A. -I TUKB 



[July 25, 1907 



sunshine for 346 days out of ihe year. The general 

 arranfjenients of the observatory were described, but 

 especially the methods for conducting solar research. A 

 series of spectroheliograms showing the distribution of 

 calcium vapour in the sun's atmosphere was exhibited; 

 also photographs of the sun's disc and of the marginal 

 prominences. .Some interesting questions were touched 

 upon as to the interpretation of certain m.irlcings in the 

 spectroheliograms. 



Dublin. 



Royal Dublin Society, June 18.— Dr. T. II Pollok in the 

 chair. — Injurious insects and other animals observed in 

 Ireland during the year 1900: I'rof. G. II. Carpenter. 

 In addition to records of well-known orchard .md forest 

 pests, this paper gives an account of damage to barley 

 by maggots of the small fly Elacliyl>lera cornuta, and 

 to young cabbage plants by grubs of the beetle I'sylliodes 

 clirysoccjthala. — The densities and specific heats of some 

 alloys of iron : \V. Brown. The author has investigated 

 the change in the densities and specific heats of about 

 fifty different specimens of iron alloyed with various per- 

 centages of carbon, manganese, nickel, tungsten, silicon, 

 copper, chromium, cobalt, and aluminium. The more 

 important results are graphed, and the effect of adding 

 1 per cent, of an clement to iron estimated. — A simple 

 and rapid method of determining the rate of absorption of 

 oxygen by polluted waters : Dr. W. E. Adeney. 



Pauls. 

 Academy of Sciences, July 16. — M. A. Chauveau in the 

 chair. — The structural stability of ethylene o.\ide : Louis 

 Henry. — How far it is possible to justify the use of the 

 arithmetic mean in calculations on the results of observ- 

 ations : (;iovanni Schiaparelli A report on the scientific 



mission to the gardens and j)ulilic zoological establishments 

 of the United Kingdom, Hilgium, and Holland : Gustave 

 Loisel.— The method of M. I.oewy for the study of divided 

 circles : .MM. Gonnessiat and Drayet. Results show 

 that it would be a mistake to limit the use of the division 

 to entire degrees, leaving the remainder to a siinple inter- 

 pretation ; this would involve, even in the mean of six 

 microscope readings, errors of more than o".2. — The 

 surfaces generated by a circular helix : M. Barre. — Re- 

 marks on the theorem of Jensen : C. Caratheodory and 

 I.. Fejer. — A fundamental problem in tlie theory of 

 elasticity ; A. Korn. — The difference of polenlial in an arc 

 running continuously between metallic electrodes : C. K. 

 Guye and L. Zebrikoff. — The influence of pressure on the 

 absorption spectra of gases : A. Dufoiir. Some rays re- 

 main of the same wave-length under increased pressure ; 

 others are displaced in the spectrum towards the red, 

 according as the pressure is increased. All sensible rays 

 under pressure show the Zeeman effect to a very feeble 

 exti'Ot. — Synchronising in multiple reflections : Henri 

 Abraham. — The valency of the molecule in salt solutions 

 deduced from the dispersive properties of the solution and 



the theory of electrons : C. Cheneveau The origin of 



series spectra : W. Ritz. — The scale of molecular weights 

 of gases : Daniel Berthelot. The table of molecular 

 weights defined by the densities of gases onlv represents 

 a system of numbers, and must be fixed by relation to a 

 gas of reference. — Some new characteristic constants of 

 oils : F,. Louise and E. Sauvagre. Observation of the 

 miscibility with acetone gives rapid determining character- 

 istics for many oils. — The hydrolysis of iron perchloride : 

 Ci. Malfttano and L. Michel. ' It is probable that the 

 hypotheiic.d j)roducls I-"eCl„(OH) and FcCl(OH), exist, 

 while Fe(OH), can only exist temporarily in solution. — 

 The production of high temperatures in laboratory re- 

 search : C. Chabri^. — The analysis of selenium hexa- 

 fluoride : Paul Lebeau. — Ethyl hexahydrobenzovlacetate : 

 A. Wahl and A. Meyer. — The action of diazo-chiorides on 

 7-chloro-aceto-,icetic esters : G. Favrei.— Triphenylcarbinol. 

 'I lie .nrlion of malonic and cyanacetic acids ; R. Fosse. — 

 The oxid.ition of oxyhicmoglobin : 1. Szreter. — A contri- 

 bution to the study of the brandies of Charentes : E. 

