2 68 



NA TURE 



[August 19, 1922 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, July 17. — M. Emilc Berlin in 

 the chair. — H. Deslandres and V. Burson : Researches 

 on the atmosphere of the stars. Properties of stars 

 which have the same radiations and the same chromo- 

 spheric lavers as the sun : a list of twelve stars is 

 given, all of which show bright lines : eleven of these 

 ire \ tlli \\ stars of types G and K (Harvard classifica- 

 tion), one only is oi the M, type. These stars possess 

 chromospheres relatively more luminous and more 

 important than those of the sun. — Charles Moureu 

 and Charles Dufraisse : Auto-oxidation. Anti-oxy- 

 genic power. Various phenomena relating to anti- 

 oxvgenic action. It has been shown in an earlier 

 communication that certain substances, of which 

 hydroquinone is the type, can prevent oxidation. The 

 reaction between acrolein and oxygen has been studied 

 quantitatively, when the proportion of hydroquinone 



present has been varied between 1IT th and ni ,! i; ,th 



of the acrolein present ; and the results given in 

 graphical form. Various phenols are classified accord- 

 ing to their power of retarding oxidation (" anti- 

 oxygenic power "). A summary is given of earlier 

 work bearing on the subject.— Maurice Leblanc : 

 Lamps with three electrodes, anode, cathode, and 

 intermediate grid where the current is carried by 

 ions, and their applications. It is shown how these 

 lamps can be used to transform a continuous current 

 in an alternating current of high frequency or to 

 transform high-frequency currents into alternating 

 currents of low frequency. — Jules Andrade : Mechani- 

 cal determinism and the notion of the medium ; 

 pseudo-elliptic orbits and circular orbits. — Paul 

 Vuillemin : The legitimacy of the genera Laverama 

 and Nocardia. — Jules Baiflaud : The co-ordinates of 

 the galactic pole, deduced from the distribution of 

 the stars in the zone of the Paris astrophotographic 

 catalogue. — M. Bedeau : The determination of the 

 specific inductive capacity of mercury vapour. The 

 measurements were made at a temperature of 400 C, 

 under atmospheric pressure, utilising the method de- 

 scribed in an earlier communication for air. Mercury 

 vapour shows none of the anomalies proved for 

 steam, ammonia, etc., and its specific inductive 

 capacity is in agreement with 1-00074 deduced from 

 Maxwell's formula. — Jean G. Popesco : The variation 

 of the surface tension of mercury in gases. Employ- 

 ing a kinematographic method, the variation of the 

 surface tension of mercury with time of exposure to 

 various gases has been measured. Results are given 

 for air, ammonia, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen, carbon 

 dioxide, and nitrogen. In all cases there is a rapid 

 fall in the surface tension, and the variation is of the 

 same order of magnitude in all the gases, about 5 per 

 cent, reduction in 10 seconds, increasing to about 

 2\ per cent, after 24 hours' exposure. — M. Lindsay : 

 The limits of the L absorption of elements Ba, Cs, I. 

 Te, Sb. — R. de Mallemann : Rotatory polarisation 

 and molecular orientation. — Pierre Lambert and A. 

 Andant : An arrangement for depositing films of 

 metal on large surfaces by cathodic projection. The 

 use of greased ground joints is avoided by using a 

 ' double bell jar. Both jars are exhausted down to 

 about 10 mm., and the evacuation of the inner jar, 

 containing the cathode and object to be silvered, is 

 (impli-ted hv a ( i.iede pump. — Ch. Fabry and H. 

 Buisson : The curve of the distribution of energy 

 in the ultraviolet part of the solar spectrum. — M. 

