October i, 1908] 



NATURE 



549 



ence for one of the two fonns, assimilating or destroying 

 it, whilst the other form is rejected. Whilst the same 

 seems to be true in tiie case of the higher animals, the 

 experiments as yet made are somewhat uncertain. In the 

 present paper Mr. Bruni deals with the differences shown 

 by the right- and left-handed forms of camphor. The 

 latter was found in a large number of experiments to be 

 about thirteen times as poisonous as the former when 

 injected into the circulation of rabbits or guinea-pigs. 

 The IjEvo form also differs strikingly from the dextro 

 form in being practically tasteless ; a somewhat similar 

 difference has already been recorded for the two aspara- 

 gines, the dextro form being sw^eet, the Isevo form tasteless. 



The Revue scientifique for September 19 contains a lec- 

 ture delivered by Sir William Ramsay to the French Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science during the meeting 

 at Clermont-Ferrand. In this lecture a full account of the 

 discovery of the inactive gases of the air is given in popular 

 language. The relation of the radium emanation to these 

 gases is also dealt with, allusion being made to the pro- 

 duction of helium and neon from the emanation. A review 

 of the periodic table shows that in two of the groups (6 

 and 7) inactive elements of the argon group with higher 

 atomic weights than xenon may be expected, and details 

 are given of the recent attempts made by Sir William 

 Ramsay, in conjunction with Prof. Moore, to isolate these 

 two elements. The less volatile residues arising from the 

 fractional distillation of more than 100 tons of liquid air 

 were placed at the disposal of the lecturer by M. Claude. 

 Oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, 

 and water vapour were removed in succession by the usual 

 means, and the residue of inert gases cooled to —185° C, 

 and submitted to systematic fractionation. The result of 

 this series of operations was the relatively enormous quan- 

 tity of 300 c.c. of xenon. This was liquefied at —130° C, 

 and again submitted to a methodical fractionation. No 

 trace of any foreign substance could be detected in this 

 xenon, the spectrum of the last third of a cubic centimetre 

 being absolutely identical with that of the bulk. This 

 failure to isolate these heavy gaseous elements from the 

 air may be due to their lack of stability ; they may con- 

 stitute the emanations of radium, thorium, and actinium. 



From Messrs. Carl Zeiss, Jena, we have received a copy 

 of the third edition of their " Astro. 8 " catalogue, a 

 handsomely illustrated volume which should be seen by 

 all those desiring to purchase any kind of instrument or 

 fitting for astronomical use. The present edition, which 

 can be obtained gratis and post-free upon application, has 

 been prepared with the view of meeting all the likely re- 

 quirements of the scientific amateur astronomer, and 

 includes telescopes and accessories up to an objective clear 

 aperture of 7i inches (200 mm.) ; for larger or special 

 instruments the firm furnishes special estimates. There 

 are several new constructions appearing for the first time in 

 this edition. Among these we notice an ingenious relief 

 system of the hour and declination axes, a changing 

 appliance permitting any accessory to be fitted instantly 

 to the breach of the telescope tube without screwing, and 

 a new sun prism devised by Father A. Colzi, and consisting 

 of a Herschel reflector and a Pickering double-prism ; the 

 second prism contains a fluid the depth of colour of which 

 may be chosen to give an agreeable brightness of image. 

 The astro-Tessar and U.V. objectives are also illustrated 

 and quoted, and the catalogue concludes with illustrated 

 specifications of variously sized domes. The London 

 address of the firm is 29 Margaret Street, Regent Street, 

 W. 



NO. 2031, VOL. 78] 



Mr. John Ml'rray has published a cheap edition (price 

 25. bd. net) in cloth of Darwin's " Insectivorous Plants." 



Messrs. John Wheldon and Co., of Great Queen 

 Street, W.C., have just issued a useful catalogue of books 

 dealing with physical sciences. 



A NEW edition of their useful illustrated price-list of 

 balances, scales and weights has been issued by Messrs. 

 F. E. Becker and Co., of Hatton Wall, London, E.C. 

 Every form of weighing instrument seems to be repre- 

 sented, and the catalogue includes particulars of a great 

 variety of weights and accessories for use with balances. 



Messrs. John J. Griffin and Sons, Ltd., are prepared 

 to send post free to chemists, teachers of chemistry and 

 others applying for it, a very complete price-list of organic 

 and inorganic chemicals and volumetric solutions manu- 

 factured by Mr. C. A. F. Kahlbaum, of Berlin. All the 

 chemical preparations described are included in Messrs. 

 Griffins' London stock. 



In the Journal of the Franklin Institute (vol. clxvi., 

 No. 2) Mr. J. S. Hepburn gives the results of tests of the 

 numerous modifications of the Kjeldahl method for the 

 quantitative determination of nitrogen. The nitrogen con- 

 tent of antipyrin was determined, but in no case was 

 the theoretical percentage of nitrogen obtained. The 

 absolute method of Dumas, however, may be applied to 

 antipyrin with success. 



The report of the Felsted School Scientific Society for 

 the year 1907 provides abundant evidence that good work 

 continues to be done in this school, by the masters and 

 others, to encourage and maintain among the older boys 

 a practical interest in the study of science. The work 

 accomplished during the year is chronicled under botanical, 

 chemical, geographical, and zoological sections. The re- 

 port of the geographical section includes a fairly complete 

 weather record for the year with which the report deals. 



A new volume of " The. Fauna of British India " has 

 just been published by Messrs. Taylor and Francis. The 

 volume deals with the families Testacellidae and Zonitidae 

 of the Indian land moUusca. The late Dr. W. T. Blan- 

 ford, F.R.S., left a short manuscript in which the shells 

 were dealt with, chiefly from the conchological side, and 

 this formed the foundation of the volume. Lieut. -Colonel 

 Godwin-.^usten, F.R.S., who has been responsible for the 

 malacological part, and whose name appears with that of 

 Dr. Blanford upon the title-page, contributes an introduc- 

 tion which should be the means of creating interest in the 

 two important families of Indian land-shells described. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Comet Morehouse. — The following set of elements and 

 an ephemeris for comet igoSc appear in No. 138 of the 

 Lick Observatory Bulletins. They have been computed by 

 Messrs. Einarsson and Meyer, of the Berkeley Astro- 

 nomical Department, from observations made at the Yerkes 

 and Lick observatories, and subsequent observations show 

 a satisfactory agreement between the observed and calcu- 

 lated positions. It will be noted that, according to these 

 elements, perihelion will not take place until January 5, 

 whilst the computed increase in brightness is not so rapid 

 as given previously. 



Elements. 



T = 1909 January 5702 G.M.T. 

 01=152° 4'o I 

 Si = 90' 2o''5 [ i9o8'0 

 e=i35° 56'-2i 

 1/ =i'i6So 



