July 4, 1907] 



NA TURE 



239 



temperature layer " came into existence, the so-called 

 Sprungschicht of the Austrian and German naturalists. 

 Down to the depth of this discontinuity layer the tempera- 

 ture varied very slowly, and below it, down to the bottom 

 of the loch, there was an almost constant temperature, 

 but within the layer the temperature varied very rapidly. 

 This the author believed to be due to the action of the 

 winds blowing over the surface and separating out the 

 two great masses of water of different temperature and 

 density. The explanation was illustrated experimentally 

 by means of a trough containing a layer of salt water with 

 a layer of fresh water above it. A blast of varying 

 strength could be blown along the surface, causing the 

 fresh water to heap up towards the leeward end, and pro- 

 ducing a back current along the bottom of the fresh-water 

 layer. This back current drew the upper layer of the 

 salt water after it, and set up a feeble return current in 

 the salt-water layer in the same direction as the original 

 current on the surface due to the wind. When the blast 

 ceased a seich-like movement was produced in the salt- 

 water layer, e.xactly similar to the temperature seiche 

 which had been observed in the Scottish lochs. — A speci- 

 men of Helix pomatia with paired male organs ; Dr. 

 J. H. Ashw/orth. In addition to the normal set of re- 

 productive organs present on the right side, this specimen 

 possessed on the left side a set of accessory male organs. 

 The normal and supplementary male organs were equally 

 developed and were symmetrically placed, and the super- 

 numerarv genital aperture ciccupied a position on the left 

 side exactlv corresponding to that of the normal aperture 

 on the right side. The form of the supplementary organ 

 supports the view that the present position of the genital 

 ducts in Helix and other Stylommatophora has been 

 derived from a condition existing in the ancestral form 

 in which the vas deferens and penis were connected with 

 the primitive genital aperture by means of a lateral groove, 

 such as still exists in Pythia. — Encystment of Tardigrada : 

 James Murray. This remarkable transformation began 

 with the forming of a cyst under the original skin of the 

 mature animal, the skin gradually shrivelling, the feet 

 disappearing, and the creature reverting to an embryonic 

 state with loss of all its principal organs. After a period 

 nf rest the organs develop again, and the animal finally 

 emerges from its case exactly as it was before the encyst- 

 ment began. 



Parts. 

 Academy of Sciences. June 24. — M. Henri Becquevel in 

 the chair. — A new mineral species from the high tempera- 

 ture fumerolles of the recent eruption of Vesuvius : A. 

 Lacroix. The mineral has the composition 



PbSO,.(K or Na),SO„ 

 and the name palmierite is proposed for it. — .\ new method 

 of preparing anhydrous oxide of lithium : M. de Forcrand. 

 Pure lithium carbonate is heated to a temperature of 

 780° C. to 800° C. in a platinum boat in a current of dry 

 hydrogen. In about three hours the whole of the carbon 

 dioxide is eliminated, and pure Li,0 remains. The heat 

 of solution of pure lithium mono.xide, prepared in three 

 different ways, was found to be 31-2 calories, or more 

 than five calories higher than the previously accepted 

 number of M. Bekeloff. — The addition of water to 

 ethylenic oxides by means of sulphuric acid : Louis Henry. 

 Now that an application of Grignard's reaction gives a 

 means of preparing ethylene oxides in a general manner, 

 the author has studied the mode of hydrolysis by dilute 

 acids, and gives a series of glycols, with their boiling 

 points, w^hich have been prepared. — The secretary 

 announced the death of Charles Trepied, correspondant for 

 the section of astronomy, and A. Crova, correspondant in 

 the section of physics. — Observations of the comets c and 

 d, 1Q07, made at the Observatory of Algiers : MM. 

