258 



NA TURE 



{July 30, 1874 



chloral into the veins, by Ore. — Under the heading " Varieties" 

 there is a paper by Prof. P'austo Sestini On the chemical compo- 

 sition of mulberry leaves ; one On a new method of extractmg 

 logwood for vines and inks, from the agricultural chemical labo- 

 ratory of Bologna, directed by Prof. A. Casali and Francesco 

 Marconi ; and, finally, a contribution by Melsens On the use of 

 solutions of sulphurous acid, of neutral acid and sulphites, and 

 of hyposulphites. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Society, June 11. — Researches in Spectrum Analysis 

 in connection with the spectrum of the sun. — No. IV., by J. 

 Norman Lockyer, F.K.S. 



Maps of the spectr.i of calcium, barium, and strontium have 

 been constructed from photographs taken by the method de- 

 scribed in a former communication (the third of this series). The 

 maps comprise the portion of the spectrum extending from wave- 

 lengtli 3900 to wave-length 4509, and are laid before the Society 

 as a specimen of the results obtainable by the photographic 

 method, in the hope of securing the co-operation of other ob- 

 servers. The method of mapping is described in detail, and 

 tables of wave-lengths accompany the maps. The wave-lengths 

 assigned to the new lines must be considered only as approxima- 

 tions to the tnith. i\lany of the coincidences between lines in 

 distinct spectra recorded by former observers have been shown 

 by the photographic method to be caused by the presence of one 

 substance as an impurity in the other ; but a certain number of 

 coincidences still remain undetermined. The question of the 

 reversal of the new lines in the solar spectrum is reserved till 

 better photograplis can be obtained. 



Royal Horticultural Society, July i. — Scientific Committee. 

 Dr. Hooker, P.R.S., in the chair. — Dr. Gilbert described the 

 results of some investigations made by Mr. Lawes and himself 

 on the conditions of the development of fairy rings. The 

 mycelium of the fungus which produced the rings accumulated 

 • nitrogen in the superficial layers of the soil with the result of 

 stimulating the growth of the grass and giving it the dark green 

 colour which is characteristic of vegetation richly supplied with 

 nitrogenous nutiiment. When this luxuriant growth was grazed 

 off, the soil was lelt relatively poor in nitrogen, and it was accor- 

 dingly found that the superficial soil inside the rings was poorer 

 in nitrogen than that outside it. — Dr. Hooker stated that seeds 

 of the Kerguelen's Island cabbage (Friiiglm antiscorbutica) sent 

 to Edinburgh in a sealed bottle had germinated, while those sent 

 to Kew in boxes had altogether failed. The following com- 

 munication from Mr. Darwin was read : — "The leaves olFingiii- 

 ciila vulgaris possess a power of digesting animal matter similar 

 to that shown by the sundews {Drosera), Albumen, fibrin, meat 

 or cartilage induce a secretion from the glands of the upper 

 surface of the leaf, and their secretion becomes feebly acid (but 

 not so much so as that of Drtsera). Their secretion is reab- 

 sorbed, and causes an aggregation of the protoplasm in the cells 

 of the glands, such as had been observed in other similar cases. 

 Before excitement the glands were seen to be filled with a homo- 

 geneous pale greenish fluid ; after the aggregation of the proto- 

 plasm it can be seen to move. When a row of insects or of 

 cabbage seeds are placed near the margin of a leaf (or when a 

 single insect is placed at one point), the whole margin (or one 

 point) becomes curled considerably over in two or three hours ; 

 the apex of the leaf will not turn over towards the base. Small 

 fragments of glasa also cause a similar movement, but to a much 

 less degree. The inllexed margin pours forth a secretion which 

 envelops the flies or seeds, but pieces of glass cause no, or 

 hardly any, increase of secretion. But here comes a puzzle : if the 

 flies or fly be removed,, the margin of the leaf turns back in less 

 than twenty-four hours ; but it does so also when a row of flies 

 and cabbage seeds are left adhering ; so that the use or meaning 

 of the inflexion is at present quite a puzzle." — Mr. W. G. Smith 

 showed engraved wood blocks of lignum vitx, which he found 

 more brittle than box. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, Feb. 26.— Dr. Urba 

 commumcaied a paper on some rocks of South Greenland, 

 colected by Prot. Laube, from the second German Polar 

 Expedition.- — M. Pelz presented a memoir on determination 

 of the axes ot conical surfaces of the second order. — 

 Dr. Adolph Meyer gave an account ol new and little-known 



birds of New Guinea. — Dr. Exner read a paper on the employ- 

 ment of the ice-calorimeter for determining the intensity of the 

 solar radiation ; describing an apparatus by which the intensity 

 may be measured directly in calorics, without (as in the Pouillet 

 pyrheliometcr) a change of temperature in the instrument, ren- 

 dering correction necessary. — Dr. Brauer communicated a note 

 on the development and mode of life of Lepidurus productiis 

 Bosc. — MM. Schulhof and Holetschek communicated the ele- 

 ments and ephemerides of a comet discovered on Feb. 20 by 

 Prof. Winnecke at Strassburg. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, July 20. — M. Bertrand in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — Note on the action of 

