NA TURE 



[September 2, 1922 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 7. — M. G. Bigourdan 

 in the chair. — B. Baillaud : A new transit instrument 

 recently installed at the Paris Observatory. — S. 

 Winogradsky : The supposed transformation of the 

 nitrifying ferment into a saprophytic species. A 

 criticism of the views of M. Beijerinck on the nitrifying 

 organism. — M. Abramesco : Developments in series 

 with two complex variables following the inverse of 

 given polynomials. — D. Yovanovitch : The chemical 

 properties of mesothorium-2. Kadioactive barium 

 chloride is precipitated by hydrochloric acid : the 

 precipitate contains mesothorium-i . thorium-X, and 

 radium. The mesothorium-2 is precipitated as 

 hydrate, and freed from thorium B and C by treat- 

 ment with sulphuretted hydrogen after adding a 

 little lead and bismuth. Its chemical properties 

 resemble those of lanthanum. — J. Orcel : The chemical 

 composition of aerinite. — J. Barthoux : Minerals of 

 the Oudjda region (Morocco). The following minerals 

 have been found in a lead mine near Oudjda : galena, 

 vanadinite, pyromorphite, wulfenite, cerussite, dolo- 

 mite, calcite, and aragonite : details of the crystal 

 forms are given. — Aime Azam : The constitution and 

 origin of the sediment of the plain of Caen called 

 rougeauts and fauvets. — J. Voicu : The influence of 

 humus on the sensibilitv of Azotobacter Chroococcum 

 towards boron. In a culture medium without humus 

 the effect of boron on the nitrogen assimilated is 

 insignificant, but if humus is added to the culture 

 the toxic action of boron is marked, and the amount 

 of nitrogen fixed is reduced. — Bene Maire and E. 

 Chemin : A new marine pyrenomycete. — F. Granel : 

 The structure and development of the pseudo- 

 branchia of the teleosteans. — Paul Portier and Marcel 

 Duval : The variation of the osmotic pressure of 

 the blood of the eel as a function of modifications 

 of the salinitv of the external medium. The osmotic 

 pressure of the blood serum of the eel living in fresh 

 water is much higher than in the carp ; when the 

 salt in the water is changed from o to 39 parts per 

 1000, with corresponding change in the freezing- 

 point from — o°-02 to — 2°-22, the freezing-point of 

 the serum changes only from -o°-63 to o°-83, and 

 the fish is not prejudicially affected. In salt solutions 

 of higher concentration than sea water the eel dies. 

 — Mile. T. Duboc : The action of tribromoxylenol 

 on tubercle bacilli. — A. Trillat : The influence of 

 humidity and vesicular state on the diffusion in air 

 of drops containing micro-organisms. From 98 per 

 cent, to 99-5 per cent, of the liquid dust produced by 

 an ordinary pulveriser fall within a few metres of the 

 point of origin. But of the remainder, some drops 

 are so small that they remain in suspension, especially 

 if the air is nearly saturated with moisture, and 

 may travel considerable distances. That micro- 

 organisms may be carried in this way has been 

 proved by exposure of Petri dishes, and also by 

 experiments with animals (mice). 



Melbourne. 

 Royal Society of Victoria, June 8. — Mr. F. Weis- 

 would in the chair. — Reuben T. Patton : On the 

 drying of timber. An examination of moisture dis- 

 tribution in oak from winter to autumn seems to 

 indicate that the moisture content of the heartwood 

 is constant. Other trees, however, gave very ex- 

 traordinary moisture distributions, and these em- 

 phasise the need for further investigation. Diffusion 

 constants were obtained for some common timbers, 

 and these show that oak has the lowest constant while 

 pine has the highest. A study of the diffusion of 

 moisture through the wood goes to show that the 



fibre saturation theory does not hold. Work with 

 cubes of green timber tends to show that drying 

 from the end is about five times as fast as from a 

 radial face. Thickness has no influence on the rate 

 of drying. The curves of loss for a series of thick- 

 nesses form an envelope. The maximum tempera- 

 tures and minimum humidities occurring in this 

 state give very favourable drving conditions. Only 

 at a humidity of 2 per cent, was the rate of drying 

 adversely affected. The more rapid the drying the 

 greater is the amount of shrinkage. — S. R. Tovey and 

 P. F. Morris : The contributions from the National 

 Herbarium of Victoria, No. 2. The paper contained 

 a description of Teucriitm racemosum, R.Br., var. 

 polymorpha, Tovey and Morris. The variety differs 

 from the type T. racemosum in having the stamens 

 inserted in the corolla and the stigma only slightlv 

 exserted. Three new records of recent introductions 

 were also given, viz. 1. A deciduous ornamental tree 

 Paulownia tomentosa. Steud (P. imperialis) ; 2. 

 Scorzonera laciniata, IX : this plant is sometimes 

 cultivated for its tapering root ; 3. Solatium triflorum, 

 Nutt., has made its appearance ; it somewhat re- 

 sembles the common Black Nightshade. The leaves 

 are deeply cut (pinnatifid), the berries are about the 

 size of a small cherry. In America the berries are 

 considered poisonous. The active constituent is 

 Solanin. The plant has been proclaimed under the 

 Thistle Act for the whole State. The remainder of 

 the paper consists of records of additional regional 

 distribution of plants, also corrections in accordance 

 with article 48 of the Vienna Botanical Congress 

 (1905) and other notes of interest. 



Cape Town. 

 Royal Society of South Africa, July 19. — Dr. 

 J. D. F. Gilchrist, president, in the chair. — K. H. 

 Barnard : Maps illustrating the zoological aspects of 

 Wegener's disruption hypothesis. Stress was laid on 

 the fact that on this hypothesis the land bridges 

 connecting the southern continents into an enormous 

 more or less equatorial continent were not required ; 

 that on the contrary the greater part of the old 

 polar Gondwanaland was still in existence at the 

 present day, and had never been beneath the sea 

 since pakeozoic times. Consequently the distance, 

 over which such groups as, e.g., the Acanthodrile 

 Worms, Peripatopsida?, Acavid Landshells, Cystig- 

 nathid Frogs had had to travel was minimised. The 

 extremities of these continents, hitherto regarded as 

 peripheral, and containing primitive types driven 

 thither by more specialised rivals, are seen to be 

 really portions of the centre of Gondwanaland. The 

 primitive and generalised types have always been 

 approximately where we find them to-day, and their 

 dispersal has been hindered and restricted, other 

 than by physical causes, by the appearance of higher 

 and more dominant types in other regions ; e.g. the 

 Acavida? and Achatinidae in South Africa and Ortman's 

 classical explanation of the mutual exclusiveness of 

 the Freshwater Crayfishes and Crabs. The con- 

 comitant expansion of an arm of the Indo-Pacific 

 Ocean continually further between India and Australia, 

 Africa and Antarctica, and extending eventually 

 between Africa and South America (to form the 

 Atlantic), was shown to have far-reaching consequences 

 m aiding the dispersal of the marine fauna, e.g. the 

 Silurid Fishes, Galaxias, and the ancestors of the 

 Freshwater Crayfishes. Difficulties in the way of 

 explaining certain features of the fauna of New 

 Zealand, which has been permanently above the 

 sea only since Tertiary times, were shown to be 

 obviated by the new hypothesis. — W. H. Logeman : 

 An easily constructed automatic Toepler vacuum pump. 



NO. 2757, VOL. I IO] 



