June 17, 1909] 



NA TURE 



479 



bees. In the free-martin — a sterile bull usually with a 

 potent twin — the potent bull has the dominant determinates 

 as the result of the division of the zygote, while the free- 

 martin has the recessive determinates. 

 Dublin. 



Royal Dublin Society, May 25. — Prof. Sydney Voung, 

 F.R.S., in the chair. — Injurious insects and other animals 

 observed in Ireland during the year 1908 : Prof. G. H. 

 Carpenter. Observations were given showing the use- 

 lessness of sprays recommended for destroying the eggs 

 of the apple sucker (Psylla mali), the early stages of 

 which are described and figured. The larva of the beetle 

 Dascillus ccrviiuis, which feeds on the roots of oats and 

 cereals, is described, and some details of its external struc- 

 ture are given ; in many respects it appears a remarkably 

 primitive larval form. -Attention was directed to the 

 unusual abundance in Ireland during the autumn of 190S 

 of the laburnum moth {Cemiostoma lahurnella). — The 

 analysis of beeswax : Prof. Hugh Ryan. By a method in 

 principle similar to, in detail different from, that of 

 Hehner, the author determines the percentage of beeswax 

 in mixtures of that substance witii other waxes. The 

 acid number of the wax is first found, sand is added, and 

 the mixture is evaporated to dryness ; the esters and hydro- 

 carbons are then extracted with low-boiling petroleum- 

 ether in a Soxhlet apparatus. From the percentage by 

 weight of the free acids and the acidity of the wax, the 

 percentage of cerotic acid can be calculated, and from the 

 latter the amount of beeswax in the mixture. If Montana 

 (Montan) wax and stearic acid be present, the method will 

 yield incorrect results. In the latter case it will be neces- 

 sary to find the percentage of hydrocarbons, and the mean 

 molecular weight of the combined acids in the wax, before 

 the true percentage of beeswax can be calculated. 

 Analyses of waxes from Ireland, Chili, Sierra Leone, and 

 Madagascar, and of an artificial wax composition contain- 

 ing, amongst other substances, Montana (Montan) wax, 

 are given to illustrate the methods described. — Montanin 

 and Montana (Montan) waxes : Prof. Hugh Ryan and 

 T. Dillon. A sample of wax called Montana wax, identical 

 with that known in Germany as Montan wax, examined 

 by the authors, melted at 76° C, had an acid number 

 73-3, an ester number o-b, and contained 47 per cent, of 

 unsaponifiable matter. The iodine number of the wax was 

 16, and that of the unsaponifiable matter was 3i'i3. The 

 saponifiablc portion consisted of an acid (montanic) the 

 molecular weight and analysis of which agreed with the 

 formula C,gH,,,0;. Montanin wax is a white, hard, brittle 

 wax of melting point 96° C., much higher than that of 

 Montana wax, with specific gravity (15° C.) og.So, acid 

 number 569, ester number i-o, and containing 348 per 

 cent, of unsaponifiable matter. The acid liberated from 

 the saponifiablc matter proved to be montanic acid, and 

 the unsaponifiable matter was identical in composition with 

 that obtained from Montana wax. The great difference 

 in the physical properties of the two waxes is due to the 

 presence of 23-87 per cent, of sodium montanate in 

 montanin wax, and the absence of the sodium salt from 

 the Montana wax. 



New South Wales. 



Linnean Society, Match 31. — Mr. C. Hedley, president, 

 in the chair. — Notes on the geology of the Mount Flinders 

 and Fassifern districts, Queensland: Dr. H. I. Jensen. 

 Mount Flinders is a rugged peak attaining an altitude 

 of 2240 feet, and situated about eleven or twelve miles 

 S.S.E. of the town of Ipswich, Queensland. Surrounding 

 the main peak there are a number of smaller cones and 

 rugged rocks, most of which represent former parasitic 

 vents or smaller foci of eruption which encircled the large 

 volcano. It is noteworthy that the conical mountains are 

 usually composed of breccia, with more or less of basic 

 trachyte, dacite, and andesite, and, further, they are 

 characterised by better soil (usually of a red or brown 

 colour), and a thicker vegetation ; patches of vine scrubs 

 occur on them. The volcanic rocks of the Fassifern scrub 

 are all post-Triassic, and probably post-Cretaceous. There 

 seems to have been an old series of dolerites anterior to 

 the trachytes, but the author has not satisfied himself on 

 this point. The remaining links of the sequence are 

 (j) trachyte, later (2) andesite, and still later (3) basalt. 

