6^6 



NA TURE 



[October 22, 1908 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, Ociutcr \7. — M. Knuchaul In ihe 

 chair. — A statement of the conditions under which the 

 Bonaparte fund will be applied. — The application to man 

 of an anti-tuberculous scrum : MINI. Lannelongue, 

 Achard, and Gaillard. The serum is prepared from 

 horses and asses, after submitting the animals to the action 

 of a toxin extracted from the tubercle bacillus. Pre- 

 liminary experiments on animals appeared to show some 

 beneficial effects, and an account is now given of the 

 treatment of human tuberculous subjects with this serum. 

 The experiments have lasted more than a year, more than 

 fifty subjects affected with various tuberculous diseases 

 having submitted to the treatment. The serum is well 

 tplerated, and can be used without danger ; it is without 

 curative influence on cases of advanced tuberculosis, but 

 in less advanced cases forms a useful addition to the usual 

 therapeutic treatment. In some cases the number of 

 tubercle bacilli was shown to diminish and even disappear. 

 — Cultural bud mutations in Solatium Maglia : Edouard 

 Meckel. This variety offers certain advantages over 

 Solanum tuberosum in its resistance to mildew, does not 

 require a soil specially resistant to drought, and accommo- 

 dates itself to soils containing large amounts of clay and 

 lime. — The Tempel-Swift comet : MM. Javelle and 

 Giacobini, Observations of the comet were made at Nice 

 on the nights of September 29, 30, and October 2 and 3. 

 The mean positions of the comparison stars and the 

 apparent positions of the comet are given. — Remarks on 

 a note of M. Lebedew relating to the dispersion of light 

 in interstellar space : Charles Nordmann. — Systems of 

 families of surfaces cutting along conjugate lines : S. 

 Carrus. — ^The extraction of the rare gases of the atmo- 

 sphere : Georges Claude. A description, with diagram, of 

 a modification of the commercial apparatus for separating 

 oxygen and nitrogen by fractional distillation for the pur- 

 pose of extracting the lighter gases of the atmosphere. 

 The modified apparatus gives a continuous flow of a 

 gaseous mi.xture consisting of nitrogen with at least 

 50 per cent, of neon, helium, and hydrogen. .^nother 

 modification gave a gas with a density of 068 that of 

 air ; since the density of neon is o-6q, the gas thus obtained 

 is extremely rich in neon. Approximately pure neon can 

 in this way be obtained in any quantity. — Researches on 

 the diffusion of gaseous ions ; Edouard Salles. — The 

 method of calculation of the atomic weights : Louis 

 Dubreuil. A discussion and modification of the methods 

 of Hinrichs. — One of the causes modifying the dominant 

 forms in crystals, and on solid solutions : Paul Gaubert. 

 It is shown that in the crystallisation of phthalic acid the 

 addition of small quantities of liquids to the solvent causes 

 modifications in the form of the crystals separating on 

 cooling. It is known that a crystal, growing in a liquid, 

 can absorb molecules of another crystalline substance, and 

 to this must now be added the molecules of the solvent 

 itself or of another liquid present in the solvent. — Katafa, 

 Geaya, and Macrocaly.x, three new Madagascan plants : 

 M. Costantin and H. Poisson. — The skeleton of the 

 anterior member of Btadyfiiis lorquatus : A. Meneg-aux. 

 — The phenomena of phagocytosis and autodigestion in the 

 course of the regression of the ascidiozoids in the Diplo- 

 somidefe (compound ascidians) : Antoine Pizon. — Crossing 

 in the Amphibia from the cytological point of view ; E. 

 Bataillon. — Anatomical orientation in radiography : A. 

 Rieffel and Maxime Menard. The incorrect placing of 

 the Crookes's tube may result in apparent displacements, 

 deformations, or lesions, or, conversely, may mask these 

 if present. — Contribution to the study of audition : M. 

 Marag:e. A comparison of the theory of Helmholtz and 

 that according to which all the nerve centres are equally 

 impressed ; the latter theory is held to correspond most 

 closely with the most recent anatomical and pathological 

 knowledge. — The resistance at 100° C. of the hsemolysins 

 of prepared serums. The separation of alexine and its 

 sensitiser by filtration through collodion : Albert Frouin. 

 — The treatment of trypanosomiasis in horses by orpimont 

 alone or associated with atoxyl : A. Thiroux and L. 

