5'o 



NATURE 



[October 2 i, 1909 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, October ii. — M. Bouchard in tl'C 

 chair. — Thi? total sugar of tlie plasma and globules of the 

 blood : R. Lepine and M. Boulud. The sugar estimated 

 in the blood by the ordinary methods is called by the 

 authors the immediate sugar of the blood ; after heating 

 with hydrofluoric acid the maximum amount of sugar 

 found is called the total sugar. An investigation is de- 

 scribed on the estimation of the immediate and total sugar 

 in the blood from dogs both in a normal healthy condition 

 and after deprivation of food. — Observations on the surface 

 of the planet .Mars from June 4 to October, 1909 ; R. 

 Jarry-Desloges. The work was done at two observa- 

 tories, both at a high altitude, at Revard (1550 metres 

 above the sea) and near Massegros {900 metres). The 

 paper is illustrated by two diagrams. — The effects of 

 mechanical shocks on the residue of condensers : Paul L. 

 Mercanton. K glass condenser was charged to about 

 400 volts, and the effects of mechanical shocks and also 

 vibrations on the amount of the residual discharge studied. 

 The results are summarised in tabular form. — The reduc- 

 tion of weighings to vacuum applied to the determination 

 of atomic weights : Ph. A. Guye and N. Zachariades. 

 The substances studied in this work, twenty-six in all, 

 were chosen from material actually used in atomic-weight 

 determinations. The reduction to vacuum weights was 

 first applied in the usual way from the known densities 

 of the substances, and the results compared with direct 

 weighings in a vacuum. The differences on 100 grams of 

 material varied between i and 32 milligrams, and the 

 conclusion is drawn that it is completely illusory to weigh 

 bodies closer than i part in 10,000, or to calculate atomic 

 weights with a greater precision, whenever the weights of 

 powdered substances, determined in air, are reduced to 

 vacuum by calculation. — The probable influence of the 

 motion of the moon on atmospheric radio-activity. Some 

 meteorological consequences : Paul Besson, The radio- 

 activity of the principal spring of Uriage-les-Bains has 

 been found to vary with the barometric pressure and also 

 with the movements of the moon. If this latter effect is 

 confirmed, it would result that the moon, by increasing 

 or reducing the number of condensation nuclei, would have 

 an effect on weather. — The asymmetry created by a con- 

 tinuous current in liquid chains, initially symmetrical, 

 formed by aqueous couples of identical viscosity : M. 

 Chanoz. — The revision of the density of gaseous hydro- 

 chloric acid ; the atomic weight of chlorine ; Otto 

 Scheuer. Twenty-eight determinations, made in seven 

 series, of the density of hydrochloric acid gas give 1-6394 

 grams as the normal weight of a litre (( = o° C., 

 H = 76o mm., /j = o, 7 = 45°). This leads to the figure 

 3545 as the atomic weight of chlorine. — The spectrographic 

 analysis of blendes : G. Urbain. The spectra were taken 

 from the arc, iron being taken as the comparison spec- 

 trum. Out of sixty-four blendes, thirty-eight gave clear 

 evidence of the presence of germanium, and amongst these 

 five contained the element in such a proportion that all 

 the germanium lines were observed. Indium was found 

 in forty-one blendes, three being remarkably rich. Nearly 

 all the blendes contained gallium, there being only five in 

 which gallium could not be detected. The other elements 

 noted included iron, copper, silver, tin, antimony, cobalt, 

 bismuth, arsenic, and molybdenum. — Some derivatives of 

 hexahydro-oxybenzoic acid : P. J. Tarbouriech. This 

 acid was first obtained by Bucherer from cyclohexanone. 

 This latter substance can now be readily obtained in 

 quantity by the Sabatier and Senderens reaction, and 

 Bucherer's work is repeated and extended. — A new series 

 of leucobases and colouring matters derived from diphenyl- 

 ethene : P. Lemoult. — The liquid crystals of the combina- 

 tions of cholesterol and ergosterol with urea : Paul 

 Gaubert. — The Dioscorea cultivated in tropical .Africa, 

 and on a case of natural selection relating to a species 

 spontaneous in the virgin forest : Aug. Chevalier. — The 

 stratigraphical position of the Heterodiceras Lticii lavers 

 at SaWve : E. Joukowsky and J. Favre. — The distribu- 

 tion of granites in the French Congo : H. Arsandaux. 

