432 
NATURE 
| Sept. 3, 1885 
to compression without injuring its resistance to tension, or 
its ductility, which remained unaffected by previous compression 
in my experiments. At least one-half of the 42,000 tons of 
steel in the Forth Bridge is in compression, and the same pro- 
portion holds good in most bridges, so the importance of gaining 
an increased resistance of 60 per cent. without any sacrifice in | 
the facility of working, and safety belonging to a highly ductile 
material, can hardly be exaggerated. 
Our experience has led us to the conclusion that sheared edges 
are a more fruitful source of fracture than partial tempering or 
other contingencies. All of our bent plates are made red-hot, 
and the effect of the shearing is thus eliminated even before 
planing. Those plates which are not heated have the edges 
carefully planed so as to leave no trace of the shearing, and we 
find that, whether we are dealing with 30-ton or 37-ton steel, 
the plates so treated stand all the desired tests. Experiments 
which I have made, and am still making, on the resisting power 
of different classes of iron and steel to repeated bendings, such 
as the shaft of a marine engine undergoes if the bearings get 
out of line, indicate that the superiority of low-tension steel 
is considerably greater than the increased ductility would 
indicate. 
In conclusion I may state that the approximate value of the 
plant now at the Forth Bridge is 250,000/., and of the work 
executed 600,000/. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 
SYDNEY 
Royal Society of New South Wales, June 3.—Prof. 
Liversidge, F.R.S., President, in the chair.—A paper was read 
by Mr. G. H. Knibbs on a system of accurate measurement by 
means of long steel ribands. The chief feature of the method 
of measurement is the application of such tensions to the riband 
as eliminate the effects of its suspension when it becomes neces- 
sary.—Mr. Law. Hargrave read a paper, notes on flying- 
machines, which consisted of deductions drawn from close ob- 
servation of the behaviour of about fifty self-supporting flying- 
machines of various weights, from three-quarters of an ounce to 
four ounces. Sixteen models were exhibited. Mr. Hargrave 
stated that, although he believed the trochoided plane to be the 
true mechanical power used by birds in flight, he though its 
rejection as a scientific truth of very trifling importance compared 
with the judicious variation and adjustment of the details of the 
models, so that rules could be laid down for work on a larger 
scale 
July 1.—Prof. Liversidge, F.R.S., President, in the chair. 
—A paper was read by Mr. H. C. Russell, B.A., on local varia- 
tions and vibrations of the earth’s surface. 
PARIS 
Academy of Sciences, August 24.—M. Bouley, President, 
in the chair.—Note on human locomotion ; mechanism of the 
jump, jointly comraunicated by MM. Marey and G. Demeny. 
This first communication on the subject of human locomotion 
begins with the action of springing or jumping, because, although 
not the most usual, it is regarded by the authors as by far the 
simplest, and much less intricate than walking or running, in 
which the body executes complicate movements in the direction 
of the three dimensions of space. The paper is illustrated by 
a chromo-photegraph showing the successive positions of legs, 
arms, and shoulders ina man taking a standing leap (saut de 
pied ferme) ; also by diagrams of two high jumps executed on 
the dynamograph.— Observations on the prevalence and develop- 
ment of pestilence and cholera in Persia, where quarantine 
preventive measures have never been adopted, by M. J. D. 
Tholozan. The author, who has had twenty-eight years’ expe- 
rience of the action of these epidemics in Persia, is inclined to 
think that the quarantine system would have proved of little or 
no avail in arresting their progress. 
by a few remarks by M. Larrey, also pointing at the general in- 
efficacy of quarantine measures.--Note on M. Hirn’s paper on 
the crepuscular lights inserted in the Bu/etin of the Colmar 
Natural History Society, by M. Faye. From his observatory at 
Colmar the author noticed this phenomenon at an altitude far 
higher than that of the terrestrial atmosphere. Without decid- 
ing on the merits of the different theories advanced to explain its 
origin, he considers that electricity alone would be capable of re- 
taining at such an altitude the particles of matter causing the after- 
The paper was followed | 
glows, whether these particles were derived from the Krakatoa 
eruption or from the interstellar spaces.— Observations of the 
new planet, 249 (discovered by M. Peters on August 16 at 
Clinton, New York), made at the Paris Observatory (equatorial 
of the West Tower), by M. G. Bigourdan.—Observations of 
Barnard’s comet made at the Observatory of Bordeaux with the 
14-inch equatorial, by M. G. Rayet.—On the theory of revolving 
mirrors as a means of measuring the velocity of light, by M. 
