NA TURE 



[December 23, 1922 



of the algologic flora of Saint Malo. — P. Maze : The 

 practical conditions for using calcium cyanamide as 

 a manure. The best way to apply calcium cyanamide 

 to the soil is to mix it with peat. — Ch. Brioux : The 

 comparative assimilability of calcium phosphate and 

 the phosphates of iron and alumina. Plants can 

 assimilate phosphorus from the phosphates of alu- 

 minium and iron, and from the experiments described 

 the facility of assimilation of phosphorus from the 

 phosphates of aluminium, calcium, and iron is in the 

 order given. From this it follows that in determining 

 the useful phosphorus in manures the solvent em- 

 ployed should attack not only the phosphates of the 

 alkalies, lime and magnesia, but also phosphates of 

 iron and alumina. — A. Pezard and F. Caridroit : The 

 action of the testicular hormone on the relative 

 valency of the allelomorphic factors in sheep (Dorset 

 and Suffolk). — H. Barthelemy : Maturation in vitro 

 and activation of the eggs in the general cavity and 

 conduits in Rana fusca. — Paul Portier and Marcel 

 Duval : Osmotic pressure of the blood of the " wiped " 

 eel as a function of modifications of the salinity of the 

 external medium. The mucus abundantly secreted 

 at the surface of the skin of the eel has a marked 

 influence on the isolation of the internal medium. 

 The partial or complete removal (by wiping the sur- 

 face) of this protective medium causes an increase in 

 the osmotic pressure of the blood serum when the 

 salinity of the external medium is increased. — Ed. Le 

 Danois : The prediction of the value of the herring 

 catch in winter. The prediction is based on the study 

 of the 14 C. isotherm at 50 metres depth in August, 

 and the assumption that the movements of the herring 

 are governed by the temperature of the water. The 

 fishing results this winter have confirmed this view. — 

 Louis Roule : The ecology of the sturgeon ( Acipenser 

 stuno) in the Atlantic regions of France. — H. Herissey : 

 The biochemical synthesis of rf-a-mannoside starting 

 from mannanes. — Emile F. Terroine, E. Brenckmann, 

 and A. Feuerbach : The identity of composition of 

 organisms of the same species after death by starva- 

 tion. — G. Marinesco : The role of oxidising ferments 

 in the production of fevers and inflammations. 



Brussels. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, October 14. — M. A. 

 Lameere in the chair. — C. Cesaro : The blue crystals 

 of disthene found at Katanga. Facility of the ,;■, 

 cleavage. The angle of extinction on g± and in the 

 other faces of the vertical zone. Corresponding faces. 

 The results of a detailed crystallographic examination 

 of small crystals of disthene, collected in Katanga 

 sands. The same sand contained a single crystal of 

 euclase, a mineral not hitherto found in the Congo. 

 — Leon Fredericq : New Belgium. The colony of 

 arctic-alpine animals and plants found on the Baraque 

 Michel plateau is exceptional and is not found to the 

 same extent on the other high plateaux of New 

 Belgium, notably at Losheimergraben. This pheno- 

 menon appears to be connected with the local anomaly 

 of temperature which characterises the climate of the 

 Baraque Michel. — Maurice Nuyens : The trajectory 

 of an electrified point in the field due to an electron. 

 — H. Buttenbach : Note on kasolite. The results of 

 a crystallographic examination of kasolite, found along 

 with pitchblende in the Katanga copper mines. — 

 Charles Fraipont : Observations on the large Pleisto- 

 cene Fclidae. 



November 4. — J. Neuberg : Geometry and mech- 

 anics. — N. Saltykow : The development of the theory 

 ol partial equations of the first order of a single 

 unknown function. — Paul Brien : Researches on the 

 embryogeny of Salpa maxima. 



Sydney. 