 Kayser and A. Demoton. — The neo-volcanic formations 

 anterior (u the Miocene in the north-west of Sardaigne : 

 M. Deprat. The first eruptions were characterised by the 

 emission of rhyoliles, but the gre.-iter part of the region 



is marked by the presence of the less acid trachytes and 

 andesites. — .\n investigation on the foreign fats in lard : 

 Alexandre Leys. The fraudulent addition of oil to 

 genuine lard only changes the melting point, without n- 

 ducing the specific gravity. — The separation of odorou- 

 principles in plants : Eug. Charabot and G. Laloue.- 

 .Some new observations on the Carboniferous earths of lli' 

 .Sahara : G. I?. -M. Fiamand. — Some experiments madi 

 with radium bromide : A. Jost. 



Ni;w .Sooth Walks. 



Royal Society, May i. — Prof. T. 1'. Anderson Stuart, 

 president, in the chair. — Presidential address : Prof. T. P. 

 Anderson Stuart. I he address reviewed matters chicfl) 

 connected with medical questions. The true value of thi- 

 Danysz rabbit experiments was set out, showing that, even 

 if successful to Ihe fullest possible extent, this method of 

 coping with the pest could never be more than au.\lliary 

 to the methods already known and in use. The Danysz 

 rat-virus, and its complete failure under the most favourable 

 conditions, in New South Wales, was next described, and 

 the question asked — if this virus has been such a failure, 

 what grounds have wc for expecting a better result with 

 the rabbit-virus? The bubonic plague was referred to in 

 connection with the recent report of the Indian Plague 

 Commission, and the apathy of the people in Sydney as 

 regards the destruction of rats was condemned. In connec- 

 tion wijh the death of Schaudinn, the discoverer of the 

 Spirochuila pallida, the long-sought virus of syphilis, the 

 most successful experience of an entirely free and unre- 

 stricted treatment of female patients suffering from con- 

 tagious diseases in .Sydney was described. Reference was 

 now made to the opsonin treatment, and to its introduction 

 in Sydney at the Royal Prince .-Xlfred Hospital. The move- 

 ment for establishing a school of tropical medicine in 

 Australia was fully discussed and commended. 



CONTENTS, PAGE 



Dillenian Memorials at Oxford. By B. D. J. ... 289 

 The Fourth International Ornithological Congress. 289 



Thermodynamics. By S. H. Burbury, F.R.S. . . 290 



Volcanoes 291 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Riemer : "Shaft Sinking in Difficult Cases" . . . . 291 

 Weinstein : " Die philosophischen Gtundlagen der 



Wissenschaften " 292 



Pozzi-Escol : " The Toxins and Venoms and their 



Antibodies "—Prof. R. T. Hewlett . . 292 

 Irving : " Everyman's Book of the Greenhouse 



(Unheated)." ' 292 



Stephenson: " ' Mephistopheles.' The Autobio- 

 graphy and Adventures of a Tabljy Cat "..... 292 



Trewby : " Healthy Boyhood " 292 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Origin of Radium. — Dr. Bertram B. Boltwood. 293 

 The "Double Drift" Theory of Star Motions. — Dr. 



Alfred R. Wallace, F.R.S. ; A. S. Eddmgton. 293 



The Dent.-il Formula of Orycteropus. — Dr. R. Broom. 294 

 The Radio-Telegraphic Convention. By Maurice 



Solomon 294 



The Life of St. Patrick Scientifically Treated. 



{in/A />i',i^ntm). By Rev. John Griffith 295 



Notes (///iis//:i/r,l) 296 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Comet 1907,/ (Daniel) 301 



Anomalous Refraction 3°' 



Il.ilian Observations of the Total Solar Eclipse of 



August, 1905 3°l 



Micrometei Measures of Jovian Features 301 



July and Aui;ust Meteors . '. 3°' 



Orbits of Binaiy Stars 3°' 



Scientific Work in the Sea-Fisheries. By Prof. 



W. C. Mcintosh, F.R.S 301 



New Zealand Petrography. By A. H 303 



Unsolved Problems in the Design and Propulsion 



of Ships. By Dr. Francis Elgar, F.R.S 303 



University and Educational Intelligence 309 



Societies and Academies 3>° 



NO. 1969, VOL. 76] 



