164 



NATURE 



[Dcr. 16, iSSo 



presence oi ghuosidcs can also be proved. Part at least of the 

 total nitrogen of the peat (amounting to 3 per cent.) enters into 

 the composition of the brown matters. — On the geology of the 

 Northern Sahara, by M. Roche, liiler alia, he found in the 

 middle of the Great Erg, south of Ouargla, a broad plane region 

 about 250 km. long, covered only with isolated parallel dunes 

 lying along the magnetic meridian ; an important feature for the 

 Trans-Saharan railway. All the strata of the Northern Sahara 

 are nearly horizontal. — On some phenomena of optics and vision, 

 by M. Treve. Looking at a lamp-flame through a fine slit in a 

 disk, the brightness and the diffraction effects vary much, accord- 

 ing as the slit is vertical or horizontal. — M. Maumene in a note 

 attributes the difference of experimenters as to absorption of 

 oxygen by mercury to more or less silver contained by the 

 mercury. — M. Dubalen announced the discovery of a prehistoric 

 grotto in the Department of Landes. 



December 6. — M. Edm. Becquerel in the chair. — Tlie fol- 

 lowing pajjers were read : — On the development of any function 

 of the radius-vector in elliptic motion, by M. Tisserand. — 

 Spectral reaction of chlorine and bromine, by M. Lecoq de 

 Boisbaudran. For detecting minute traces he fuses on the 

 hooked lower end of a platinum wire some pure carbonate of 

 baryta ; places in the bend a drop of the liquid to be examined ; 

 then evaporates, heating momentarily to a nascent red (with 

 partial fusion) ; another platinum wire is then brought near the 

 bend from below, and the;induction spark gives a spectrum with 

 lines of BaClj or BaBr„. The asVff '"S''- of chlorine or l>romine 

 may be thus detected. — M. Brioschi was elected correspondent 

 in geometry in room of the late M. Borchardt. — On the action 

 of water in applications of sulphide of carbon to phylloxerised 

 vine;, by M. Catta. He shows the injurious action of excessive 

 humidity. The sulphide need not be in the liquid state if the 

 ground be quite saturated with water. — On the swarming of 

 phylloxera in I S80, byM. de Lafitte. Thishas been small, almost 

 nil in some parts. The ]3henomenon is probably periodic, with 

 a two years' period. — On mildew, Pcronospora of vines (Pcrono- 

 spara ■viticola. Berk, and Curt.), by M. Cornu. Thi< mildew 

 will soon (perhaps next year) have spread over all France ; 

 and it is still almost unknown in regions where it pre- 

 vails. The grape is not directly attacked, but the plant 

 is injured, often disastrously. — New process for destraction of 

 kermesof fig(CtVtf//(rrfi'i rttsci, Lin.), by M. Gennadius. The in- 

 sects may be got rid of by making a number of incisions on the 

 trunk and branches, causing the plant to lose a large quantity of 

 latex. — Observations of comet (/ iSSo (Hartwig) at Paris Observa- 

 tory, byM. Bigourdan. — On the same comet and on Swift's comet 

 (e 1880), by MM. Schulhof and Bossert. He obtains for the former 

 a revolution of 1280 years (uncertain) ; for the latter, 5.^ years. 

 — On the method employed by Aubuisson in i8lo for measure- 

 ment of geodetic bases, by M. Laussedat. This is, in substance, 

 the same as the method now recommended exclusively by the 

 International Geodetic Commission. — On the calculation of 

 heights by means of barometric observations, by M. Angot. 

 He cites some figures as showing the precision of his new method. 

 — On the distribution of temperatures in the lower strata of the 

 atmosphere, by M. Andre. From observations on the north and 

 south slopes of Mont Verdun (625 m. in height) he infers that 

 in the same vertical the distribution of temperature up to a 

 certain height is absolutely indeterminate, thin hot- and cold- 

 air currents being superposed on one another. The mode of 

 superposition is in direct relation to the centres of high 

 and low pressures. — On radiophony, by M. Mercadier. This 

 name he gives to the phenomenon lately discovered by 

 Prof. Bell. He shows reason for thinking it is not an 

 effect of the mass of the receiving plate vibrating as a 

 whole. Also the nature of the molecules of the receiver and 

 their mode of aggregation do not seem to have a predominant 

 rcle in the nature of the sounds produced. These sounds (he 

 thinks) are due principally to direct action of calorific radiations 

 on the surface of the receiver. (He got the maximum effect 

 with invisible vibrations in the red and infra red.) — On the exist- 

 ence of perboric combinations, by M. Etard. Boric acid in 

 presence of oxygenated water acts like a different acid, 

 though of little stability : perboric acid. — On coballamines, 

 by M. Porumbaru. — Researches on the comparative anatomy 

 of the nervous system in the different orders of the class 

 of insects, by ^L Brandt. He gives the results of his own ob- 

 servations on Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Hemiptera. 