 — The earthquake of October 8, 1909 : Alfred Angot. The 

 earthquake felt in Croatia was registered in the observa- 

 tories of Pare Saint-Maur and Grenoble. — Some remarks 

 on the great magnetic disturbance of September 25, 

 NO. 2086, VOL. 81] 



1909, and the accompanying solar phenomena : Emile 

 Marchand. 



Cape Town. 

 Royal Society of South Airica, September 15. — 

 Borchard's form of the eliminant of two equations of the 

 nth degree : Dr. T. Miiir. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, October 21. 

 iNSxrTUTlON OF MiNiNG AND METALLURGY, at 8. — The 1 nfluence of the 

 Railroads of the United States and Canada on the Mineral Industry : Dr. 

 J. Douglas. — The Development of Heavy Gravitation Stamps: W. A. 

 Caldecolt. 

 Optical Society, at 8.— The Theory of Vision and Colour Perception : 

 Dr. F. W. Edridge Green. 



FRIDAY, October 22. 

 Physical Society, at 5. — On Cadmium Amalgams and the Normal Weston 

 Cell: F. E. Smith. — The Production of Helium from Uranium and 

 Thorium : Frederick Soddy. — ^The Production of Radium from Uranium : 

 Frederick Soddy. — Note on a Gravitational Problem ; Dr. C. V. burton. 

 TUESDAY, October 26. 

 QuEKETT Micro.scopical Cll'b, at 8. — Noies on the Life-history of the 

 Tachnid Fly, Plwrocera ser^n'entris, Rondani ; W. Wesche. — Note on a 

 Quick Method of Preparing and Staining Pollen : W. Wesche. — Low-pDwer 

 Photomicrography, with tispecial Reference tj Stereoscopic Work : A. C- 

 Banfield. 



WEDNESDAY, October 27. 

 British .Astronomical Association, at 5.— Annual Meeting : Address 

 by the President. 



FRIDAY, October 29. 

 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, at 8.— Prof. W. E. Dalby's 

 Report on Heat Transmission {Kesuiited Discussion). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Species Question Reopened. By Prof. R. 



Meldola, F.h.S 4S1 



The Ueographical Distribution of Lepidoptera. By 



W. F. K 4S2 



Agricultural Fertilisers. By M. J. R. D 4S2 



The Nature of Attention 4S3 



Tables tor Mathematicians and Physicists .... 484 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Raffety : " An Introduction to the Science of Radio- 

 activity " 485 



Abraham : " British Mountain Cliinbs" 485 



Ewald : " The Pond and other Stories " 485 



Letters to the Editor ; — 



Magnetic Storms. — Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. . . 4S5 

 Why has the Moon no Atmosphere .■'—Prof. Alex. 



Johnson 4S6 



A "'Canaan Stone." — G, Harold Drew 4S6 



Orthite in North Wales.— Herbert H. Thomas . . 4S7 

 Drought in South-west Ireland. — Geo. A. Armstrong 487 

 The Meteor in Sunshine, October 6. — W.F. Denning 4S7 

 An Auiora Display on October 18. — W. Harcouit- 



Bath 487 



Jupiter'sSouth Tropical Dark -Area. — Scriven Bolton 487 

 Further Experiments with the Gramophone, (///us- 



Irated.) By Prof. John G. McKendnck, F.R.S. . . 488 



Peat in North Ameiica. By G. A. J. C 490 



An Anthropological Survey of the Sudan. By Dr. 



A. C. Haddon, h.R.S 491 



North Sea Fishery Investigations 491 



Double. star Studies , 492 



Notes, {lllusiraled.) 493 



Uur Astionomical Column: — 



Mars 498 



Solar Observations ; a Novel Spectroscope 498 



The Aurora of September 25 498 



September Meteors 498 



Hydrogen Layers in the Solar Atmosphere .... 49S 

 Percy Sladen Memoiial Expedition in South-west 

 Africa, 1908-9, II. {Illustrated.) By Prof. H. H. W. 



Pearson 499 



Modern Methods of Illumination. (Illiis/rate,:.) By 



Leon G aster 500 



Annual Meterological Reports 503 



Work of the Physikalisch-technische Reichsanstalt 



in igo8 504 



Zoology at the British Association 504 



Geography at the British Association 505 



Physiology at the British Association 507 



University and Educational Intelligence 508 



Societies and Academies 509 



Diary of Societies 51c 



