Nov. 6, 1879] 



NATURE 



27 



the power of conferring on Masters in Natural Science the rights 

 and privileges at present enjoyed by Masters of Arts. 



The statute providing that there shall be two examiners in each 

 of the three branches of the natural science school will come 

 into operation this term. The three new examiners will be Dr. 

 Odling in Chemistry, Prof. Ray Lankester in Biology, and Mr. 

 W. N. Stocker, Brasenose, in Physics. 



Dr. Acland, Regius Professor of Medicine, will give a public 

 lecture at the Museum, November 20, on the new hospital at 

 Baltimore, U.S., and its relation to the medical studies at the 

 Johns Hopkins University, and to general medical education. 



Mr. C. J. Baker, of Manchester Grammar School, has been 

 elected to the Physical Postmastership at Merton College. 



The Board of Trinity College, Dublin, have elected Dr. 

 Alexander Macalister to the Professorship of Anatomy, and 

 Chirurgery, in Dublin University, vacant owing to the resignation 

 of Dr. B. McDowel. Prof. Macalister still retains his Professor- 

 ship of Comparative Anatomy, but resigns the Professorship 

 of Zoology and the Directorship of the Zoological Museum. The 

 election to the former of these posts we observe is fixed for an 

 early day in this month ; the nominators are the members of the 

 academic council of the University of Dublin, with a veto on 

 the person nominated by the board. The election to the 

 Directorship of the museum is in the hands of the board, and to 

 this the person elected has always been the professor of zoology. 

 The yearly emolument from both posts is between 300/ and 

 400/. a year. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 Annalen dtr Physik unJ Chemie, No. 9. — Questions in 

 molecular physics figure largely in this number. Herr v. 

 Wroblewski inquires into the nature of absorption of gases, by 

 a kinematical method, inferring from the phenomena of motion 

 of gases diffusing in absorbent substances, the condition in 

 which they exist in these. The phenomena in caoutchouc are 

 studied, and the author concludes, inter alia, that the absorp> 

 tion of protoxide of nitrogen, carbonic acid, and hydrogen by 

 caoutchouc is a purely physical process, and the gases retain, 

 after absorption, their gaseous state and all characteristic 

 properties. The constant of diffusion of a gas depends only on 

 physical properties, and chiefly its specific gravity, being approxi- 

 mately inversely proportional to the square root of this ; but the 

 specifically lighter gases show greater constants than this relation 

 expresses. The constant for protoxide of nitrogen and carbonic 

 acid increases with increase of temperature, and at 10° C. is fifty 

 times smaller than that for carbonic acid in water. A caoutchouc 

 membrane is to be conceived as a porous plate endowed with 

 gas-condensing and rarefying powers (the gas moving through 

 the pores). — M. Chappuis investigates the condensation of gases 

 on a glass surface by a similar method to Magnus's, viz., 

 measuring the expansion between two exactly known tempera- 

 tures, of a certain volume of gas at constant pressure in contact 

 with a large glass surface, and inferring the original volume of 

 the gas. The numerical results for hydrogen, air, carbonic acid, 

 sulphurous acid, and ammonia, from 0° to 100° and 180°, are 

 given, and utilised in determining the absolute coefficient of ex- 

 pansion at constant pressure (a slight correction of the former 

 determinations being necessitated by the phenomenon in question). 

 Magnus's statement that at ioo" there is no condensed gas layer 

 on a glass surface is shown to be incorrect in the case of 

 ammonia. — A paper by Herr Schleiermacher treats of the 

 quantity uf liquid condensed on a moistened body. The- author 

 rejects VYilhelmy's numerical values for the condensation, and 

 considers that, in determining the specific gravity of a liquid, if 

 one be content with an accuracy of 0002 per cent., the influence 

 of condensation may be neglected ; in general the coefficients of 

 condensation would be, at the most, of the order of o - coooi 



— " — The specific heat of water is anew determined by 

 Sq. ctin. 



Herr Heinrichsen, who arrives at the number 1-071 (for 100°) ; 

 this stands about midway between Regnault's result, 1*013, and 

 lamin's, 1*122. (Stamo got 1*125, anc ^ Munchhausen I 030.) — 

 Herr Koch finds that the oxygen-polarisation of platinum and 

 palladium increases the friction of these metals to a glass surface 

 coated with water or dilute sulphuric acid. — Mr. B. O. Peirce, 

 jun., shows from experiments how greatly the electromotive 

 * force of gas elements depends on the nature of the electrolyte. — 

 Herr Edlund, replying to a criticism by Heir Dorn, gives experi- 

 mental evidence that the electromotive force in passage of liquids 



through tubes depends directly on the velocity, and not on the 

 pressure ; also that it is inversely proportional to the cross-section ; 

 and explains the facts observed by the unitarian theory.— Herr 

 Fenkner expounds some laws of transverse vibrations of metallic 

 cylinders open at one end. — Remaining papers : — Researches 

 on anomalous dispersion of light, by Herr Sieben. — Researches 

 on the height of the atmosphere, Sec. (continued), by Herr Ritter. 

