28 



NA TURE 



[July i, 1922 



The photography of spectra of sparks under water, 

 by the automatic separation into arc lines and spark 

 lines and by the differences in the appearance of the 

 lines, appears to be valuable in detecting spectral 

 regularities. — M. de Bellescize : Damping the oscilla- 

 tions of resonators in wireless telegraphy. — A. 

 Recoura : Some new properties of the green sulphate 

 of chromium. Green sulphate of chromium forms 

 complex compounds with potassium sulphate, and 

 the resulting solutions give reactions with benzidine 

 compounds or with barium chloride, indicating that 

 S0 4 ions are absent or present in small proportions 

 only. Results are given of a study of the effects of 

 temperature, dilution, and time on these complexes. 

 — Paul Riou : The velocity of absorption of carbon 

 dioxide by alkaline solutions. — Mile. Wurmser : The 

 preparation of ammonium nitrate. An extension of 

 earlier work by M, Rengade on the formation of 

 ammonium nitrate by the interaction of sodium 

 nitrate and ammonium chloride. — Mile. N. Wolff : 

 Furfural-a-methylcyclohexanone and some of its 

 derivatives. Mono- and difurfuralcyclohexanones. — 

 E. Berger : A formal lamp. A detailed account, 

 with diagrams, of the construction of a new lamp 

 for burning methyl alcohol to formaldehyde. With 

 copper oxide as a catalyst the yield is 25-30 per cent, 

 with silvered asbestos, 35-45 per cent, of the alcohi 1 

 used is obtained as formaldehyde. Results of the 

 application of the lamp to practical disinfection of 

 rooms are given. — H. Joly : The tectonic direction 

 of the Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits in the 

 neighbourhood of Haro (Logrofio, Spain). — P. Lory : 

 The glacial stages and a valley recording these stages 

 (Bedinat, Chaine de Belledonne). — P. L. Mercanton : 

 The glacial system of the Beerenberg of Jan Mayen. 

 This extinct volcano was climbed by the author, with 

 J. M. Wordie and T. Lethbridge, in August 1921. 

 From the highest point (about 2500 metres) the 

 structure of the crater was made out, and a detailed 

 account of this and the glacier system is given. — 

 MM. Pons and Remy : The reddish-brown coloration 

 shown in March 1922 by the Briancon snow. 

 Specimens of the coloured snow, collected on March 

 19 at an altitude of 2350 metres, were examined, 

 after melting, chemically and microscopically. There 

 was practically no organic matter, and the microscope 

 showed no remains of microscopic organisms (Alga;, 

 Foraminifera, diatoms), nor were there any vitreous 

 inclusions characteristic of volcanic dust. Chemical 

 analysis showed silica, iron, and alumina. The 

 possible origin of the dust is discussed, but no definite 

 conclusion could be arrived at. — P. Bugnon : The 

 fibrovascular organisation in Mercurialis. Possible 

 descent from a primitive form. — Gustave Chauveaud : 

 The principal variations in the vascular development 

 of the first phyllorhiza of Phanerogams are not 

 determined by intercalary increase. — Louis Lapicque : 

 Mechanism of the exchanges between the cell and the 

 surrounding medium. The osmotic pressure in the 

 cells of marine Alga; is higher than that of sea water. 

 This is incompatible with the currently accepted 

 view that all exchanges of the cells are determined 

 by the laws of osmosis. The author holds that, on 

 the contrary, the exchanges of the cells are the result 

 of physiological work and that diffusion and osmotic 

 pressure intervene often as resistances only. — Paul 

 Portier and Marcel Duval : The variation of the 

 osmotic pressure of the blood of the cartilaginous 

 fishes under the influence of modification of. the 

 salinity of the surrounding sea water. The dog-fish 

 was used in these experiments, and it was found that 

 the osmotic pressure of the blood was not equal to 

 that of the sea water in which the fish is immersed. 

 There was a tendency for the osmotic pressure of 

 the blood to follow that of the sea water, but the 



NO. 2748, VOL. I 10] 



adjustment was very imperfect. The fish supported 

 dilution of sea water better than enrichment with 

 salt. — E. Faure-Fremiet and Mile. H. Garrault : 

 Constitution of the ovarian egg of the carp (Cyprintis \ 

 Carpio). — H. Vallee and H. Carre: The plurality of 

 the aphthous virus. 



Brussels. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, June 3. — M. A. Lameere 

 in the chair. — F. Swarts : On trinuormethylcyclo- 

 hexane. — F. Swarts : On trifiuoracetic acid. — Tli. De 

 Donder : The electromagnetic field and the gravific 

 field. — A. Melant: The conditions determining the 

 encystment of the infusorian, Euplotes harpa. — M. 

