A^^ rURE 



[March 25, 19:9 



ing to the velocity of the piston. In a mixture of hydrogen 

 and oxygen " detonation " is very rapidly set up, but not 

 instantaneously. The later experiments were made in a 

 steel tube, a window being inserted near the lower end of 

 the tube so as to observe the flame produced. 



February 23. — Prof. H. B. Di.xon, F.R.S., president, in 

 the chair. — h. simple method of silvering transparent grating 

 replicas, whether plane or mounted on curved surfaces : 

 T. Thorp. The process is a modification of the quick- 

 silver and tinfoil method used for ordinary mirrors before 

 the wet silvering process had been discovered. — A pre- 

 liminary account of the submerged vegetation of Lake 

 Windermere as affecting the feeding grounds of the fish : 

 Prof. F. E. Weiss. Some of the shallow feeding grounds 

 of the trout and char have become overgrown by dense 

 niasses of weeds, with the consequence that the young fish 

 cannot feed and are driven into deeper water, where they 

 are devoured by pike and other enemies. An examination 

 of the vegetation, undertaken at the suggestion of Mr. F. 

 Nicholson, showed that it consisted chiefly of one of the 

 brittleworts, Nitella opaca, the Canadian pondweed, 

 Elodca canadensis, the water milfoil, Myriophyllum, and a 

 large weed, Potomogeton praelongus. The first two were 

 the most deleterious. Experiments made indicate that the 

 best method of removal of the accumulated weed is by 

 dragging the bay with fishing nets, such as are used for 

 netting char. Other methods break up the plant, but as 

 some of these weeds have very great powers of rooting 

 from small broken fragments, such methods are not to 

 be recommended. — The use of wind by migrating birds : 

 F. Stubbs. The author criticised and combated the 

 opinion very largely held that birds, when migrating, either 

 fly against a head wind or with a side or beam wind. On 

 the assumption of the head-wind theory it is evident that 

 no bird can make headway against a wind that has greater 

 velocity than its own speed of flight. A bird in air, like 

 a swimmer in a strongly flowing river, is whollv in a 

 moving supporting medium, and there is little doubt that, 

 if a bird cannot find shelter, it will be more comfortable 

 on the wing than on the ground during the progress of 

 a storm, the reason being that, in the fiercest gales, the 

 air, as a mass, is at rest. The bird then can fly about 

 in any direction in this wind, but the direction of the wind 

 may or may "not coincide with that of the bird's flight. 

 The author believes that birds habitually make use of 

 cyclones as a means of travelling from one part of their 

 range to another under the most favourable conditions for 

 the exercise of flight. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, March 25. 



Royal Society, at 4.30.— Liberation of Helium fr.m Radio-active Minerals 

 by Grinding: J. A. Gray.— The Expulsion of Radio-active Matter 

 in the Radium Transformations: S. RussandW. Vlskafi^r.—Splmei-ostoma 

 oz'alc, n.^^n.,7^VLi\ Crossotheca Gyiei'ii, n.spec. : an Account of the 

 Structure and Relations of the Reproduclive Organs of Iletfranp-ium 

 G>-/VtoV: Miss M. Benson. t- s s 



Royal Institution, at 3.— On Aerial Flight in Theory and Practice: 

 Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8— The Electrical System 

 of the London County Council Tramways : J. H. Kider. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30.— Native Man in Southern India : Edgar 



FRIDAY, March 26. 



Royal Institution, at 9.— Recent Results of .'istronomical Research : 

 A. S. Eddington. 



Physical Society, at 5.— Note on the Production of Steady Electric 

 Oscillations in Closed Circuits and a Method of Testing Radio telegraphic 

 Receivers: Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., and G. B. Dyke.— The Effect 

 of an Air Blast upon the Spark Discharge of a Condenser Charged by an 

 Induction Coil or Transformer : Prof. J. A. Fleming and H. W, Richard- 

 son. — On the Action between Metals and Acids and the Conditions under 

 which Mercury causes Evolution of Hydrogen : Dr. S. W. J. Smith. 



SATURDAY. March 27. 

 R.iVAi. Institution, at 3.— Properties of Matter: Sir J. J 



MONDAY, March 29. 

 KovAi, Society OF Arts, at 8.— Steam Turbines: G. G. Stoney. 

 Institute: of Actuaries, at 5.— On the Annuity Business of British 

 Offices and the Valuation Thereof: H. J. I'. Oakley. 