 two current elements, by M. Bertrand. The assertion that two 

 elements of the same direction attract one another is shown to 

 be inexact, even for parallel elements, and does not agree even 

 with Ampere's law. The author has solved the following 

 problem: — A current element being given, to find in a point of 

 space M the direction that must be assigned to another element, 

 that their mutual action may be attractive, repulsive, or «//. — 

 Extract from the Report of the Commission of the Agricultural 

 Society of Chalon-sur-Saone, in the department of Saune-et- 

 Loire, on Phylloxera, by M. BouUy. — Reply to a criticism by 

 M. Gatrigou, contained in a recent note entitled "Carboniferous 

 Limestone of the Pyrenees ; Marbles of Saint-Beat and of Mont," 

 by M. A. Leymerie. — On the efficacy of the method of submer- 

 sion as a means of improving the vine in the Crimea : extract 

 from a letter from M. Boutin to M. Dumas. — Employment of 

 the residues d'eiifcr of the oil-mills against Phylloxera, by M. 

 Rousseau. — Third note on the electric conductivity of ligneous 

 bodies, by M. Th. du Moncel. — On the stratification of the 

 electric light, by M. Neyreneuf. — On the passivity of iron, 

 by M. A. Renard. The author described several experi- 

 ments illustrative of methods by which iron can be made 

 passive in ordinary nitric acid. — Action of chloroform on sodic 

 acetatic ether, by MM. A. Oppenheim and S. Pfaff. The 

 product of the reaction was saponified by soda and then acidu- 

 lated with IlCl. A new acid of the formula CjHgOj is thus 

 obtained. This acid is dibasic and belongs to the aromatic series, 

 the authors considering it an isomer of uvitic acid, the substi- 

 tuted groups occupying the positions i : 2 : 4. — On the isomeric 

 compounds Qiyi^Wii, by M. C. F'riedel. The author has re- 

 peated the experiments recently published on this subject by M. 

 Lagermarck, and concludes therefrom that no third isomer of 

 this formula exists. — On a development of heat produced by the 

 contact of sodium sulphate with water at temperatures when the 

 known hydrates of sodium sulphate cannot exist, and when the 

 saturated solution of the salt deposits it only in the anhydrous 

 state, by M. de Coppet. — Ethers of normal propylglycol, by M. 

 E. Reboul. — Experiments on the generation of proto-organisms 

 in media protected from aerial germs, by M. Onimus. — Indif- 

 ference in the direction of the adventitious roots of a cactus, by 

 M. D, Clos. — Observation of a bolide on the evening of July 18, 

 at Versailles, by M. Martin de Brettes. — On the composition of 

 potassium permanganate, by M. E. J. Maumene. The author 

 concludes that the formula of the salt is Mn207K.O. — New 

 method of determining metals or oxides, by the same author. 



CONTENTS Page 



JOSEIH PRmSTlEY ^ ■ . ^39 



On Ikstimoniai-ism 241 



The Rainfall of Baruados. By the Hon. F. A. R. Russell . . 241 



Our Book Shelf 242 



Letters to the Editor :— 



Early Contributions to Spectrum Photography and Pholo-chemis- 



try. — Prof. J. W. Draper 243 



Sounding and Sensitive Flames.— Prof. W. F. Barrett .... 244 

 Aid to Private Research — Circulation of Scientific Memoirs. — 



H W. Lloyd Tanner 244 



Photographic Irradiation. — W. C. Crofts 245 



Feathering in Flint Weapons. — Dr. Lawson Tait 345 



Localisation OF Functions in the Brain. — Dr. J. Burdon-San- 



DERSON, F.R.S 245 



The Form OF Comets. By M. Fayh {IVith Iliicstfaiions). ... 245 

 Retort of Prok. Parker's Hunterian Lectures "On the 

 Structure and Development of the Vertebrate Skull/' 



VI. {IVith Illustrations) 249 



The Strickland Curatorshif in the University of Cambridge. 250 



A New Order of Hvdro^oa. By Prof. G. J. Allman; F.R.S. . , 051 



Another New Comet. By J. R. Hind, F.R.S 252 



Notes 252 



On Sfectrum Photography, IL By J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S. 254 



Scientific Serials 256 



Societies and Academies , 358 