Gouy.—Experiments on double refraction (four illustrations), by 
M. D. S. Stroumbo. By a simple contrivance the author 
renders visible to a large audience the course of two rays, 
ordinary and extraordinary, in a birefringent crystal: (1) when 
the two facets are artificial and perpendicular to the axis; (2) 
when they are artificial and parallel to the axis ; (3) when they are 
the natural facets of the crystal parallel to each other.—Note on 
the alcoholic derivatives of pilocarpine, by M. Chastaign.—On 
the transmission of pathogenetic microbes from the mother to 
the foetus and in the milk, by M. Koubassoff. From experi- 
ments made on the guinea-pig the author infers that the charbon 
virus, the bacilli of tubercular affections, and other germs of 
disease pass into the milk and remain there during the term of 
lactation, or till the death of the mother; also that the foetus 
nourished on such milk do not catch the respective diseases, but 
survive even the death of the mother; lastly, that the trans- 
mission of microbes from mother to foetus depends probably on 
the existence in the placenta of direct communications between the 
vessels of mother and foetus. —On an alkaloid substance extracted 
from the liquid in which Koch’s microbe was cultivated, by 
M. A. Gabriel Pouchet. An analysis of this liquid revealed 
traces of the presence of an alkaloid liquid presenting outward 
characteristics, such as small and toxic properties, apparently 
identical with those detected in the dejecta of cholera patients. 
Should these results be definitely established, they would furnish 
an indirect proof that Koch’s microbe is really the pathogenetic 
agent in cholera.—Influence of the sun on the vegetation of the 
spores of Bacillus anthracis, by M. S. Arloing.—Action of the 
antiseptics on the higher organisms: iodine, nitrate of silver ; 
fourth communication, by MM. Mairet, Pilatte, and Combemale. 
—A note was received from M. Sace of Cochabamba, on an 
extremely rich deposit of alunite lately discovered in the 
Peruvian Andes. 
CONTENT PAGE 
The Andaman Islanders’ ==.) <n) eee 409 
Commercial Organic Analysis .......-..-: 410 
Recent Text-Books of Determinants ....... 4II 
Our Book Shelf :— 
Perez’s ‘‘ Three First Years of Childhood.”—W. 
Odell PCE RIONC COON doo 5 412 
Pozzo’s ‘‘Capitolo di Psicofisiologia” ..... . 40g 
Hock’s ‘‘Nutzbaren Pflanzen und Tiere Amerika: 
und den alten Welt vergleichen in Bezug auf ihren 
Kultureinfluss” . . So oad 0 413 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Jona.—The Duke of Argyll ..... «tee fe oe ALG 
Radiant Light and Heat.—Prof. Balfour Stewart, 
FR:S: * 2 Poss ee Paros 
The Eleven-Year Meridional Oscillation of the Auroral 
Zone.—E. Douglas Archibald. ....... 414 
On Cases of the Production of ‘‘Ohm’s (or Langberg’s) 
Ellipses ” by Biaxial Crystals. —H. G. Madan 414 
The August Meteors.—W. F. Denning ..... 415 
Disinfection of Sewers. —Dr. Italo Giglioli 415 
Ozone at Sea.—Dr. W. J. Black. ....... 416 
The International Botanical and Horticultural 
Congress, Antwerp, 1885. By Prof. W. R. McNab, 
FRYS 2 15 See Se 416 
The Fauna of the Sea-shore. By Prof. H. N 
Moseley, RoRSS:2 ccc) eee at neene Mi li 
Balloon Photography. (J//lustrated)....... + 420 
Radiant Light and Heat, III. By Prof. Balfour 
Stewart; FsRYS; 2 52 oe). 2 0) caer mene 
Notes Se oe els Gd lee cate Saleh oy La 425 
Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1885, 
September 6-12 5 2) © See ee eee, terres 
Geographical Notes .... . eee ep a Lees 428 
The'lron and Steel Institute 7) 25.0 - +.) «o> eee) 
The Forth Bridge. By Benjamin Baker, M.Inst.C.E. 430 
Societies and Academies) 9. = = = -)-)-) -1-8 soe 