 — On the electromotive force of the Grove element in units of 

 Siemens and Weber, by Herr Riecke. 



The Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, vol. ii. No. 0, 

 October, contains the Transactions of the Society. — On a new spe- 

 cies of Cothnrnia, by John Davis ; with Plate 20. Cothurnia is a 

 genus of stalked infusoria very closely allied indeed to Vaginicola. 

 Mr. Davis's new form is apparently very correctly referred to 

 it ; but if so, his species is not a rotifer, and, we presume, does not 

 possess a mastax. The infusorian is described as much smaller 

 than its lorica, and is so figured when contracted ; this is not chn,- 

 racteristic of a rotifer. — On some causes of Brownian movements, 

 by Dr. W. Ord. Observations suggested by the study of Am- 

 phipleura pellucida mounted in Canada balsam, by lamp-light 

 and sun-light, with various objectives, by Col. Woodward. — On 

 Abbe's experiment on Pleurosigma angulatum, by Col. Wood- 

 ward. — On new species and varieties of diatoms from the Ca,- 

 pian Sea, by Dr. A. Grunow ; translated, with additional notes, 

 by F. Kitton ; with Plate 21.— The Record of current researches 

 relating to invertebrata, cryptogamia, and microscopy. This 

 record forms a most valuable portion of this journal. It occu- 

 pies over 100 pages of this number, and, as far as one can jud^o, 

 the notices give a very fair epitome of the papers quoted. The 

 attempt to make this record a complete one ofthe invertebrates and 

 of cryptogams is praiseworthy, but it seems to us that our yearly 

 zoological and botanical records already do this in a fairly per- 

 fect way. Would it not be better that this bi-monthly record 

 should confine itself to those papers of special interest to the 

 microscopist. In this record references to papers of the type of 

 Fischer on Voluta musica, Norman on Solenopus, or Pfefter 

 on Philippine pteropods, might be omitted. Only those « h > 

 have worked at compiling bibliography know the great labour 

 and skiil required to keep up such a record ; and certainly the 

 editor of this journal deserves the special thanks of all workers 

 with the microscope. 



The Gaze/la Chimica (fasc. vi. and vii.) contains the 

 following papers : — On the chlorides and oxychlorides of tung- 

 sten, by U. Schiff. — On a method of preparing ecu nomically the 

 biba^ic citrate of quinine, by F. DottoScribani. — Re-earches 0:1 

 Satureja Juliana, by P. Spica. — Chemical re-earches on the 

 obtained from the mother liquors of the* salt works of Volterra, 

 by A. Funaro. — Chemical analysis of a Chilian chrysocolla, by N. 

 Pellegrini. — On a singular decomposition of the chlorhydrate of 

 phenyl-ethyl-amine, by M. Filed and A. Piccirii. — On some 

 neutral ammonia salts (citrate, phosphate, photosantonate), by 

 F. Sestini. — New experiments on resinous substances, by G. 1 . 

 Ciamician. — On the isomeric nitrosalicylic acids, by U. Schiff 

 and F. Masino. — On the pretended artificial tannic acid, by P. 

 Freda. — On piperidine, by R. Schiff. — On the action of cyanide 

 of potash on the ammoniacal derivatives of chloral, by R. Schiif 

 and S. Speciale. — On the crystalline forms of anglesite from 

 Sardinia, by Q. Sella. — On the forms of crystallisation of some 

 substances belonging to the aromatic series, by R. Panebianco. — 

 On lithofellic acid and some lithofellates, by G. Roster. — 

 Chemico-mineralogical researches on the lavas ofthevolcani.es of 

 the Ernici in the Valle del Sacco (Rome), by S. Speciale. — On 

 the discovery of nitric acid in the presence of nitrous acid, by A. 

 Piccini. 



The Rivista Scicntifico Industrial* (Nos. 17 and 18).— From 

 these numbers we note the following papers : — On a new method 

 for determining the distribution of magnetism in magnets, by 

 Prof. G. J. Agostini. — On the electromotive forces developed 

 by saline solutions of different degrees by concentration with the 

 metals which form their base, by A. Eccher Dall' Eco. — On the 

 temperature of the voltaic arc and of the positive and negative 

 polar extremities of the carbons during the production of the 

 electric light, by Prof. Rossetti. — On the decomposition of 

 chlorhydrate of ethyl amine by heat, by M. Fileti and A. Piccini. 

 — On the preservation of dragon flies with fading colours, by 

 Prof. Pietro Stefanelli. — On a new hydrometer for measuring 

 the water supplied to steam-boilers, and called " Is3ghidrometro " 

 by its inventor, Sig. Mass-rotti.— On the work which can be 

 performed by the beams of certain aquatic motors, by Cesare 



