SCIENCE. 



59 



Herrick has remarked, " some of them have doubtless 

 been concealed by clouds, and others witnessed only by 

 barbarians." 



But between the great display of B. C. 687 and A. D. 

 1803, Professor Newton gives the following list of show- 

 ers at or near the epoch of April 20, 1 viz. : B. C, 15, A. 

 D. 582, 1093, 1094, 8 1095, 1096, 1 1 22 and 11 23. The 

 appearance of 582 ought probably to be rejected. It was 

 two days from the epoch, and the record as quoted by 

 Quetelet may have no reference to shooting stars. 9 The 

 three remaining returns, B. C. 15, A, D. 1093- 1096, and 

 1 1 22-3, indicate a period of about 27 years. Now it is 

 obvious that, at every close approach of meteors to the 

 earth, many must be thrown into new orbits, all of which 

 wdl pass through the point at which the perturbation oc- 

 curred. It seems probable, therefore, that at some re- 

 mote epoch a considerable cluster of this meteoric stream 

 was thrown by perturbation into a new orbit correspond- 

 ing to a period of 27 years. The change may have been 

 produced by the earth during the passage of the meteoric 

 swarm. 



The facts which we have considered apparently indi- 

 cate that the first comet of 1861, and the April meteors, 

 formed a system in space before entering the solar do- 

 main ; the latter moving in advance of the former at a 

 distance comparable to the diameter of Neptune's orbit. 

 By planetary perturbation the orbits were transformed 

 into ellipses. If, as supposed by Professor Forbes, the 

 disturbing body was an ultra-Neptunian planet in the 

 vicinity of the present aphelion of the comet's orbit, said 

 planet would probably describe less than 20 of its cir- 

 cuit during ihe interval between the nearest approach of 

 the two bodies. But in aphelion the comet 1861 I, is 

 too remote from the plane of the ecliptic to be sensibly 

 disturbed by a planet moving in that plane. It seems 

 more probable that the comet, as well as the meteoric 

 group, owes the transformation of its orbit to one of the 

 known major planets. Its radius vector when at its as- 

 cending node is about 10. In other words, its orbit ap- 

 proaches very near that of Saturn in longitude 30°. Now, 

 it is remarkable that the interval between the perihelion 

 passages of the meteors and the comet is almost exactly 

 equal to two periods of Saturn. The meteors and Sat- 

 urn were in the same longitude and in close proximity 

 about B. C. 683, and the comet approached very near 

 the planet at the same point about B. C. 625. The or- 

 bits may have been transformed into ellipses by Saturn's 

 influence at these respective epochs. It may be worthy 

 of remaik that 11 times the period of the comet are 

 equal to 155 times that of Siturn. 



CHEMICAL NOTES. 



On Ballo's Supposed Adipic Acid Obtained from 

 Camphor. — On oxidation with chromic acid camphor does 

 not yield adipic acid, but the same oxidation-products as 

 with nitric acid. Chromic acid, however, converts the cam- 

 phoric acid first formed completely into members poorer 

 in carbon. — J. Kachler. 



On the Remarkable Reducing Properties of Potas- 

 sium Ferrous Oxalate, and on some of the Reactions 

 thus Produced. — Ferrous oxalate is very permanent on 

 exposure to the air, both in a wet and a dry state, and pos- 

 sesses very feeble reducing properties. The solution of 

 ferrous oxalate in potassium oxalate, as well as the solid 

 double salt, takes up oxygen greedily, and passes into po- 

 tassium ferric oxalate. Its affinity for oxygen is equal to 

 that of an alkaline ferrous hydrate, or of ammoniacal cu- 

 prous chloride, or of pyrogallic acid in an alkaline solution. 



7 Am. Jour, of Science, July, 1863. 



8 " At this period, so many stars fell from heaven that they could not 

 be counted. In France the inhabitants were amazed to see one o thenmsfi 

 great size fall to the earth, and they poured water on the spot, we hish 

 their exceeding astonishment smoke issued from the ground with aoot f-- 

 ing noise." — Herrick's Catalogue. This record is of great interest as indr 

 eating the fall of an aerolite during the shower of meteors. 



• " A Soissons, on voit le ciel en feu. Une pluie de sang tombe sur 

 Paris." 



