seems to have been caused at Ogaki, where at least 1000 persons were killed, chiefly by falling buildings. Both there and at Gifu the earthquake was followed by fires, in which many perished. At Kitagata, Ichinomiya, Tiraguna, Kiyonsu, Kamatsu, and other places, chiefly along the coast, great damage was done. The city of Nagoya suffered to a less extent, although seriously. Much distress prevails in the ruined towns, and the Government is embarrassed in its efforts by the prevailing panic, and the absence of means of communication, telegraph lines and many miles of railway having been destroyed. Exact details as to the extent of the calamity will probably not be obtained for some time. On November 2 the following was the official estimate: killed, 4000 persons; injured, fully 5000; houses destroyed, 50,000. A GREAT rush of migratory birds seems to have passed over Dublin during the night of May 4 last, evidently on the way to their northern breeding-haunts. An account of the matter is given by Mr. Allan Ellison in the new number of the Zoologist. While sitting in our rooms in Trinity College, about 11 p.m.,' he says, "we were attracted by the loud call-notes of birds passing overhead. The night was calm and cloudy, not very dark. We listened at the open window until about 1 a.m., when they seemed to be still passing over in undiminished numbers. They were mostly golden plovers and dunlins, easily recognized by their notes, but we frequently heard the cry of the whimbrel, or the shrill call of the common sandpiper. It was most curious to hear these notes, at first far away towards the south-west, gradually becoming louder as the flocks drew nearer and passed overhead, and then rapidly passing away to the northward. Sometimes the whole air seemed full of their clear whistling notes: in one direction the loud, short pipe of the golden plover, in another the shrill wheezing cry of the dunlin, reminding one of the sound made by a whistle with a pea in it. Sometimes a bird or two would fly quite close over the house-tops, uttering its loud whistle close to the open window, but they seemed for the most part to fly at a great height." ONE large meteorite and two fragments were lately received by the Government Central Museum, Madras, through the Board of Revenue. Mr. Edward Thurston, the Superintendent of the Museum, quotes in his report for 1890-91 the following statement, by the Tahsildar of Tirupatúr, in the Salem district, as to the conditions under which these stones fell :-"On June 4, 1890, about 8 a.m., there was a sudden clap of thunder, accompanied by an unusual rumbling noise. At this time two stones are said to have fallen in the village of Kakangarai. The fall of both the stones occurred at the same time in adjacent fields, and was witnessed by rayats, who were ploughing close by at the time. One stone appears to have been broken up and divided among the rayats, while the other was taken charge of by the village munsif. The large specimen weighs 11 ounces, and the fragments weigh about 1 ounce and ounce respectively." THE sponge trade of the Bahama Islands forms the subject of an excellent report by the U.S. Consul at Nassau. The number of persons engaged in this industry in the Bahamas is from 5000 to 6000, all of whom, except the shipowners, brokers, and skippers are coloured people. The sponges are gathered by means of iron hooks attached to long poles. By using a waterglass the fisherman can readily discover the sponges at the bottom, and then with his pole and hook he will bring up those he may select as fit for his purpose, leaving the smaller ones untouched. Some sponges adhere firmly to the bed of the sea, while others-known as "rollers "-are not attached at all. About ten years ago an attempt was made to introduce dredges, but it seemed likely that they would ruin the beds, and a law was passed forbidding their use. The vessels are provided and fitted out, as a rule, for a voyage of about six weeks, and generally from six to eight voyages are made in the year. It is difficult to estimate the average catch per trip, as the cargoes vary greatly in size and value. Of the larger sponges a catch of 5000, or of the smaller ones 7500, would be considered a fair lot. Occasionally a cargo of from 12,000 to 15,000 large sponges has been brought in, but this success is exceptional. Contradictory statements are made as to the time taken by sponges to grow to the size at which they are wanted. It seems probable, however, that under ordinary conditions a healthy sponge will reach a marketable size in from twelve to eighteen months. EXTENSIVE excavations of the prehistoric mounds in Ohio and Indiana have lately been carried on under the supervision of Prof. Putnam. In one mound, near Anderson Station, Indiana, 7232 flint spear-heads and knives have been discovered. They were found in a layer one foot thick, extending over a space of twenty by thirty feet. They are made of grey flint found only in Indiana. The largest find of flint implements previously made in America did not include more than 1800 specimens. STATISTICS published by the French Ministry of Public Instruction show that