OCTOUEK 29, 1896] 



A' A TURE 



Planetary Notes. — In the current number of .■/ jV'ro«(!w«>i/;f 

 Nachrichlen (No. 3384), the following information, which was 

 telegraphed by Mr. Percival Lowell to Mr. J. Ritchie, jun., in 

 Boston, is given : — 



Oct. 4 Phison and Euphrates, Martian canals are double. 



Oct. 5 Mercury and Venus rotate once on their axes in a re- 

 volution round the sun. \'enus is not cloud covered but veiled 

 in an atmosphere. Mercury is not. 



Thus Mr. Lowell favours the view held by Schiaparelli and 

 I'crrotin regarding the length of the period of rotation of Venus. 

 It may be remembered that this latter observer made a series of 

 observations only last year to corroborate his previous work. 

 Jle took up his position on a mountain (Monnier) 2741 metres 

 high, where the atmosphere seemed all that could be desired for 

 his observations. The result of his study w^s the same as that 

 which he had formerly obtained. The appearance of the planet's 

 terminator at diflferent times siift'ered no variation, and the 

 western limb, which could be well seen, resembled exactly the 

 ea.stern as it was observed in 1S90. Further, by watching care- 

 fully the dark markings at the different periods of time, the 

 phenomenon of libration was noticed, a fact which considerably 

 .strengthens the hypothesis of a longer time of rotation than that 

 favoured by several other observers, namely, about twenty-four 

 hours. 



At present the weight of evidence seems to favour the 

 hypothesis of the long period, but it cannot be said as yet that 

 the question is finally settled, for opinion is still divided. 



PHYSIOLOGY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIA TION. 

 'rHK formation of an independent section for Physiology and 

 Experimental Pathnlngy has been fully justified by the 

 success of its second meeting at Liverpool. In scientific im- 

 portance the communicalicms compared favourably with those 

 of Oxford, whilst the number of papers was so large that the 

 business of the Section was with diftieuhy got through, although 

 the sittings were extended to six days. 



The ]irocecdings opened on Thursday with a communication 

 by Prof. McKendrick, on the a]ipIication of the phonograph to 

 the analysis of sounds. A new method of transcribing the 

 phonographic records was demonstrated; the essential feature 

 of this method consisted in an aluminium lever connected at 

 one end with a special form of syphon recorder, and having the 

 other shaped so as to accurately fit the grooves cut on the 

 phonographic cylinder. .\ further feature of the transcribing 

 apparatus was obtained by causing the phonographic cylinder to 

 rotate with extreme slowness : by this means the vibrations of 

 the syphon recorder could be transcribed on a continuous slip 

 of paper, such as is employed in telegraphy, travelling at such 

 speed that the phonogram events of 1" were spread out over a 

 distance of 10 feet on the record. An ingenious arrangement 

 caused the continuous slip of paper to vibrate so as to obviate 

 the necessity of the syphon recorder coming in contact with the 

 paper, and thus diminishing to a minimum any error due to the 

 friction of the writing pen. The transcribed tracings, magnified 

 by the lever, represented the actual cylinder phonograms mag- 

 nified 500 to 1000 times in amplitude. The tracings showed (i) 

 that many musical instruments give a transcribed form which is 

 absolutely characteristic : (2) that such characteristic form may 

 be detected in very com|)licaled phonograms — for instance, that 

 caused by a band of instruments, including that which, when 

 alone, gives the .special form ; {3) that when numerous sounds 

 of different pitch follow one another in rapid succession, the 

 ear recognises relative pitch when the transcribed curve shows 

 that the special vibration for this has been repeated only ten 

 times, i.e. when the sound has la.sted a mere fraction of a 

 seconil, presumably j j' • 



By means of a resonator comprising a microphone contact, 

 the phoni>graphic cylinder was made to produce oscillations 

 which enabled the record to be transformed into variations of 

 current intensity ; the a|iparatus being much the same as that 

 ^ised by Hurthle for obtaining electrical changes in correspond- 

 ence with the sounds of the heart. The cylinder was arranged 

 so that when driven slowly it communicated the record of its 

 grooved inscription to a .suitable tambour, and thus to the 

 microphonic circuit. The variations in current intensity are, 

 with suitable battery power, easily appreciated when conducted 

 through the moistened hands, and give rise to specific series of 



NO. 1^09. VOL. 54] 



sensations which can be appreciated by the deaf; it is thus 

 possible that the rhythm, magnitude, and possibly the specific 

 character of a phonogram may be rendered capable of being 

 understood, apart from the sense of hearing. 



