instruction of newcomers in the part played by mosquitoes in conveying malaria, and in the habitual and proper use of mosquito nets; (2) the segregation of the native population away from the European quarters; (3) the total abolition of cess-pits; (4) the rational and systematic use of anti-malarial measures; (5) the public control of drinking water; and (6) the establishment of laboratories on the spot for the study of health problems. R. T. HEWLETT. IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. THE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was held at the Institution of Civil Engineers on May 11 and 12, and was very largely attended. The report of the council, read by Mr. Bennett H. Brough, the secretary, shows that the institute continues to make satisfactory progress. The membership now amounts to 2000. The proceedings began with the adoption of a resolution of regret at the death of Sir Bernhard Samuelson, Bart., P.C., F.R.S., past president, referred to elsewhere (p. 61). After the usual routine business, the retiring president, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, inducted into the chair the president-elect, Mr. R. A. Hadfield, whose first duty was present the Bessemer gold medal to Prof. J. Ó. Arnold (Sheffield). to Mr. R. A. Hadfield then delivered his presidential address. It dealt chiefly with the history of metallurgy and with those branches of the subject to which his attention had been directed, more especially with the alloys of iron with other elements. He urged the necessity for constant research. In progressive manufacture, the complexity of which increases year by year, there is, in addition to the many ordinary difficulties met with, that of the solution of new problems which constantly present themselves. This can only be done by research, which should form an actual part of industrial operations, and demands almost as much attention as is devoted to the manufacturing side. It is more than ever necessary not to rest satisfied with the knowledge of to-day, or to think that this will satisfy the needs of to-morrow. Rapid and great changes are constantly occurring in metallurgy as in other branches of scientific knowledge. The thanks of the meeting for the address were expressed by Sir E. H. Carbutt and Sir William White, K.C.B. Mr. S. Surzycki (Czenstochowa) submitted results obtained with the continuous open-hearth steel process as carried out in fixed furnaces in Poland. The process, which has proved eminently successful, is based on the principle of the Talbot process, with the essential difference that it can be carried out in any fixed furnace of not less than 25 tons capacity. The advantages do not consist solely in the continuity of the process, but in the longer life of the furnace, the higher production and yield, the lessened fuel consumption, and the simplicity of the plant. A very elaborate paper was read by Mr. R. A. Hadfield, the president, describing some experiments relating to the effect produced by liquid-air temperatures on the properties of iron and its alloys. About eleven hundred specimens were tested. The bars, which were prepared with great care, were submitted to various heat treatments, the exact temperatures being recorded, and then forwarded to Sir James Dewar's laboratory at the Royal Institution. The tests were carried out on a small hydraulic testing machine, to which the necessary arrangements could be readily applied for immersing the specimens in liquid air. The results showed that, with certain exceptions, the effect of low temperatures is to increase in a remarkable degree the resistance of iron and iron alloys to tensile stress, and to reduce the ductility from the highest point to practically nil. The changes take place even in the softest wrought iron. The absence or presence of carbon in ordinary carbon steel in which other special elements are not present has little influence. Subjected to Brinell's hardness ball test, a specimen of Swedish charcoal iron at normal temperature had a hardness number of 90, whereas when tested at about -182° C. this increased to no less than 266, or about equal to the hardness of 0-80 per cent. carbon steel at normal temperature. This almost seems incredible when it is remembered that this iron shows by analysis 99.82 per cent. of iron, and normally has only 20 to 22 tons tenacity with 25.30 per cent. elongation. This iron becomes brittle to an extraordinary degree under the influence of the low temperature 182° C., whereas nickel tested at the same low temperature has improved rather than deteriorated, not only in tenacity, which iron also does, but in ductility, in which latter quality iron entirely breaks down. If nickel, therefore, is present in an iron alloy containing but little carbon or comparatively low in that element, it acts as a preventive of brittleness, or is a very considerable modifier of that objectionable quality. This action of nickel is simply marvellous in certain of the alloy specimens, for example, in the case of an alloy of iron, carbon 1-18 per cent., nickel 24-30 per cent., and manganese 6.05 per cent. Here the ductility is extraordinary at not only ordinary but low temperatures, probably the highest known for any iron alloy, and certainly for an alloy having such tenacity as 84 tons per square inch. There is still present in this alloy 68 per cent. of iron, yet the tendency of the latter metal to wander into the paths of brittleness is not only entirely checked at the liquid air temperature-and this brittleness, as shown so clearly in this research, occurs to an extraordinary extent in pure iron cooled to -182° C.