408 



N.~l TURE 



[August 27, 1908 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, August 17. — M. Bouquet de la 

 (live in the chair. — .\ problem relating to the theory of 

 onhogon;il systems and the method of the mobile trihedron : 

 Gaston Darboux. — The detection of a particular class of 

 rays which may be emitted by the sun : H. Deslandres. 

 An attempt at an explanation of the phenomenon of the 

 second twilight. M. Durand-Greville has recently shown 

 that this phenomenon is a general one, and is not con- 

 fined to mountainous districts. If there are solar radia- 

 tions of wave-length smaller than o-i /», possessing an 

 inde.K of refraction greater than the known rays, and for 

 which the ratio n — i/d (h being the refractive index and 

 rf the density of the gas) is five or six times greater than 

 with the luminous rays, the sunset for these rays would 

 be about fifteen minutes after the sunset visible to the eye. 

 It is further supposed that these ultra-violet rays excite 

 phosphorescence in the atmospheric particles. These hypo- 

 theses would account for the second twilight, but further 

 proof of the existence of such ultra-violet rays is necessary. 

 — -X hailstorm which follow^ed the path of a high-tension 

 circuit : J. Violls. This destructive hailstorm moved 

 about 14 kilometres, and had a width of about 2 kilo- 

 metres. It was remarked that its direction coincided very 

 exactly w'ith that of a high-tension line (45,000 volts). 

 Owing to the fact that the permission of the owners had 

 to be obtained in fixing this line, its course was sinuous. 

 The most serious damage was done in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the w-ire, decreasing to the right and 

 left, and ceasing altogether at about Soo metres to moo 

 metres on each side. One of the ow-ners of the district 

 where the storm commenced was about 400 metres from 

 the line, and observed three large spheres, twice as large 

 as a man's head, which remained for a moment suspended, 

 and the explosion of w-hich was immediately followed by 

 the fall of hail. These observations raise an interesting 

 question as to the relation between these destructive hail- 

 storms and lines transmitting electric energv under high 

 voltage. — Periodic functions : P. Cousin. — The formation 

 of fogs in presence of the radium emanation : Mme. Curie. 

 The production of a mist in moist gases by the action of 

 the radium emanation has been pointed out in an earlier 

 communication. In the present paper an attempt is made 

 to trace the cause of this phenomenon. It appears to be 

 due to a chemical reaction under the influence of the 

 emanation. In some cases the nature of the products has 

 been dc^termined with certainty ; with carbon dioxide a 

 little carbon monoxide is produced ; air gives some oxides 

 of nitrogen ; sulphur and air produce traces of sulphurous 

 and sulphuric acids. The mists produced are composed of 

 very minute drops, not electrically charged. — .Anatomical 

 researches on the vegetative apparatus of the Geraniacea; : 

 .\hel Legault. — The origin of the colour of black grapes : 

 Philippe Malvezin, An account of the production of the 

 red colour in grapes picked before the colour had developed. 

 The results are in accord with the view of Duclaux, that 

 there is only one chromogenic material iri the grape, the 

 transformation of which takes place under the simultaneous 

 influence of air, heat, and possibly light. — The radio- 

 activity of certain springs producing goitre : M. Repin. 

 X'arious theories have been proposed to account for the 

 production of goitre by certain waters. Two of these, the 

 presence of a distinctive micro-organism or the presence 

 of a rare mineral element, are regarded bv the author as 

 imtenable from his researches. One singular property of 

 such waters has been known for some time — the pow-er of 

 producing goitre disappears spontaneously after a certain 

 lapse of time. This appeared to resemble the disappear- 

 ance of radio-activity in certain mineral w-aters, and the 

 author has examined several springs, well known to have 

 the property of causing goitre, from this point of view. 

 Three such springs were examined, and all were found to 

 be radio-active, the one possessing the greatest radio- 

 ndivity also being the one best known for its goitre-pro- 

 fhicing properties. There would thus appear to be a 

 distinct parallelism between the two phenomena, and 

 further work is being carried on from this point of view. 



