94 
NATURE 
[May 28, 1885 
in milligrams, was dissolved in 20 c.c. of a diactinic salvent, and 
made up to a given volume, generally 20c.c. In this way 
molecular weights were made to occupy equal volumes. Photo- 
graphs of the absorption spectra were taken through definite 
thicknesses of solution. ‘The lines of tin, lead, and cadmium 
were used as references ; the positions of the bands were mea- 
sured on the photographs by means of an ivory rule divided into 
hundredths of an inch, and those measurements were reduced 
by means of two curves to oscillation frequencies and wave- 
lengths. As far as possible, the absorption curves are drawn to 
a uniform scale. ‘These curves indicate the molecular actinic 
absorption of each substance. The following deductions are 
drawn :—When an atom of nitrogen is substituted for an atom 
of carbon in the benzene or naphthalene nucleus, the property 
of selective absorption is still retained. When the condensation 
of the carbon and nitrogen in the molecule of a benzenoid com- 
pound or tertiary base is modified by the addition of an atom of 
hydrogen to each atom of carbon and nitroge', the power of 
selective absorption is destroyed. When the condensation of 
the carbon in quinoline is modified by the combination therewith 
of four atoms of hydrogen, the intensity of the selective absorp- 
tion is reduced and is not destroyed. A very pure specimen of 
quinoline from coal-tar gave an absorption curve identical with 
that of quinoline prepared synthetically by Skraup’s method. It 
may further be added that molecular actinic absorption of a salt 
is different from that of the organic base which it contains, 
although the acid exerts no absorptive power by itself. Some- 
times the difference is very great, but the area included by the 
curve of the salt is always less than that of the base. Mole- 
cules vibrate as wholes or units, and the fundamental vibrations 
give rise to secondary vibrations which stand in no obvious 
relation to the chemical constituents of the molecule, whether 
these be atoms orsmaller.-molecules. Hence it appears that a 
molecule is a distinct and individual particle which cannot he 
truly represented by our usual chemical formulze, since these 
only symbolise certain chemical reactions and physical proper- 
ties, and fail to express any relation between physical and 
chemical properties.—Researches on the action of the copper- 
zinc couple on organic bodies ; Part x., benzyl bromide, by Dr. 
J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., and Alfred Tribe.—On the selective 
alteration of the constituents of cast iron, by Thomas Turner, 
Assoc. R.S.M.—On the existence of nitrous anhydride in the 
gaseous state, by Prof. G. Lunge.—On the reaction between 
nitric oxide and oxygen under varying conditions, by Prof. G. 
Lunge. Experimental evidence is given for the following con- 
clusions :—(1) That when nitric oxide is mixed in the dry state 
with an excess of oxygen they combine exclusively, or nearly so, 
to form N,O,. (2) Dry NO and O,, with an excess of the 
former, yield a large proportion of N,O, along with N,O,, both 
in the state of gas. (3) In the presence of water, NO in the 
presence of an excess of O, is altogether converted into HNO3. 
(4) If NO and O, meet in the presence of concentrated sul- 
phuric acid, neither N,O, nor HNO, is formed, even with the 
greatest excess of oxygen; but the reaction is— 
480,H, +4NO + 0,=480,(OH)(ONO) +2H,0. 
The bearing of these facts on the theory of the vitriol-chamber 
process is then discussed. The author considers that N,O3, and 
not NO as hitherto assumed, is the carrier of oxygen, and that 
as long as any appreciable quantity of SO, is present, no nitric 
oxide is formed, the following being the reactions whereby the 
sulphuric acid is formed :— 
2S0,+N,0, + O,+ H,O =2S0,(OH)(O,N) 
2S0,(OH)(O2N) + H,O =2S0,(OH), + N03. 
