May 14, 1896] 



NA TURE 



stituent ; the latter seems to be a pentosemonoformal of the 

 3/ '>CH5. — On a new compound of cobalt 



and a rapid method of detecting cobalt in presence of nickel, by 

 R. G. Durrant. On adding excess of an alkali bicarbonate, and 

 then hydrogen peroxide, to a solution of cobalt salt, a green 

 solution, which appears to contain a salt of cobaltic acid H.jCoOj, 

 is obtained. — Ethereal salts of optically active malic and lactic 

 acids, by T. I'urdie and S. Williamson. The specific rotations 

 of the ethereal salts of active lactic and malic acids vary with the 

 method of preparation of tlie substances ; the variations in 

 rotatory power do not seem to be altogether due to the occur- 

 rence of jiartial racemisation. — Metadichlorobenzene, by F. D. 

 Chattaway and R. C. T. Evans. K convenient method of pre- 

 paring large quantities of i : 3-dichlorobenzene from acetanilide 

 is described. — On the temperature of certain flames, by W. N. 

 Hartley. — The determination of the composition of a white sou 

 by a method of spectrum analysis, by W. Is'. Hartley. A photo- 

 graph of the spectrum of a white sou coined during the French 

 Isevolution of 1798 was taken, and by comparison with the 

 (juantitative spectra of the constituent metals, the composition of 

 the coin was determined within certain limits ; alloys, the com- 

 positions of which varied within these limits, were then made, 

 and their spark spectra photographed. An alloy, consisting of 

 '3'93 P^'' cent, of lead, 72'35 of copper, o"85 of iron, and 1270 

 per cent, of zinc, was ultimately obtained, which gave a spark 

 spectrum identical with that of the sou ; the coin consequently 

 has the above composition. — Halogen additive products of sub- 

 stituted thiosinnamines, by A. E. Dixon. — Acidic thiocarbimides, 

 thioureas, and ureas, by A. E. Dixon. — Apparatus for the de- 

 tection of boric acid, by W. M. Doherty. A method is given 

 for the detection of boric acid in milk, wine, or other substance, 

 depending on the fact that when boric acid is heated in a current 

 of coal-gas which is then burnt, a characteristic colouration is 

 imparted to the flame. 



Zoological Society, April 29. — Sir William H. Flouer, 

 K.C.B., F. R S , President, in the chair. — After the Auditors' 

 Report had been read, and other preliminary business had 

 been transacted, the Report of the Council on the proceed- 

 ings of the Society during the year 1895 ^^'^s it?ii. by Mr. P. 

 L. ScLiter, F. R.S. , the Secretary. The total receipts of the 

 Society for 1895 amounted to ;^26,95S 9.1-. \d., showing an 

 increase of ;^l85i %$. i>d. as compared with the previous year. 

 This increase was attributable to the prevalence of fine weather 

 during the summer and autumn of 1895, and also to the 

 acquisition of a giraffe, and several other specially interesting 

 additions to the Society's menagerie. A new edition of the 

 list of animals in the Society's collection, of which the last (the 

 eighth) was published in 18S3, has been prepared under the 

 direction of the Secretary. It contains a list of all the specimens 

 of vertebrated animals that had been received by the Society 

 during the past twelve years. This volume is now going through 

 the press, and will, it is hoped, be ready for issue before the 

 close of the present year. The number of visitors to the gardens 

 in 1895 *™s 665,326, which was greater than it had been in any 

 year during the past ten years. The corresponding number in 

 1894 had been 625,538. The number of animals in the Society's 

 collection on December 31 last was 2369, of which 768 were 

 mammals, 1267 birds, and 334 reptiles. Amongst the additions 

 made during the past year, twelve were specially commented 

 upon as of remarkable interest, and in most cases new to the 

 Society's collection. Amongst these were a male lion from 

 Somali-land (presented by her Majesty the (^ueen), a female 

 South African giraffe, a pair of brindled gnus, a pair of sable 

 antelopes, a Brazilian three-banded armadillo, a male Panolia 

 deer from Southern China, an Alexandra jrarrakeet from the 

 interior of Australia, a frilled lizard from Western Australia, a 

 martial hawk-eagle from British East Africa, and two examples 

 of For-sten's lorrikeet. The Report having been adopted, the 

 meeting proceetled to elect the new Members 1 if Council and the 

 Officers for the ensuing year. The usual ballot having been 

 taken, it was announced that General the Hon, Sir Percy Feild- 

 ing, K.C.H., I'rof. Alfred Newton, F.R.S., Sir Thomas Paine, 

 Mr. E. Lort Phillips, and the Lord Walsingham, F.R.S., had 

 been elected into the Council in the place of the retiring 

 Members ; and that Sir William H. Flower had been re- 

 elected Presiilent, Mr. Charles Drummond Treasurer, and Mr. 

