236 



NATURE 



{Jan. 6, 1 88 1 



fixed ; the instrument is then so placed that the sun, the h le, 

 and the cen're line of the paper an in the sime plane, s5 that as 

 the sun moves its track will be recorded on the paper. 



Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, January 3. — A paper 

 on the early destinies of man was read by Mr. j. E. Howard, 

 r.R.S., F.L.S., &c., in which he con>-idered them in relatim t) 

 science, to philosophy, and also to religion, and gave an analysi< 

 of the vari ms known traditions i.'i regard to the early history of 

 man in all ages and in all countries. 



Manchester 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, December 14, iSSo. — 

 E. W. Bmney, F.R.S., F.G.S., president, in the char. — 

 Boulder stones a^ grave sfones. The president, when visiting 

 Ashton-under-Lyne the other day, observed in the churchyard 

 on the Manchester Road a greenstone bjulder u^ed as a 

 to.nbstone over the grave of a son of an alderman of that 

 borough. Thi^ is the first instance where he had seen a lioulder 

 stone used f jr such a purpose, and it i^ one where they may not 

 only be preserved, but exhibited to the public. — The lard 

 sub idence at Northwnch, by Thomas Ward. — Some eiicleavours 

 to ascertain the nature of the insoluble form of soda exi^ting in 

 the residue left on causticising sodium carloonate solutions wih 

 lime (Part ii.), by Watson Smith, P'.C.S., Assitant Lecturer 

 on Chejois'ry in the Owens College, and W. T. Liddle. 

 Communicated by Prof. C. Schorlemmer, F.R.S. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, December 27, 1S80. — M. Edm. 

 Becquerel in the chair. — M. F.iye preented the Anniaiire du 

 Bureau dt-s Lougitttdes ^(^x iSSi, and noted the improvements. 

 — On the series of Fourier and other analytical representations 

 of functions of a real variable, by M. Ilermite. — On tlie vel ociiy 

 of propagation of light, by M. Comu. He controverts M. G luy's 

 ideas. — On the chlorhydrates of metallic chlorides, and on the 

 reduction of chlorides by hydrogen, by M. Berthelot. These 

 chlorhydrates play an important part in chemical mechanics, by 

 rea on of their considerable heat of formation and their slate of 

 di-sociation. — On an oxygenated base derived from aldol, by 

 M. Wurtz. — EfiTects of tearing out the intracranial part of the 

 glo^sopharyngtal nerve, by M. Vulpian. This action does not 

 (in the cat) appreciably affect the influence of nerves which act 

 as direct vaso-ddators on the mucous membrane of the buccal 

 cavity, except as regards the effects of excitation of the nerve 

 itself on the posterior region of the dorsal face of the tongue. — 

 Observations on some animals of Madagascar, by M. Mdne- 

 Edwa.'ds. This relates to an important collection of mammalia 

 and birds by M Humblot, sent to the Museum of Natural His- 

 t)ry They show the modificatio is of species well. M. Huu- 

 blot has sent to the menagerie two living Aye- Ayes, two Makis, 

 &c. (offering many points of interest). — Order of producti m of 

 the first vessels in the ear of Loliuiii (first part), by M. Trecul. 

 — M. Sella was elected Corresponde it in Mineralogy in r o a of 

 the late Prof. Miller, and Mr. Warren De La Rue in Astronomy 

 in room of the late Mr. MacEear. — Oljservations on phylloxera, 

 by M. Lichten-tein. He indicates tenor eleven animal parasites 

 of phylloxera, but doe ; not regard any of these hopefully as a 

 means of stopping the disease. He is studying the eflect of 

 inoculation with cryptogams ; the results are not yet decisive. 

 — Determination of the time of rotation of Jupiter, by M. 

 Cruls. From observations of the spot at Rio Observatory during 

 1083 rotations he obtains the number gh. 551U. 36s in mean 

 solar time. Mr. Pratt, at Brighton, got the number gh. 55s. 

 33'9I, from 321 rotations. Thus the time of Jupiter's rotaiion 

 seems to be known to within a second. — On Hartwig's coaet 

 (</ 18S0), by MM. Schulhof and Bossert. They cinsi.ler the 

 period 52§ years must be rigorously excladed. — Solar observa- 

 ti ms at the Royal Observatory of the r<oman College durin ; the 

 third quarter of 1880, by P. Tacchini. There was increased 

 activity. The number of spots w-as doable that in the preceding 

 quarter, and there wa: hardly a day without them. The number 

 of faculse in Sept^imber was extraordinary. In the case of the 

 protubera ices (also more frequent) there was a maximum in each 

 hemisphere between 50° and 60° and another between 20° and 

 40°. — Observations on Swift's comet (e 1880) at the Royal 

 Observatory of the Roman College, by P. Tacchini. — On the 

 contact of conies and surfaces, by M. Moutard. — On a new 

 method of producing intermittent luminous signals, by M. 

