288 



NA TURE 



[July 23, 1908 



occurring in relatively enormous numbers at the foot of 

 cliff-like terraces of the Old Red Sandstone, lying mostly 

 in recesses beneath overhanging roclis or deep in narrow 

 clefts. The shells were found at heights of loo, 300, and 

 700 feet above sea-level. The unbroken condition of the 

 shells, their enormous number, their presence in deep, 

 horizontal, narrow rock clefts, and the fact that they were 

 found so far as half a mile from the sea coast, high on 

 the side of a barren mountain, led the authors to the con- 

 clusion that their presence was not due to human agency 

 or to birds. The appearances suggest that the shells, 

 which are all of littoral species, were left behind on a 

 rockv coast by a receding sea. In spite of the geological 

 difficulties of such a suggestion, the authors had no other 

 to offer. — Curious water-worn markings on rocks at 

 Doughbeg, co. Mayo : T. E. Gordon and Prof. A. F. 

 Dixon. Rounded and horse-shoe shaped markings re- 

 garded by the authors as due to the action of 

 water containing sand or grit pouring down a smooth, 

 sloping rock surface on which were a number of projecting 

 pieces of vein quartz. — Dry rot of the potato tuber : Dr. 

 G. H. Pethybridge and'E. H. Bower-s. The authors 

 dealt with a case in which the dry-rot fungus Fusarium 

 Solani was the cause of considerable trouble. Inoculation 

 experiments were carried out with this fungus (including 

 a pure culture of it) which show that it is a true parasite. — 

 An investigation of the. connection between band and line 

 spectra of the same metallic elements : Prof. W. N. 

 Hartley. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, July 13. — M. Bouchard in the 



chair. — Notice on .Xlphonse Pcron, correspondant of the 

 .Academy, wliose death occurred at Auxerre, July 2, iqoS : 

 M. Douville. — A hypothesis by means of which the vari- 

 ations of the radius vector of the sun can be obtained, 

 without necessitating the consideration of the sun's ap- 

 parent diameters : J. Boussinesq. — The lava from the 

 recent eruption of Etna : .\. Lacroix. Details are given oi 

 the petrographical study of different lavas : three chemical 

 analyses of products of different origin show very slight 

 differences. — A ha;mogregarian from Morelia spilotis : A. 

 Laveran. A description of an organism apparently iden- 

 tical with H. Shutiocki, with ten diagrams showing various 

 stages of development. — The action of metallic oxides on 

 the primary alcohols : the case of irreducible oxides : Paul 

 Sabatier and .\. Mailhe. — The oxides MnO, SnO, and 

 CdO give hydrogen and the aldehyde at 340° to 350° C, 

 but the action is less rapid than with reduced copper. 

 The blue oxide of tungsten and the oxides of aluminium 

 and thorium give ethylene and water. Many oxides 

 (chromium, silica, titanium, zinc, &c.) act catalytically in 

 both ways, aldehyde, hydrogen, ethylene, and water being 

 produced. — The partial eclipse of the sun of June 28, igoS, 

 observed at the Observatory of Ebra (Spain) : M. Cirera, 

 The actinometric observations were hindered by clouds, 

 which rendered uncertain the determination of the time of 

 the first contact. — The eclipse' of the sun of June 28, iqo8, 

 observed at the University of Strasburg : Robert 

 Jonckheere. The observations of the times of the first 

 and second contacts were satisfactory. — Observation of the 

 partial eclipse of the sun of June 28, 1908, at the Ob- 

 servatory of Bordeaux : F. Courty. — The history of lunar 

 relief: P. Puiseux. — Certain systems of differential equa- 

 tions : Edmund Maillet. — Canonical products of infinite 

 genus : .ArnaucI Denjoy. — Positive electrons : Jean 

 Becquerel. In a previous note the author has described 

 certain phenomena which appear to indicate the existence 

 of positive electrons. In the present paper other possible 

 explanations are examined in detail, but found to be ex- 

 perimentally untenable ; the hypothesis of the formation 

 of positive electrons thus remains the best available to 

 explain the observed phenomena. — Remarks on a note by 

 M. Tissot, " On the Use of Detectors sensitive to Elec- 

 trical Oscillations, based on Thermoelectric Phenomena " : 