 — On a new form of vesicular worm, with exogenous gem- 

 mation, by M. Villot. This is named Urocystis prolifir, is a 



parasite of Gloiiuris limhatus, and has the peculiarity of livinc 

 in the same host in different degrees of development ; in the 

 ve.^icular state proper, in the visceral cavity ; in the state of 

 scolex, encysted in adipose tissue. Buds are successively formed 

 (containing a scolex) and detached.— Habits of a fish of the 

 family of Silures, the Callichthys facmtus, Cuvier, by M. Car- 

 bonnier. Its mode of reproduction is peculiar. — New researches 

 on saxifrages ; applications of then- products to the arts and to 

 therapeutics ; experiments on their cultivation, by MM. Garreau 

 and Machelart. Attention is called to a new substance, bengenin, 

 obtained from the stocks ; in the free and crystaUine state it is 

 represented by CJH4O4. It is a strong neuro-sthenic tonic 

 (between quinine and salicine). The tannin and fecula also 

 obtainable, further recommend the cultivation of saxifrages. — 

 On a process of meat-preservation by means of dextrine, by M. 

 Senre. Meat dried and preserved with dextrine has remained 

 unaltered twenty months, exposed to air. — The meteors of 

 November 14, l88o, observed at Moncalieri (Italy), by M. 

 Denza. Four observers counted thirty-seven in three-quarters of 

 an hour. More than a third belonged to the stream of the 

 Leonides, and they were the most beautiful. 



Vienna 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences, December 9. Dr. 

 Fitzinger in the chair. — Researches on Liverworts; 6. Mar- 

 chantieje, by Herr Leitgeb. — On the watercourses of middle 

 Europe, and the importance of regulation of the Danube, with 

 special reference to the stretch between Theben and Gonyo 

 (Hungary), by Herr Lanfranconi. — On the formation of germinal 

 layers in the hen's egg, by Herr KoUer. — On combinations of 

 chloride of calcium witli fatty acids, by Herr Lieber. 



Imperial Institute of Geology, December 7. — Geological 

 map of the environs of Gratz, by Herr Homes. — On a new 

 mineral, schncchcrgite, by Herr Brezina. — Tectonics of the 

 dioritic eruptive rocks of Klausen (Tyrol), by Herr Teller. — 

 Geological map of Gorlice, by Herr Trajnocha. — On Predazzo, 

 &c., by Herr Reyer. 



CONTENTS Page 



The Chemistry of the Future. By Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, 



F.R.S 141 



HanDBDOKOF COTANY 142 



OllK Book Shelf:— 



Burbidge's " Gardens of the Sun " 143 



Meredith's " Tasmanian Friends and Foes: Feathered, Furred, 



and Finned " 143 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Mr. Spencer and Prof, Tail,- Herbert Spencer 144 



Criterion of Reality.— E. G 144 



Landslips. — Thos. Ward 144 



The Geology of East Central Africa and the Subterranean Forest 



in Bombay. ^W. T. Blanford 145 



Dr. Siemens's Gas-Grate.— R. Douglas Hale, M.D 145 



Geological Climates,— Prof. Samuel Haughton, F.R.S ; Prof. P. 



Martin Duncan, F,R.S 145 



Hailstorm in Dorsetshire.— Dr. Geo. J. Allman, F.R.S. (With 



Illustration) 146 



Sargassum. — Dr. Otto ICu.ntze 146 



Note on an Acoustical Constant. — ^W. J. Grey and J. T. Dunn . 146 



The U,S, Weather Charts.— H. M 147 



Climate of Vancouver Island. — Capt. Ed.mwnd H. Verney , . . 147 



Meteors. — M. A. Veeder «... 147 



The Probability of Phylloxera Crossing the Tropics .... 147 



Songs of the Sciences — L Zoology 148 



The August Auroras. By Prof. W. Stanley Jevons, F.R.S. . . 148 

 The Influence of a Tumng-Fork o.n the Garden Spider. By 



C. V. Boys J40 



The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Iceland. 



By Prof. Arch. Geikie, F.R.S : 



S.mokeless London. By W. D. Scott Moncrieff 



New Guinea. By Alred R. Wallace (!F///» ///;«/?-<iftV>«i) . . . i 



Professor J. C. Watson 155 



Notes 156 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Comets of Hartwig and Swift 158 



The November Meteors J 58 



Near Appulse of Jupiter to a Fi.\ed Star ' 158 



Biological Notes: — 



Anabaina living in Botrydium 15S 



Mesembrianthemum not Mesembryanthemura 158 



Chlorophyll in the Epidermis of Plants 15S 



Blood-Vessels of Valves of the Heart 1S9 



Light and the Transpiration of Plants 159 



Pinguicula .^Ipina I59 



Geographical Notes ^59 



The Influence of Pressure and Temperature on the Spectra 



of Vapours and Gases. By G. Ciamician 160 



University and Educational Intelligence 160 



Societies and Acade.mies i6r 



