June i, 1905] 



NA TURE 



119 



the bolometer, in which the platinum strips are directly 

 exposed to radiation, and one of the author's ordinary 

 sunshine receivers enclosed in a glass bulb, in order to 

 determine the effect, if any, of the glass bulb in selective 

 absorption. The values of the reduction constant obtained 

 for the glass receiver showed no certain variation over a 

 wide range of quality of radiation, from sunshine or arc- 

 light down to a dull red heat. This result is probably to 

 be attributed to a self-compensating action of the glass 

 bulb, which radiates to the enclosed coils precisely those 

 rays which it absorbs. — Results of experiments carried out 

 at Crompton's worlds at Chelmsford, by Mr. C. H. Wright, 

 on the possibility of using the resistance of a conductor 

 heated by an alternating electric current as a measure of 

 the current : W. H. Price. 



Zoological Society, May i6. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F. R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Examples of a new golden 

 mole obtained in connection with Mr. C. D. Rudd's ex- 

 ploration of South Africa : O. Thoinas. It is proposed to 

 call the mole Amhlysomus corriae, sp. n. — Microscopic 

 slides of Lankesterella tritonis, a hxmogregarine parasitic 

 in the blood-corpuscles of a newt, Triton cristaltis : H. B. 

 Fantham. This parasite was recently found by Mr. A. S. 

 Hirst and the exhibitor, and their observations had since 

 been independently confirmed by Dr. A. C. Stevenson. — A 

 contribution to the knowledge of the encephalic arterial 

 system in Sauropsida : F. E. Beddard. — Criticisms of the 

 Hon. Walter Rothschild's proposed classification of the 

 anthropoid apes : Sir H. H. Johnston. The author was 

 disposed to agree with Mr. Rothschild's classification of the 

 .\frican apes, but suggested that the proper transcription of 

 the native name for the bald chimpanzee should be 

 iikiilimkamba instead of (as Du Chaillu wrote it) kooloo- 

 kainba. He, however, could not agree with Mr. Roths- 

 child's proposed change of the generic name of the orang 

 from Simia to Pongo, and although considering him right 

 in applying the former name, at present used for the 

 orang, to the chimpanzees, he was of opinion that either 

 .Satyrus or Pithecus was a far preferable name to Pongo 

 for the orang. He concluded the paper with a list of 

 words used in several .African languages for the name of 

 the chimpanzee, and with a pricis of the history of Euro- 

 pean knowledge of the anthropoid apes down to the 

 eighteenth century. — Some species of bats of the genus 

 Rhinolophus : K. Andersen. The author showed the pro- 

 pressive evolution from the Austro-Malayan R. simplex 

 (allied to megaphyllus), through a long series of Oriental 

 forms, to the W. Pala;arctic R. fernim-eqitiiuim, and a 

 similar chain from the Oriental R. lepidiis (allied to minor) 

 to the W. Pah-earctic R. blasii and R. curyalc. R. hippo- 

 sidcriis was traced back to the Oriental R. minor. A 

 slight difference between the British colony of R. hippo- 

 siderus and the central European form of the same species 

 was pointed out. All the Ethiopian species of Rhinolophus 

 were shown to be of Oriental origin. — Results of 

 observations on the stridulating-organs and descriptions 

 of five new species (two of which were referred to new 

 genera) of the hemipterous family Halyinae : Dr. E. 

 Bergroth. — On the anatomy of limicoline birds, with 

 special reference to the correlation of modifications : Dr. 

 P. C. Mitchell. The paper dealt with the anatomy, chiefly 

 muscular, of Charadriida;, Chionididae, Glareolidaa, Thino- 

 coridee, CEdicnemid,-*, and Parridaj. — Results of observ- 

 ations made upon a female specimen of the Hainan gibbon 

 (Hylohatcs liaiiiamis), now living in the society's gardens : 

 R. I. Pocock. 



P.4RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, May 22. — M. Troost in the chair. — 

 New experiments in experimental parthenogenesis in 

 Asterias : Yves Delagre. Additional proof is given of the 

 fact that it is not an increase in the osmotic pressure 

 alone which determines parthenogenesis, several of the re- 

 agents employed, manganese fhloride, sodium phosphate, 

 &c., acting as well, if not better, when the total concen- 

 tration of the mixture is lower than that of sea water. 