 Linnean Society of New South Wales, October 25. — 

 Mr. G. A. Waterhouse, president, in the chair. — 

 R. J. Tillyard : Mesozoic insects of Queensland. 

 No. 9. In the Protorthoptera a large number of 

 fragments of the peculiar Mesorthopteron locustoides 

 Till, enables a full restoration of the wing to be made. 

 Two new genera and species are described in the 

 Orthoptera, one related to mantids, the other a very 

 elongated locustoid type. In the Odonata a practic- 

 ally complete wing of an Archizygopteron forming 

 the type of a new family is discussed. In the 

 Hemiptera a large number of new types are dealt 

 with, including the first Tiiassic record of representa- 

 tives of the Cryptocerata or water-bugs, and several 

 new Homoptera belonging to the Scytinopterida, 

 Tropiduchidae, Cixiidae, and Ipsviciida?. — A. J. 

 Turner : Some Australian moths from Lord Howe 

 Island. Ship traffic plays an important part in the 

 introduction of Australian species of Lepidoptera 

 into Lord Howe Is., Norfolk Is., and New Zealand. — 

 Vera Irwin- Smith : Notes on nematodes of the genus 

 Physaloptera. Pt. iv. The Physaloptera of Aus- 

 tralian Lizards (contd.). Two new species and a 

 larva found encysted in the body cavity of Hinulia 

 taniolatum are "described. The cyst-forming habit 

 was not known before in the genus, and Physaloptera 

 have never been recorded, hitherto, outside the 

 alimentary canal. — G. D. Osborne : The geology and 

 petrography of the Clarencetown-Paterson district. 

 Pt. ii. The larger faults are connected with the 

 folding movements which produced asymmetric 

 plunging folds as the outcome of thrusting due to 

 the subsidence of the sub-oceanic segment of the 

 Pacific. The age of the faulting and folding is 

 probably post-Upper Marine and pre-Triassic. A 

 comparison between the plan of the outcrop of the 

 Bolwarra conglomerate in the Permian Series and 

 that of the Paterson toscanite in the Kuttung Series 

 gives evidence of differential crumpling of these two 

 series. 



Official Publications Received. 



British Astronomical Association. Handbook for 1923. Pp. 38. 

 (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, Ltd.) 2s. 



Dove Marine Laboratory, rnllono.iis. Northumberland. Report for 

 the Year ending June 30th, 1922. Edited by Prof. Alexander Meek. 

 Pp. 105. (Cullercoats.) B«. 



Madras Fi-heii.- 1 1. part incut. I'.iillotin So. 13: Administration 

 Report, l'.il'.i 2ti. I'v tie lion. .Mr. \. \. ti. Campbell: Remarks on 

 Canning and Manufacture of Fish oil and Guano, by Sir F. A. Nicholson. 

 (Reports Nob. 1, 2 and 3 of 1921.) Pp.266. (Madras: Government 

 Press.) 3.2 rupees. 



Diary of Societies. 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28. 

 Annual Conference of Educational Associations (at liedfonl 



College for Women), at 3. — Sir Michael Sadler: Presidential \ddress. 

 Royal Institution of Great Britain, at 3. — Pro. H. H. Turner: 



Six Steps OP the Ladder to the Stars. (1) The Distance of the stars. 



(Juvenile Lectures.) 



FRIDAY, December 29. 



Eugenics Education Society (at University College), at 3. 



Y.M.c.A. (at University College), at 3. — Sir Arthur Yapp and others: 

 The Y.M.C.A. and Adult Education. 



National League for Health, Maternity, and Child Welfare 

 (at University College), at 5.30.— Dr. E. Pritchard: Physical De- 

 velopment and its Food Requirements. • 



Junior Institution of Engineers, at 7.30. — C.F.Morgan: Brewery 

 Engineering. 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30. 



ROYAL Institution of Great Britain, at 3.— Prof. H. H. Turner: 

 Six Steps up the Ladder to the Stars. (2) The Discovery of the 

 Planet Neptune. (Juvenile Lectures.) 



NO. 2773, VOL - ' IO J 



