476 



NA TURE 



{April 1 6, 1874 



measurements and the ease of dealing with points of light instead 

 of discs, be less than either in the case of the transit of Venus 

 or the opposition of Mars. 



Society of Biblical Archaeology, April 7. — Dr. Birch, 

 president, in the chair. — The following papers were read: On 

 Four Songs contained in an Egyptian Papvrus in the British 

 Museum. Translated with notes by C. \V. Goodwin. Of 

 these four songs three partook of the same nature, and were 

 amatory compositions, written in a highly imaginative and poeti- 

 cal style mth much voluptuousness of expression, having a very 

 striking resemblance extending throughout whole passages, to 

 the language of the Canticles. The fourth song or hymn is of a 

 very different nature, and is evidently one of the solemn dirges 

 used at festivals during the exhibition of the figures of Osiris, as 

 related by Herodotus. This hymn is in the text ascribed to 

 King Antuf, a monarch of the Xlth dynasty. — Nimrod et les 

 Ecritures Cuneifonnes, by Joseph Grival (read in English). In 

 this essay the author maintained that Merodach, under his Acca- 

 dian name of "Amarud the eldest son of the Lord of Urhi," 

 was identical with Nimrod the "geant chasseur " of the Septua- 

 gint. 



EDINnURGH 



Royal Physical Society, March 25. — On some Organisms 

 found in the Stomach of the Herring, by F. W. Lyon. — Note 

 on Entozoa, genU5 BothruKiphaliis, found in the intestinal canal 

 of a fish {Coitus scorpiiii), by James M'Bain.— On Recent Me- 

 teoric Chemistry, by Andrew Taylor. Mr. Taylor, in this paper, 

 gave a risuine of the present state of our knowledge of the 

 chemistry of meteorites.— On British Madreporise, by C. W. 

 Peach, A.L.S. Mr. Peach read a paper on this subject, first 

 stating that his attention had been drawn to the subject by a 

 paper by Prof. P. Martin Duncan, on the Madrepori.-)? dredged 

 by the explorers in the Poiriipinc in 1S69 and 1S70. He then 

 exhibited a series of specimens he had collected in the seas of 

 Shetland, 1 ornwall, &c., the most abundant being Caryophyllia, 

 varieties ^nuthii and Borealis. — On the Fossil Plants of the Silu- 

 rian Rocks of the Pentland Hills and of Sutherlandshire, by C. 

 Wm. Peach, A.L.S. In this paper Mr. Peach showed that one 

 of the large plants collected by Mr. Brown in the Upper Silurian 

 rocks of the Pentlandswas identically the same and in a similar 

 matrix as the one collected by him in Sutherlandshire. This 

 same plant had also been found in the Upper Silurian of the 

 luaspe sandstones in Canada. He further said that the rocks in 

 Sutherlandshire were Lower Silurian, thus showing that land 

 plants — and of a pretty high type — came in much earlier there 

 than from either of the other localities. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, April 6 — M. Bertrand in the 

 chair. — The perpetual secretary announced to the Academy the 

 loss which it had sustained in the person of M. P. A. Hansen, 

 correspondent for the Astronomical section, who died at Gotha 

 on March 2S. — The following communications were read : — On 

 Polygons inscribed in and circumscribing curves, by M. Chasles. 

 — Solar Cyclones : conclusion of the reply to Dr. Reye, and 

 observations concerning an article from the " Bibliotheque 

 universelle " of Geneva, and a reclamation by M. Norman 

 Lockyer, by M. Faye. The author has tabulated the dates, 

 localities, times, velocities, &c. of thirty-one cyclones. — Earth- 

 quake shocks felt in Algeria on March 28, 1874 ; a letter from 

 W. Ch. Sainte-CIaire Deville to the perpetual secretary. The 

 communication included a note from Captain Brocard, con- 

 taining a seismo-graphic indication of the shocks. — Observations 

 made at the Observatory of Toulouse during the months of 

 February and March 1874, by M. F. Tisserand. The author 

 communicated observations on the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, 

 and announced at the same time that regular observations of sun- 

 spots had been organised with an equatorial of 0108 m. aper- 

 ture, after the method of Carrington. — Experimental researches 

 on bi-hydrated sulphuric acid, by MM. Js. Pierre, and E. Puchot. 

