i68 



NATURE 



IJUNE 15, 1905 



glass tube in a current of dry hydrogen. The purity was 

 determined by analysis, the melting point being found to 

 be 720° C. — On the transmission by ticks of spirillosis 

 and of bovine piroplasmosis : A. Laveran and M. 

 Vallee. A specimen of the larva of Rliipiccpliahis 

 decoloratus forwarded by M. Theiler from Pretoria, and 

 stated by him to be the cause of the transmission of 

 spirillosis in cattle, was allowed to act upon a healthy 

 cow, with results entirely confirming those of M. Theiler. 

 — The evolution of the Tertiary mammals : Charles 

 Deperet. — -Magnetic observations at Tananarive : P. 

 Colin. Tables are given showing the results of measure- 

 ments of magnetic declination, inclination, and the hori- 

 zontal component taken weekly between May, 1904, and 

 April, 1905. — The principles of anallagmatic geometry : 

 A. Demoulin. — Some new experiments on the lifting 

 power of the helix " .M. Lcger " at the oceanographic 

 museum at .Monaco : .M. Legrer. The apparatus proved 

 capable of lifting a man, together with a weight repre- 

 senting its motor and the petrol necessary for an experi- 

 ment of one hour's duration. — A new mode of application 

 of the Pitot-Darcy tube to the measurement of the velocity 

 of water in pipes under pressure : H. Bellet. The modifi- 

 cation suggested is the use of a two-fluid manometer, 

 water and a liquid of density slightly greater or less than 

 that of water; carbon bisulphide tinted with iodine gave 

 the best results. — The magnetic properties of the simple 

 element of pyrrhotine : Pierre Weiss. — On a propertv of 

 the tin-aluminium, bismuth-aluminium, and magnesium- 

 aluminium alloys : H. Pecheux. — The action of oxvgen 

 upon ca;sium-ammonium : E. Rengade. The rapid 

 oxidation of cajsium-ammonium dissolved in an excess of 

 ammonia gives the oxides Cs.O,, Cs,0,, and Cs.,0,, all 

 in microscopic crystals. If the oxygen is added gradually 

 a secondary reaction takes place, the amide and hvdroxide 

 of cfBsium being formed. — Pyranic phenols : R. Fosse and 

 A. Robyn. — On a new reagent for aconitine : E. P. 

 Alvarez. — On the expansion and density of some gases 

 at high temperatures : the application to the determin- 

 ation of their tnolecular weights : Adrien Jacquerod and 

 F. Louis Perrot. Figures are given for air, oxygen, 

 carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide on the basis of the 

 nitrogen thermometer at the melting point of gold. The 

 molecular weights based on the density determinations at 

 1067° C. give for CO and CO, results agreeing within 

 i/3000th with the results of analysis; for nitrogen, the 



value found agrees with the atomic weight, 14 ooS. 



Osmotic pressure in colloidal solutions : J. Duclaux. On 



the coagulation of starch: A. Fernbach and J. Wolff. 

 — On metha?moglobin and its fluorine combination : J. 

 Ville and E. Derrien. The authors maintain the 

 accuracy of their results against the criticism of Piettre 

 and yila. — Protagon and the cerebrines and cerebric acid 

 preexisting in the nervous tissue : N. A. Barbieri. The 

 author regards the protagon of Liebricht as a mixture of 

 cerebrin and the cerebric acid of Fremv. — On the effects 

 of annular decortication : Leclerc du Sablon. — On the 

 results obtained by the observation of arable earths in thin 

 plate : A. Delagre and H. Lagatu. A replv to various 

 criticisms on an earlier paper. — Researches on the 



ethnography of the Dravidians : I.ouis l.apiQu^. On the 



evolutions of the sexual forms in the soft-water Nereids : 

 Ch. Gravier. — The simultaneous contrast of colours : A. 

 Polack. The phenomenon of the simultaneous contrast of 

 colours appears even when accidental images bv the move- 

 ment of the eye are completely eliminated. Under these 

 conditions the effect of contrast depends on the state of 

 accommodation of the eye.— On the heats of combustion 

 and chemical co'iposition of the nervous and muscular 

 tissues of the guinea-pig, considered as a function of the 

 age of the animal : J. Tribot — On a new method of pro- 

 tection against the Rontgen rays: J. Bergonie. The 

 principle of the method consists" in placing the whole of 

 the arrangements about the patient above the horizontal 

 plane prolonging the anti-kathode, and below this plane 

 the patient hiinself. The method has proved successful 

 after six months' use.— On the denomination of the sup- 

 posed agent in syphilis : Paul Vuillemin.— The presence 

 of methane in the borings in Lorraine : Francis Laur.— 

 Captive balloon ascents carried out over the sea bv the 

 Prince of Monaco in April : H. Hergesell. 

 NO. 1859, VOL. 72] 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, Jcne 15. 