 Duffieux : The mass of the particles which give the 

 spei t rum of carbon monoxide. The bands are emitted 

 by particles the masses of which arc in the ratio of 



16 : 12, and hence are not due to the molecule CO 

 but to its decomposition products, the free atoms of 

 carbon and oxygen. — Paul Mondain-Monval : The 

 preparation of ammonium chloride at a low tempera- 

 ture. — A. Ch. Vournazos : Mixed complex anti- 

 moniodobromides. Several complex salts have been 

 isolated, of which the sodium salt Na(SbBrI 3 ) may 

 be taken as the type. — L. J. Simon : The chromic 

 oxidation of the homologues of acetic acid. A com- 

 parison of the oxidising effects of the two mixtures, 

 sulphuric acid, chromic acid, and sulphuric acid, 

 silver chromate upon eleven fatty acids. These acids 

 are only partially converted into carbon dioxide and 

 water by the chromic acid mixture, but are com- 

 pletely burnt when silver chromate replaces chromic 

 acid. — Maurice Francois and Louis Gaston Blanc: A 

 method of preparing the iodomercurates of the 

 alkaloids in a crystallised condition. — A. Wahl and 

 R. Lantz : The 2-oxy-i-arylnaphthylamines. — Louis 

 Longchambon : The rotatory power of crystals and 

 molecular rotatory power. — Rene Abrard : The 

 presence of Nummulites variolarius in the Cresnes, 

 Marines, and Ruel sands and their signification. — P. 

 Lavialle and J. Delacroix : The wall of the pistil and 

 fruit in the genus Euphorbia. — J. Athanasiu and L. 

 Bull : The registration of the longitudinal vibrations 

 of muscle during voluntary contraction. — Pierre 

 Girard, W. Mestrezat, and Li-Shou-Houa : A physical 

 view of the selective permeability of living cells for 

 different ions. — Mile. Marthe Giroud, Gaston Giroud, 

 and L. Pares : Experimental researches on the 

 genesis of the haemoclasic crisis of intensive irradia- 

 tions. — L. Panisset, J. Verge, and E. Grasset : The 

 fixation-reaction in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in 

 cattle. The Bordet-Gengou method may be applied 

 to the diagnosis of tuberculosis of milch cows. — M. 

 Denuce : The treatment of congenital dislocation of 

 the hip. 



Official Publications Received. 



Abisko Naturvetenskapliga Station. Observations Meteorologiques 

 a \.bisko, Situe par 68 20',, Lat. Nord et par L8 19',, Long. Est. 

 Bv Bruno Rolf. En 1913. Pp. xvH-7G. En 1918. Pp.ii + 74. En 

 1919. Pp. ii ?:.. En 1920. Pp. iiH-76. (Uppsala: Almcruist and 

 Wiksells Boktryckeri A.-B.) 



Department of the Interior: Bureau of Education. Bulletin, 1021. 



No. 27 : Training i<T Foreign Service. C piled by den Levin 



s\vi._>eett. Pp. vi+]j4. (Washington : Government Printing other.) 

 15 cents. 



Lfrica : Department of Agriculture. Bulletin Nc 



I he Vetera I'nenicr 1 1 \ | „ i i 1 1 i ,- nt s and pacts 



itrol. By V. A. Pntterill. Pp. 31. (Pretoria: 

 ig and Stationery Office.) 3d. 

 i.ni tics India Igricultural Statistics of India. 

 Vie, j. < I:, --die, iti'. u mi Area. Area under Irrigation, 

 ck, and Land Revenue Assessment in 

 102 (Calcutta : Government 



Certain Indian States. Pp. 

 Printing * Iffice.) 1-8 rupees. 



Bihang till Met rologiska lakttagelsei i Sverige, Band 60, 1918: 



Termosynkroner «ii Tn si ikomei pa den Skandinaviska llalvdn 



By H. E. Hainhere; Pp. :i'.H la plates (Stockholm ; Ahnquist and 

 Wiksells Boktryckeri A.-B.) 



I' s Department ol Agrii ulture : Weather Bureau Monthly Weathe* 

 Review Supplement No 20: An Aerologicai Survey of the United 

 states Part I: Results of Observations by Means of Kites. By 

 Willis Ray Gregg. Pp. iv-1-78. (Washington: Government Printing 

 Office.) 



NO. 2755, VOL. I IO] 



