May 13, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



681 



'A Constant Temporaturo Device:' by Ham- 

 ilton P. Cady. a device for keeping up tlie 

 circulation of water at a constant temperature. 

 'The Equilibrium of Stereoisomers, II:' by 

 Wilder D. Bancroft. A study of the change 

 from one isomer into another due to the addi- 

 tion of one or more components. Reviews of 

 books and journals. 



American Chemical, Journal, May. — 'A De- 

 termination of the Atomic Weight of Praseo- 

 dymium and Neodymium:' by II. C. Jones. 

 The material for this work was obtained from 

 the Welsbach Light Co. , and was carefully puri- 

 fied and tested with the llowland spectroscope. 

 The sesquioxido was converted into the sulphate 

 and the calculation made from this. The values 

 obtained were for the Praseodymium 140.45, 

 and for the Neodymium 143. G. ' Veratrine and 

 some of its derivatives :' by G. F. Frankfok- 

 TEE. A careful study of this substance and 

 some of its derivatives has shown that it is iden- 

 tical with cevadine. ' On the action of Hydro- 

 gen Sulphide upon Vanadates :' by J.Locke, 

 Several sulphovanadates have been prepared by 

 the action of hydrogen sulphide on vanadates 

 heated in a combustion furnace. ' On the forma- 

 tion of Imido-1, 2-diazol Derivatives from Aro- 

 matic Azimides and Esters of Acetylenecarboxy- 

 lio-acids:' by A. Michael, F. Luhbn and H. 

 H. HiGBEE. ' On the Oxide of Dichlprmeth- 

 oxyquinonedibenzoyl-methylacetal :' by C. L. 

 Jackson and H. A. Torrey. 



J. Elliott Gilpin. 



Applctoii's Popular Science Monthly for May 

 gives as a frontispiece a portrait of Professor 

 Russell M. Chittenden, the eminent physiolog- 

 ical chemist of Yale University, together with a 

 sketch of his life and work. There is an elab- 

 orately illustrated article on ' Kite Flying in 

 1897,' by Mr. George J. Varney, based chiefly 

 on the work of the Blue Hill Observatory. Dr. 

 J. W. Spencer contributes an article on 'The 

 West Indian Bridge between North and South 

 America ;' Dr. H. Carringtou Bolton an article 

 entitled 'A Relic of Astrology,' and Messrs. W. 

 H. Beatley and G. H. Perkins an illustrated 

 study of snow crystals. There are further two 

 articles on the study of children and two on 

 economic subjects. 



McCliire's Magaxine for '^iay devotes an article 

 to John Milne, the author being Mr. Cleveland 

 Moffett. There are numerous illustrations, in- 

 cluding a portrait of Professor Milne, of liis 

 house at the Isle of Wight, and of seismographs 

 and seismograms. Many details arc given re- 

 garding the earthquake observatory and Profes- 

 sor Milne's experiences, put largely in the form 

 of an interview. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



academy of natural sciences of philadel- 



rniA. 



April 19. Mr. F. J. Keeley exhibited micro- 

 scopic preparations of jade from Mexico. The 

 mineral resembles nerphito and is therefore 

 merely a variety of serpentine. 



Mr. H. A. Pilsbry described the radula of 

 Nerita peloronta. It is over two inches long and 

 is in extreme disproportion to the small snail 

 bearing it. Types of rhipidoglossate and other 

 radulro were described. He regarded the radula 

 of cephalopods not so much as a rasp as a help 

 to swallowing food. In Limnea and other gas- 

 tropods it certainly acts as a rasp. In Bulla 

 and other Tectibranchs the structure of the 

 gizzard makes rasping function of the radula 

 comparatively unnecessary. 



Mr. D. S. Holman made a communication on 

 the keeping of aquaria and described filaments 

 of Spirochajtaj an inch or so in length occuring 

 in a pellicle on the surface of a tank partially 

 shaded from the sun. 



The President exhibited a pearl from a little 

 neck clam. It is about I of an inch in diameter, 

 the shades of color resembling an eye, the optic 

 nerve being suggested by a projection at the 

 back. The inside of the shell was devoid of 

 coloring matter. 



April 2Gth. Dr. A. F. Witmer made a com- 

 munication on the training of chronic epileptics, 

 dwelling on the pathology of the disease and 

 the advantages derived from fixing the atten- 

 tion by means of work on perforated embroidery 

 cards with colored silks. 



Dr. Ben.iamin Suarp spoke of rock carvings 

 occurring on the west side of Kauai! , one of the 

 Sandwich Islands. The carvings are on rocks 

 usually covered to a considerable height with 

 beach sand and can only be seen when de- 