LiNNEAN SociETV, at 3.— Biscayan Plankton. Part VI. Colloid Radio- 

 laria; Dr. K. N. Wolfendcn.— Biscayan Plankton. Part VI [. Mollusca : 

 Dr. P. Pelsener. — (i) Longitudinal Nerves and Transverse Veins in 

 Bamboos; (2) Some Indian Undershrubs : Sir D. Brandis, K.C.I.E., 

 F.R.S.— Notes on a Skeleton of the Musk-duck, Bizuria. hhata : 

 W. P. PycraLlt.—Ex/iiiiii^iis: Arum tnaculatnm, in Relation to Insects 

 (with lantern slides) : Rev. J. Gerard, S.J. 



FRIDAY. June 16. 



Physical Society, at 3 —On the Ratio between the Mean Spherical and 

 Mean Horizontal Candle-pjwer of Incandescent Lamps: Prof J. A. Flem- 

 ing, F.R.S.— The Electrical Conductivity o( Flames: Dr. H. A. Wilson.— 

 Contact with Dielectrics : R. Appleyard. — I he Pendulum Accelerometer, 

 an Instrument for the Direct Measurement and Recording of Accelera- 

 tion : F Lanchester,-A New Form of Pyknometer : N. V. Stanford.— 

 — E.vhibitlon of a Refractometer : R. Appleyard. 



Malacological Societv, at 8.— Lecture on Ihe Prosobranchiate Mol- 

 lusca: J. E. S. Moore.— On the Extension of the Genus Macrochlamys 

 to the Island of Mauritius: Lieut -Col. H- H. Godwin-Austen.- 

 Mollusca of the Porcupine Expeditions, Supplemental Notes, Part II. : 

 E. R. Sykes.-On a Small Collection of Mollusca from Tierra del 

 Fuego ; E. A. Smith. — On two Miocene Gastropods from Roumania ; 

 R. Bullen Newton.— Revision of the New Zealand Patellidje, with 

 Descriptions of a New Species and Subspecies; Henry Siiler. — The 

 Conchological Writings of Captain Thomas Brown ; C. Davies Sherborn. 

 TUESDAY, ]vi>z 20. 



Anthropological Institute, at 8.15. — Notts on a Recently Discovered 

 British Camp near Wallington : N. F- Robarts. -Prehistoric Remains in 

 West Cornwall : A. L. L-wis. 



IV£DNESDAY,]usE 21. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at 8.— Iheories of Microscopical 

 Vision (second paper): A. E. Conrady.— The Tubtrcle Bacillus: Edward 

 M. Nelson. 



Geological SoriETV. at 8.— The Relations nf the Eocene and the Cre- 

 taceous in the Esna-Aswan Reach of the Nile Valley: H.J. L. Beadnell. 

 —A Contribution to the Siudy of Ihe Glacial (Dwyka) Conglomerate in 

 South Africa: E. T. Mellor.- On New Oolitic '-trata in tlxfordshire : 

 E. A. Walford.- The Causes o* Variegation in Kcuper Marl and other 

 Calcareous Rocks : Dr G. T. Moody. 



Royal Meteorological Si'Ciety, at 4.30.— Normal Electrical 

 Phenomena of the Atmosphere: G. C. Simpson.— Two New Meleor- 

 ological Instruments; (1) Auiomatic Pole Star Light Recorder, and (2) 

 The Ombroscope : S. P. Fergusson. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Some Recent Books on Celtic 145 



Weather Influences 147 



A Limnological Monograph 148 



Henry Sidgwick's Essays 149 



Oar Book Shelf — 



Turner and Hobait: "The Insulation of Eleclric 

 Machines." — Prof. Ernest Wilson 149 



Theobald : " Insect Li'e. A Short Account of the 

 Classification and Habits of Insects" 150 



Edwards: " The Radial Area-Scale" 150 



Workman and Ciacknell : " A Preparatory Course in 

 Geometry" 150 



Boxall : " The Evolution of the World and of Man " 150 

 Letters to the Editor ; — 



The Possibility of Reducing Mo.squitoes. — Major 



Ronald Ross, F. K.S 



151 

 The Romance of the Nitrogen Atom. — Rev. A. 



Irving 151 



An Inverted Slab in a Cromlech.— Edwaid 



Greenly 152 



The Cleavage of Slates. —Alfred Harker, F.R.S. 152 



The Inheritance of Acquired Characters. — W. 



Woods Smyth 152 



The Utility of an Anthropometric Survey . . 152 



Photography and Natural History. UllustratedA By 

 W. P. P 



153 



The Natural History of the Bahamas. By R. L. . 154 



Notes . . jcc 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A Probable Nova in Ophiuchus 15S 



Obseriations of Prominences on the Sun's Limb . . 158 



Detcrminalii>n of Meteor Radiants . . . 158 



The Development of Spectrochemistry. By Piof 



J. W. Briahl ... 158 



The Miocene Formation of Maryland 162 



Mineral Production of India 162 



Diseases of Forest Trees ... k;- 



University and Educational Intelligence i6j 



Societies and Academies. (Ilhislraled.) 164 



Diary of Societies 16S 