 NO. 2068, VOL. 80] 



— Can opsonins be obtained directly from bacteria and 

 yeasts? Dr. R. Greigr-Smith. Since the inoculation of 

 dead cultures of bacteria and the ingestion of yeast give 

 rise to an increased production of opsonin in the blood, 

 there is the possibility that this might be derived directly 

 from the digestion of bacteria and yeast. Staphylococcus 

 and yeast were attacked with pepsin and with pancreatic 

 extract, but while anti-opsonin was clearly present, no 

 evidence of the formation of opsonin could be obtained. — 

 The coagulation of condensed milk : Dr. R. Greie-Smith. 

 Condensed milk which became coagulated or " jellified " 

 in the course of a few months was found to contain a 

 micrococcus closely allied to Staphylococcus albiis. Pure 

 cultures of the micro-organism produced a coagulation in 

 sterile condensed milk. The coagulation was hastened by 

 the presence of traces of calcium carbonate, and the trouble 

 appeared to have been aggravated by the small quantity 

 of residual air in the tins. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Scien-;es, Jime 7. — M. Bouchard in the 

 chair. — Presentation of the Complcs reiidiis, reports and 

 communications of the first International Low Temperature 

 Congress, Paris, October 5-12, 1909 : M. d'Arsonval. — 

 Presentation of a meridian catalogue of the Observatory 

 of Bordeaux : B. Baillaud. The catalogue contains 6999 

 stars, the declinations of which are comprised between 

 — 15° and —20°. — Hertzian waves and Fredholm's equa- 

 tion : H. Poincare. — Preparation of the three oxy- and 

 the />-dimethylamido- and diethylamidobenzylidenecamphors 

 and the p- and jii-tolylidenecamphors : A. Haller and Ed. 

 Bauer. A general method is given for the preparation of 

 these substances by condensation of camphor with alde- 

 hydes in presence of sodium amide. The chemical and 

 physical constants of several of these compounds are 

 detailed, special attention being given to the influence of 

 the introduction of various groups into the benzene ring 

 upon the colour and optical properties. — Congruences the 

 two focal surfaces of which are quadrics : C. Guichard. 

 — The total eclipse of the moon of June 3, 1909, observed 

 at Marseilles by MM. Borrelly and Coggia : H. Bourget. 

 — Surfaces such that the geodesic lines of curvature are 

 respectively functions of the principal corresponding 

 curvatures': A. Demoulin. — A generalisation of the geo- 

 metry of, the eyelid: B. Hostinsky. — The altimetry of the 

 Pelvous-Ecrins massif : P. Helbronner. A preliminary 

 paper giving the heights of thirty peaks. Comparison is 

 made with data furnished by the Carte dc I'Etat-Major, 

 and the causes of the divergences discussed. — A physical 

 representation of the 9-functions : H. Larose. — The 

 standardisation of condensers : M. Dewaux-Charbonnei. 

 The results of the application of the tuning-fork method 

 are described. The convenience and exactitude of this 

 method (o.t per cent.) is pointed out. The capacity of an 

 air condenser was found to be constant and independent 

 of the vibration frequency of the fork, but the capacity 

 of a mica condenser was found to be slightly less with a 

 higher frequency. — The absolute measurement of an elec- 

 trical resistance in electrostatic units : M. Hurmuzescu. 

 — Catalytic action produced by moisture : J. Meynier. 

 Mixtures of dried nitric oxide and o.xygen were treated 

 with minute quantities of water vapour, freed from large 

 ions bv filtration through cotton wool. No proportionality 

 could be traced between the velocity of the reaction and 

 the amount of water vapour present. — Chemical reactions 

 in gaseous mixtures submitted to very high pressures: 

 E. Briner and A. Wroczynski. The gaseous mixture is 

 liquefied bv cold in a thick-walled tube, the latter sealed, 

 and allowed to assume the ordinary temperature. Results 

 are given for the mixtures (NO.HCl). (NO. SO,), 

 (HCl.SO.), (NO,CH,Cl), -and (SO,, O,).— The hydrated 

 combinations of thorium chloride with alkaline chlorides : 

 Ed. Chauvenet. — Normal butine and some of its deriva- 

 tives : Georges Dupont. The most satisfactory yields were 

 obtained by starting from normal butyl alcohol ; this was 

 converted into butylcne by the Senderens reaction, .absorbed 

 bv bromine, and the resulting brornide heated with drv 

 potash. The pure butine, C,H,.C— CH, boils at 18.5' 

 and melts at —130°. Numerous derivatives are described. 



The synthesis of derivatives of racemic fenone : MM. 



i Bouveault and Levaliois. — The maltase from buck- 