 P. L. Sclater Secretarj- to the Society for the ensuing year. 



NO. 1385. VOL. 54] 



P.\RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, May 4. — M. A. Cornu in the 

 chair. — On the theory of gases, by M. J. Bertrand. A critical 

 examination of the well-known formula of Maxwell for the 

 relation between the velocities of the gaseous molecules and 

 their components in any arbitrarily chosen direction. This 

 formula is described as necessarily absurd, since it gives an 

 apparent solution of a problem insoluble from its very nature. — 

 On the constitution and history of the lunar surface, by MM 

 Lrewy and Puiseux. The results of a study of a new serie 

 of lunar photographs tend to show that it is unnecessary to 

 assume the action of natural forces other than those now at work 

 on the earth to explain the condition of the surface of the moon. 

 — On the birds and butterflies observed in the centre of an 

 intertropical tempest, by M. H. Faye. The author shows that 

 the occurrence of birds and insects in the calm centre of a 

 cyclone, a fact frequently observed, is in full accord with his 

 theory of storms. — Concerning hematozoa in marsh-fever, by M. 

 A. Laveran. Although the presence of amoeboid parasites in. 

 the blood during marsh-fever is now well established, there is- 

 hardly any ground for the assumption of distinct species peculiar 

 to each variety of the disease, one for tertiary ague, another for 

 quaternary ague, and a third giving rise, to irregular fevers. 

 ■This assertion is supported both by the microscopical study of 

 the parasite and by the clinical study of the disease. — Observations 

 of the new Swift comet [b i8g6 = 1896, April 13), made at the 

 Observatory of Paris by M. G. Bigourdan. — On the approxi- 

 mate development of the perturbation function in the case of 

 inequalities of a high order, by M. Maurice Hamy. — A property 

 of movements on a surface, by M. Hadamard. — On the absorp- 

 tion of light by media possessing rotatory power, by M. E. 

 Carvallo. — Electrostatic deviation of the kathode rays, by M. 

 G. Jauniann. A reply to some criticisms and suggestions of M. 

 Poincare. By immersing the vacuum tube in oil forming the 

 anode, the rays are much reduced in intensity, and in this state 

 are strongly deviated by electrostatic forces. — Observations on 

 the ]5receding communication, by M. Poincare. The suggestion 

 of M. Jaumann that inside a Crookes' tube the lines of force are 

 rectilinear, is directly opposed to the conclusion drawn by Hertz 

 from his experiments. — Apparatus for measuring currents of high 

 frequency, by MM. G. Goifife and E. Meylan. — Reply to some 

 observations of M. Aug. Righi, by MM. L. Benoist and D. 

 Hurmuzescu. — On the relation between the maximum production- 

 of the X-rays, the degree of vacuum and the form of the tubes, 

 by MM. Victor Chabaud and D. Hurmuzescu. The pressure 

 giving the maximum result varies with the shape of the tube. 

 A form of tube is figured giving a choice of two anodes from 

 which excellent results were obtained. — Radiography; some 

 applications to the physiology of motion, by MM. Imbert and. 

 Bertin-Sans. — On a new method of preparing synthetically urea, 

 and its symmetrical derivatives, by M. P. Cazeneuve. The 

 carbonate of guaiacol, now easily obtained commercially, on 

 treatment with alcoholic ammonia or amines, gives the corre- 

 sponding urea in nearly theoretical yield. — Transformation of 

 tariric and stearoleic acids into stearic acid, by M. A. Arnaud. 

 This reduction, which is not effected by sodium amalgam, takes- 

 place readily with hydriodic acid and amorphous phosphorus. — 

 On the presence, in the Monotropa Hypopitliys, of a glucoside of 

 methyl-salicylic ether, and on the hydrolysing ferment of thi& 

 glucoside, by M. E. Bourquelot. — On maize, by M. Balland. 

 Some analyses show^ing the superior nutritive power of Indian 

 corn as compared with wheat. — On zeolites and the substitution 

 of the water they contain by other substances, by M. G. Friedel. 

 The dehydrated mineral readily takes up sulphuretted hydrogen, 

 carbonic acid, hydrogen, and even atmospheric air, the last to 

 such an extent as to render it impossible to determine the 

 amount of water by loss or ignition. — On the Annelids at great 

 depths in the Bay of Biscay, by M. Louis Roule. The results 

 of soundings from the Candan in April 1895. — On the first cause 

 of potato-scab, by M. E. Roze. — On the age of the ophitic 

 eruption of Algeria, by M. L. Gentil. — On a method of photo- 

 graphing the retina, by M. \'. Guinkoft". — The fermentation of 

 uric acid by micro-organisms, by M. E. Gerard. In the experi- 

 ments cited the uric acid was split up into urea and ammonium 

 carbonate. — Researches on the serotherapy of urinary infection, 

 by MM. J. Albarran and E. Morny. — On the relations betweeni 

 the composition of the blood, the quantity of hjemoglobin, and 

 the general state of the organism, by M. P. Lafon. — Projection 

 of a thermometer column on a sensitive plate, by means of the 

 Rontgen rays, by M. H. Bentejac. 