 — Scientific ascent to a great height made (in a balloon) on 

 March 22, 1874, by MM. J. Croce-Spinelh and Sivel. The 

 authors had ascended 7,300 metres, the temperature at 

 that elevation being — 22°. The observations recorded in 

 this communication are spectroscopic and physiological. Par- 

 ticular attention was given to the two obscure bands right 

 and left of the double D line. At about 5,500 metres 

 the right-hand band dispppeared, and the band to the left 

 vanished at about 7,000 metres, thus confirming M. Janssen's 



idea of these bands being of terrestrial origin. The observers 

 adopted M. Bert's suggestion of respiring o.xygen to correct the 

 effects of the rarefaction of the air. A carrier pigeon released 

 at 5,000 metres tried at first to remount to its cage, but finally 

 descended, describing curves of from 200 to 300 metres in dia- 

 meter, with a velocity of translation of about 40 or 50 metres 

 per second. — Action of electric fluid upon gases, third note, by 

 M. Neyreneuf. The author promised from his observations a 

 satisfactory explanation of the stratification of the electric light. 

 — On a new process for the study and determination of the alcohol 

 in wines, by M. Duclaux. The process depends upon the fact 

 that mixtures of alcohol and water give for different compositions 

 different numbers of drops when allowed to flow from a pipette 

 of constant orifice. (The method is a practical application of 

 Dr. Guthrie's researches upon drops to which no allusion was 

 made.) — Note accompanying the presentation of new astro- 

 nomical objectives of large dimensions, by M. Secretan. The 

 largest was 24 centim. in diameter and had a focal distance of 

 3-25 metres. Its price was 6, 30of. — On a new (electric) couple 

 specially prepared for the application of continuous currents in 

 therapeutics, by M. J. Morin. — On a system of continuous alarm 

 signals to prevent railway collisions or collisions of ships at sea 

 during foggy weather, by M. C. J. de Mat. — Geological consi- 

 derations on the probable origin of the drift soil called i///»i7«/«, by 

 M. E. Robert. — On the employment of coal-tar alkalies for the de- 

 struction of /'//j'/A'.ivnr, byM. A. Ronimier. — Direct construction 

 of the centre of curvature in a point of the section made in a surface 

 by any plane, by M. A. Mannheim. — On the diffusion between 

 moist and dry air through a septum of porous clay, by M. L. 

 Dufour. — iSIeasurement of the electromotive force of batteries in 

 absolute units, by M. A. Crova.— Density of hydrogen com- 

 bined with metals, by MM. L. Troost and P. Hautefeuille. The 

 observed density is about 0-625. — Experiments concerning com- 

 bustion in the animal organisation, by M. P. Schutzenberger. — 

 On the brominated derivatives of pyruvic acid, by M. E. Grimaux. 

 The author described di- and tri-bronipyruvic acids and touched 

 upon the constitution of the acid itself — Modifications employed 

 in the preparation of iron reduced by hydrogen, for the purpose 

 of obtaining the metal perfectly pure, by M. Crolas. — Note on 

 the determination of lime in meteoric waters, by M. H. Marie- 

 Davy. — On asphyxia from insufficiency of oxygen, by M. Felix 

 le Blanc. — On the use of o.xygen in ballooning, by M. W. de 

 Fonvielle. — Injection of a.mmonia into the veins to oppose .acci- 

 dents caused hy snake bites, by M. Ore. — On the functional 

 irritability of the stamens of Berheris, by M. E. Heckel. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



The Ad.\ptation of que Universities to the Wants of the 



Age 457 



Schorlehmer's " Chemistry OF the CARBON CoMi'OUNDS " . . . 458 



Our Book Shelf 460 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Fertilisation of the Fumariace^. — Charles Darwin'. F.R.S ; Dr. 



Hermann Mullek 460 



Conference for Maritime Meteorology.— R. H. Scott, F.R.S. . . 461 

 Herbert Spencer and d priori Truths. — Herbert Spencer ; 



Quarterly Reviewer 461 



On the Word " Axiom " 462 



A Beech Pierced by a Thorn Plant.— G. GuEENWoon 463 



Mars.— T. W. Webb 463 



Bright Shooting-star.— W. F. Denning 463 



The Late Dr. Livingstone 463 



National Museums in Brazil 463 



Polarisation of Light, VIL By W. Spottiswoode, Treas. R.S. 



{lyith Illustrations) 464 



Report of Prof. Parker's Hunteri.\n Lectures " On the 

 Structure and Development of the Vertebrate Skull," 1L 



{With Illustrations) 467 



Meteorology OF THE West Indies. By W. Gifford Palgrave . 468 



Notes 469 



The Physical History of the Rhine. By Prof. A. C. Ramsay, 



LL.D., V.P.R.S 471 



Scientific Serials 474 



Societies and Acadkmies 475 



