596 



N/l TURE 



{April 



cannot be supposed to exist under the conditions In which deep- 

 sea temperatures are taken ; and the only other possible source, 

 that namely due to the direct effect of, pre sure, gives rise to an 

 error which requires a correction of only o°'04 F. per mile of 

 depth. In ihe course of the description of experiments Prof. 

 Tait had occasion to describe ihe various kinds of pre^sure- 

 sjauges which he had found it necessary to devi e, the ordinary 

 forms of gauge being altogether useless for scientific worlv, — 

 Mr. \V. W. J. Nicol read a paper on the action of heat on 

 tbioformanilide, being an account of experiments he had made 

 in Prof. Hoffman's laboratory at Berlin during the precediiiL,' 

 winter. — Mr. Patrick Geddes rend the second instalment of liis 

 scheme for the classification of statistics. In it he discussed ihe 

 arrangement of statistics relating directly to the organisms of the 

 society. Three great parallel classes, A, B, C, were formed : 

 A being concerned with the source of the organisms formiirj a 

 community as arising from survival, immigration, and birih ; C 

 with the loss, from emigration and death ; \\hile B contained tlie 

 biological and social characteristics of the individuals forming; a 

 community at any given instant of time. Classes A and B 

 formed the one side and C the other side of the social balance 

 sheet. In treating of occupations the same three classes appeared 

 again : A dealing with operations on matter and energy, 13 with 

 services rendered to society (including educilion, government, 

 &c.), and C forming the class of the essentially unproduclive, 

 e.g. the unemployed, the disabled, the destructive, &c. Tlie 

 question of partition, both mediate and ultimate, amongst the 

 organisms of matter and energy fell npxt for discussion ; and 

 this led on to the final clasification of uses made after pai-titi ii, 

 in all of which it was shown that the classification fitted natur- 

 ally into the three original classes. A, B, and C, indicated above. 

 In a future paper Mr. Geddes hoped to demonstrate Xi^s practical 

 value of his system. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, April 7. — L. Fitzinger in 

 the chair. — The following papers were read : — Dr. G. Heckn, 

 on the orbit of the "Ino" planet (No. 173). — Dr. E. Ludwig, 

 on a new method for the quantit.ative determination of uric acid. 

 — Dr. D. Dublier, on the influence of continual use of carbonate 

 nf soda on the composition of the blood. — Dr. James Mo-er, 

 electrostatic investigations especially into the ramification of 

 induction on the differential inductometer and electjophorus. — 

 Dr. Moritz Holl, on the blood-vessels of the placenta of man. — 

 L. Haitinger, on nitro-olefines. 



Imperial Institute of Geology, March 15. — E. Kittl, on a 

 recent find of Listriodon (found at Nussdorf, near Vienna, in 

 1879). — -Dr. E. Mojssisowics, on the cephalopod-fauna of the 

 Triassic formations at Mora d'Ebro, in Spain. — K. M. Paul, 

 on the occurrence of ozokerite and petroleum at Boryslaw 

 (Gallicia). 



April 5. — E. Kittl, on Bohemian spas. — Baron H. Fullon, 

 observations on crystallisation. — Dr. V. Hilber, on the terminal 

 stratifications of gypsum in Eastern Gallicia. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, April 11. — M. Wurtz in the chair. — 

 The following papers were read : — On peroxide of ethyl, by M. 

 Berthelot. This may be prepared by sending through anhydrous 

 ether, for several hours, a slow current of quite dry and strongly 

 ozonised oxygen. The formation of oxygenated water by action 

 of ozone on ether is not immediate, but by destruction of a first 

 compound, viz. peroxide of ethyl. This substance is a sesqui- 

 oxide CijHsoOg. — On the Eulerian integral of the second 

 species, by M. Gylden. — Researches on the liquefaction of 

 giseous mixtures, by MM. Cailletet and Hautefeuille. Operating 

 with a gas easily liquefiable and a so-called permanent gas, in 

 capillary tubes, total liquefaction (yielding a homogeneous liquid) 