-but the elongation or ductility, already so great, is considerably increased, namely, from 60 per cent. to 67 per cent. There is also an increase of tenacity in both cases, namely, a rise of from 10 per cent. to 38 per cent. Thus the nickel present enables the bar under this high tension and at 182° C. to remain far more ductile than the very best of ductile iron of one-third the tenacity. Although the action of nickel has been specially referred to, it must not be overlooked that in this alloy there is also present 6 per cent. of manganese, which in its ordinary combination with iron, that is, with no nickel present, would confer intense brittleness upon the iron and render it more brittle than if not present. This treble combination of nickel-manganese with iron appears to reverse all the known laws of iron alloys. Mr. J. H. Darby (Brymbo) and Mr. George Hatton (Round Oak) summarised the recent developments in the Bertrand-Thiel process of steel manufacture. This process, which was first used in Bohemia in 1894, consists in carrying out the preliminary refining in an upper openhearth furnace, and the steel-making is completed in a secondary open-hearth furnace. The original plan of having furnaces at different levels has not proved so satisfactory as having the furnaces arranged in line with a mixer at one end. Pig iron of almost any ordinary composition may be used. At Brymbo, with a highly phosphoric pig iron, seven 20-ton charges per day have been attained, and at the Hoesch works in Dortmund charges per day have been regularly produced. ten At the New York meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, the paper read by Mr. James Gayley on the application of the dry air blast created quite a sensation in the iron industry. Mr. Gayley now gives, in a supplementary paper, a record of operations of the Isabella furnaces at Pittsburg from November, 1904, to March, 1905, showing that the increased iron output and the decreased coke consumption derived from the use of dry air were well maintained. The rapid development of the gas engine of recent years has given special value to the gas escaping from the blast furnace, previously often described as waste gas. The gas leaving the blast furnace carries with it a varying amount of gritty dust, which has proved a serious obstacle to the successful operation of large gas engines. The various methods of cleaning the gas were described in the paper submitted by Mr. Axel Sahlin, who has designed a slowly revolving apparatus for the purpose. Dr. O. Boudouard (Paris) submitted a lengthy account of experiments made to determine the fusibility of blastfurnace slags. He gave a chart enabling metallurgists to determine the fusion temperature of a given aluminocalcic silicate. The information given in this lengthy paper is of great value, inasmuch as one of the most important considerations in the satisfactory running of a blast furnace is a knowledge of the degree of fusibility of the slag. Mr. Sidney A. Houghton contributed a note on the failure of an iron plate through fatigue. The plate was from the boiler of a portable engine about twenty years ld. Microscopic examination showed that the effect of itigue stresses on the plate had been to form cracks commencing as a rule from irregularities on the inner surface, which cracks were due to weakness in the cleavage planes the crystals from continual slipping, and to a less degree to some loss of adhesion between the crystals. Some of the crystals appeared to have been broken up, and the slag flaws seemed to have a restraining effect on the progress of the cracks. Mr. B. H. Thwaite (London) directed attention to accidents due to the asphyxiation of blast-furnace workmen, and described an apparatus for the rapid detection of the presence of carbon monoxide in air. Prof. F. Wüst and Mr. F. Wolff (Aachen) submitted a paper on the behaviour of sulphur in the blast furnace. They showed that, contrary to the generally held opinion, the sulphur in the coke does not reach the level of the tuveres of the blast furnace without undergoing alteration, but a great portion of it is previously volatilised by the scending gases. It is then largely absorbed from the Lases by the descending charge, and in this condition