3 10 
Notes. 
[May, 
of Sciences, states that, whilst prior to November last the sky 
had an intense blue tint up to the very margin of the solar disc, 
there now appears around the sun a dazzling white halo, of about 
15 0 radius, slightly tinted with red outwardly and with blue 
inwardly. 
M. Perrotin remarks that the general aspeCt of Uranus resem- 
bles that of Mars rather than that of Jupiter. 
M. E. L. Trouvelot (“ Comptes Rendus ”) considers that the 
so-called “ polar spots ” of Venus are the summits of lofty 
mountains which rise above the stratum of vapour enveloping 
the body of the planet. 
Dr. Maercker maintains that cellulose is not truly digested by 
mammals. The portion which disappears during the digestive 
process is not assimilated, but converted into gases. 
According to MM. Kellner and Imai the soil of Japan is by no 
means rich, — a conclusion founded both on chemical analysis 
and on the character of the prevailing vegetation. 
A controversy on the “ law of thermic substitution constants 
is going on between Prof. Berthelot and Dr. Tommasi. On 
March 18th the latter chemist requested M. Bertrand, the Perpe- 
tual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, to lay a certain me- 
moir before the Academy. M. Bertrand remarked that, “ as the 
discussion threatened to be prolonged, before deciding on inserting 
the memoir in the “ Comptes Rendus ” it would be well to submit 
it to some chemist belonging to the Academy. Having thus 
spoken he handed the paper to M. Berthelot (!), who was thus 
constituted judge in his own case. As a consequence, easy to 
be foreseen, the memoir has not appeared in the official journal. 
Such is official Science all the world over ! 
Metallic chrome is found to be, of all metals, the worst con- 
ductor of heat. 
A pamphlet has just appeared at Leipzig which aims at 
proving that leaden service-pipes for water are free from danger. 
The Hindus, we learn, regard the smallpox as a goddess whose 
visitations should not be in any way interfered with. Do some 
worthies at home entertain a similar reverence for smallpox, and 
still more for syphilis ? 
The Councils of the Entomological and — we believe — of the 
Linnean Societies find, to their regret, that they have no power 
to sign petitions in favour of Prof. Bryce’s Bill without the step 
of calling a special general meeting for the purpose, which would 
come too late. 
“ Cosmos les Mondes ” quotes a new German remedy for diph- 
theria (rectified oil of turpentine), and adds “ let us beware of 
what comes from Germany.’' 
