December 9, 1922] 



NA TURE 



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amphigynous type of fertilisation similar to certain 

 species of Phytophthora and has a conidial stage 

 similar to that of Muratella. — Miss E. S. Moore : 

 The physiology of the dry-rot disease of potatoes in 

 storage caused by Fusanum cczvukum. The exist- 

 ence of seasonal and varietal differences in suscepti- 

 bility was confirmed. The amount and type of 

 fungus growth is related to the carbohydrate and 

 nitrogen supply, to the reaction of the medium 

 and the temperature of incubation. — A. Castellani : 

 Mycology in tropical medicine. The history of our 

 knowledge of fungal diseases and the chief human 

 parasites and their effects were considered. 



Zoological Society, November 21. — Sir S. F. 

 Planner, vice-president, in the chair. — A. Smith 

 Woodward : A skull and tusks of a mammoth from 

 Siberia. — D. Seth-Smith : The shed lining of the 

 gizzard of a hombill. — Ivor G. S. Montagu : On a 

 further collection of mammals from the Inner 

 Hebrides. — F. R. Wells : The morphology and 

 development of the chondrocranium of the larval 

 Clupia. harengus. — R. I. Pocock : The external 

 characters of the beaver (Castoridae) and some 

 squirrels (Sciuridas). — G. M. Vevers : On the cestode 

 parasites from mammalian hosts which died in the 

 Gardens of the Zoological Society of London during 

 the years 1919-1921 ; with a description of a new 

 species of Cyclorchida. — A. Loveridge : Notes on 

 East African birds (chiefly nesting-habits and stomach- 

 contents) collected 1915-1919: — E. A. Stensid : Notes 

 on certain Crossopterygians. — Ekendranath Ghosh : 

 On the animal of Scaphula (Benson), with a description 

 of a new species of Scaphula. — J. H. Lloyd and Edith 

 M. Sheppard : A contribution to the anatomy of a 

 hammerhead-shark [Zygcena malleus). — R. H. Mehra : 

 Two new Indian species of the lit tie-known genus 

 Aulodrilus (Bretscher), aquatic Oligochaeta belonging 

 to the family Tubificidas. — J. Stephenson : The 

 Oligochaeta of the Oxford University Spitsbergen 

 expedition. — R. J. Ortlepp : The nematode genus 

 Phvsaloptera, Rud. 



Royal Meteorological Society, November 22. — Dr. 

 C. Chree, president, in the chair. — A. H. R. Goldie : 

 Circumstances determining the distribution of tem- 

 perature in the upper air under conditions of high 

 and low barometric pressure. An analysis was 

 given of 165 observations of upper air temperature 

 made from aeroplanes, data being classified according 

 to whether the air was " equatorial " or " polar." 

 The main conclusions are — (a) that in high-pressure 

 systems there would usually be found, either a 

 surface layer of polar air and above it equatorial 

 air with the high stratosphere associated with low 

 latitudes, or equatorial air all the way up ; (b) that 

 in low-pressure systems there would usually be found 

 either (i.) all polar air and the low stratosphere of 

 high latitudes, or perhaps (ii.) equatorial air which 

 had been " let down " by retreating polar air, or 

 (iii.) — near the centre of cyclones — a mixture of 

 polar and equatorial air. These features alone 

 would go far towards explaining (1) the absence of 

 correlation between temperature and pressure near 

 the surface, (2) the high positive correlation from 

 3 to 8 kilometres, (3) the greater height of the strato- 

 sphere over high than over low pressure, (4) the 

 negative correlation between temperature and pressure 

 in the stratosphere. — Rev. Jose Algue : The Manila 

 typhoon of May 23, 1922. This typhoon traversed 

 tlie central part of the Philippines in a north-westerly 

 direction on May 20 to 23, the centre having passed 

 practically over Manila on the morning of May 23. 