 Crova. M. Leverrier and he used in 1870-71 a very similar 

 arrangement to M. Mercadier's. They found thai they must 



use oxygen under weak pressure and give the pi|>e a wide orifice ; 

 als that the key must be pressed and releaed very suddenly. — On 

 a new el>;ctrodynamic theorem, by M. Cabanellas. — Regulator 

 of pressure for vapours, by M. D'Ar.sonval. The triple problem 

 here solved is (i) keeping constant, in a boiler, the presur-- o"^ 

 a given vaponr whatever the discharge ; (2) using the c ombustible 

 gas only in proportion to the vapour expended ; (3) making the 

 instrument quite automatic without danger of explosioi. There 

 is a me abrane of camtchouc between two metallic rings; its 

 lower surface is in contact with the vapour, and on its upper 

 rests a metallic disk with rol and lever like that of a safety valve. 

 At the upper surface of the disk debouches a tube which brings 

 the gas ; there is another tube ab ive through « hich the gas goes 

 to the boiler. — On a new derivative of .sulphide of nitr.geii, by 

 M. Demarcay. — On a platinous hypophosphite, by M. Engel. 

 This is got by action of phosphuretied hydrogen on tetrachloride 

 of platinum.— On borotungs'ates of sodium, by M. Klein. — On 

 some facts relative to the transformation of chloral into meta- 

 chloral, by M. Bryasson. — On the products of oxidation of 

 cholalicacid. — On the excretion by urine of sulphur incompletely 

 oxidied, in various pathological s*ates of the liver, by MM. 

 Eepine and Flavard. — On visual sensibility and its relations 

 with luminous and chr imatic sensibility, by M. Charpentier. 

 Wtiat he calls visual sensibility corresponds to vi'-ual acuteness, 

 but uhile the latter is expressed by the smallest angle under 

 which one can recognise as distinct two luminous points ; the 

 former is expressed by the smallest quantity of light 

 which renders those two points distinct. The order of 

 increasing complexity is, luminous sensibility, chromatic 

 .sensibility, visual sensibility. — On the distributi m of light 

 in the s olar spectrum (spectrum of Daltonians), by M M. 

 Mace and Nicati. These observations appear to give certain 

 proof of the existence of two distinct kinds of Daltonians ; also 

 to su^iport the Young-Helmholtz theory of colours, and to con- 

 tradict Hering's, — Reactions of the motor-zone of the brain in 

 animals paralysed by curare, by MM. Couty and De Eacerda. — 

 On passage of red corpuscles into the lymphatic circulation, by 

 M. Eaulaiae. This is effected by obliteration of veins. The 

 effect appears in about twelve hours, an 1 the number of cor- 

 puscles increases to about the fortieth hour. — On the internal 

 and external sheaths of h irs, by M. Renaut. — New researches 

 on the organs of touch, by M. Ranvier. By observing the 

 tactile corpuscles in infants and children he has come to a better 

 ap reciation of their structure. — On the sensitive nerve-termina- 

 tion in the skin of some insects, by M. Viallanes. Examining 

 larv.'e of Musca and Eristalis, he finds under the hypodermis 

 an extremely rich plexu; of ganglionic cells, connected oa one 

 hand with the chief nerve-centres, and on the other with sensi- 

 tive terminal nerve-branches. — On the sens irial cylinders of th; 

 internal antenna of crustaceans, by M. Jourdain. While these 

 have undoubtelly the characters of an organ of sense, they 

 cannot (anatomically, and independently of all physiological ex- 

 periment) be said to be affected with olfaction. — Marine mol- 

 lusca living on the coasts of Campbell's Island, by M. Filhol. — 

 Examination of the marine fauna of the upper sands of Pierre- 

 fitte near Etampes, by M. Meunier. — On the age of upheaval of 

 the district of Bray, by M. Dollfus. — On the crystalline schists 

 of Brazil and the red earths which cover them, by M. Gorceix. 



CONTENTS Page 



Dk. G'u.mtber on Fishes (IVith Uliistrittions) 213 



Sulphuric Acid AND Alkali. By Prof. H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S. . . 215 

 Ojk Book Shelf :— 



Kaltbrunner's " Aide-Me.noire du Voyageur" 217 



Let TE s TO the [Lditok : — 



Geological Climates.— Alfred R. Wallace : H.King .... 217 



Temperature of the Breath.— C. J. McNallv 217 



Selenium.— W.M. C. (»r:M Z);<i^«»f) 21; 



Kxperiments with Vacuum Tubes. — J. T- BoTTOMLEV .... 21^ 



M dern Use of Ancient Stone Implements —D. Budde . . . . 21: 



Pile Dwellings.— S. E. Peal ((*'iM ///»i/ra^/(7«) 21 S 



Landslps-— The Cheshire'Subsidences.- T. Mellard RevDE. , 21, 



Animal Reasoning. — K P 21,, 



Uione.— J. Rand Capkon 21 



The Indo-Chinese and Oceanic Races— Types and Affinities, 



II. By K. a. 'K.!i\KZ (With Illustrations) 220 



Geo-uogy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By Prof. Arch. Geikie, 



F.R.S 224 



MicaELCiiASLES By R.Tucker 225 



Prof, Huxley on Evolution, II 227 



Notes 23> 



Geographical Notes . ' 233 



On Heat Conduction in Higily Rarefied Air. By William 



Ckookes. F.R S 234 



Scientific Sekials 235 



Societies and Acade.mies : 23.'' 