The double oxalate exerts its reducing powers, not merely 

 in alkaline, but in neutral, and even acid solutions. The 

 solution quickly reduces platinum chloride and silver ni- 

 trate to metal. Silver chloride, bromide, and iodide are 

 reduced completely, but more slowly. Copper acetate is 

 reduced very slowly to cuprous oxide, and even to metal 

 Willi the aid of heat mercuric chloride is reduced to metal. 

 Recently precipitated Prussian blue is reduced to white 

 ferro-cyanide of potassium. Indigo blue is reduced to white 

 indigo, and solutions of sulphindigotic acid are rapidly 

 decolorised. — J. M. Eder. 



On the Acids C 8 Hh0 4 Formed from Butyric Acid. 

 Besides a volatile oily acid, probably identical with isocro- 

 tonic acid, there are formed by the reaction of suberic and 

 bromobutyric acid, two acids agreeing in composition with 

 suberic acid, but distinctly different from each other, and 

 from the two isomeric acids produced by a corresponding 

 reaction with brom-isobutyric acid. There exist, therefore, 

 five isomeric suberic acids. — Carl Hell and O. Mul- 

 hauser. 



A New Synthesis of Phosphenyl Sulpho-Chloride. — 

 Twenty parts phosphenyl-chloride are placed in a small 

 flask with a reflux condenser, and five parts sulphur-chlo- 

 ride are slowly added by means of a dropping-funnel. 

 After the reaction is over, the flask is set in a freezing mix- 

 ture of Glauber's salt and hydrochloric acid. Pale yellow 

 crystals of phosphenyl-tetra-chloride are formed, from 

 which the liquid is separated by decantation, then shaken 

 with water, dried and rectified. The yield is almost quanti- 

 tative. — H. Koehler. 



More Particular Observations on the Action of Pot- 

 assium Carbonate upon Isobutyl-aldehyde. — F. Urech 

 places about 3 grms. pure isobutyl-aldehyde in a narrow test 

 tube graduated in half millimetres. With a lens it is pos 

 sible to read accurately quarter millimetres. After 3 deci- 

 grms. of finely-powdered recently-ignited potassium car- 

 bonate have been added, the tube is closed, set in a hori- 

 zontal position, and the level is read off every five minutes 

 for forty-eight hours. The liquid will be found to have 

 sunk from 21. 50 to 14.50 degrees. 



At a meeting of the Socidte Industrielle of Mulhouse, it 

 was stated that tin sulphocyanide, formed by the double 

 decomposition of calcium sulphocyanide and tin oxalate, is 

 found very useful in calico printing. 



For printing cotton with the azo-colors, Dr. Allrich 

 proposes to dissolve 100 grms. of the color in five times 

 its weight of water ; then to make up a solution of sodium 

 stannate or aluminate at 15 B., to every litre of which are 

 added 20 grms. alizarin oil. Of this mixture 150 grms. are 

 incorporated with the color, which is then thickened with 

 starch and printed. After printing the pieces are steeped 

 for an hour in lead or barium acetate or barium chloride at 

 5° to 10° B., and washed in cold water. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



L The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents. No notice is taken 0/ anonymous communi- 

 cations.} 



To the Editor of " Science :" 



. In reference to the correction of one of my statements 

 made in your issue of the 29th inst. by Dr. Burt G. Wil- 

 der, I would say that I accept the criticism in all its bear- 

 ings. The view which Dr. Wilder expresses regarding 

 the upper wall of the third ventricle being constituted by 

 the ependyma stretched across between the habenulcc of 

 the pineal gland, was once entertained by myself (in ac- 

 cordance with the orthodox view of embryologists since the 

 time of Rathke), and was the one which Dr. Wilder may 

 perhaps recollect I expressed to him in conversation last 

 year. I return to that view again. My abandonment of 

 it was due to the confounding of two distinct questions, 

 i. £ ' . . the question of the true inner boundary of the floor at 

 the lateral ventricle and the true upper and outer boun- 

 dary of the third. The view I should have credited to 

 Wilder and Hadlich, is that the lateral ventricle does not 

 extend over the thalamus. My misapprehension of Wil- 

 der's statement is based on the fact that it rested on a 

 verbal communication. That I mentioned it at all was 



