952 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 807 



The book occupies a unique place in the 

 chemical world — similar books have been 

 written in metallurgy — and it is hoped it will 

 incite others to publish similar ones. It is 

 most excellent and can be warmly recom- 

 mended to all interested in seed oils. 



A. H. Gill 



SCIENTIFIC JOUENALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 

 VII., No. 5, issued May 20, contains the fol- 

 lowing : " The Determination of Small Quan- 

 tities of Iodine with Special Reference to the 

 Iodine Content of the Thyroid Gland," by 

 Andrew Hunter. A method for iodine esti- 

 mation consisting in combustion with sodium 

 and potassium carbonates and potassium ni- 

 trate ; conversion of" iodide to iodic - acid by 

 chlorine; liberation of iodine by potassium 

 iodide and titration of iodine by this sul- 

 phate. Details of the method have been care- 

 fully worked out and its limits of accuracy 

 clearly defined. " Concerning the Relative 

 Magnitude of the Parts Played by the Pro- 

 teins and by the Bicarbonates in the Main- 

 tenance of the Neutrality of the Blood," by 

 T. Brailsford Robertson. A confirmation of 

 Henderson's results which showed that the 

 bicarbonates of blood are more efficient in the 

 neutralization of acid than are the proteins. 

 " On the Refractive Indices of Solutions of 

 Certain Proteins," by T. Brailsford Robert- 

 son. A formula showing the relation between 

 refractive indices of solutions of ovomucoid 

 and their concentrations is given. The 

 change in the refractive index of the solvent 

 brought about by adding 1 gram of ovomu- 

 coid to 100 c.c. is 0.0016; in ease of ovovitel- 

 lin, 0.0013. " The Origin of the Brown Pig- 

 ments in the Integuments of Tenebrio 

 Molitor" by Ross Aiken Gortner. Experi- 

 ments are described which show that the pig- 

 mentation is the result of the interaction of 

 an oxydase with a chromogen. The oxydase 

 can be extracted from the tissue and is active 

 only in the presence of oxygen. The chromo- 

 gen is not precipitated by phosphotungstic 

 acid; it is present only in minute amounts in 

 the tissue at any one time. " Autolysis of 



Fertilized and Unfertilized Echinoderm 

 Eggs," by E. P. Lyon and L. E. Shackell. 

 Eertilization exercises little if any efl^ect upon 

 the autolysis of Ariacia eggs. " Studies of 

 the Influence of Various Dietary Conditions 

 on Physiological Resistance — I., The Influ- 

 ence of Difl'erent Proportions of Protein in 

 the Food on Resistance to the Toxicity of 

 Ricin and on Recuperation from Hemor- 

 rhage," by Nellis B. Foster, M.D. An at- 

 tempt to determine in experiments upon dogs 

 whether the vital resistance can be influenced 

 by protein or non-protein diet. Results were 

 indecisive. 



NOTES ON METEOROLOGY AND 

 CLIMATOLOGY 



A thujStder-storji observatory has recently 

 been established in Spain by Senor G. J. de 

 Guillen Garcia. By means of a wireless tele- 

 graph instrument the electromagnetic waves 

 set up by lightning discharges are detected 

 graphically and acoustically, the changes in 

 the intensity and the distinctness of the 

 sounds produced in the receiver giving the 

 observer a clue as to the probable path of the 

 storm and the rate of its movement. After a 

 sufiicient amount of data have been obtained 

 it is hoped that forecasts of these storms will 

 be made possible. 



The promotion of Robert DeCourcy Ward 

 to a professorship of climatology at Harvard 

 University probably marks an epoch in the 

 progress of climatology in the United States, 

 as it is the first instance of an appointment 

 to a full professorship in which the appointee 

 is to devote his whole time to the teaching of 

 the science. In the closely allied field, meteor- 

 ology, Harvard also has a full professorship, 

 Professor A. Lawrence Rotch, director of the 

 Blue Hill Observatory, having received his 

 apiJointment in 1906. 



While meteorological observations will re- 

 ceive but secondary consideration in the 

 Mount McKinley expedition headed by Pro- 

 fessor Herschel C. Parker, of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, they will not be neglected. Several 

 portable instruments will be carried by the 

 climbers, and a minimum thermometer will 