arrives in front of the tuyeres. Up to 800° the sulphur i principally absorbed by the oxides of iron from the ulphur-laden gases, while from 800° upwards the position is reversed, and the lime becomes the chief absorbent of the sulphur. Reports of research work carried out during the past year by Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter (National Physical Laboratory), by Mr. J. C. Gardner (Birmingham), by Mr. F. Rogers (Cambridge), and by Mr. Gunnar Dillner and Mr. A. F. Enström (Stockholm), holders of the Carnegie research scholarships, were submitted. Dr. Carpenter dealt with the types of structure and the critical ranges on heating and cooling high-speed tool steels under varying thermal treatment. In the light of the author's experiments the rationale of the advantageous presence of tungsten and molybdenum in high-speed tool steels appears fairly evident. The action of either of these elements consists in hindering, under tertain conditions, and in altogether preventing, under suitably chosen conditions, changes in iron carbon alloys which would have for their result the softening of the material and its consequent unfitness for tool steel use. By suitable heat treatment it is possible to arrest the softening process at any desired stage, and thus obtain an alloy of any desired hardness. The metallographical results of the investigation are extremely interesting. They show that in spite of comparatively large percentages -up to 17 per cent. or 18 per cent.-of special elements, iron and carbon still remain as the all-important factors in determining the types of structure of high-speed tool steels. Except that the polyhedral or "austenitic " type of struc"ure has never been obtained alone in a pure carbon steel, the types of the high-speed tool steels might all be obtained from pure iron carbon steels by appropriate thermal treatment. The austenitic structure appears to be that of the Dose of the tool in actual use. Put briefly, the hardening nt rapid tool steels at the present time appears to involve two factors, viz. (1) the widening, splitting, or lowering of the critical ranges by the special alloy element, and (2) the complete, or practically complete, suppression of the widened, split, or lowered range by a mild quenching, e.g. in an air-blast. Mr. G. Dillner and Mr. A. F. Enström dealt with the magnetic and electric properties of sheet steel and steel castings. The results obtained have rendered it possible to make some comparisons as to the relative suitability of the different methods for producing a soft steel for electrotechnical purposes (sheet material). It has appeared that Bessemer steel has a lower magnetic quality than open-hearth steel. On comparing basic and acid openhearth steel, the basic steel has been found to be preferable and scarcely inferior to Lancashire iron. The reason why the Bessemer material is inferior in quality to the openhearth sheets may possibly be that the Bessemer steel has a greater opportunity of dissolving gases when the air is passed through the bath of molten metal. In general, basic 4 steel does not contain such large quantities of silicon and manganese as acid steel, and at the same time it is possible to get a lower percentage of carbon in the first mentioned metal; these facts may cause the hysteresis loss to be lower in basic than in acid steel. Mr. J. C. Gardner dealt with the effects caused by the reversal of stresses in steel, and Mr. F. Rogers submitted memoirs on troostite and on the heat treatment of steel. It was announced that Andrew Carnegie research scholarships for this year, of 50l. each, were awarded to P. Breuil (Paris), Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter (National Physical Laboratory), E. G. L. Roberts and E. A. Wraight (London), and W. Rosenhain (Birmingham), and that scholarships, each of the value of 100l., were awarded to H. C. Boynton (Cambridge, U.S.A.), L. A. Guillet (Paris), and W. H. Hatfield (Sheffield). re The council carefully examined the reports of the search work carried out by the holders of the Carnegie research scholarships during the past year, and decided that the report prepared by Dr. H. C. H. Carpenter (National Physical Laboratory) was deserving of the gold medal. The council also decided that special silver medals should be awarded for the research carried out conjointly by Mr. Gunnar Dillner and Mr. A. F. Enström (Stockholm). The researches submitted by Mr. Gardner and Mr. Rogers were highly commended. The medals were presented by Mr. Carnegie at the banquet on May 12 at the Hotel Cecil, when 500 gentlemen were present. During the meeting it was announced that Mr. Carnegie would give to the institute a further sum of 5000l. to cover the cost of printing the reports submitted by the Carnegie research scholars. Sir Arthur Rücker, in the course of his report, dealt in detail with the operations of the University of London, and was able to show that some of