626 



'NA TURE 



[October 15, 1908 



Iho above rats were rather less than those which we should 

 judtje to be curative, but in four cases the results were 

 entirely negative. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Scien-es, 0;iuiier 5. — .\I. K mle Hicard in 

 in ihe chair. — .\ recent change in the aspect of the comet 

 1908c (.Morehouse-Borrelly) : G. Bigourdan, On Sep- 

 tember 30 the comet possessed a long visible tail, directed 

 from the sun, and at least 15' long. On October i this tail 

 liad disappeared, and the head of the comet also appeared 

 less brilliant. Traces of a tail were noted on October 3. 

 — Till- micro-organisms of intestinal putrefaction : Elie 

 Mctchnikoff. After reviewing the recent work on the 

 nalure and functions of the bacteria found in the normal 

 IiLunan intestine, the author regards it as certain that 

 the digestive tube of man contains three species of putre- 

 factive organisms. They occur, not only in the form of 

 spores, but also in their vegetative state of rods. The 

 author is of opinion that the products formed by these 

 bacteria act as poisons, and Itave a pathogenic role. 

 These poisons pass through a porcelain filter, and resist 

 Ihe action of boiling water. — Observations of the grey 

 tropical spot of Jupiter: Jose Comas Sola. — The con- 

 vergence of continued fractions : E. Norlund. — Directed 

 waves in wireless telegrapliv and the investigation of 

 syntony : M. Turpain. .\ reclamation of priority as 

 regards the work of .MM. Bellini and Tosi and M. Slaby. 

 — .Studies on the association in series and in parallel of 

 electrolytic detectors ; M. Jegrou. The combination of 

 two or more electrolytic detectors in series causes a loss 

 in sensibility, the arrangement being always less sensitive 

 than any one of the detectors used alone. The arrange- 

 ment in parallel may give results which are practically 

 useful. — The analysis of the non-liquefiable gases in liquid 

 air : F. Bordas and M. Touplain. The apparatus de- 

 scribed by the .-luthor in a preceding paper for the in- 

 vestigation of the small quantities of gases contained in 

 minerals has been modified to analyse the gases which 

 .escape liquefaction during the fractional distillation of 

 liquid air. The gases used were supplied by M. Claude, 

 and were submitted to fractional absorption by charcoal 

 cooled to different temperatures. The spectrum of the 

 mixture of neon and helium thus obtained is given and 

 compared with Baly's figures. — Size of the molecules and 

 charge of the electron ; Jean Perrin. — The microchemical 

 reactions of arsenic applicable in legal medicine : G. 

 Denizes. The drop of the liquid containing the arsenic 

 in tile form of an arsenate is evaporated to dryness on 

 the microscope slide, and then treated with the reagent 

 (silver nitrate or magnesia mixture), with certain pre- 

 c;iutions described. Characteristic crvstals are obtained in 

 this way. — The active pinonic and pinic acids : Ph. 

 Barbier and V. Grigrnard. The pinenes employed in 

 this investig.Ttion wen- strongly active, and the corre- 

 sponding acids obtained by oxidation were also strongly 

 active in rotatory power. — The estimation of succinic acid 

 in wines and in other feynented liquids in the orescnce 

 of fixed acids : Emm. Pozzi-Escot. — The effect of 

 dialysis on the ferments from plant juices : C. Gerber. — 

 .\ young giraffe from eastern Soudan recently arrived 

 at the museum menagerie : E. L. Trouessart. — k hvdro- 

 logical law of Minard and Belgrand : E. Maillet. The 

 author's measurements lead to a slight modification . of 

 this law. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



/=';f/Z)^r, October 16. 

 iNsTiTCTrON OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, at 8. — Repairs, Renewals, 

 Deterioration and Depreciation of Workshop Plant and ^Iachinery : 

 J. E. Darbishire. 



WEDNESDAY, Octobet: ii. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at 8.— The Mouth Parts of the Nemoce-a 

 and their Relation to the other Families in Diptera ; Corrections and 

 Additions to ihe Paper published in 1:04: W. Wesche.— (i) On th» 

 Resolution of Periodic Structures; (2) .\n .Auxiliary Illuminating 

 Apparatus : E. M. Ne'snp. 