there are in France 525 learned Societies, of which 135 have been officially recognized as of national importance. Of these 525 Societies, 95 are historical and social; 95 agricultural and horticultural; 57 medical and pharmaceutical; 45 scientific; 41 artistic; 37 geographical; and the rest miscellaneous, including photographic, statistical, and ballooning associations. PROF. KIKUCHI, of Tokyo, whose Japanese treatise on geometry we noticed briefly a year or two since, has now published a translation of his work into English. In the first Japanese Parliament Prof. Kikuchi had the honour to be made a life member of the House of Peers by the Emperor ("this does not constitute peerage as in England"), and at the request of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce he was one of the original framers of the Weights and Measures Bill. THE Cambridge University Press has published a second edition of Mr. S. L. Loney's "Treatise on Elementary Dynamics." The book is intended for beginners, the author having dealt only with those parts of dynamics which can be treated without the use of the infinitesimal calculus. In the present edition the work has been carefully revised and somewhat enlarged. THE first part has now been issued of the Zeitschrift für Pflanzenkrankheiten, edited by Dr. Paul Sorauer, with the assistance of an "International Phytopathological Committee." The journal is intended to be published bi-monthly, at a subscription of 15 marks per annum; and will contain original articles, reviews, and news, extending over the whole subject of the diseases of plants and the remedies for these diseases. MESSRS. CASSELL AND CO. have issued Part 37 of their "New Popular Educator." Besides many illustrations in the text, there is a coloured plate representing sea-jellies and sea-stars. FREE hydroxylamine, NH,OH, has been isolated by M. Lobry de Bruyn, and a preliminary account of its mode of preparation and properties is published by him in the current number of the Recueil des travaux chimiques des Pays-Bas (1891, 10, 101). The manner in which the free base was obtained was briefly as follows. About a hundred grams of hydroxylamine hydrochloride, NH2OH. HCl, were dissolved in six hundred cubic centimetres of warm methyl alcohol. To this solution a quantity of sodium dissolved in methyl alcohol was added, in such proportion that the hydrochloride of hydroxylamine was present in slight excess over and above that required to convert it to sodium chloride. After deposition of the separated sodium chloride the solution was decanted and filtered. The greater portion of the methyl alcohol was next removed by distillation under the reduced pressure of 160-200 mm. The remainder was then treated with anhydrous ether, in order to completely precipitate the last traces of dissolved sodium chloride. The liquid eventually separated into two layers, an upper ethereal layer containing about 5 per cent. of hydroxylamine, and a lower layer containing over 50 per cent. of hydroxylamine, the remainder of the methyl alcohol, and a little dissolved salt. By subjecting this lower layer to fractional distillation under 60 mm. pressure, it was separated into three fractions, of which the first contained 27 per cent. of hydroxylamine, the second 60 per cent., and the third crystallized in the ice-cooled receiver in long needles. This third fraction consisted of free solid NH2OH. Hydroxylamine as thus isolated in the free state is a very hygroscopic substance, which rapidly liquefies when exposed to air, owing to the absorption of water. The crystals melt at 33°, and the fused substance appears to possess the capability of readily dissolving metallic salts. Sodium chloride is very largely soluble in the liquid; powdered nitre melts at once in contact with it, and the two liquids then mix. Free hydroxylamine is without odour. It is heavier than water. When rapidly heated upon platinum foil it suddenly decomposes in a most violent manner, with production of a large sheet of bright-yellow flame. It is only very slightly soluble in liquid carbon compounds such as chloroform, benzene, ether, acetic ether, and carbon bisulphide. The vapour attacks corks, so that the solid requires to be preserved in glass-stoppered bottles. The free base appears also to act upon cellulose, for, upon placing a few drops of the melted substance upon filter paper, a considerable amount of heat is evolved. The pure crystals are very stable, the base in the free state appearing to possess much greater stability than when dissolved in water. The instability of the solution appears, however, to be influenced to a considerable extent by the alkalinity of the glass of the containing vessel, for concentrated solutions free from dissolved alkali are found to be perfectly stable. Bromine and iodine react in a remarkable manner with free hydroxylamine. Crystals of iodine dissolve instantly in contact with it, with evolution of a gas and considerable rise of temperature. Bromine reacts with violence, a gas again being explosively evolved and hydrobromic acid formed. The nature of the gas evolved is now undergoing investigation. A letter