May iS, 1905] 



NA rURE 



71 



be received by the hon. secretary of the Reid trustees by 

 May 30. -Miss Alice Ravenhill is to begin a course of 

 lectures on .May iS, at 4.30 p.m., on the " Teaching of 

 Hygiene." 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Chemical Society, May 4.— Prof. R. Meldola, F. R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — Notes on sodium alum : J. M. 

 Wadmore. The author has confirmed the observations of 

 Aug^, Zcllner, and Dumont as to the existence and certain 

 of the properties of sodium alum. — Camphoryl-pseudo- 

 semicarbazide : M. O. Forster and H. E. Fierz. This 

 compound was obtained by reducing camphorylnitroso- 

 /)sei(do-carbamide with zinc dust in dilute acetic acid ; it 

 condenses readily with aldehydes and ketones, yielding 

 products characterised by high specific rotatory powers. — 

 Some derivatives of anhydracetonebenzil : F. R. Japp and 

 J. Knox. Descriptions of the condensation products of 

 benzil with certain unsaturated Icetones are given. — The 

 dihvdrocyanides of benzil and phenanthraquinone, part ii. : 

 F. R. japp and J. Knox. — .\ condensation product of 

 mandelonitrile ; F. R. Japp and J. Knox. It is shown 

 that .Minovici's compound, C,jH,,ON, (Ber., 1899, xxxii., 

 2206), obtained by saturating mandelonitrile in dry ether 

 with hydrogen chloride, is identical with the substance 

 obtained by Japp and .Miller by the action of hydrogen 

 chloride on a solution of benzil in alcoholic hydrocyanic 

 acid (Trans. Client. Soc, 1887, li., 29). — Action of hydra- 

 zine on unsaturated 7-diketones : F. R. Japp and J. 

 Wood. The authors have used Paal and Schulze's re- 

 action to distinguish the configurations of certain analogous 

 unsaturated diketones. By this means they have obtained 

 confirmatory evidence for the configuration assigned by 

 Japp and Klingemann to the two modifications of 

 aj3-dibenzoylstyrene and of dibenzoylstilbene. — The syn- 

 thesis of substances allied to adrenaline ; H. D. Dakin. 

 — Methylation of p-aminobenzoic acid by means of methyl 

 sulphate : J. Johnston. — The atomic weight of nitrogen : 

 R. W. Gray. By the examination of (i) the relative densi- 

 ties and compressibilities of nitric oxide and oxygen, and 

 {2) the decomposition of nitric oxide with finely divided 

 nickel, a mean value of !40o6 (which is regarded as 

 possibly too low) was found for this constant. — The methyl- 

 ation of gallotannic acid : O. Rosenheim. .-V penta- 

 methyl-derivative was obtained, bv methylation with methyl 

 sulphate, and this on hydrolysis furnished a mixture of 

 trimethyl- and dimethyl-gallic acids. — The interaction of 

 hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide : W. R. Langr and 

 C. Carson. .\n investigation of W'ackenroder's solution 

 showed that the action of hydrogen sulphide produces first 

 sulphur and water, and that by the further action of 

 sulphur dioxide on sulphur polythionic acids are produced. 

 — The formula of cvanomaclurin : .\. G. Perkin. It is 

 now found that the formula C,.H,,05 is to be preferred 

 in place of C|-H||0, formerly used. 



P.XRIS. 



Academy of Sciences, May 8. — M. Trnrst in the chair. — 

 The increase of the rotatorv power of fatty molecules in 

 passing to the state of cyclic compounds : .\. Hallcr and 

 M. Desfontaines. .\ comparison is given of the rotatory 

 powers of alkyl esters of |8-methyladipic .acid with the 

 esters of the corresponding S-cyclopentanonecarboxylic 

 acids, the rotations of the latter being found to be about 

 thirty times those of the former. The densities and boil- 

 ing points of the various esters under examination are also 

 given. — On a new synthesis of oxalic acid : H. Moissan. 

 It has been shown in a previous paper that whilst per- 

 fectly dry carbonic acid is without any action upon 

 potassium hydride, in the presence of a minute trace of 

 water the two substances react with the quantitative 

 formation of potassium formate. It is now shown that if 

 this reaction is allowed to take place at a higher tempera- 

 ture, 80° C, a mixture of potassium formate and oxalate 

 is produced. The oxalic acid formed was separated, and 

 its identity proved by analvsis and numerous reactions. — 

 Endoglobular pseudo-hematozoa : .\. Laveran. As some 

 cf the normal elements of blood, more or h ss modified in 



their appearand', have on more than one occasion been 

 mistaken for endoglobular hematozoa, a detailed account, 

 with diagrams, is given of some of the more common cases 

 leading to this error. — On the magnetic hysteresis produced 

 by ;m oscillating field superimposed on a constant field : 

 P. Ouhem. .\ theoretical investigation completing a 

 former paper on the same subject. — Geodesic and magnetic 

 work in the neighbourhood of Tananarive : P. Colin. 

