n6 



NA TURE 



[July 



1922 



the latter in the case of substances in a state of fine 

 division. The heat of immersion is discussed and 

 its relation to the apparent specific volume of a. 

 powder as obtained by the immersion method, and 

 a new criterion to distinguish between ,1 physical 

 and a chemical change in certain cases is given. — 

 J. L. Haughton and G. Winifred Ford : A note on 

 the systems in winch metals crystallise. In the 

 majority of cases the system in which a metal 

 crystallises depends on its position in the periodic 

 table. Alloys which form a homogeneous series of 

 solid solutions right across the diagram generallv 

 crystallise in the same system. There is apparently 

 no relationship between the changes which occur in 

 the physical properties of metals at the melting- 

 point, and their crystalline habit. A possible 

 exception is the electrical resistivity of the metals 

 in the odd series of group 5. — A. J. Kieran : The 

 electrical conductivity of hydrochloric acid and 

 potassium chloride in presence of sucrose. The 

 equivalent conductivities of hvdrochloric acid, through 

 a wide range of dilution, were determined in the 

 presence of varying quantities of sucrose, the con- 

 centration of the latter being maintained constant 

 in each series of measurements. While the behaviour 

 of potassium chloride in presence of sucrose is normal, 

 in that the equivalent conductivity increases regularly 

 with increasing dilution of the salt to an asymptotic 

 limit, that of hydrochloric acid is abnormal, the 

 equivalent conductivity passing through a maximum 

 and falling thereafter with increasing dilution. 

 This is connected with the relatively minute traces 

 i>f electrolytic impurity present even in the purest 

 samples of sucrose obtainable. The nature of the 

 abnormality is of interest in view of the close associa- 

 tion of minimal amounts of electrolytes with other 

 organic substances of high molecular weight. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, June 19. — M. Emile Bertin 

 in the chair. — Marcel Brillouin : The isotropic field. 

 Heterogeneous fluid sphere. — Maurice Leblanc : A 

 new freezing machine with air as the working fluid. 

 A detailed description, with diagrams, of a machine 

 based on the principles given in an earlier communi- 

 cation (June 12). The results obtained by this 

 machine will be published later. — Charles Deperet : 

 An attempt at the general chronological co-ordination 

 of the quaternary period. — A. Rateau : The pressure 

 and specific gravity of air in a normal atmosphere. — 

 M. Riquier : The elimination of arbitrary constants. 



G. Friedel and L. Royer : The liquids of Grandjean 

 with equidistant planes. — M. Charles Gravier was 

 elected a member of the section of anatomy and 

 zoology in the place of the late M. Ranvier. — M. 

 Gosse : Partial differential equations of the second 

 order integrable by the method of Darboux. — 

 Bertrand Gambier : "Applicable surfaces with equality 

 of the principal radii of curvature. — I.. Dunoyer and 

 P. Toulon : The polarity of the electric arc. — B. 

 Szilard : A new electrometer with rigid pointer 

 designed for the measurement of radiations. A 

 description and diagram of the instrument are given : 

 the advantages claimed are transportability, easy 

 adjustment to the zero of the scale, and sensibility. 

 A visible displacement is obtained with o-oi gram 

 black uranium oxide free from uranium - X. — F. 

 Guery : A curious property of a special mounting 

 of electrical machines excited in series. — Edouard 

 Belin : The transmission of handwriting and drawings 

 by wireless telegraphy. An account of additional 

 experiments by the method described in an earlier 

 communication. A reproduction is given of a radio- 



NO. 2751, VOL. Iio] 



telephotogram sent across the Atlantic. — Pierre 

 Jolibois and Robert Bossuet : The precipitation of 

 uranyl nitrate by soda. The radioactivity of the 

 precipitate. The first precipitate formed carries 

 with it a considerable proportion of uranium-X. 

 The oxide of uranium-X is less basic than uranium 

 oxide. — Max Geloso : The absorption of iron by 

 precipitates of manganese dioxide. — Ch. Dufraisse 

 and P. Gerald : The action of alcohols on a-bromo- 

 benzalacetophenone. — Henri Longchambon : Study 

 of the tritoluminescence spectrum of saccharose. 