from M. Lobry de Bruyn appears in the number of the Chemiker Zeitung for October 31, warning those who may attempt to prepare free hydroxylamine by the above method that it is a dangerously explosive substance when warmed to a temUpon warming a flask containing the perature of 80°-100°. free solid base upon a water-bath a most violent explosion occurs. A spontaneous decomposition appears to set in about 80°, and even in open vessels the explosion is very violent. Care must also be taken during the fractional distillation of the concentrated solution in methyl alcohol to cool the apparatus before changing the receiver, as if air is admitted while the retort is heated the experiment ends with an explosion. THE additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week include a Rhesus Monkey (Macacus rhesus?), two Macaque Monkeys (Macacus cynomolgus 8), a Bonnet Monkey (Macacus sinicus) from India, two Roseate Cockatoos (Cacatua roseicapilla), a Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), two Cockateels (Calopsitta nova-hollandiæ) from Australia, presented by the Rev. Sidney Vatcher; two Rhesus Monkeys (Macacus rhesus 88) from India, presented by Mr. John H. Taylor; a Macaque Monkey Macacus cynomolgus 8) from India, presented by Mr. K. A. Williams; a Yak (Poëphagus grunniens 8) from Tibet, presented by Mr. M. E. C. Ingram ; a Corn Crake (Crex pratensis), British, presented by Mr. E. Hart, F.Z.S.; two Woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola), British, presented respectively by Mr. Hamon Le Strange,. F.Z. S., and Mr. William Bellamy ; two Water Vipers (Cenchris piscivorus), a Water Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) from Florida, presented by the Natural History Society of Toronto ;. a Small-scaled Mastigure (Uromastix microlepis) from Persia, presented by Mrs. Howell; an Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) from the Mississippi, presented by Mr. W. Chattaway; two Bearded Vultures (Gypaëtus barbatus), European, deposited; a Molucca Deer (Cervus moluccensis), born in the Gardens. OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. THE TELLURIC SPECTRUM.-Dr. Müller has made some observations of the telluric spectrum on the summit of the Säntis, and his results are given in a recent publication of Potsdam Observatory (vol. viii., No. 27). The observing station was situated at a height of 2500 metres above sea-level. It was found that when the sun had a mean altitude, about 40 per cent. of the lines due to the water vapour in the atmosphere Whilst were quite invisible, and the remainder were very weak the zenith distance of the sun was less than 60°, the appearance. of the spectrum remained unchanged. At greater zenith distances the weak lines inereased in intensity and the missing ones gradually appeared. Measurements of the intensities of single lines observed on different days and at different zenith distances indicate a variation roughly proportional to the thickness of atmosphere traversed. The aspect of the portion of spectrum observed was on the whole strikingly similar to that seen when observations were made near sea-level on dry and cold days. This is in agreement with the fact that the vapour pressure on mountains in summer is approximately equal to that on the plains in winter. Careful estimations of the intensities of the atmospheric lines at C and D might therefore be utilized to determine the decrease of the amount of vapour present in the air at different elevations. With regard to other atmospheric lines, Dr. Müller observed changes in the a-group. The whole of the lines of this group, however, were easily seen at the mountain station when the sun had a high altitude, and the difference of intensity there and in the plains was considerably less than in the groups C and D. Two maps are given illustrating the appearance of the lines in the neighbourhood of C and D for different zenith distances of the sun. TEMPEL-SWIFT'S PERIODIC COMET.-The following ephemeris is given by M. Bossert in Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 3063 Ephemeris for Paris Midnight. 21 37 6 21 43 17 10 19'3 12 12'I 22 13 19 22 22 14 13.11.2 14 12'0 15 144 135 ,, 17 ,, 19 ... 22 31 45 21 22 41 54 16 18.0 23 22 52 41 17 22.2 ... 23 4 6 18 26.6 27 23 16 9 29 23 28 48 25 Dec. I 39 18 II O 54 15 23 26'2 24 16.3 25 1'4 25 41Ο 26 14'9 14'0. 12'0 The comet is moving north at the rate of 1° per day. It will be in Pegasus all this month, and will pass about 4° north of The maximum brighta Pegasus (Marcab) near the 23rd inst. ness is reached at the end of the month. CATALOGUE OF RUTHERFURD'S PHOTOGRAPHS.