Mr, R. J. Lloyd read a critical paper on the production of 

 vowel sounds, and discussed the value of the phonographic 

 evidence at jiresent available for the analysis of such sounds. 



Prof. Macallum, of Toronto, gave a short communication on 

 a means of detecting the difference between organic and 

 inorganic salts of iron. .\n absolutely pure solution of hajma- 

 toxylin is turned bluish-black in the presence of inorganic salts 

 of iron, but is not so affected by organic compounds. If the 

 organic compounds of iron pre.sent in any iLssue — spleen, liver, &c. 

 — are changed by suitable treatment with acid, so as to produce 

 inorganic iron salts, then the tissue stains very darkly with the 

 h;emato.xylin, and is quite different in appearance to that which is 

 produced by the same dye when no such inorganic salt is present. 

 The views advanced by Bunge as to the introduction of iron into 

 the system by means of organic, in preference to inorganic iron 

 compounds, have resulted in the production of a very large 

 number of so-called organic iron remedial agents. Prof. 

 -Macallum showed that a considerable number of these con- 

 tained large quantities of the inorganic iron salts, which would 

 be detected by the above method. The importance of possess- 

 ing an easy and effectual means for differentiating between the 

 two sets of ircm compounds is by no means confined to the 

 analysis of such remedial agents ; a large number of physio- 

 logical processes are intimately bound up with the transferor 

 the ]>resence of iron, and the method of determining such an 

 essential character of its chemical relations may be employed in 

 many physiological investigations. 



Dr. Alarcet read a paper on types of human respiration. 

 After a short introduction describing ihe graphic method em- 

 ployed in the investigation, the following different types were 

 contrasted: (l) normal automatic breathing ; (2) forced breath- 

 'ui; '• {3) breathing during exercise ; (4) breathing whilst under 

 the influence of a strong volitional effort. Forced breathing is 

 characterised by a large increase in the volume of air taken in 

 at each inspiration, its cessation being followed by the well- 

 known pause, i.e. apnoea. Breathing during exercise gives 

 tracings which are to be interpreted as indicating a .similar 

 increased amplitude in each inspiration ; but on cessation of 

 exercise there is no pause, the increased inspiratory effect being 

 maintained, and only slowly returning to the normal. Breathing 

 is influenced by any pronounced volitional eflbrt, even when 

 this effort is not carried out by obvious muscular activity. 

 Thus a strong volitional effort towards a form of movement will 

 cause an increase in the volume of inspired air. This increase 

 may be seen superadded to that caused by actual exercise when 

 both the exercise and the volitional effort are contemporaneous. 



On Friday, Profs. Lorrain Smith and Westbrook gave an ac- 

 count of the febrile reaction produced in mice by inoculation with 

 cidtures of Bacillus pyocyaifuis, B. anthacis, iiiiirhi-plUtis, Sec. 

 .\lthough these animals react to the inoculation, the febrile con- 

 dition presents several remarkable characteristics as regards 

 metabolism ; thus the variations in respiratory interchange were 

 not so marked as those due to food, or to alterations in the 

 temperature of the surroundings in the normal animal. Similarly 

 the elimination of nitrogen was not increased to the extent to 

 which it was by food, although in mice the normal nitrogenous 

 balance is one in which the diurnal intake and output is for the 

 body weight extremely large. The febrile reaction in these 

 animals appears not to be associated with a large increase in 

 general metabolism ; and this fact demonstrates the necessity for 

 careful study of the conditions under which it occurs in .separate 

 groups of animals. 



Prof. Thompson (Belfast) followed with a paper on the 

 physiological effects of peptone when injecteil into the venous 

 system. The injection of Witte's peptone dissolved in phy- 

 siological sodium chloride solution jiroduces well-known effects, 

 the most prominent being the alteration in the coagulability of 

 the blood and a vascular dilatation, causing a fall of blood pressure. 

 The present investigation brought (jut some further points as to 

 the production of these phenomena, which may be summarised 

 as follows, (i) In doses over two centigrammes per kilo of 

 body weight the peptone retards the susceptibility of blood to 

 coagulation, but in weaker doses it actually favours such sus- 

 ceptibility ; (2) even very small doses of ten milligrammes per 

 kilo, if rapidly injected, can cause a fall of blood pressure ; (3) 

 the fall of blood pressure is due to the peripheral effect of the 