 Edouard Branly, — The mechanism of synthesis of rings 

 containing nitrogen. — The action of ethyl pyruvate upon 

 paratoluidine : L. J. Simon. — .Sparteine. The conversion 

 of (iosparteine into a-methylsparteine : Amand Valeur. — 

 Researches on some acid sulphates of potassium : L. 



NO. 2021, VOL. -S] 



Arzaiier. — Osmotic pressure and the Brownian movement : 

 Jacques Duciaux. — The physico-chemical analysis of 

 wines: Paul Dutoit and Marcel Duboux. The. determina- 

 tion of the sulphates, total acidity, and tanning materials 

 of a wine can be done in an hour by measuring the 

 changes in the electrical conductivity caused by the gradual 

 addition of baryta solution. — The stigma-bearing nucleus 

 and poUinisation in Saxe-Gothca conspiciia : -A. -Tiaon. — 

 The influence of the concentration of • solutions -of ■ some 

 sugars on respiration in plants : .A.-Maige and- G. -.Nicolas. 

 — The grafting of some varieties of beans : Lucien Daniel. 

 — The mechanism of the distribution' of products' possess- 

 ing smell in the plant: Eug. Charabot and G. Lalone. 

 — The chemical study of the ripening of Lycopcrsicum 

 csculentum (tomato): F. M. Albahary. As the -tomato 

 ripens, the amounts of organic acids, sugar, starch, aiid 

 nitrogenous materials other than proteids increase, -whilst 

 the proteids and cellulose diminish. — The influence of amyl 

 nitrite on the red globules of the blood: Gr. Flawu. — The 

 rule of the malic acid fermentation in viiiification : -A'. 

 Rosenstiehl. — The physiological role of the : leucocytic 

 granulations : M. Kollmann. — The discovery of fossil jjlants 

 in the volcanic earths of .Aubrac : Ant. Lauby. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Patents and the Public 265 



A History of Geographical Evolution. By Prof. 



J. W. Gregory, F.R.S 266 



Botany on the Voyage of the " Valdivia " 267 



Some New Chemical Books. By J. B. C 268 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Washburn: "The Animal Mind. A Text-book of 



Comparative Psychology." — William Brown . . 269 



Schuiz : "Natur Urkunden" 270 



Butler: "A Pocket Handbook of Minerals" . . , 270 

 Burnet : " La Lutte contre les Microbes." — Prof. 



R. T. Hewlett 270 



Meadow: "The Farm shown to the Children by 



F. M. B. and A. H. Blaikie " 270 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The Nature of the y and XRays.— Prof W. H. 



Bragg 271 



Symbols for Physical Quantities.- Miles Walker . . 271 



Linn^eus's Authorities. — B. Daydon Jackson . . . 272 



Elliptical Halo=.— E. Gold 272 



The Fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen as Cyan- 

 amide, (flliistrated.) By F. M. P 273 



The Education of the Blind. By Prof. John G. 



McKendrick, F.R.S 275 



Catalogue of Double Stars 276 



Notes 277 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Lick Observatory Eclipse Expedition, January, 



1908 :....... 281 



The Approaching Return of Bailey's Comet .... 281 



The Orbit of Algol 281 



The Path of the Minor Planet (279) Thule 281 



An Amateur's Meridian Instrument 281 



Geological Work in the United States. {Illustrated.) 



By G. A. J. C 282 



The Royal Sanitary Institute 284 



Recent Meteorological Publications. By W. E. 



Rolston 285 



The Ameiican Association of Museums. By E. 



Howarth 2S6 



University and Educational Intelligence 287 



Societies and Academies 287 