-A year ago Dr. Lewis Rutherfurd presented to the Observatory of Columbia College all his photographic negatives taken between the years 1858 and 1878, and thirty quarto volumes containing the measures of many of them. The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. vi., June 1891, contains a catalogue of these negatives. There are 139 negatives of the sun taken between 1860 and 1874, each of which has the time of exposure marked upon it. Several negatives were taken of the eclipses of 1860, 1865, and 1869. The solar spectrum is the subject of 160 negatives and 14 positives. The list of lunar negatives numbers 408, 40 of which are covered for protection. Mars was photographed in 1877, and the transit of Mercury in the following year. It is hoped soon to issue reductions of the measures of the numerous negatives of stars and clusters. THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL A GENERAL meeting of the Institution of Mechanical We The first paper does not call for much attention at our hands. It dealt exclusively with boiler-making practice, and can hardly be of much interest outside the boiler shop and draughting office. Within these limits the paper is one of great value, and therefore will occupy a most fitting place in the Proceedings of the Institution." The contribution of Prof. RobertsAusten was of a very different description; and although it may not appeal so directly to the majority of mechanical engineers, it can hardly fail to improve the practice of engine construction, and advance the science of the production of mechanical energy many steps nearer that ideal of efficiency which is the goal all good engineers should keep in view. have on previous occasions dwelt upon the excellent work done by the various Research Committees appointed by the Council of this Institution, and we can think of no better way in which the surplus fands of the Institution could be spent. Of all these Research Committees, it may be said that that appointed to consider the question of alloys is the most comprehensive and important, for we appear to be fast coming to a period when engines will consist almost wholly of two alloys—namely, brass and steel. Cast-iron will naturally continue to be used for massive parts where comparatively great weight is of small importance, but wrought-iron is every day giving place to steel, and steel castings have already almost entirely superseded those of iron in positions where it is desirable to combine lightness and strength. Prof. Roberts-Austen's report is a long document occupying twenty-four pages of the Proceedings, and illustrated by several diagrams. We shall therefore, with the space at our command, be able to do little more than give an outline of its scope, or at any rate we can do no more than dwell on a few of the more salient features. In dealing with the question of iron and its alloys, the author assumed the reader to have an acquaintance with the work of the talented French physicist Osmond, of whom, as is well known, Roberts-Austen is a great admirer. Osmond holds that the results of his experiments show that there are two distinct varieties of pure iron-namely, the a or soft form, and the B or hard form. M. Osmond, it will be remembered, set forth his views in a paper read at the meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, held in 1890.1 Mr. Roberts-Austen had previously commenced an investigation upon the application of the "periodic law" of Newlands and Mendeleeff to the mechanical properties of metals, and the Research Committee requested him to carry his work in this direction still further. This law, as originally expressed, states that "the properties of the elements are a periodic function of their atomic weights.' It has been shown that the effect of impurities added to gold is nearly proportional to their atomic volume, the larger the volume of the atom the greater being its effect.2 It became 1 See also Comptes rendus, vol. cx., 1890, p. 346. " 2 Philosophical Transactions of the Koyal Society, vol. clxxix., 1888, P. 339. Osmond pointed out that the elements in column I., whose atomic volumes are smaller than that of iron (72), delay during cooling, cæteris paribus, the change of hard iron into soft iron, as well as that of "hardening carbon" into "carbide carbon." For these two reasons they tend to increase, with equal rates of cooling, the proportion of hard iron that is present in the cooled iron or steel, and consequently the hardness of the metal. The elements in column II. tend to raise, or maintain at its normal position during cooling, the temperature at which the change of hard to soft iron takes place. Further, they render the inverse change during heating more or less incomplete, and usually hasten the change of dissolved or hardening carbon to carbide carbon. Thus they maintain iron in the soft state at high temperatures, and must therefore have the same effect in the cooled metal. In this way they would act on iron as annealing does, rendering it soft and malleable, did not their individual properties, or those of their compounds, mask this natural consequence of their presence. The essential part played by foreign elements alloyed with iron is therefore either to hasten or to delay the passage of iron during cooling to an allotròpic state; and to render the change more or less incomplete in one direction or the other, according to whether the atomic volume of the added impurity is greater or less than that of iron. In other words, foreign elements of low atomic volume tend to make iron itself assume or retain the particular molecular form which possesses the lowest atomic volume; whilst elements