656 



NA TURE 



[October 24, 1907 



riicir prev in situ. — H. M. Edolsten : Specimens of iiciia 

 aiidracniformis, bred from pups taken in Bedfordshire and 

 Kent, and ova of Konagria caniiac, giving an account of 

 its remarkable methods of oviposition. — A. Harrison and 

 H. Main : Four broods from females of Picris napi, var. 

 hryotiiae, captured on the Kleine Scheidegg Pass, Switzer- 

 land, in July, 1906, showing a wide range of variation.- — 

 Prof. T. Hudson Beare : A specimen of the rare bug 

 Lygaeus cqucstris, Linn., from St. Margaret's Bay, also 

 specimens of Hypera iigrina. Boh., taken in some numbers 

 on the wild carrot at the same locality, and Apion semi- 

 vittatum, Gyll., off plants of Mercurialis aninia, all taken 

 during the same period at .St. Margaret's Bay. — Papers. — 

 The species of Hesperida; from Ihe -Indo-Malayan and 

 African regions, described by Herr Plotz, with some new 

 species : Colonel Charles Swinhoe. — The butterflies of 

 Mauritius and Bourbon : Lieut. -Colonel Neville Manders. 

 — The hibernating habit of the Icpidopterous genus Maras- 

 marcha : Dr. T. A. Chapman. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, October 14. — M. A. Chauveau in 

 the chair. — The transits of Mercury across the sun, and, 

 in particular, on that of November 14 next : G. 

 Bigrourdan. A review of the various phenomena regard- 

 ing which further information is desirable, including the 

 visibility of the planet outside the sun, the external and 

 internal contacts, the appearance of the horns and the 

 measurement of their distance. — The summation of 

 Laurent's series : A. Buhl. — The invariants of differential 

 systems : Etienne Deiassus. — .\ theorem on integral 

 equations : Tommaso Boe^grio. — The analysis of mixtures 

 of air and gas or combustible vapours : Jean Meunier. 

 — A new improvement allowing of the rapid detection and 

 estimation of methane : Nestor Grehant. — The reactions 

 in the nickel-plating bath : A. Brochet. The causes of 

 the favourable effect of the addition of boric acid to the 

 bath are discussed, and also some peculiarities of the way 

 the anode is attacked. — A vinvl alcohol of the tvpe 

 ArR : C : CH.OH : MM. Tiffeneaii and Daufresne. 

 The substance described in a previous note as anisylcyclo- 

 propanol has been found to be methvlanisvlethenol, 

 (CH,,0),C.H,—C(CH3): CH.OH, the first alcohol of this 

 typo to be isolated. — .\ caoutchouc tree at Tonkin : MM. 

 Dubard and Eberhardt. The principal characters of the 

 tree are given in detail, and prove that it is a new species 

 of the genus Bleekrodea, and is named Bleekrodca 

 tonkinensis. This tree is of great economic interest, as 

 it is the first caoutchouc-bearing tree found in Indo-China. 

 It is abundant, and the rubber produced from it is of 

 the highest quality. — The reception of the light stimulus 

 in the compound eyes of insects, particularlv the Muscidjc : 

 P. Vigier. — The evolution of the carbon, water, and ash 

 as a function of the age in plants : J. Tribot. — The 

 psychophysical law; applications to energetics and photo- 

 metry : Charles Henry. 



GOTTINGEN. 

 Royal Society of Sciences. — The Nachrichten (physico- 



niathematical section), contains the following memoirs 

 communicated to the society : — 



March g. — Determination of absolute values of magnet- 

 isation numbers, especially for crystals : \V. Voigrt and 

 S. Kinoshita. — Determination of the elastic constants of 

 aragonite : W. Voigt.— Interpolation by means of ex- 

 ponential functions : H. Burkhardt. — Some properties of 

 the radium atom : E. Riecke. 



May II. — Peculiar cases of vibrating membranes: \V. 

 Voig:t. — The influence of internal reflexions on the inter- 

 ference phenomena in doubly refracting crystal plates : H. 

 Joachim. 



June 8. — The most general concept of the plane con- 

 tinuous curve (second paper) : A. Schoenflies.— Vibrations 

 of non-uniformly stretched membranes ; \V. Voigt. 



July 20. — The so-called general energy equations of the 

 technical theory of rigidity : J. Weingarten. 



July 27. — Four new letters of Gauss : P. Stackei. 



The business communications, jpart i. for iqo;, of the 

 same society include reports on the progress of the publi- 

 cation of Gauss's works and on the Samoa Observatorv, 

 together with a memorial discourse on Ludwig Boltzmann, 

 by W. VoiKt. 