 Philippson : A new form of electrical resistance of 

 electrolytes. — M. Nuyens : A change in the variables 

 of M. De Donder. — P. Bruylants and J. Dondeyne : 

 The determination of the atomic weight of selenium. 



Official Publications Received. 



The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research of the University of 

 Pittsburgh Ninth Annual Report on the Industrial Fellowships of 

 the Mellon Institute t,.r tin- Institute's Fiscal Year. March 1, 1921, to 

 March 1, 1022. Pp. vi + 23 (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 



South Australia : Department of Mines. Minim: Review fur the 

 Half- Year en. led December 31st. 1021. Compiled In Lionel ('. E. lice. 

 \ 35 Pp. 72. (Adelaide.) 



South Australia. Department of Mines: Geological Survey of 

 South Australia Bulletin No. !> : The Iron-Ore Resources of South 

 \u-iiiha. Hv 11. Loekhart Jack. Pp.71. (Adelaide.) 



Bureau of Education, India Occasional Reports No. 10: Adult 

 Education (University Extra-Mural Teaching in England and Wales). 

 By .1 P Bulkclev. Pp. ix + OS. (Calcutta: Government Printing 

 Office.) 8 annas. ' 



lhu.au ol Education, India. Indian Education in 1920-21. Pp. 

 ii+87. (Calcutta: Government Printing Office.) 1.8 rupees. 



Technical College. Bradford. Diploma and Special Day Courses. 

 Prospectus Session 1922-23. Pp. 168+ plates. (Bradford.) 



Report of the Fifteenth Meetiiii! of the Australasian Association 



for the \. Ivan. ..t .a -i i.-ii. ... II. .hart Meeting, held in Melbourne, 



January 1921. Edited L\ Di Georgina Sweet and Dr. A. C. D. 

 Rivett. Pp. lxxxix+390. (Sydney, N.S.W. : The Association, 

 Elizabeth street.) 



Diary of Societies. 



FRIDA Y, June 30. 

 ISSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC BIOLOGISTS (at the Royal Horticultural 



Society's Gardens, Wisley), leaving London 11.15-11.30 A.M.— Annual 



Field Meeting. 

 royal Society of Medii ixe (Laryngology Section), at 4.4a. 



MONDAY; Ji'LY 3. 

 Vli COEIA Institute (at Central Buildings. Westminster), at 4.30. — 



Right Rev Bishop Well,!.. n : Modernism. (Annual Address.) 

 FFI.I.iOVSIIIl' HI Ml, OH INI. (at Rnval Society Of Medicine), at 5. — Dr. 



J. S. Cood.lll : -..-. died 1 Ulietional Diseases ot the Heart. 

 Royu Instiii I'l.'N '.) 1.1:1 .1 I'.ld'l \IN. at .">. -General Meeting. 



ROYAI iNMiiin. i.i British Architects, at 8.— Dr. T. Ashby : 



B... nt Excavations at Rome. 

 Aristotelian Society (at University "I London Club, 21 Gower 



Street), at S. — W. O. Brigstocke : Probability. 



TUESDAY, July 4. 



Eugenics EprrvnoN Society (Annual General Meeting) (at Loyal 



' -,,,. iet\ i at . r >.3ll.— Dr. Tredgold. Dr. C. H. Bond, Dr. B. Hollander, 



K. \ fisher, and others : Conference on the Inheritance of Mental 



[NSTITUT1 i.i l'il\s|. s i-it Institution of Electrical Engineers), at 

 .-,:!( i s,,| \||,ed l.v lie:, l'he Physicist iii Engineering Practice, with 

 Special Reference t.. Applications of Thermodynamics. (Lectures 

 on " Physics in [ndustrj " (2).) 



Sociologii llSoctj iy <ai I e|.la. II. .u>e, 65 Belgrave Road), at 8.15. — 

 S. C. Ramsey : Regional and Vocational Influences on Architecture. 



WEDNESDAY, July 5. 



B ova i, M int'.i utoi.oGicAL Society (a Summer Meeting) (at the Croydon 



Aerodrome), at 3— G. R. Hay: Address on the Arrangements for 



supplying Meteorological Information to Pilots. — Inspection of 



Vcro ironic, . tc 



THURSDJ Y. Ii i a 6. 

 R01 M, Society OF MEDICINE, at 5.— Annual General Meeting, 

 civil I. in cation League (at Leplay House, li.'i Belgrave Road), a 

 8.15. A, I ai.|iiharson : Art as a Mirror of Society. 