 Manila missed the worst of the storm, and, although 

 the barometric minimum in the present case, 742-3 

 mm. (29-22 inches), was lower than in the typhoons 

 of August 31, 1920, and July 4, 1921, the damage 



NO. 2771, VOL. 1 IO] 



done was much smaller ; the maximum velocity of 

 the wind, even in a few isolated gusts, was not more 

 than 60 miles per hour. The rate of progress of the 

 typhoon between Surigao and Maasin was 8 or 9 

 miles per hour ; from Romblon to Boac it moved 

 at the rate of only 5-6 miles per hour ; when nearing 

 Manila, it increased again to about 8 miles per hour ; 

 and from Manila to Iba the rate of progress was 

 greater than 10 miles per hour. It appears that 

 the typhoon filled up on May 26 in the China Sea 

 east of Hainan. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, November 13. — M. Emile 

 Bertin in the chair. — Paul Vuillemin : The morpho- 

 logical value of antitropic emergences. The mechan- 

 ism of their production by desmonastic displacement. 

 — Paul Levy : The determination of the laws of 

 probability by their characteristic functions. — M. 

 van der Corput : Some new approximations. — W. 

 Sierpinski : The existence of all classes of measurable 

 (B) ensembles. — Pierre Fatou : Meromorphic functions 

 of two variables. — Luc Picart : Statistics of faint 

 stars in a limited region of the Milky Way. — Charles 

 L. R. E. Menges : Fresnel's coefficient. — A. Perot : 

 A rapid method of determining the elements of 

 terrestrial magnetism. The principle utilised in the 

 apparatus described is the production of induced 

 currents in a coil rotating in the earth's field and 

 the compensation of these currents by the production 

 of a suitable magnetic field round the rotating coil. 

 The accuracy claimed is about o-i per cent., and the 

 actual measurement requires only ten minutes. — 

 L. Decombe : The calculation of the magnetic 

 moment of a star, starting with its axial moment of 

 inertia, its time of rotation, and the universal constant 

 of gravitation. — J. Cabannes : The polarisation and 

 intensity of the light diffused by transparent liquids. 

 Einstein's theory of the diffusion of light by liquids, 

 based on the assumption that fluids are continuous 

 media the properties of which vary slowly from one 

 point to another, has not been confirmed by experi- 

 ment. The modified theory developed by the author, 

 assuming the existence of molecules, is shown to be 

 in better agreement with fact. The depolarisation 

 of diffused light by liquids furnishes a fresh proof of 

 the discontinuity of matter. — Elis Hjalmar : Re- 

 searches on the series of the X-rays. — P. Fleury : 

 An electrical furnace with molybdenum resistance 

 in vacuo. Molybdenum as a resistance material has 

 certain advantages over tungsten ; it is less fragile, 

 more easily wound, does not contract strongly on 

 first heating like tungsten, and is cheaper. Details 

 are given of the construction of such a furnace, 

 4 cm. in diameter and 1 4 cm. high, giving a temperature 

 of 1650 C. with a consumption of 2100 watts. At 

 1750° C. (2600 watts) the alundum tube fused. — 

 H. Fischer and P. Steiner : The ultra-violet absorption 

 spectra of pyridine and isoquinoline. — Georges Chau- 

 dron and Louis Blanc : The estimation of oxygen in 

 steel. A comparison of results obtained by reduction 

 of the steel with hydrogen either alone, or with the 

 addition of various copper, tin, and antimony alloys. 

 Both methods gave the same results. — L. J. Simon : 

 The neutralisation of tartaric acid in presence of 

 metallic chlorides. The neutral zone and buffer 

 solutions. — P. Loisel : The radioactivity of the springs 

 of the region of Bagnoles-de-1'Orne and its relation 

 to the geological structure. There is a distinct 

 relation between the radioactivity of the springs 

 and the geological structure of the district. This 

 conclusion is based on the measurement of the radio- 

 activitv of the water from twenty-eight springs. — 

 J. B. Charcot : The geological study of the sea floor of 

 the English Channel. — Rene Soueges : The embryo- 



