IOO 



NATURE 



[Nov. 27, 1879 



other papers were read : — Earthquakes in Canea on the night of 

 August 9- 10, by Herr Miksche.— On the decline of water in 

 springs, rivers, and streams with simultaneous rise of high- water 

 in cultivated lands, by Herr v. Wex. —Reply to Prof. Heer (with 

 regard to the task of phyto-palseontology), by Prof, von Ettings- 

 hausen. — Further investigation of spark-waves, by Prof. Mach 

 and Herr Simonides. — On rational plane curves of the third and 

 fourth order, by Herr Ameseder. — On the development of back- 

 vessels and specially of the muscular system in Chironomus and 

 some other insects, by Herr Jaworowski. — Determination of alti- 

 tude of the pole at the Observatory of the Technical High School 

 in Vienna, by Dr. Tinter. — Studies on a plane conic section of 

 rotation, whose parameters are of the same size, by Herr Rotter. 

 — Discovery of two comets by Herr Palisa and Herr Hertwig. — 

 On combinations from animal tar. II. Non-basic constituents, 

 by Dr. Weidel and Herr Ciamician. — On the phenomena in 

 Geissler tubes under external action (first part), by Prof. Reit- 

 linger and Urbauitzky. — On a species of configurations in the 

 plane and in space, by Herr Kantor. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, November 17. — M. Daubree in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — Meridian observations 

 of small planets at the Greenwich and Paris Observatories during 

 the third quarter of 1S79 ; communicated by M. Mouchez. — On 

 the temperature of decomposition of vapours, by M. Sainte- 

 Claire Deville. He supports M. Berthelot's views in opposition 

 to M. Wurtz. The quantity of heat liberated by formation of a 

 compound substance has no known relation with its temperature 

 of decomposition. — Observations on M. Cochin's note on alco- 

 holic fermentation, by M. Berfhelot. — Observation of the ultra- 

 violet limit of the solar spectrum at different altitude*, by M. 

 Cornu. Fifty-two clichh were obtained at three stations : Rif- 

 felberg (2,570 m. alt.), Rigi (1,650111.), and Viege (660 m.) 

 The extreme ultra-violet limits were, severally, A. 2932, 294'8, 

 and295 - 4; the difference between Riffel and Viege (1,910 m.) 

 being thus only 2'2 units (or millionths of a millimetre), or about 

 I unit for 900 metres' altitude, a small amount of variation. — 

 Explosion of carbonic acid in a coal-mine, by M. Delesse. This 

 occurred in a coal-pit at Rocheville (Gard), where there is much 

 carbonic acid (no fire-damp). Two men at 345 m. depth heard 

 two successive detonations (without flame), had their lamps blown 

 out, became faint, and were just able to throw themselves into the 

 cage, when they were pulled up. Three others, at 246 m. deptli, 

 perished. It is the first time the C0 2 has been so compressed and 

 condensed in the coal as to cause explosion. Some seventy-six 

 tons of coal were disengaged ; and the CO s liberated is estimated 

 at a maximum of 4,546 cubic metres. It is thought that a new 

 stratified mass of iron pyrites being very strongly oxidised and 

 decomposed, the resulting sulphuric acid dissolving in subter- 

 ranean water reaches the triassic limestone, and so produces 

 C0 2 , which diffuses through the fissures of the coal. M. Dumas 

 supported this view. — Second note on the effects and mode of 

 action of antiseptics ; effects on pus, by MM. Gosselin and 

 Bergeron. Rightly used camphorised brandy, carbolic acid (-^) 

 and alcohol at 86" are, in the same degree, moderators of 

 inflammation and preventives of septicajinia. — Climatological 

 conditions of the years 1869-1879 in Normandy, and their 

 influence on ripening of the crops (continued), by M. Mangon. 