TUESDAY, March 30. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— The Evolution of the Br.iiii as an Orjan 

 of .Mind : Prof. F. iV. Mott, F.R.S. 



R. 



Tho 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Further discussion: Construc- 

 tion and Wear of Roads: A. Mallock, F.R.S. 



Faraday Society, at 8. — The Electro-analysis of Mercury Compounds 

 "itha Gold Kathode: Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin.— The Relation between 

 Composition and Conductivity in Solutions of iiuta- and fJr//;(7-Phosphoric 

 Acids : Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux.— A New Electrical H.-irdening Furnace : 

 E. Sabersky and E. Adler. — Experiments on the Current- and Energy- 

 Efficiencies of the Finlay Alkali Chlorine Cell : Dr. V. G. Donnan. 



WEDNESDA Y, March 31. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— The Island of St. Helena : J. C. Mellis. 

 British Astronomical Association, at 5. — Lord Kelvin on the Extent 

 of the Universe : Gavin J. Burns. 



THURSDAY, April i. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— Aerial Flight in Theory and Practice : Prof. 

 G. H. Bryan, F.R.S. 



LlNNE.^N Society, at 8. — The Amphipoda Hyperiidea of the Sealark 

 Expedition to the Indian Ocean : A. O. Walker.- Ihe Marine MoUusca 

 from the same Expedition : J. Cosmo Melvill.— The Land and Fresh- 

 water Mollusca of the Seychelles Archipelago : E. R. Sykes.— On a 

 Blind Prawn from the Sea of Galilee, Typhtocaris paliica, g. et sp. n. : 

 Dr. W. T, Caiman. 



Institutio.v of Electrical Engineers, at 8.— The Electrical System 

 of the L.C.C. Tramways: J. H. Rider. (Adjow-ned discussion.)— 

 The Theory and Application of Motor Converters : H. S. Hallo. 



Rontgen Society, at 8.15. — The Origin, History and Development of 

 the X-Ray Tube : J. H. Gardiner. 



FRIDAY, April 2. 

 Royal Institution, at 9.— Electrical Strialions : Sir J. J. Thomson, 



F.R.S. 

 Civil and Mechanical Engineers' Society, at 8.— Storms, and their 



Effect Upon the Sea Coast : Dr. J. S. Owens. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Reinforced Concrete on 



Railways : W. E. R. Gurney. 



SATURDAY, Ai'kil 3. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Properties of Matter ; Sir T. T. Ihomson, 



F.R.S. 

 Essex Field Club (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford), 



at 6.— 'Ihe Head as an Index of Race : J. Gray. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Tidal Researches. By S. S. H 91 



The Morphology of Asia. By J. W. G 91 



Infantilism. By L. G. A 92 



Plasticity in Plants 93 



Agricultural Chemistry. By Dr. E. J. Russell . . 93 



Timber 94 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Locy : "Biology and its Makers." — ^J. A. T 95 



" Psychol 'gie als Grundwissenschaft der Piidagogik ". 95 

 Ferry: " A Brief Course in Elementary Dynamics for 



Students of Engineering." — E. G. C 95 



Letteis to the Editor : — 



A Crocodile's Nest.— (///;(.i/rate/.) G. W. Grabham 96 



A Winter Retreat lor Snails. — W. Hoskyns-Abrahall 96 



The Golden Fleece. — Dr. Felix Oswald 96 



The Botaliek Circles. (IVi/h Diap-aiiis.) By Sir 



Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., r.R.S 97 



Western Teaching for China. By Dr. Henry Dyer 99 

 The Royal Society of Arts and the London Institu- 

 tion 100 



Agricultural Education loi 



The Air of Cotton Mills loi 



Return of the British Antarctic Expedition . . . 102 



Uniformity in Mathematical Notation and Printing 102 



Notes 103 



Our Astronomical Column : 



Photographs of Morehouse's Comet, 1908;. [Illus- 

 trated.) 108 



Relation between the Magnitudes and Colours of Stars 108 



A Rematkable Prominence 108 



The National Physical Laboratory during 1908. 



{IlhislrateJ.) 109 



The Aero and Motor-boat Exhibition Ill 



Higher Education in the United States U2 



Some Bird-papers 113 



Scientific Work of the Smithsonian Institution . . 114 



University and Educational Intelligence 117 



Societies and Academies 118 



Diary of Societies 120 



NO. 2056, VOL. 80] 



