528 



NA TURE 



[September 21, 1905 



spheres would suffice to liquefy some of it. Between these 

 extremes the curve of vapour pressure is assumed to be 

 logarithmic. 



In their researches on the gases from fired gunpowder 

 and cordite, Sir Frederick Abel and Sir Andrew Noble 

 obtained in closed steel cylinders pressures as great as 

 95 tons to the square inch, and temperatures as high as 

 4000° C. According to a paper recently communicated to 

 the Royal Society, Sir Andrew Noble, exploding cordite 

 in closed vessels, has obtained a pressure of Sooo atmo- 

 spheres, or 50 tons per square inch, with a temperature 

 reaching in all probability 5400° ab. 



By the kindness of Sir Andrew Noble, the author has 

 been enabled to work upon some of the residues obtained 

 in closed vessels after explosions, and he has submitted 

 them to the same treatment that Moissan's granulated 

 iron had gone through. After several weeks he removed 

 The amorphous carbon, the graphite, the silica, and other 

 constituents of the ash of cordite, and obtained a residue 

 among which, under the microscope, crystalline particles 

 -could be distinguished. Some of these particles, from 

 their crystalline appearance and double refraction, were 

 silicon carbide : others were probably diamonds. The 

 whole residue was dried and fused at a good red heat in 

 an excess of potassium biduoride, to which was added 

 during fusion 5 per cent, of nitre. The residue, after 

 thorough washing and then heating in fuming sulphuric 

 acid, was washed, dried, and the largest crystalline 

 particles picked out and mounted. 



From the treatment these crystals have undergone, 

 chemists will agree that diamonds only could stand such 

 an ordeal ; on submitting them to skilled crystallographic 

 authorities the author's opinion is confirmed. 



Paris. 

 Aacdemy of Sciences, September 11. — M. Troost in the 

 chair. — Remarks on the present condition of solar re- 

 searches and on the means of improving them : H. 

 Deslandres. The author proposed in 1893 that auto- 

 matic apparatus should be established at suitable spots 

 capable of registering the surface of the sun and the 

 successive layers of its atmosphere. As this has so far 

 not been realisable, on account of the expense, suggestions 

 are now put forward for the correlation of the work of 

 the observers actually engaged in solar research, and these 

 suggestions will be submitted to the International 

 Union at the meeting to be held at Oxford. — On 

 a differential equation of the fourth order : Gaston 

 Darboux. — On some properties of the a rays of radium : 

 Henri Becquerel. The author showed, two years ago, 

 that the bundle of a rays behaves as homogeneous in 

 the magnetic field, and also that the trajectory of the 

 particles in a plane normal to the field, instead of being 

 a circle, is a curve the radius of curvature of which goes 

 on increasing with the length of the trajectory. The 

 recent work of Bragg and Kleeman and of Rutherford 

 is discussed, especially the hypothesis of the slowing down 

 of the particles used by the latter to explain the experi- 

 mental results obtained when a series of aluminium screens 

 is interposed in the path of the rays. The author has 

 repeated his original experiments with the addition of 

 aluminium screens, and the results confirm his views. 

 On this account M. Becquerel thinks that the hypothesis 

 of Rutherford regarding the loss of velocity of the particles 

 must be rejected. — On the total eclipse of the sun of 

 August 30 : G. Rayet. An account of the results obtained 

 by the expedition from the Observatory of Bordeaux at 

 Burgos, Spain. The weather was bad, and interfered with 

 the work of several of the observers. In spite of this, 

 however, two good images of the corona were obtained 

 by M. Courty with the photographic equatorial. M. 