Fntomological Society, at 8.- On Dtaposematic Resemblances in 

 insects ; a Reply to Mr. G. A. K. M.irshall ; Dr. F. A. Di.vev. 



THURSDAY, October 22. 

 Chemical Society, at 8.30. — The Passage of Hydrogen through a 

 Palladium Septum, and the Pressure which it produces : D. Tsakalotos — 

 1 he Relationship of Colour and FIu^ rescence to Constitution, Part li., 

 Rbodamines of Mellitic Acid : O. Silberr.id and C. S. Roy. — Constitution 

 of the Fluorescences of Mellitic and Pviomellitic Acid : O. Silberrad. — 

 A New Form of Gas Burette : A. E. Hill. — A Molecular Compound of 

 Trinitroacetaminoplienol and ^.Naphthol ; R. Meldola and J. G. Hay. 

 — Reduction Products of Azoxybenzene, Preliminary Notice: L. H. 

 Berry. — Constiiuiion of the Salts of the Phthaleins, and the Cause of 

 Colour in the Triphenylmethane Series: A. G. Green. — Chlorination of 

 /-Nitraniline : B. Fliirscheim. — Relation between Absorption Spectra and 

 Chemical Constitution, Part x., I'nsaturated Acids of the Benzene 

 Series ; E. C. C. Baly and K. Pchaefer. — Condensations with Mono- 

 chloiomethyl Ether, Part i., Condensation of Monochloromethyl Ether 

 with Ethyl Malonate and Ethyl Isopropyl Malonale : J. L, Simonsen.- 

 Relation between Chemical Constitution and Physiological .Action in 

 Certain Substituted .Aminoalk^ letters : F. L. Pyman.— Effect of Con- 

 stitution on the Optical Rotatory Power of Optically Active Nitrogen 

 Compounds, Part iii.: R. W. Everatt and H. O. Jones. -Lltu. 



FRIDAY, October 23. "'°°'; 



Physical Society (National Phy.sical Laboratory), at 3.30.- 

 lions of Work ill Progress in the Laboratory. 



.een 

 pu' 



CONTENTS. P.i.e 



Aids to Mathematical Research 597 



Modern Marine Engineering. By Sir W, H. White, 



K.C.B., F.R.S 51JS 



The Moon's Motion 599 



Pro's and Con's of Darwinism. By J. A. T. ... 600 



The Study of Tropical Diseases 601 



Human Physiology. By Dr. J. A. Milroy 601 



Technical Chemistry. By Dr, J. Gordon Parker . . 602 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Carne : "Geology and Mineral Resources of the 



Western Coalfield " 603 



Daniel : "Science and Empiricism." — R. T. H. . . 603 



" Vegetalionsbilder " 603 



Mill : " British Rainfall," 1907 604 



Friedenthal : " Arbeiten aus dem Gebiet der experi- 



mentellen Physiologie " 604 



Letters to the Editor; — 



Observations on the Active Deposit of Radium in 



Mid-ocean. — Prof. A. S. Eve 604 



The Indigo Queslion.— A. G. Perkin, F.R.S. . . . 604 

 Memory in the Germ-plasm. — Dr. G. Archdall Reid 605 



A Red Rainbow at Sunset. — E. Armitage .... 605 



Oxford University Museum 605 



Measurements of the Chinese 607 



Mosquitoes and Peat. By Fred. V. Theobald . . . 607 



Notes. (Illustraled.) 60S 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



A New Saturnian Ring 612 



Comet Morehouse, 1908c 612 , 



Photometric Observations of Variable Stars .... 6(2 



A Bolide with a Persistent Trail 612 



Radial Velocity of Algol 612 



The Effect of Star. colours upon the Constant of 



Astronomical Refractions . 612 



Halley's Comet 6l2 



Cambridge University Appeal; Fund 613 



The Imperial College of Science and Technology. 



Address by Dr. Henry Bovey, F.R.S 613 



Geography at the British Association 6lh 



Education at the British Association. By G. F. 



Daniell 618 



Forthcoming Books of Science 620 



University and Educational Intelligence 624 



Societies and Academies 624 



Diary of Societies 626 



NO. 2033, VOL. 78] 



