686 



NA TURE 



[October 29, 1908 



The yiold is increased from 35 per cent, to 72 per cent, 

 of the theoretical, and the methylamine hydrochloride is 

 obtained pure and free from ammonium chloride. — The 

 tiUidy of colouring matters in solution : L. Pelet-Jolivst 

 and A. Wild. Colouring matters e.\ist in a state of 

 tUctroIytic dissociation ; some of them are partly in the 

 colloidal state, as was shown by their behaviour in the 

 ultramicroscope. The properties of colouring matters are I 

 intermediate between ordinary saline solutions and ! 

 colloidal solutions. — Saprophytic cultures of Cusciita 

 nwiiogyna : Marin Molliard. — The Secamone of the north- 

 ■\vi-st of Africa : Henri Jumelle and H. Perrier de la 

 r.athie. — Pigmentary assimilation in Actinia : Georges 

 Tohn, — The hereditary chromatic substratum and the 

 nuclear combinations in the crossing of Ampliibia : E. 

 Bataillon. — The gradation and improvement of the 

 instinct in the solitary wasps of Africa of the genus 

 Synagris : E. Roubaud. — The affection known under the 

 name of botryomyrosis and its parasite : Gustave Bureau 

 and Alphonse Labbe. This disease is not a mycosis, but 

 is due to an amoeba ; the botryomyces observed in previous 

 cases is only a plastogamic stage of this organism. — The 

 protonephridin of the adult polychaital annelids : A. 

 Malaquin. — The existing genera of the family of the 

 Tjrachypodides : A. Menegraux. — Xew researches on the 

 radio-activity of springs producing goitre : M. Repin. .Ml 

 the goitre-producing waters of the Alps gave on examina- 

 tion a measurable radio-activity, due probably to radio- 

 thorium. — The accelerative influence of magnesia in the 

 transformation of saccharose : J. Tribot. Sucrase was 

 prepared from yeast and purified by fractional precipita- 

 tion with alcohol. It was found that the purer the pro- 

 duct from mineral matter the smaller was the activity, as 

 measured by the amount of sugar fermented in a given 

 time. The mineral substance to which the activitv would 

 appear to be due is magnesia. — The ferment from the 

 decapod Crustacea : C. Gerber. This ferment is dis- 

 tinguished from other animal ferments by its resistance 

 to heat and by the special action of acids. Its properties 

 approach those of the vegetable ferments. — The numerical 

 determination of the urinary excretion of nitrogen in 

 \-arious forms in a normal man : L. C. Maillard. — The 

 action of the products of the reaction on the saponification 

 of fats by the pancreatic juice : Mile. L. Kalaboukoff 

 and Emile Terroino. — The tonality of the sound of per- 

 cussion : Gabriel Arthaud. — The existence of a new 

 deposit of pre-Pyrenean strata in the middle of the north 

 Pyrenees sheets, in the neighbourhood of Arbas : L<5on 

 Bertrand. — The seismic disturbance of October 13, iqoS : 

 .Alfred Ang^ot. A discussion of the seismograph record at 

 the Pare .Saint-Maur Observatorv. — The erosion of the 

 Fontainebleau grits : E. A. Marte'l.— The presence of the 

 genera Salvinia, Nymphnea, and Pontederia in the 

 sparnacian clays of the Montois : P. H. Fritel. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



FR/DA V. October ^o. 

 Institution- ok MEcHAMCvt, Enginfers, at 8.— Repairs, Renewals. 

 Deterioration and Deprecialinn of Workshop Plant and Machinery 

 {Resumeii discussion) : J. E. Darbishire. 



MONO A Y, November 2. 

 KovAL Ceocraphical SociETV, at 8.30.— Unexp'ored Western Asia: 



D. G. Hogarth. 

 Society of Chemical Indcstrv. at 8.— Chemical Industry in Relation 

 to Agriculture : Prof. Adolf Frank. 



TUESDA V. November 3. 

 ZoOLOGlCAl. Society, at 8.30.— The Devel'ipment of ihe Lesser Black- 

 hacked Gull. Lay-tis fuscus, L. : Piof. Ale.vander Meek.— On Mammals 

 from Inkerman, North Queensland, presented to the National Museum by 

 '"■- W. Ingram and the Hon John Forrest : OldfielH Thomas, F.R.S., and 



Sir 



Guv Dollman.— (i) The Sze-chuen and Hhutan Takins : (2) On an Indian 



at 8. — .Address by the President, Mr. 



In.stitution of Civil Engineer! 

 J. C. Inglis. 



WEDNESDAY, November 4. 



Entomological Society, at 8 



Ceoi.ogicai. Society, at 8.— The Relations of the Nubian Sandstone and 

 the Crystalline Rocks of Eeypt : H. I. L. Beadnell.— On the Fossil Plants 

 of the Waldershare and Fredville Series of the Kent Coalfield : E. A. 

 Newell .^rber. 



SociETV OF PcBLic ANALYSTS, at 8.— The Solvent Action of Carbonic 

 Acid on the Carbonates of the Heavy Metals : C. Seyler. — The .'Analysis 

 of Camphorated Oil for Camphor Substitutes ; F. W. Richardson and 

 W. K. Walton. — The Separation and Estimation of Certain Volatile Fatty 

 Acids by Ex-traction with Benzene or Toluene : T. R. Hcdgson.— The 

 Estimation of Cocoanut Oil in Butter : R. Ross. \ 



N'G. 20,:;5. VOT,. 7S] 



THURSDAY, November 5. 