- I'he optical properties of some contractile elements : Mile. 

 Doris L. Mackinnon and Fred. Vies. The contractile 



NO. 2026, VOL. 78] 



elements appear to form two groups from the point of 

 view of their reaction between crossed N'icols ; in the one 

 the lighting is* due to double refraction (muscular elements 

 in general), in the other the lighting is due to depolarisa- 

 tion (cilia). — The changes in the nuclei of the lecithogenic 

 cells of Rhabdocoeles : Paul Hallez. — The persistence of 

 the. pronephros in Teleostea : Fr<5deric Guitei. — The fossil 

 flora of Lugarde, Cantal : P. IMarty. 



Calcutt.4. 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, August 5. — Major James 

 Rennell's journals, 17^)4-7 : T. H. D. La Touche. 

 These are the original journals written by Major James 

 Rennell, the first Surveyor-General of India, during his 

 surveys of the rivers of Bengal, including an expedition 

 up the- Brahmaputra to the frontiers of .Assam. They 

 cover the period from 1764 to 1767, when Lord Clive was 

 Governor of Bengal. Daily observations on the weather 

 are given, and determinations of the variation of the mag- 

 netic needle at various places. — The Kosi River, and some 

 lessons to be learnt from it : Captain F. C. Hirst. Thjs 

 paper gives an account of the past history of the Kosi 

 River, its present condition, and of the considerations 

 which, in the author's opinion, should govern any attempts 

 made to control the river by embankments or otherwise. 

 — A general theory of osculating conies (second paper) ; 

 Prof. Syamadas Mukhopadhyaya. — Memoir on the 

 surgical instruments of the Hindus, with a comparative 

 study of the surgical instruments of the Greek, Roman, 

 .Arab, and modern European surgeons, part iii., the sharp 

 instruments : Girindranath IMukhopadhyaya. 



CONTENTS. PAGB 



Fluid Resistance and Ship Propulsion. By Sir 



W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S 38..; 



Lectures on Evolution. By Prof. W. Bateson, F.R.S. 3S6 



Metallography. By T. K. R 3S7 



Electro therapeutics 3SS 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Wickham : " On the Plantation, Cultivation and 

 Curing of Para India-rubber (Hnvii hrasilicnsis), 

 with an Account of its Introduction from the West 



to the Eastern Tropics " 388 



"Decoration of Metal, Wood, Glass, &c."— C. S. 389 



Jensen: "Cast-Iron House Drainage, with Especial 



Reference to Town Houses" 3S9 



Dickinson and Andrews : " Macmillan's Orographical 

 Map of Europe"; "Notes on the Orographical 



Map of Europe " 389 



Hulme ; '* P'amiliar Swiss Flowers" 389 



" Astrononiischer Jahresbericht." — W.J. S. L. . . 390 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



The Crystallisation of Over-cooled Water. — (Ilhis- 



trafeii.) — Prof. Boris Weinberg 390 



Bright Meteors on August 19. — W. F. Denning . 390 

 Barisal Guns in Western Australia. — W. E. Cooke . 390 

 Surveying for Archaeologists. I. (///iis/ia/fJ.) By 

 Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. ...... 391 



The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to Melanesia. 



By Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S 393 



The Preservation of Well-established Names in 



Zoological Nomenclature 394 



The South African Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science. By Prof. J. E. Duerden .... 395 



Notes 397 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Origin of the Recently Discovered Jovian 



Satellites 401 



Elements of the Orbit of Jupiter's Eighth Satellite . 401 

 Search-ephemerides for Comet Tempel^-Swift .... 402 



Definitive Orbit of Comet 1826 V . 402 



Relative Depths of the Sun-spols of a Group . . . 402 

 An Alleged Excretion of Toxic Substances by 



Plant Roots. By E. J. R 402 



Acid-Resisting Alloys 403 



Certain Aspects of the Work of Lord Kelvin. By 



Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S 403 



University and Educational Intelligence 407 



Societies and Academies 408 



