780 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 49. 



VH. the Biological Examination of Water' was 

 read by Prof. McMurtrie, in the absence of the 

 author. 



In the discussion which followed, the opinion 



was general that to arrive at a sound conclusion 



it is necessary to make both examinations, and 



c... ition all possible should be known of the 



history of a water. 



Prof McMurtrie stated that in examining a 

 large number of wells in the State of Illinois he 

 found no cases of typhoid fever resulting from 

 the use of well waters in which the nitrites, free 

 and albumenoid ammonia were all low. 



These determinations, in conjunction with 

 careful investigation of the history of a water, 

 he found a pretty safe guide to an opinion. 



Dr. Home described an interesting case of 

 large increase of nitrites on mixing three water 

 supplies, the nitrites being low in each of the 

 waters tested separately. Prof. Speyers sug- 

 gested that the presence of hydrogen sulfid, or 

 other reducing agent in one of the waters, act- 

 ing on nitrates in the others, might produce 

 this phenomenon. 



A paper ' On the Heat of Solution of Certain 

 Carbon Compounds ' was read by Prof. C. L. 

 Speyers. 



Dr. Austen read a "Note on Range's ' Bil- 

 dungstrieb ' of Substances, ' ' and exhibited a 

 copy of this old and rare work. 



Mr. Cutts read a paper, by T. S. Gladding, 

 ' On the Gravimetric Method of Determining 

 Phosphoric Acid by the Phospho-Molybdate 

 Method. ' 



' Specimens showing the Effects of Gun Cot- 

 ton Explosions ' were exhibited by Mr. W. H. 

 Burleigh. 



The meeting was then adjourned to the second 

 Friday in December. 



DuRAND Woodman, Secretary. 



BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Society met for the first meeting of the 

 season on November 6th ; 116 persons were 

 present. 



The presentation of papers by title, and mat- 

 ters of business announced, the Society listened 

 to Prof. George Lincoln Goodale, who spoke on 

 some peculiarities of Australasian vegetation. 

 Limiting his remarks chiefly to Australia, Prof. 



Goodale alluded to the natural and political di- 

 visions of that vast island-continent and de- 

 scribed, with the aid of a series of lantern slides, 

 some of the chief characteristics of its flora, 

 the northeastern shores fringed with mangroves, 

 the distinctness of the desert vegetation, the 

 size and magnificence of the giant Eucalypts, 

 and the interesting features of species of Acacia 

 and Casuarina and of tree ferns. Attention 

 was called to the vast number of genera and 

 species that constitute the Australian flora, 

 a single lantern slide showing at a moderate 

 estimate more than 150 species ; the total num- 

 ber of species found in Australia is estimated at 

 about 10,000. Australian vegetation is sup- 

 posed to have been derived from some point 

 westward of the continent. 



Samuel Henshaw, Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 Electricity and Magnetism. Francis E. Nipher. 



St. Louis, Mo. 1895. Pp. xi+426. $3.25. 

 The Intellectual Rise of Electricity. Park Ben- 

 jamin. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 



1895. Pp. 611. 

 Transmissions par cdbles Metalliques. H. 



Leaute and A. Bbrard. Gauthier-Villars 



et. fils and G. Masson. Pp. 184. 

 Les Nouvelles Theories Chimiques. A. Etard. 



Paris, G. Masson and Gauthier-Villars et fils. 



Pp. 196. 

 Guide d' oceanographie. J. Thoulet. G. Mas- 

 son and Gauthier-Villars et fils. 1805. Pp. 



224. 

 Histoire de la philosophie atomistique. Leopold 



Mabilleau. Paris, Felix Alcan. Pp. 560. 

 De Saint-Louis a Tripoli par le lac Tchad. P. 



L. MoNTEiL. Paris, Felix Alcan. Pp. 462. 

 The Story of the Indian. George Bird Grin- 



NEL. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1895. 



Pp. s + 270. $1.50. 

 The Story of the Earth. H. G. Seeley. New 



York, D. Appleton & Co. Pp. vi + 186. 40cts. 

 Der Schuss. Frederick Brandeis. Vienna, 



Pesth and Leipzig, A. Hartleben. 1895. Pp. 



280. 

 Englishe Chrestomathie. Vienna, Pesth and 



Leipzig, A. Hartleben. 1895. Pp. 182. 