 In the north-west of La Manche, the low temperature of the end 

 of 187S, of the first six months, and especially of July, 1S70, 

 and the abnormal rains of February and June, retarded the 

 harvest about twenty-two dsiys for corn, twenty for barley and 

 beans, and ten to twelve for buckwheat. By noting the sum of 

 degrees of temperature in each year since sowing, we may, with 

 aid of the tables here given, calculate very exactly a month or six 

 weeks in advance the time of harvest for the crops named. — 

 On the true number of fundamental co-variants of a 

 system of two cubics, by Prof. Sylvester. — Critical reflections 

 on the experiments concerning human heat, by M. Hirn. — 

 M. de Lesseps presented communications relating to a railway 

 from Algeria to Senegal and Soudan, Belgian expeditions in 

 Central Africa, and the public laws applicable to international 

 rivers. — Atmospheric polarisation and the influence of terrestrial 

 magnetism on the atmosphere, by M. Becquerel. He proves 

 that a variable divergence exists between the plane of the sun 

 (meaning thereby a plane passing through the observer's eye, 

 the point looked at, and the centre of the sun) and the plane of 

 polarisation of the atmosphere at any point, and thinks the 

 influence of the earth's magnetism appears in rotating the plane 



of polarisation.— On a class of functions analogous to the 

 Eulerian functions studied by M. Heine, by M. Appell.— New 

 principle of meteorology furnished by an examination of earth- 

 quakes, by M. Delauney. Earthquakes seem to pass through a 

 maximum when Jupiter and Saturn are about the mean longi- 

 tudes of 265 and 135°. A recrudescence of earthquakes in 

 winter the author attributes to streams of cosmic meteors, and 

 the influence of Jupiter and Saturn in the positions stated to their 

 passage through such streams. — Remarks on M. Boiteau's paper 

 about winter eggs of phylloxera in surface-layers of the ground, 

 by M. Balbiani. — On the causes of reinvasion of phylloxerised 

 vineyards, by M. de Lafitte. — A telegram from General Ibanez 

 anuounced completion of the geodetic connection of Spain with 

 Algeria (November 16). — Observations of a satellite of Mars 

 (Deimos) at Paris Observatory, by M. Bigourdan. — On doubly- 

 periodic functions with singular essential points, by M. Picard. — 

 Spots and protuberances observed with a spectroscope of great 

 dispersion, by M. Thollon. The displacements and altera- 

 tions of lines in observations of spots are specially striking. 

 They are always in the same direction, and seem to indicate a 

 motion from periphery to centre. A brilliant protuberance ob- 

 served with narrow slit, illuminated vividly portions of the line 

 C, which presented numerous solutions of continuity. The 

 prodigious velocity of 25 km. per second indicated by the line, 

 and lasting some time, suggests doubt as to the reality of the 

 supposed cause. — The problem of the Euripus, by M. Forel. 

 He traces the action of seiches as well as of soli-lunar tides in 

 the currents of these straits. — On chlorophyll, by M. Gautier. 

 He describes how he obtained chlorophyll pure and crystallised 

 in 1S77. He regards it as closely related to bilirubin, in apti- 

 tudes, reactions, and elementary constitution, and consequently 

 to hematine. — Viviparity of Helix studtriana (Ferussac), by M. 

 Viguier. — On the relative distribution of mean temperatures and 

 pressures in January and July, by M. Teisserenc de Bort. — M. 

 Le Bon gave some results of mea-urement of crania of eminent 

 men in the Museum of Natural History. The high average 

 figure of 1,732 cc. (capacity) was got from twenty-six skulls.— 

 M. De Coiuey described a meteor observed by day at Jevah 

 (Dordogne). 



CONTENTS Pagb 



The Sacred Books of the East. By Prof. A. H. Savce .... 77 



Modern Chromatics. By Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson .... 79 

 Our Book Shelf: — 



" Zeiischrif l fur das chemische Grossgewerbe 79 



Gore's " Southern Stellar Objects for Small Telescopes, between 

 the Equator and 55° South Declination, with Observations made 



in the Punjab 80 



Letters to the Editor: — 



A New Nebula.— Lord Lindsay 80 



Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea?— Dr Otto Kuntze . 80 



Remarkable Prediction of Cold. — B. G. Jenkins 3i 



The Lizard.— Jasper Cargill 81 



The " Hexameter," na<ra 36»ic dyaS!) . . . k.t.X.— Dr. C. M. 



Ingleby : Henry Cecil 81 



Unconscious Cerebration. — Hyde Clarke 81 



Mr. Thomas Bolton's Natural History Discoveries.— Thomas 



Bolton £1 



Intellect in Brutes. — Sophie Frankland 82 



" Asia Minor " in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." — J. B. B. . . S2 

 On the Solubility of Solids in Gases. Ey J. B. Hannay, 



F.R.S.E.. F.C.S . and James Hogarth Sa 



On Photographing the Spectra of the Stars and Planets. By 



Dr. Henry Draper S3 



The Function of Chlorophyll. By Sydney H. Vines 85 



The Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos. By G. T. Bettany . £6 



The Planets of the Season. By T. W. Webb (With Illustration) 87 



Notes ...89 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



The " Uranometria Argentina " ... 91 



The " Lick Observatory," California 01 



Geographical Notes 9- 



Biological Notes : — 



Oospores of " Volvox minor " ft3 



Cedar of Lebanon in Cyprus 93 



New Genus of Myriapod 93 



Zostera Marina 93 



The Ontogeny and Phylogeny oft he Ctenophora 93 



Arsenic in Animals 94 



Dioptrics of the Eye ' M 



Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light. By 



Albert A. Michelson, Master, U.S. Navy (With Illustrations) . 94 

 On the Mountains or the Northern and Western Frontier of 



India. By Trelawney W. Saunders 96 



Univkksitv and Educational Intelligence 98 



Scientific Serials 98 



Societies and Academies 99 