 .Attention is directed to the marked action of solutions of 

 manganese chloride, a salt which is not present in sea 

 water. — Magnetic hysteresis produced by an oscillating 

 field superposed on a constant field. Comparison between 

 theory and experiment : P. Duhem, The author compares 



NO. 1857, VOL. 72] 



the results obtained by him in a theoretical study recently 

 published with some e.xperimental results of M. Maurain, 

 and shows that his theoretical conclusions are completely 

 confirmed. — On the voyage of the Princesse Alice : the 

 Prince of Monaco. A sketch is given of the work 

 attempted in oceanography, bacteriology, chemical biology, 

 zoology, and the meteorological exploration of the upper 

 atmosphere by means of kites. — On a condition of con^ 

 vcrgence of Fourier's series : Henri Lebesg^ue. — On 

 minimal curves : E. Vessiot. — On the compressibility of 

 different gases below atmospheric pressure and the deter- 

 mination of their molecular weights ; Adrien Jaquerod 

 and Otto Scheuer. The compressibility of several gases 

 has been measured at 0° C. for pressures between 400 mm. 

 and 800 mm. of mercury, and for ammonia and sulphur 

 dioxide for pressures between 200 mm. and 400 mm. From 

 the measurements the coefficient of deviation from Boyle's 

 law has been determined, and this has been applied to the 

 formula of D. Berthelot for the limiting density of gases 

 and the estimation of their molecular weight. The mole- 

 cular weights calculated agree with those obtained by the 

 best analytical methods with the exception of nitrogen 

 compounds, for which an atomic weight of 1401 must be 

 assumed. — The atomic weight of nitrogen deduced from the 

 ratio of the densities of nitrogen and o.xygen : Philippe A. 

 Guye. From a consideration of the whole of the experi- 

 mental data available, the mean value N = 14009 must be 

 regarded as the most probable value for the atomic weight. 

 — On the fusibility of the mixtures of antimony sulphide 

 formed with cuprous sulphide and mercuric sulphide : H. 

 Pelabon. — The equilibrium between acetone and hydroxyl- 

 amine hydrochloride : Philippe Landrieu. This equilibrium 

 has been previously studied by means of the acid set free 

 during the reaction, but owing to the rapidity with which 

 the equilibrium is displaced this method is not trustworthy. 

 In the present paper the reaction is followed by calori- 

 metric studies. — Physicochemical researches on haemo- 

 lysis : Mile. P. Cernovodeanu and Victor Henri. — The 

 action of the metal ammoniums on the polyatomic alcohols : 

 E. Chablay. The alcohol is dissolved in liquid ammonia 

 and is then acted on by the solution of the alkali metal, 

 sodium or potassium, also dissolved in ammonia, and the 

 result of the reaction washed several times with liquid 

 ammonia at —40° C. In this way one of the hydroxylic 

 hydrogen atoms of the alcohol is replaced by potassium (or 

 sodium), the alcohols studied being mannite, erythrite, and 

 glycerol. — On benzhydroxamic and dibenzhydroxamic acids : 

 R. Marquis. — A new method of preparing mesoxalic 

 esters : their condensation with cyanacetic esters : Ch. 

 Schmitt. The corresponding malonic esters are treated 

 with nitrous fumes, descriptions being given of the pre- 

 paration of the methyl and ethyl esters. These condense 

 with cyanacetic esters in the presence of piperidine, one or 

 two molecules of the cyanacetate entering into the reaction 

 according to the experimental conditions. — The basicity of 

 pyranic oxygen. Double halogen salts of some metals and 

 dinaphthopyry! : R. Fosse and L. Lesagre. The group 

 dinaphthopvryl, 



xC,„H„, 



-CH 



C,„H 



O, 



possesses basic properties attributable to tetrabasic oxygen 

 strikingly analogous to an alkaline metal, and the present 

 communication gives details of the preparation of several 

 double salts of this radical. — On some circumstances in- 

 fluencing the physical state of starch : J. Wolff and A. 

 Fernbach. — Researches on animal lactase : Ch. Porcher. 

 It is shown that ether saturated with water is capable of 

 extracting from the intestines of certain animals consider- 

 able quantities of lactase. — Contribution to the study of 

 histological staining substances : G. Halphen and Andr6 

 Riche. The albuminoid substances in animal tissues pre- 

 served in formol solutions are profoundly altered, and the 

 methods of staining to be employed require considerable 

 modifications. — On some minerals of Djebel-Ressas (Tunis) : 

 L. Jecker. — Variation in the histological characters of 

 leaves in the galls of Juniperus Oxycedrus from the Midi 

 and Algeria : C. Houard. — On the biology of Melampyrum 

 pratense : L. Gautier. — On the transformations of the 

 nitrogenous materials in seeds in the course of maturation : 

 G. Andre. — Observations on the fibrous intersections of 