Royal Socie-ty, at ^.^o.—Prabalile Papers, (i) Note on Tidal Bores; 

 {2) Vunices in Oscillating Liquid : Lord Rayleigh. O. M., Pres. R.S — 

 Note on Two recently-compiled Calendars of Papers of the period 1606- 

 1S06 in the Archives of the Roval Society : Prof. .\. H Church, F.R.S.— 

 On the Osmotic Pressures of .-Aqueous Solutions of Calcium Ferrocyanide. 

 Parti., Concentrated Solutions: Earl of Berkeley, F.R.S , E. G. J. 

 Hartley, and C. \ . Burton. — On the Generation of a Luminous Glow in 

 an Exhausted Receiver moving near an Electrostatic Field, and the 

 Action of a Magnetic Field on the Glow si produced, the Residual Gases 

 being Oxygen, Hydrogen, Neon and -.\ir : Rev. F. J. Jervis. Smith. F.R.S. 

 — The kale of Production of tielium from Radium : Sir James Dewar. 

 F.R.S. — The Spectrum of Radium Emanation : A '1". Cameron and Sir 

 William Ramsay. K.C.B.. F.R.S. -On a Method of Comparing Mutual 

 Inductance and Resistance by the Help of Two-phase Allemating 

 Currents : A. Campbell. — The EtTect of Pressure upon Arc Spectra. No. 2, 

 Copper : W. G. Duflield. 



Chemical Society, at 8.30.— The Direct Union of Carbon and Hydrogen : 

 \\'. .-X. Bone and H. F. Coward. — The Relation between Absorption 

 Spectra and Chemical Constitution. Part XI , Some Aromatic Hydro- 

 carbons : E. C. C. Baly and W. B. Tuck. — Organic Derivatives of 

 Silicon. Part VII., Synthesis of rt'/Sulphobenzyiethylisobutylsilicyl 

 Oxide : B. D. W. Luff and F. S. Kipping. — (i) Chlorine Derivatives of 

 Pyridine. Part IX., Preparation and Orientation of the Dichlor pyridine, 

 m. p. 66-70° ; (2) Chlorine Derivatives of Pyridine. Part X .JOrientation 

 of the rrichloropyridine, m. p. 4g-5o^ ; (3) Chlorination of Methyl Deri- 

 vativesof Pyridine. 2-Methyl pyridine. Part II. ; W. J. Sell.— (1) TRe 

 Triazo-group. Part V., Resolution of «-Triazopropi. nic acid ; (2) I'he 

 Triazo-group- Part VI., I riazoethyl Alcohol and Triazoacetaldehyde : 

 M. O. Forster and H. E. Fierz. 



Linnean Society, at 8. — Notes on some Parasitic Copepoda, with a 

 Description of a New Species of Chondracantltjts : May E. Bainbridge. — 

 On .some Nemerteans from the Eastern Indian Ocean : R. C. Punnett and 

 C. Forster Cooper. — Report on the Echinoderms other than Holothurians 

 collected by Mr. Stanley Gardiner in the Western Parts of the Indian 

 Ocean : Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell. 



Rontgen Society, at 8.15. — Presidential Address, The Amsterdam 

 Congress. 



FRIDAY, November 6. 



Geologists' Association, at 8. — Un some Norwegian Lakes and Rock- 

 Basins: H. W. Mnnckton. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Farm Animals. By Prof. James Wilson 657 



Power Gas Production . 658 



The National Collection of Fishes. By W. W. . . 659 



The Resistance and Propulsion of Ships 659 



Studies in the Statistics of Production 660 



Our Book Shelf:— 



de la Blache : " Ktude sur la Vallee Lorraine de la 



Meuse."— G. A. J. C 661 



Merck: "Chemical Reagents, their Purity and 



Tests."— J. B, C 661 



de Foaviel!e and Besancon : " Notre Flotte aerienne " 65i 



Hissey : "An English Holiday with Car and Camera" 662 



Shipley: " Pearls and Parasiies" 662 



Travers : " Architectural Education " 662 



Letters to the Editor; — 



A Suggested Explanation of the High Velocities of 

 Gases observed on the Solar Surface.- — Prof. 



Arthur Schuster, F.R.S 662 



The Magnetic Disturbances of September 29 and 



Aurora Borealis. — Walter bidgreaves, S J. . . 663 

 A Method of Solving A'gcbraic Equations. {With 



Z)/fl^r<jw/j.)— Prof. Ronald Ross, F.R.S. ... 663 

 The Nature of .\-Rays. — Dr. Charles G. Barkla ; 



Prof. W. H. Bragg, F.R.S 665 



The Supposed Inheritance of .-Acquired Characters. — 



Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell 665 



Determination of Sex: A Correction. — Prof. W. 



Bateson, F.R.S 665 



Drops and Spl shes. (lUnslrated.) By C. V. Boys, 



F.R.S 666 



Progress in Aviation. [With Diagrams.) By Prof. 



G. H. Bryan, F.R.S 66S 



Marine Biology 672 



Notes. (lUnslraUd.) ... 672 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronumical Occurrences in November 677 



Morehouse's Comet, 1908c. {IllustraleJ.) 677 



Ephemeiis lor Comet Tempelj-Swift, igc8ri . . . 677 



Ephemeris lor Jupiter's Eighth Satellite 678 



Saturn's Kings 678 



International Conference on Electrical Units and 



Standards • 678 



Anthropology at the British Association 681 



Local bcientific Societies at the British Association 683 



University and Educational Intelligence . .... 684 



Societies and Academies 6S5 



Diary of'Sscieties 6i6 



s-ai^-^f; 