with large atomic volume produce a reverse effect. The report goes on to point out that the effect of impurities on iron is far more complicated than in the case of gold; the latter being probably more simple in its molecular structure. Also if iron, by itself, can exist in two widely different states, the mechanical properties will be affected by the proportion of each. Lead also, which was one of the metals the Committee selected for investigation, probably exists in more than one modification. The author had made many experiments on the mechanical properties of lead as affected by a small quantity of impurity, but had not brought the results to any concordant or definite conclusion, and the inquiry was laid aside of the Committee was a trustworthy pyrometer which would for a time. The fundamental necessity in carrying out the work measure higher temperatures, and fortunately an instrument which appears to fulfil these conditions is now to be procured. This, we need hardly say, is the Le Chatelier pyrometer. This instrument consists of a thermo-couple of platinum and platinum-rhodium wire, the record being obtained by the measurement of the electric current produced. An autographic record is obtained by means of a spot of light thrown from a mirror attached to the galvanometer which measures the current. This spot of light is thrown on to a sensitized plate (Eastman's film) which is caused to travel by suitable means so as to give the time factor. The amplitude of the deflection naturally gives the temperature of the substance which is supplying the heat to the thermo-couple The calibration has been carefully effected by observations at known temperatures; and the instrument has been tested by observations in connection with the liquation of silver-copper alloys, about which a good deal is known. The report next proceeds to deal with the effect of small quantities of impurity on the freezing point of gold-a metal which offers special advantages for investigations of this nature, as it may be prepared in a very high degree of purity, and is not liable to contamination by oxidation. Moreover, much is already known of its mechanical and thermal properties as influenced by small quantities of impurity. The effects of certain alloys upon gold are given in the report, and are well worth study on the part of those inquirers who wish to prepare them selves for a better understanding of the alloys of metals which come within the scope of every-day experience. From the engineer's point of view, as the report states, the most interesting information which the pyrometer has yet afforded is connected with the measurement of the internal stresses in iron and steel. The molecular change which takes place in steel must be of vital importance when the metal is subjected at high temperature to mechanical operations such as rolling or forging. "Do the molecular changes in the iron take place at one moment throughout the mass of metal? that is, is the rate of cooling approximate throughout the mass, or does the external portion of the ingot cool so much more rapidly than the centre as to allow the molecular changes in the iron, and the relation between the carbon and the iron, to become completed near the surface long before they take place in the interior of the mass?" The pyrometer used allows some insight to be gained into this hitherto unassailable problem. A small ingot of mild steel had two holes drilled into it, one near the circumference, and the other at the centre. The ingot was heated, and a thermo-junction was inserted in each hole. In this way curves of temperature were obtained simultaneously. With the mild steel the evidence as to molecular change was but slight. Another ingot of steel, containing o'799 per cent. of carbon, 0.084 per cent. of silicon, and 0'412 per cent. of manganese, was tried in the same way. The initial temperature at the centre was 1160° C. The curve showed the molecular change at 880° C., and the carbon change at 696° C. At the circumference the carbon change took place no less than four minutes earlier than at the centre, and at the lower temperature of 665° C. This is a most important point, as the rate of cooling, as Osmond has pointed out, has a measurable effect upon the temperatures at which molecular change occurs. The great internal strain which must be set up is evident when it is borne in mind that the carbon change is accompanied by a considerable alteration of volume. It is pointed out in the report that "there can be but little question that such experiments well deserve careful attention, and, in the hands of competent observers, should be fruitful of results." On the conclusion of the reading of the paper, the Presi dent called for a discussion, when Dr. Anderson was the first to rise. He spoke in terms of warm praise as to the value of the work done by Prof. Roberts-Austen. As an instance, he mentioned that the method described in the report, by which the temperatures of an ingot could be obtained simultaneously at the centre and the circumference, would be of the greatest use in dealing with the large pieces of steel used for gun hoops; and he