. 

 tlATHRMATiCAL SociETY. at 5.30-— On the Intersections of two Conic 

 .Sections' J. A. H. Johnston. — On a System of Conies yielding 

 Operators which Annihilate a Cubic and its Bearing on the Reduction of 

 the Cubic to the Sum of four Cubes : H. G. Dawson. 



FRIDAY, May 12. 

 t g. — The Pressure due 



> Radiation : Prof. E. F. 



ROVAL INSTITU 



Nichols. 



Physical Society, at 8.-A Simple Method of Determining the Radiation 

 Constant ; suitable for a Laboratory Experiment : Dr A. D. Denning.— 

 A Bolometer for the Absolute Measurement of Radiation : Prof H. L 

 Callendar, F.R.S.— The Resi-tance of a Conductor the Measure of the 

 Current fl.iwing through it : W. A. Price. 



Malacological Society, at S.— Note on //<•//.■: /<;/tt/i. Fir., and other 

 Shells from the Pleistocene Cave-deposits of East Crete : Rev. R. Ashing- 

 ton Bullen.— Notes on Recent Spanish Shells from Granada and Carmona : 

 Rev. R. Ashington Bullen.— Description ol a new Species of Vitrea from 

 Greece : E. A. Smith. — Descriptions of new Forms of Marginellida^ and 

 Pleurotomida: : E. R. Sykes. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5. 



SATURDAY, May 13. 

 RovAL Institution, at 3. — Moulds and Mouldit 

 Ward, F.RS. 



i : Prof. Marshall 



CONTENTS PAGE 



Scientific Worthies XXXV. — Eduard Suess. By 



Sir Arch. Geikie, F.R S . r 



The Rudiments of 8ehaviour. By J. A. T. ... 3 



Mechanism. By E. G. C 4 



Practical Electrochemistry 5 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Hahn : "Das Alter der wirtschafi lichen Kultiir der 

 Menschhcii, ein Riickblick and ein Ausblick. — " 



N. W. T 6 



McCleary : " Infantile Mortality and Infants' Milk 



Depots" . 6 



Maiden: "A Critical Revision of the Genus Euca- 

 lyptus " 6 



Schuiz : " Hymenopteren Studien " 7 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The High-frequency Electrical Treatment. — Rev. F. J. 



Jervis-Smith, K. R.S 7 



The Criiical Temperature and Pressure of Living Sub- 

 stances. — Dr. F. J. Allen 7 



Chalk Masses in the Clifls near Cromer. — Prof. T. G. 



Bonney, F.R.S 8 



The Rigidity of ihe Earth's Interior. — Rev. A. Irving S 



Rival Parents. — Kennedy J. P. Orton 8 



The Measurement of Mas=. — Dr. W. Hampson . . 8 



Vropeities of Rotating Bodies. —E. W. Rowntree . . 8 

 Recent Spectroheliograph Results. {Illnslraied.) By 



Dr. William J. S. Lockyer 9 



The Teaching Value of Menageries. (Illustrated.) By 



R- i- 13 



Science at the Royal Academy Banquet .... 14 



Notes 14 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Discovery of a Tenth Satellite to Saturn 19 

 The Alleged Identity of Comets " Brooks 1SS9 ' and 



Lexeil ig 



Ancient Drawings of Celestial Phenomena . . . 19 



Mount Wilson Observatory . .... ... 19 



Anomalous Dispersion and "Flocculi" ... ... 19 



Astronomical Society of America 19 



Colour in Wasps of the Genus Polistes ig 



The Cleavage of Slates. By A. H 20 



University and Educational Intelligence . 20 



Societies and Academies 21 



Diary of Societies 24 



NO. 1853, VOL. 72] 