NO. 1982, VOL. ''61 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSD.AY. October 24. 



Chemical Society, at 8.30— The Constitution of Phenol- and Quinol- 

 phthalein Salts ; a Contribution to the Quinonoid Theory of Colour : 

 .\. G Green and P. E. King.— Poly-ketides : J. N. Collie.— Production 

 of Orcinol Compounds by the Action of Heal on the Sodium Salt ot 

 Ethylacetoacetale : J. N. Collie and E. R. Chrystall.— A Simple Ga< 

 Generator for Analytical Operations: [. M Sanders.— Some Double 

 Ferrocyanides of Calcium, Potassium and Ammonium : J. Campbel 

 Brown.— Halogen Determination in Organic Substances: J. Moir.— 

 Racemisation by Alkali as applied to the Resolution of r-Mandelic Acid 

 into its Optically Active Isomerides : A. McKenzie and H. A. Miilier.— 

 The I Iptical Activity of Cyclic Ammonium Compounds : F. Buckney and 

 H O. Jones.— Keten. A New Anhydride of Acetic Acid : N. T. M. 

 Wilsmore. — The Action of Phosphorus Peniachloride on Hydroxy-tri- 

 methyl Succinic Ester, i : 2. Dimethyl Trimethylene j ;2-Dicarboxylic 

 Acid : H. Henstock and B. E. Woolley. 



FRIDA )•, October 25. 



Physical Society, at 5.— On the use of Variable Mutual Inductances : 

 A. Campbell. — On Magnetic Oscillators as Radiators in Wireless 

 Telegraphy ; Dr. J. A. Fleming. 



rUESn.-\y, October 20. 

 Faraday Socirtv. at 8.— On the Electrolysis of Salt Solutions in Liquefied 

 Sulphur Dioxide at Low Temperatures: Dr. B. D. Steele.— Note on the 

 Action of Aluminium Powder on Silica and Boric Anhydride: F. E. 

 Weston and H. R. Ellis.— Reduction of Melallic Oxides by Means of 

 Calcium Hydride: Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin and Lionel Pratt.- A Series- 

 Parallel Lamp Resistance Useful for Electrochemical Work : N. T. M. 

 Wilsmore. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Way-side Fruits 633 



Cosmological Speculation. By F. L. Usher .... 633 



Chemical Methods in Medicine 634 



Wild Life and Adventure 635 



Our Book Shelf:— 



"The Collected Mathematical Works of George 



William Hill."— R. A. S 635 



McCuUoch : " Stray Leaves and Some Fruit on 

 Cancer, based upon Physiologic Chemical Prin- 



cip'es."— R. H. A. P 636 



Janchen : " Helianthemum Canum (L) Baumg. und 



seine nacbsten \'erwandten " 636 



Magrini : "Limnologia : Studio Scientifico del Lighi " 636 

 Letters to the Editor.^ 



Upper Air Research in Egypt. {Illustrated.) — 



B. F. E. Keeling 637 



Newton's Rings in Polarised Light. — C. V. Raman ; 



Edwin Edser 637 



Thermodynamics of DitTusion. — Prof. G. H. Bryan, 



F.R.S. ; S. H. Burbury, F.R.S 637 



The Nomenclature of Radio-activity. — Norman R. 



■Campbell 638 



On Correlation and the Methods of Modern Statistics. 



— Arthur R. Hinks 638 



New Zealand Birds. — ^Jas. Drummond 63S 



Showers from near /3 and y Piscium. — W. F. 



Denning 639 



The " Quaternary" Period. — Dr. John W. Evans ; 



Dr. William Wright 639 



To Deduce the Polar fiom the Intrinsic Equation. — 



A. B. Porter ; G. H. B ... 639 



Some Scientific Centres. XL — The Physical 

 Laboratories of Manchester University. (Illus- 

 trated.) By Dr. J. A. Marker 640 



A New Method of Colour Photography. By C. J. . 642 



Mr. Howard Saunders. By R. L 642 



Notes 643 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Mellish's Comet, 1907^ 647 



A Bright Meteor 647 



The Spectra of Sun-Spots and Mira Ceti 647 



Recently discovered Minor Planets 648 



Elements of Comets 1907a and igoyd 648 



The Liverpool Astronomical Society 648 



A Modern Sun-dial • ■ • ^4^ 



Fleas and Plague 648 



The Third " Prehistoric " Congress of France . . . 649 



Economic Biology and Agriculture 650 



Synthetical Chemistry in its Relation to Biology. 



By Prof. Emil Fischer, F.R.S 651 



University and Educational Intelligence . . . . 654 



Societies and AcaJemies 655 



Diary of Societies 656 