 Rambaud and Sy. Observations were made on eight 

 nights between June 5 and iq. The positions of the com- 

 parison stars and the apparent positions of the comet are 

 given. — .Al species of analytical geometry of systems of 

 additive functions : Frederic Riesz. — The functional equa- 

 tion of M. Fredholm : .'\. Korn, — Ensembles of functions 

 and linear operations : Maurice Frechet. — The secondary 

 kathodic emission of nulals under the influence of the 

 a-ravs : Marcel Moulin. The existence of a secondary 



radiation of the a-rays, at first generally admitted, has 

 been called in doubt by several recent workers. Pre- 

 liminary experiments in favour of the hypothesis of the 

 existence of such secondary radiations are given. — Drops 

 formed in a magnetic field : H. Ollivier and Pierre 

 Seve — Thermochemical data relating to the ammonio- 

 niercuric base and its hydrates: 11." Caudechon. The 

 immediate solution effected by a solution of potassium 

 cyanide is utilised as a means of carrying out the thermo- 

 chemical measurements. The data used as a basis for 

 the calculations are indicated in full. — The nature of 

 sulphammonium : P. Lebeau and P. Damoiseau. A 

 repetition of the work of Henri Moissan and of Otto 

 Rulif and Geisel. The latter indicate a reversible reaction 

 between sulphur and ammonia, giving rise to nitrogen 

 sulphide and ammonium sulphide. In the present paper 

 it is shown that if minute precautions are taken to ensure 

 the complete absence of moisture, neither nitrogen 

 sulphide nor ammonium sulphide is formed. The weight 

 of sulphur recovered after evaporation of the liquid 

 ammonia is exactly the original weight, and no trace of 

 sulphuretted hydrogen is given off during the evaporation. 

 — The combinations between silicon and molybdenum. 



Molybdenum bisilicide : Ed. Defacqz The various 



molecular states of anhydrous ferric sulphate and hvdrated 

 ferric sulphate : .\. Recoura. — Cuprous iodide : .Marcel 

 Guichard. All attempts to prepare cupric iodide bv work- 

 ing at low temperatures failed. Hydriodic acid, liquefied 

 at a low temperature on cupric chloride, gives rise at 

 once to a mixture of cuprous iodide and free iodine. The 

 iodine appears at the commencement of the reaction, and 

 is easily separated either by solution or sublimation. .\ 

 new method of analysis of iodides is given. — .A. studv of 

 the alloys of cobalt and tin : K. Ducelliez. The method 

 of isolation and the properties of the alloy CoSn are de- 

 scribed. — A molybdo-uranic combination : Andr^ Lancien. 

 The precipitate formed by the interaction of ammonium 

 molybdate and uranyl nitrate has the composition of uranyl 

 molybdate, CO^MoO,. — Lupeol : E. Jungfleisch and H. 

 Leroux. A comparison of the properties of the alcohol 

 lupeol, isolated from different samples of gutta-percha. — 

 The action of some esters of the a-iodo-fatty acids on the 

 iodide of magnesium phenylamine and magnesium ortho- 

 toluidine iodide : F. Bodroux and F. Taboury. — The 

 origin of the deposits of colouring matter in red wines : 

 .\. Trillat. The deposit is caused by the formation of an 

 insoluble compound of the red colouring matter with 

 acetaldehyde. In the absence of the aldehyde the red 

 substance is not affected by the oxygen of the air. — The 

 synthesis of an aldehyde possessing the odour of violets, 

 cyclo-lemonylidene-propenol : Ph. Barbier. Lemonal and 

 propionic aldehyde are condensed by dilute soda in weak 

 alcoholic solution. The resulting aldehyde is treated with 

 60 per cent, sulphuric acid. Two aldehydes result, both 

 possessing an intense odour of fresh violets, and superior 

 to that of ionone. These have the drawback of oxidising 

 very rapidly by exposure to air, and losing their smell in 

 consequence. — The phenomena of coloration of brown 

 bread : Gabriel Bertrand and W. Mutermilch. — 

 Observations on the primordial leaves of various species 

 of the genus Achillea : L^on Dufour. — The fungus- 

 cultivating ants of Madagascar : H. Jumelle and 

 H. Perrier de la Bathe. — .Some variations observed in 

 the rose : Lucien Daniel. — The morphological value of the 

 spines of coral : Louis Roule. — The persistence of the 

 trocophore in a Hesionian : C. Viguier. — Some new ideas 

 on the white bearded gibbon, Ilylobatcs hucogenys : Louis 

 Boutan. — A general table of the encephalic weights as a 

 function of the body weight : Louis Lapicque. — The 

 association of unicellular alg.'e with Sarcophyttim 

 mycetoides : Ch. Gravier. — The measurement of the 

 pulmonary field and its activity : Gabriel Arthaud. — The 

 physiological action of some colouring matters and their 

 urinary excretion : Jean Gautrelet and Henri Gravellat. 

 — The relation between oceanic whirlpools and volcanoes : 

 E. A. Martel. 



New South Wales. 



Linnean Sciciety. March 27. — Annual gene'.il meeting. — Mr. 



Thomas Steel, president, in the chair. — Presidential 



address : Some questions in terrestrial physics : T. Steel. 



The first section was devoted to a discussion of radium 



NO. 1966, VOL. 75] 