 Teppaz. T. cazalhoui and T. dimorphon have been 

 successfully treated by the combination of orpiment with 

 atoxyl, all the three horses treated being cured. It is 



NO. 2034, VOL. 78] 



possible that m'bori is also curable by this treatment 

 Two horses suffering from souma have been treated witb 

 success by orpiment alone. — The persistence throughout 

 Corsica of a zone of abnormal contacts between the eastern 

 and western region : M. Deprat. — Disturbances in the 

 electric charge of the earth: Albert Nodon. — Variations | 

 of latitude and earthquakes : M. de Montessus de 

 Ballore. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAV, OcToiiEK 22. 



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

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

 The Relationship of Colour and Fluorescence to Constitution, Part ii., 

 Rhodamines of Mellitic .\ciH ; O. Silberrad and C. S. Roy. — Constitution 

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

 A New Form of Gas Burette : A. E. Hi!]. — A Molecular Compound of 

 Trinitroacetaminophenol and P-Naphthol : R. Meldola and J. G. Hay. 

 — Reduction Products of .'\zo.\ybenzene, Preliminary Notice : L. H. 

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

 Colour in the Trlphenylmethane Series: \. G. Green.— Chlorination of 

 /■Nitraniline : B. Fliirscheim. — Relation between Absorplion Spectra and 

 Chemical Constitution, Part x., Unsaturated ."Vcids of the Benzen^ 

 Series : E. C. C. Baly and K. Schaefer. — Condensations with Mono- 

 chloromethyl Ether, Part i., Condensation of Monochloromethyl Ether 

 with Ethyl Malonate and Ethyl Isopropyl Malonate : J. L. Simonsen. — 

 Relation between Chemical Constitution and Physiological .Action in 

 Certain Substituted .-Aminoalkyle-ters : F. L. Pyman.— EfTect of Con- 

 stitution on the Optical Rotatory Power of Optically Active Nitrogen 

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

 FRIDAY, Octohek 23. 



Physical Society (National Physical Laboratory), at 3.30.— Demonstra- 

 tions of Work in Progress in the Laboratory. 



WEDNESDAY, Octoueu 28. 

 Society of Dyers and Coloukists, at 8. Some Recent Improvements 



in Dyeing and Cleaning : F. ]. Farrell. 

 British Astronomical Association, at 5. — Annual Meeting. 



CONTENTS. PACK 



Industrial Hygiene. By A. E. B 627 



Scientific Exploration in Dahomey. By J. P. ... 628 



The Solar System. By William E. Rolston .... 629 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Tschirch : " Handbuch der Pharmakognosie." — Prof. 



Henry G. Greenish 629 



" Memories of Dr. E. Symes-Thompson, a follower 



of St. Luke " 630 



Cowan: "Wax Craft: All about Beeswax. Its 

 History, Production, Adulteration, and Commercial 



Value."— C. S. . 630 



Park : " Educational Wood-Working for School and 



Home " 630 



Letters to the Editor: — 



On the Change of Colour in the Eyes of an Attis 

 Spider. (IVith Diagrams.) — T. Padmanabha 



Pillai 631 



Meteorology of the Indian Ocean. — Wm. 



Allingham ; E. Gold , ... . . 632 

 Some Cromlechs in North Wales. I. {^Illustrated.) 



By Sir Norman Lockyer, K.CB., F.R.S 633 



Helium. By Francis Hyndman 635 



The International Congress on Roads 636 



Science at the Universities 637 



Fibres for Paper-making 639 



Notes 640 



Our Astronomical Column :^ 



Comet Morehouse, igoSt' 644 



Comet Teiiipelj-Svvift, 1908^/ 644 



A Bright Meteor 644 



Vortices in the Sun's Almosphere . . 644 



The Orbit of 42 Con'fe Berenices (2 172S) 644 



The Rio de Janeiro Observatory . . 644 



The First International Congress on Refrigera- 

 tion 644 



Local Associations for Promoting Eugenics. By 



Francis Galton, F.R.S .... 645 



Zoology at the British Association. By Dr. J. H. 



Ashworth 647 



Engineering at the British Association ^50 



Agriculture at the British Association 652 



Meteorology in Australia 653 



University and Educational Intelligence 653 



Societies and Academies 654 



Diary of Societies 656 