expected great help from this in the work at the Royal Arsenal. Mr. R. Hadfield, of Sheffield, followed. He gave a summary of the effect of the most prominent alloys of iron. This table will form a useful appendix to the report when published in the Transactions of the Institution. Prof. Howe, of Boston, gave an instance in which the Le Chatelier pyrometer had been turned to good practical account. This was in the Rodman system of gun-casting. In that process it was most desirable to know the varying temperatures of different parts of the cast, but naturally this had been hitherto impossible. By inserting a thermo-couple in the mould it was possible to get this information at all times. He thought the Le Chatelier pyrometer the greatest boon that metallurgists had received for very many years. The next speaker was Prof. Arnold, of Sheffield, who made a certainly vigorous speech. We think, however, that he was rather carried away by his enthusiasm. To say that the work done by the author of the report was "not worth a rush," is rather straining the prerogative of rhetoric; and we failed to see, when Prof. Arnold descended to facts, that he justified the florid language of his exordium. Prof. Roberts-Austen, in his reply, gave an example of forbearance and good temper which it would be well if men of science could often follow. satisfactory to notice that the feeling of the meeting was by no means in accordance with Prof. Arnold. It was Mr. Stromeyer added to the work done a useful table in which were collated the opinions of various authorities on the effect of alloys upon iron. The table was not read, but will be published in the Proceedings. Such work as this is very acceptable. It involves a great deal of labour and brings but small return in the way of praise and glory, which of course are two things to which a true follower of science is profoundly indifferent. Mr. Stead, of Middlesborough, protested against Prof. Arnold's remarks, and spoke of the value of the author's work. The testimony of Mr. Stead is valuable, as he combines the position of a practical investigator, working for commercial ends, and a man of science. The meeting broke up after passing the usual votes of thanks. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL OXFORD.-The Junior Scientific Club held their first meeting this term in the Physiological Laboratory at the Museum, under the presidency of Mr. R. S. Gunther, of Magdalen. Mr. W. Pullinger, of Balliol, read a paper on volatile platinum compounds, and exhibited prepared specimens. Mr. A. F. S. Kent, of Magdalen, indicated improvements in the manipulation of photo-micrography whereby the effect of tremors was excluded, and passed through the lantern some very excellent slides which he had taken from negatives obtained by his new method. Mr. G. E. C. Pritchard, of Hertford, exhibited specimens of Bacteria, and described the method whereby they had been obtained and prepared for microscopic exhibition. Dr. Dr. Collier read a paper of a very interesting character on the physiology of muscular exercise with special reference to training, in the course of which he traversed some statements recently made by Sir Morell Mackenzie, to the effect that fatigue was due to the cessation of blood flowing to the muscles. Collier would rather attribute fatigue to the development of waste-products in the muscle, formed too rapidly for the blood to remove them, and quoted experiments carried out on frogs which seemed to support this view. CAMBRIDGE.-The Agricultural Education Syndicate, in view of a grant of £400 a year from the Cambridgeshire County Council, reconimend that a lecturer in agricultural science, who shall also be director of agricultural studies, should be appointed at a stipend of £500. They also propose that a second lecturer be appointed at a stipend of £300. These two lecturers would take between them the subjects of agricultural botany and agricultural chemistry. The degree of M.A. honoris causâ has been conferred on the distinguished entomologist Mr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., Curator in Zoology at the University Museums. Dr. Sir A. Geikie and Dr. T. G. Bonney have been appointed adjudicators of the Sedgwick Prize of 1895. At St. John's College, on November 2, the following were elected to the vacant Fellowships: William McFadden Orr, B. A., Senior Wrangler, 1888; Edward Ernest Sikes, B.A., First Class (Division 1), Classical Tripos, 1889, Newton Student in Archæology; Percival Horton-Smith, B. A., First Class Natural Sciences Tripos, 1889-90 (distinguished in physiology), late Hutchinson Student in Physiology. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. Academy of Sciences, October 26.-M. Duchartre in the chair. On the theory of Hertz-oscillations, by M. H. Poincaré. -On a new mineral-boleite, by MM. Mallard and E. Cumenge. The new mineral occurs with copper in volcanic tuff and conglomerate found near Santa Rosalia, Lower California. It crystallizes in the cubic system, and its composition is represented by the expression PbCl + CuO.H2O + AgCl. Its density is a little greater than that of calcite; cleavage easy parallel to the faces of cube, much less easy parallel to faces of octahedrons. Approximate index of refraction, 2:07.