 Previous work on this subject has led to the con- 

 clusion that the light given out when crystals of sugar 

 are crushed is continuous. It has now been proved 

 that the spectrum is discontinuous, and the bands 

 observed correspond with the second positive band 

 spectrum of nitrogen. The effect is probably due 

 to a silent electrical discharge between two solid 

 particles of sugar suddenly separated and charged 

 electrically. This view is confirmed by the fact 

 that when sugar is broken in a vessel containing air 

 under reduced pressure (40 mm. to 1 mm. of mercury) 

 the luminosity is much more intense. — St. Jonesco : 

 The distribution of the anthocyanidines in the 

 coloured organs of plants. — E. Wollman and M. 

 Vagliano : The influence of avitaminosis on lactation. 

 A 1.1 1 led with food deprived of vitamins is incapable 

 of supplying its young with the vitamins necessary 

 for growth. Young rats, from the earliest days of 

 their existence, can utilise vitamins of foreign origin 

 (from yeast and butter). — G. Mouriquand and P. 

 Michel : Auto-immunisation against deficiency diet. — 

 L. Panisset and J. Verge : The " donneurs de sang " 

 (horses providing blood for transfusion) in veterinary 

 medicine. The transfusion of blood from one in- 

 dividual to another of the same species is known, 

 in the case of man, to be attended with certain 

 risks (agglutination, haemolysis). Laboratory experi- 

 ments in vitro and also clinical practice show that 

 these risks are very small with horses or with cattle. 

 — Jean Delphy: Gregarina Stsnuridis and its host. 

 — W. R. Thompson : The study of some simple cases 

 of cyclic parasitism in entomophagous insects. — 

 C. Levaditi and S. Nicolau : Vaccine and neoplasms. 



Official Publications Received. 



Che National Physical Laboratory. Report for the real L92] 

 Pp.207. (London: H.\l M.itn.non uilicc.) ii«. (W. net. 



The North of Scotland ( ..llcg Vgriculture. Uuide to Experi- 

 ments at Craibstone, 1922. Pp. 42. (Aberdeen.) 



Report "I the Director ni the Royal Observatory, Hongkong, for 

 the Year 1921. Pp. 17. 1 Hongkong.) 



Canada Department 01 Mines: ecological Survey. Summary 

 Report, 1921. Part C: Geology and Mineral Resources of Rice Lake 

 ami (liseau Kiver Anas, Manitoba. By H. C. Cooke. Pp. 30C. 

 (Ottawa.) 



Canada. Department of .Mines: Ucological Survey. Hull. -tin 

 Xo 21. Ucological series. No II : l'hy-iograpli\ am! Glacial Urology 

 oi u,, .|.. Peninsula, i,iu. ■ •. liv A. !'. Coleman. Pp. 52. (Ottawa.) 



Canada Department ol .Mines: Victoria Memorial Museum. 

 Bulletin No. 36, Biological Scries, No. 8: Can. I Snails from the 



Canadian Rockies. IS\ s Millmnn Kerry. Pp. 19. Me il I2ii. 



Xo. 4 Biological -rrie- : \ I '.. -t ,i ni. .> I exploration oi the North Shore 

 ..i the Gulf .a St Lawrem i . in. hiding an Annotated List of the species 

 of Vascular Plants By Harold St. John. Pp. iii 130. (Ottawa.) 



RedogoreCe i..r skog-i..i-ok-:ui-taltcn- \ erk-amhet im.l.r Fyraars- 

 perio.len l'.ils 1021 unit. I,,r,|agtill \r beispi, ,-r.mi : Summary of 



the Program the >w, .|i-h Mate In-Mint, ol experimental forestry 



for the pen. ..I 1922 1926. (Meddelanden fran Statens Skogsforsbks- 

 an-talt. Halite l'.i, X:rl.l Pp. 12::. (Mo.kliolm : Centra It ryekericC) 



The Journal of the Institute oi Metals. Edited by G. Shaw Scott. 

 Vol. 27. Pp. viii + 621 1-35 plates. (London: The Institute of 

 Metals.) 31s.6d.net. 



Annual Report oi the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion slc.wiic' I lie operation- expenditures, and Condition of the 

 Institution for the Vear ending J tin. ■«. C'2o (Publication gi;-2.) 

 Pp.704 plates. (Washington: u, ,\ enmi. iitjl'rinting Office.) 



I iimrsity ..t Bristol. The Annual Report ..( the Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Research station (The National Fruit ami Cider In- 

 stitute!. Cong Asbton. Bristol, 1921. Pp. 160. (Bristol: The Uni- 

 versity.) 