Anthropological Institute, May 12.—Francis Galton, 
F.R.S., President, in the chair.—The election of R. Brudenell 
Carter, F.R.C.S., was announced.—The Earl of Northesk 
exhibited a collection of Maori worked jade.—Mr. Sepping 
Wright exhibited a portrait in oils of King Tawhiao, in native 
costume.—Mr. J. H. Kerry-Nicholls, F.R.G.S., read a paper 
on the origin and manners and customs of the Maori race. The 
orizin of the Maoris and the date of their arrival in New 
Zealand is unknown. The natives refer to Hawaiki as the 
fatherland of their race, but there is no reliable evidence to show 
where that land was situated. The lecturer believed that the 
Maoris emigrated from the Tonga islands to New Zealand, and 
referred to the resemblance between the two races, and to the 
affinity of the two languages. The word /onga occurred no less 
than sixteen times in the Maori tongue. ‘The natives of the 
two countries when they met could converse with but little 
difficulty. The Maoris are of Malay stock, and came with the 
gradual spread of that race through the eastern islands of the 
Pacific to the more southern groups. The race is greatly on the 
decrease. In Cook’s time (1769) the whole native population 
was estimated to exceed 100,000. In 1859 it only amounted to 
56,000. In 1881 the number had decreased to 44,099, of whom 
24,370 were males and 19,729 females. Calculating at the 
same rate of decrease, about the year 2000 the Maori race would 
be extinct. The principal diseases conducing to this decay were 
phthisis, chronic asthma, and scrofula, the two first being prin= 
cipally brought about by a halt savage, half civilised mode of 
life, and the latter from maladies contracted since the first 
contact with Europeans. The native religion still exercises a 
widespread influence over the people; it consists of a kind of 
polytheism, a worship of elementary spirits and deified 
ancestors. They have a vague conception of a Superior Being, 
and believe ina Rezmga, or heaven, and a Po, or Hades. The 
Maoris are divided into tribes whose members are bound to- 
gether by the strictest union. The ownership of the soil is by 
tribal tenure, and each tribe holds a commercial interest in 
lands, forests, cultivations, and fisheries. The tribes dwell 
together in villages, and each Aapw, or tribal family, cultivates a 
portion of land sufficient to meet its immediate requirements. 
The Maoris own about 15,000,000 acres of land in the North 
Island, not yet alienated to Europeans. The ownership of the 
soil was secured to the natives under the treaty of Waitangi, 
made in 1840. The tribes are governed by hereditary chiefs. 
In 1858 a king was elected by consent of the tribes under the 
title of Potatau the First. He was succeeded by his son, 
Matutaera Te Pukepuke Te Paue Tu Karato Te-a-Botatau Te 
Wherowhero Tawhiao, or Potatau II. This was the king who 
last year visited this country. 
EDINBURGH 
Royal Society, May 18.—E. Sang, LL.D., Vice-President, 
in the chair.—The first instalment of a paper by Prof. Chrystal, 
on the Hessian, was read. The chief object was to contribute 
to the theory of the number of intersections of a curve and its 
Hessian at any one point as depending upon the nature of the 
singularity at that point.—In a paper on the distribution of 
potential in a thermo-electric circuit, open or closed, Prof. Tait 
detailed the various real additions to our knowledge of the subject 
in their chronological order. He showed what is at present the 
most probable arrangement of potential in the circuit, and what 
classes of experiments remain to be made in order to settle the 
point.—A paper by Mr. Broom gave numerical details of the 
percentage contraction of volume when a saturated solution of a 
salt in water is diluted with an equal bulk of pure water. 
PARIS 
Academy of Sciences, May 18.—M. Bouley, President, 
in the chair.—On the results of errors caused by defective 
instruments in the determination of certain astronomical ele- 
ments, by M. M. Loewy.—On the radiation of heat during the 
night in connection with the normal lowering of the temperature 
during the months of April and May, by M. J. Jamin. This 
lowering of the temperature, often so destructive to the spring 
c-ops, is rightly attributed by meteorologists to nocturnal radia- 
tion, which the author finds attains its maximum about the 
months of April and May.—Note on the prophylactic inocula- 
tion recently practised on Rio de Janeiro against yellow fever, 
by M. Bouley. This experiment, first introduced by Dr. 
Domingos Freire, has since been carried out on a large scale 
under the control of the Government. Since the month of March, 
1883, as many as ITO9 persons of all ages, nationalities and con- 
ditions of life have been subjected to sub-cutaneous injections 
with the attenuated virus cultivated for the purpose. In some 
cases the injections were administered in houses where the 
scourge had a few hours before proved fatal to some of the in- 
mates. Yet no misadventure of any kind has followed, and this 
preventive measure seems so far to have been attended by the 
best results. —Anatomical study of the foetus of a spermaceti 
whale, by M. Pouchet.—Note on the annular protuberance 
regarded as the prime motor of the cerebral mechanism, the 
focus or centre of localisation for speech, the reasoning faculty, 
and the will, by M. Bitot. From his studies in cerebrology 
the author concludes, against the generally accepted opinion, 
that the third left frontal convolution is not the seat or 
centre of speech, which he localises in the annular pro- 
tuberance. In the same region he also considers that the 