-Vasomotor action of bacteria, by M. Ch. Bouchard.-Contribution to the botanical history of the truffle (fourth note): Kama of Bagdad (Terfezia Hafizi and Terfezia metaxasi) and of Smyrna (Terfezia Leonis), by M. Ad. Chatin.-On a storm observed at the Canary Islands. This is an extract from a memoir by M. de la Monneraye.—On the original causes of cyclones, and on their precursory signs: extract from a memoir by M. Le Goarant de Tromelin.-On the theory of the voltaic pile, by M. P. Duhem.-Experimental researches on a category of capillary phenomena, with an application to the analysis of alcoholic liquids and others, by M. Emile Gossart.-On bromo At stannates, by M. Leteur. The author has prepared the following bromostannates, the general method consisting in mixing concentrated solutions of the two bromides, and evaporating the mixture in a vacuu n or dry air: SaBr,NH,Br, SnBr,NaBr +6H,O, MgBr, SnBr1 + 10H2O.—On a new crystalline ferric oxychloride, by M. G. Rousseau. Concentrated solutions containing more than 80 per cent. of Fe,Cl, if kept for some time at a temperature between 160 and 220° C., give rise to crystalline ferric oxychloride, 2Fe2O3, Fe,Cl. 3H,O. The author has studied the decomposition of solutions of ferric chloride at temperatures higher than 220°. Between 225 and 280° anhydrous oxychloride (2Fe„Og Fe,Cl) was obtained. temperatures between 300° and 340° a new oxychloride was formed, having the composition 3 FeO3Fe. Cl.-On the estimation of thallium, by M. H. Baubigny.-On the solution of bismuth chloride in saturated solutions of sodium chloride, and on the basic salicylate of bismuth, by M. H. Causse. -On a characteristic difference between the alcoholic radicles substituted in place of carbon and nitrogen, by M. C. Matignon. From a thermo-chemical investigation the author finds that the substitution of an alcoholic radicle for nitrogen increases the heat of combustion more than the substitution of the same radicle for carbon.-Action of benzoic acid on essence of turpentine, by MM. G. Bouchardat and J. Lafont.-On the formation of quaternary iodides of ammonium by the action of trimethylamine, in concentrated aqueous solutions, or the hydriodic ethers of several primary and one secondary alcohol, by MM. H. and A. Malbot. -On a new albuminoid substance in the blood serum of man, by M. C. Chabrié.-The soluble substances of the pyocyanic bacillus producing fever, by M. A. Charrin.-Experimental progressive muscular atrophy, by M. Roger.-Some anatomical characteristics of Hyperoodon rostratus, by M. E. L. Bouvier.— Apropos the chromatophores of Cephalopods, by M. Raphael Blanchard.-Physiology of the nerve which enables us to localize sounds, by M. Pierre Bonnier.-On a method for destroying insects injurious to the beetroot and cereals, by M. Decaux. DIARY OF SOCIETIES. LONDON. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5. LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.-A Theory of Heredity based on Force instead of CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.-The Disociation of Liquid Nitrogen Peroxide : Identity 4 ( − 1) (.x 1)=Y2±ƒZ2: Prof. G. B. Mathews-Note on INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.-Description of the FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13. ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, at 8. BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. Natural Theology: Sir G. G. Stokes (Black).-Elementary Trigonometry: J. M. Dyer and Rev. R. H. Whitcombe (Bell).-Fundamental Problems; Dr. P Carus, 2nd edition (Chicago).-L'Amateur d'Oiseaux de Volière : H. Moreau (Paris. Baillière).-Les Coquilles Marines: A. Locard (Paris, Baillière).-Colour-Blindness and Colour-Perception: Dr. F. W. EdridgeGreen (Paul)-Handleiding_tot de Kennis der Flora van Nederlandsch Indië: Dr. J G. Boerlage, Tweede Deel, Eerste Stuk (Leiden, Brill).—Star Groups: J. E. Gore (Lockwood).-Elementary Thermodynamics: J. Parker (Cambridge University Press).-Report on the Meteorology of India in 1889: J. Eliot (Calcutta).-Copernic et la Découverte du Système du Monde: C. Flammarion (Paris, Marpon and Flammarion). - Moral Teachings of Science: A. B. Buckley (Stanford). Further Reliques of Constance Naden: edited by G. M. McCrie (Bickers).-The Wire and the Wave: J. Munro (R.T.S.). -Ytterligare om Gadolinit-Jordens Molekylarvigt : A. E. Nordenskiöld (Stockholm).-Notes on the Recent Geometry of the Triangle: J. Griffiths (Simpkin).-Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, October (Williams and Norgate).-Illustrations of the Flora of Japan, vo'. i. Nos. 7. 8. 9 (Tokyo). A Rare Phenomenon.-Dr. M. A. Veeder; Prof. Proper Motions of the Stars.-W. H. S. Monck . Town Fogs and their Effects. (Illustrated.) Our Astronomical Column: The Telluric Spectrum Catalogue of Rutherfurd's Photographs. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers University and Educational Intelligence Societies and Academies Diary of Societies Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received By Dr. |