September 12, 1884.] 



SCIENCE. 



257 



constant constituents of the diamond. It is a curious 

 fact, that when these yellow diamonds are heated out 

 of contact with the air they lose their color, and re- 

 main colorless so long as they are not exposed to the 

 light: then they immediately regain it. 



A discussion on chemical changes in their rela- 

 tion to micro-organisms was opened by Professor 

 Frankland. He stated that contact action had been 

 held to be of two kinds, — that where both of the bod- 

 ies underwent a change, and that in which one of the 

 bodies remained unchanged. The last was called 

 catalytic action. The changes taking place in organ- 

 ized bodies had been referred to the last class, but 

 organic chemistry had proved them to belong to the 

 first. In organized bodies, both analytical and syn- 

 thetical changes take place; but in general the first 

 take place in the bodies of animals, and the last in 

 vegetables. This enables us to determine to which 

 of the two kingdoms a body belongs, and judged by 

 this criterion the microcosms belong to the animal 

 kingdom. Soluble ferments, on the contrary, act by 

 contact without giving of themselves. The changes 

 which these soluble ferments produce were then 

 shown in a series of tables ; and it was seen that the 

 resulting analytical reactions were usually quite sim- 

 ple, but were attended by the evolution of heat. 

 Keierring to this point, it was suggested, that as allo- 

 tropic and isomeric changes often convert potential 

 into kinetic energy, it might be possible to maintain 

 life through these changes. The reactions produced 

 by the micro-organisms were next shown in a series 

 of charts, together with illustrations of their forms. 

 The reactions in these cases were far less simple ; but 

 in some instances, as with the Saccharomyces cere- 

 visiae, it is a question how far the by-products are 

 due to the action of the micro-organism. The power 

 of these organisms to resist chemical substances gen- 

 erally and high temperatures was shown, yet spongy 

 iron quite destroyed them. It is of the utmost im- 

 portance to discover some simple agent for destroying 

 these bodies, which is harmless to man. 



In discussing this topic, Professor Koscoe pointed 

 out the fact that one ferment produces only one re- 

 action, and that this was probably true in those more 

 complicated reactions which attend disease. Dr. 

 Dallinger stated that he was able by slow stages to 

 so change the environment of a micro-organism, that 

 eventually it lived under conditions entirely unlike 

 its natural ones, and that he had cultivated the most 

 highly organized ones in solutions which contained 

 no organic matter whatever. Dr. Dewar called atten- 

 tion to the wonderful preservative power of hydrogen 

 peroxide. One one-hundredth of one per cent will 

 preserve urea indefinitely. It does not, however, 

 preserve milk indefinitely, on account of the physical 

 action of the milk globules, while it has no action 

 whatever on the soluble ferments. He believes the 

 heat evolved by the action of the ferments to be due 

 to the hydration of the alcohol; and he pointed out 

 that we have in bacteria the most delicate agent we 

 now possess for detecting oxygen, and the most accu- 

 rate for measuring light. 



Sir John Lawes and Dr. Gilbert presented a paper 



on some points in the composition of soils. This 

 was a continuation of the paper presented to the 

 American association two years ago ; and it is sought 

 to show that the view which has been maintained, 

 that a soil is a laboratory and not a mine, is erroneous ; 

 for not only the facts adduced by the authors in this 

 and other papers, but the whole history of agriculture 

 so far as we know it, clearly show that a fertile soil 

 is one which has accumulated within it the residue 

 of ages of previous vegetation, and that it becomes 

 less fertile as this residue is exhausted. The results 

 of many analyses and experiments with the soils of 

 Manitoba and other prairie lands were cited in evi- 

 dence. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECTION OF 

 GEOLOGY. 



It is impossible, in the limited space at our dis- 

 posal, to do any thing like justice to the large number 

 of interesting papers presented to this section, and 

 to the discussions called out by them. Moreover, 

 coming prominently before the section as there did, 

 such questions as glacial action, causes of the ice 

 age, formation of the basins of the great lakes, the 

 origin of coal, metamorphism, and the many ques- 

 tions connected with the archean rocks, and when 

 these questions were discussed by men like Dawson, 

 Hall, Geikie, Newberry, Hunt, Bonney, and by many 

 younger though no less earnest workers in geology, 

 it is easier to imagine than to describe in detail the 

 interest attached to such an occasion. 



The number of papers presented — fifty-one — was 

 too large to admit of satisfactory discussion; and, 

 even hurried over as they were, it was necessary for 

 the section to meet again upon a fifth day, instead of 

 completing its work in four sittings as was originally 

 anticipated. Many of the topics presented were 

 passed over so lightly as rather to discourage the 

 presentation of papers containing the results of long 

 and patient labor. Even the important questions 

 treated of by Dr. Blanford in his opening address 

 were lost sight of except as he occasionally called 

 them to mind. 



While the discussions were sufficiently animated, 

 — some of them perhaps even more so than was 

 seemly, — the animation was due, to a considerable 

 extent, to the tenacity with which each one held to 

 his own theories, rather than to any considerable array 

 of facts brought forward to sustain them. 



The section met in the lecture-room of the Eedpath 

 museum. A full audience heard the address of Dr. 

 Blanford the chairman, and toward the close of its 

 delivery Lord Lansdowne was one of the listeners. 



At the close of the address, in accordance with 

 English usages, a vote of thanks to the speaker was 

 proposed by Sir William Dawson, who commended 

 Dr. Blanford' s presenting a subject so full of debata- 

 ble matter as likely to excite the greatest interest and 

 discussion. Seconding the motion, Dr. Selwyn, direc- 

 tor of the Geological survey of Canada, referred to 

 instances similar to those mentioned, which occur in 

 Vancouver's Island and in parts of Australia not re- 