 is obtained by first compressing the mixture at a temperature so 

 high that the strongest pressures prove powerless to abolish the 

 gaseous state, then lowering the temperature regularly, so that 

 all points of the tube pass at the same time through the tempera- 

 ture at which is produced a change of state. The authors thus 

 obtained condensed carbonic acid, holding a large proportion of 

 oxygen, hydrogen, or nitrogen, these latter substances concurrhig 

 to form the liquid, though the temperature was too high for 

 them to exist separately in that state. The results of experiment 

 with cyanogen and carbonic acid are analysed. The assimilation 

 (generally very imperfect) of solution of a gas to its liquefaction 

 probably here applies. The mixture retains its characters at 



temperatures considerably above that corresponding to the critical 

 point of its less easily liquefied element. — On the lines of iron in 

 the sun, by Mr. N. Lockyer. He shows reason for believing that 

 iron does not exist in the heart of the sun, but only its consti- 

 tuents, and these exist at different levels in the sun's atmosphere 

 and produce more complex forms by condensation. — On pucerons 

 attached by a chamingnon, by MM. Cornu and Brongniart, 

 The inject belongs to the cycle of development of Telranetira 

 rubra, which produces the red galls of elm. The fungus is a 

 Pliospora ; it attacks the dead puceron. It is probably incapable 

 of aflecting much the multiplication of phyll ixera. — On the 

 integration of linear equations by means of Abelian functions, 

 by M. Poincare. — On formulse of representation of functions, 

 by M. du Bois-Reymond. — Study of the vajjour of bisulphy- 

 drate of ammonia, by M. Isambert. The substance is less 

 volatile in presence of its elements than in vacuo, or in an inert 

 gas such as hydrogen. — On chlorides, bromides, and iodides of 

 sulphur, by M. Ogier. A thermo -chemical study. — On the 

 development of Tricuspidaria voditlosa or Tritcnophorus nodu' 

 losus of Rudolph, and on its cysticercus, by M. Megnin. The 

 perches of the Seine are greatly affected by this parasite at 

 present. — Studies on some points of the anatomy of Sternaspis 

 scutata, by M. Rietsch. — On the different species of bears 

 whose remains are buried in the cavern of Lherm (Ariege), by 

 M. Filhol. Remains of an enormous Ursus arctos (appa- 

 rently) have been found among about 100 bines of Ursus 

 spehais. M. Filhol doubts the de'cent of the former bear 

 from the latter. I e supposes that Ursus arctos, appearing in 

 distant regions (perhaps North America), gradually advanced and 

 was sub-tituted in our countries for Ursus spelaus. Bone frag- 

 ments of a new type of bear have been found in this cave. The 

 author names it Ursus Gaudiji. The fossil femur of an enor- 

 rrous lion has also been found. — Production of a hydrated 

 silicate of baryta in cry tals, by M. Le Chatelier. This appears 

 on the inner surface of vessels of baiyta water left standing 

 uncleaned a long time. — On the production of a crystalline 

 phosphide of iron and of anorthite felspar in the fires of the 

 Commentiy coalpits, by M. Mallard. — On the swelling of the 

 Seine during the winter of 1881, by M. Lemoine. The Seine 

 at Paris has been pretty high from the middle of January to the 

 middle of March. Usually (as M. Belgrand has shown) the 

 maximum of flood at Paris is due to the waters of small torrential 

 rivers mostly in the upper part of the valley and issuing from 

 impermeable strata. But last winter, it is chiefly the rivers 

 nearest Paris, those of Brie, that, by their quite unusual swelling, 

 have brought on the maximum (which has therefore come with 

 great rapidity). The sulisoil of La Brie is like a sponge, and 

 when it is gorged with water the least rain causes important 

 floods. 



CONTENTS Pack 



Sir William Hekschel, III. By J. R. Hikd, F.R.S S7.5 



British Fishes 57" 



Our Bookshelf: — ■ 



" Proceedings of tfie Aberdeenshire A^icultural Association " . . 57<i 



" Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society " 577 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The New Museum of Natural History.— F. G. S 577 



The Tide Predicter.— Sir William Thomson, F.R.S 578 



Geological Relations of Gold in Nova Scotia. — Principal J. W. 



Dawson. F.R.S S78 



Symbolical Logic— Hugh McColl S78 



Agricultural Communism in Greece.— W. Mattieu Williams . 579 



Heat of Stellar Masses.— Saml. J. Wallace 579 



Shadows Cast by Venus.— Chas. T. WHITME1.L 579 



The Sparrow and Division ot Labour.— G. C. WalliCH .... 579 



Sir Philip deMalpasGkev Egerton. M. P., F.R.S 579 



The Scirntific Principles Involved in Klkctric Lighting. By 



Prof. W. Grvlls Adams, F.R.S 560 



The French Association for the Advancement of Scibncs at 



Algiers. By G. F. Rodwell 582 



Mr. Darwin on Vivisection 583 



The Magnetic Survey of Missouri. By Prof Francis E. Nither 



(Witli CImrt) 583 



Primitive Marriage Customs. By D. MacLennan ... . 584 



Notes 5*^^ 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Solar Parallax 59i 



The Double-Star Herschel 3945 59i 



The Total Solar Eclipse of 1878 591 



The Earthquake of November 28, 1880, in Scotland and 



Ireland. By Charles Alex. Stevenson. B.Sc ,591 



Magnetic Declination. By Prof. Balfour Stewart, M.A.,LL.D., 



F.R.S. (With Diagram) 59= 



Univhrsmv AND Educational Intkllighncr 593 



Scientific Serials 593 



Societtrs and Academies 594 