 The triangulation of the rectangular section between the 

 south and west of Tananarive has been completed at sixty- 

 seven points. .\t the same time magnetic observations 

 have been carried out at twenty-six stations, a tabular 

 view of the results being given. — The oscillations of rail- 

 way carriages on entering and leaving a curve : Georges 

 Marie. — Observations of the Giacobini comet (1905 a) 

 made with the large equatorial of the Observatory of 

 Bordeaux : Ernest Esciangon. — On Voss surfaces and 

 non-Euclidean geometry : Alphonse Demoulin. — On the in- 

 determinate equation x'' + y<' = bz'' : Ed. Maillet. — On some 

 points in the theory of numbers and the theory of func- 

 tions : Georges Remoundos. — On a new spectrum 

 observed in gadolinium : G. Urbain. The author, having 

 obtained a specimen of gadolina of such purity that twenty 

 successive fractions gave the same value for the atomic 

 weight, has examined the spectrum. There is no absorp- 

 tion spectrum in the visible region, but there are some 

 strong absorption lines in the ultra-violet. The ultra-violet 

 phosphorescence given by this gadolinium in the kathode 

 rays proved to be the same as that attributed by Sir W. 

 Crookes in 1898 to a new element named by him 

 victorium. The author proposes to submit the question 

 as to the identity of gadolinium and victorium to further 

 experiment. — On the triboluminescence of potassium 

 sulphate : D. Gernez. The experiments of the author are 

 not in accord with those of Bandrowski on the same sub- 

 ject. The emission of light appears to be the result of 

 breaking up of crystals already formed, and if due pre- 

 cautions against shock be taken, the phenomenon is not 

 observed at the moment of separation of the crystals from 

 their mother liquor. — The specific volume of a liquid in 

 a capillary space : M. Ponsot. — On the electrical resist- 

 ance of metallic wires for high-frequency currents : .^ndr^ 

 Broca and M. Turchini. The authors have compared the 

 resistances obtained experimentally with those calculated 

 from Lord Kelvin's formula. For non-magnetic metals, 

 copper and platinum, the deviations from the law calcu- 

 lated bv Lord Kelvin are small for moderate frequencies. 

 These deviations, however, are greater than the experi- 

 mental error, and follow a definite law. — .\ new method of 

 calculating the exact molecular weights of liquefiable gases 

 from the experimental determination of their densities : 

 Philippe A. Guye. The method described, the detailed 

 proof of which is reserved for a later paper, has been 

 applied to the cases of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, 

 sulphur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and acetylene. The 

 values for the atomic weights of carbon, hydrogen, sulphur, 

 and chlorine agree very closely with those determined by 

 chemical methods. The value for nitrogen (14006) is lower 

 than the value deduced from chemical data (1404), and 

 there is reason to suppose that the latter is too high. — The 

 action of potassammonium upon barium bromide : .\. 

 Joannls. The reaction has been found to be in accord- 

 ance with the equation 



BaBr,4-2NH,K = 2KBr-|-H,-hBa(NH,),. 



— On the colloidal forms of ferric chloride : G. Malfitano. 

 — The electrolytic reduction of the nitrocinnamic acids : 

 C. Marie. Meta- and para-nitrocinnaniic acids give by 

 electrolvtic reduction in alkaline solution the correspond- 

 ing azoxv acids. The position of the nitro or the amino 

 group has a marked influence on the ease with which the 

 hydrogen is added to the lateral chain. Para derivatives 

 give hydrocinnamic compounds much more easily than the 

 corresponding meta compounds. — The action of carbon 

 monoxide upon silver oxide, and its application to the 

 determination of small quantities of carbon monoxide in 

 the atmosphere : Henri Dejust. Silver oxide, dissolved 

 in ammonia, is immediately reduced by traces of carbon 

 monoxide. The author proposes a colorimetric method 

 based on this reaction for the estimation of minute traces 

 of carbon monoxide in the air. — On strontium ammonium : 



NO. 1S55, VOL 72] 