 Esclangon was able to follow the variations in the polar- 

 isation during the eclipse. — On the method of using captive 

 and pilot balloons at sea : Prince of Monaco. Details 

 are^ given of the mode of launching the balloons and of 

 maintaining them at heights fixed on beforehand. The 

 observations were carried out in the Mediterranean and 

 in the trade winds region of the Atlantic, the maximum 

 height attained being 14,000 metres. — On the eclipse of 

 August 30, and on the polarisation of the solar corona : 

 NO. 1873, 'VOL. 72] 



Georges Meslin. The proportion of polarised light is 

 sensibly the same in the polar and equatorial regions — it 

 is about 50 per cent. Elliptical polarisation could not be 

 detected.— On two particular cyclic systems ; A. Demoulin. 

 — On the generalisation of algebraical continued fractions : 

 M. Auric. — On Monge's problem : M. Zervos. — On the 

 physical units of albuminoid material and on the part 

 played by lime in its coagulation : G. Maifltano. By 

 repeated coagulation it was found to be impossible to 

 free the albumin entirely from inorganic substances, and 

 the author regards the precipitate as aggregates of 

 molecules, associated with electrolytes. It is probable that 

 the mechanism of peptonisation consists essentially in a 

 change in the nature of the salts which are associated 

 with these aggregates. — The influence of the eclipse of 

 August 30 on some plants : Ed. Bureau. Acacia dcalbata 

 proved to be the most sensitive to light, and during the 

 eclipse executed the nocturnal movements, whilst other 

 species of " sleeping " plants were unaffected. — On the 

 evolution of the liver : Camille Spiess. — The vibration of 

 the eyelids in renal affections : G. Ullmann. This has 

 proved a valuable sign in affections of the kidney, and is 

 present at the earliest stages. — The direct solution of the 

 silicates from arable earth and the experiments of 

 Daubr^e ; L. Cayeux. The author controverts the views 

 of Delage and Lagatu on this subject, and holds that the 

 experiments of Daubr^e have been wrongly interpreted by 

 these authors. — The waterspout of August 28 at Saint- 

 Maur and at Champigny (Seine) : Th. Moureaux. — On 

 the meteorological observations made at Constantine during 

 the eclipse of August 30 : Henry de la Vaulx and Joseph 

 Jaubert. — On the phenomenon of moving shadows : 

 Lucien Libert. — An earthquake shock registered at 

 Grenoble, September 8 : MM. Kiiian and Pauiin. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, June 28.— Mr. T. Steel, president, 

 in the chair. — Description of a new species of Actinotus 

 from eastern Australia : R. T. Baker. — Revision of the 

 Australian Curculionidae belonging to the subfamily 

 Cryptorhynchides, part vii. : A. M. Lea. — Descriptions of 

 five new species of Cicindela from tropical Australia : 

 T. G. Sloane. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Evolution of Matter. By W. C. D. W 505 



The Faeroes and Iceland. By R. L 506 



Our Book Shelf :— 



Moors : " Le Sysleme des Poids, Mesures et Monnaies 



des Israelites d'apres la Bible " 506 



Cooper-Key : " A Primer on Explosives." — ^J. S. S. B. 507 

 Godfrey and Bell : " A Note-book of Experimental 



Mathematics" 507 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Cause and Prevention of Dust from Automobiles. — 



J. Vincent Elsden ; W. R. Cooper 507, 



The Solar Physics Observatory Eclipse Expedition. 



(Illustrated.) By Dr. William J. S. Lockyer . ... 508 

 International Meteorological Conference at 



Innsbruck cjo 



Science Teaching in Elementary Schools. Bv 



A. M. D 5,2 



A New Ultra- Violet Mercury Lamp 513 



Notes 5,4 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Variable Asteroid 1905 O.Y 518 



Nova Aquilce No. 2 518 



French Observations of the Total Solar Eclipse ... 518 

 Eye-estimates of the Transits of Jupiter's Spots ... 518 



The Solar Activity, January-June 518 



Institution of Mining Engineers 518 



The British Association : — 



Section K.— Botany.— Opening Address by Harold 

 Wager, F.R.S., H.M.I., President of the Section 519 



University and Educational Intelligence 527 



Societies and Academies 527 