the preliminary work done since the re-organisation of the university has begun to bear fruit in the academic year now approaching its termination, and that the activity of the university has been extended in several directions. The question of the conditions of entrance to universities has been prominently before the public during the year, and a very important step has been taken by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, which have agreed upon a scheme for the mutual recognition of the certificates given for their respective entrance examinations. Already twentyfive persons have been matriculated as students of London University under this agreement. Considerable progress has been made, also, with the project for the concentration of the teaching of the preliminary and intermediate studies of medical students in a few centres under the control of the university. Arrangements are in progress under the auspices of the university for establishing centres at University and King's Colleges, and Mr. Alfred Beit has given a munificent donation of 25,000l. in aid of the scheme for the establishment of a third centre on the South Kensington site. It is much to be hoped that this generous gift will be supported by other large subscriptions. It is a matter of vital interest to the public that the unique opportunities for medical education afforded by the great metropolitan hospitals shall not be wasted, and, if they are to be utilised, it is essential that the whole curriculum of medical education shall be easily accessible to London. It is necessary, continued Sir Arthur Rücker, that medical education shall receive public help similar to that which is ungrudgingly given to engineering. It is not too much to say that medical men do more unpaid work for the public than do the members of any other profession, and that, in return, less help has been given by the public to medical education, in London at all events, than to any other of the principal branches of applied science. Large as the gifts to the university are, it is unfortunately true that much money is needed to make up for the neglect of university teaching in London in the past. Though the increase in the Government grant to university colleges will be of great value, the equipment of both University and King's Colleges needs improvement, and the salaries of the professors are quite inadequate. The whole question of retiring pensions, to which a private donor has just devoted 2,000,000l. in America, is untouched in London. After the presentation for degrees at the University of London, there was a reception at Bedford College. The occasion is always one for the assembling of the friends of the higher education of women in London, and about five hundred guests were received by the principal, Mrs. James Bryce, and Mrs. Leonard Darwin. The students who were presented at the university included eight for science degrees. The college authorities are contemplating a great re-building scheme, for the lease of the present premises in Baker Street is almost on the point of expiring, and an appeal is being made for a quarter of a million sterling, of which 100,000l. would be devoted to endowing a college capable of accommodating five hundred students. Lord Londonderry, in his speech at the annual dinner of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, referred to the work of the committee appointed by the Government to consider the coordination of the Royal College of Science at South Kensington with other institutions for higher scientific and technological instruction in London. An interim report has been presented by the committee. The Government has definitely informed the committee that, provided satisfactory arrangements can be arrived at for the due coordination of the work of the various higher scientific teaching institutions in London and elsewhere, and provided that guarantees are obtained for the adequate management of what will practically be a congeries of highly organised technical courses, and for the provision of a thoroughly satisfactory annual income for the upkeep of a great centre for this higher work, the Government is prepared to entrust the management of the Royal College of Science, including the Royal School of Mines, to a committee to be newly established for the purpose. This procedure, it is expected, will bring the work of the Royal College and School of Mines into the closest possible relations with that of the other higher teaching institutions, so that a higher degree of cooperation and coordination may be attained in this important portion of the educational field. Lord Londonderry announced that he has good grounds for believing that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been considering the financial aspect of the new condition of things that will be brought about in regard to the Royal College of Science if the changes outlined actually take effect, and that a reasonable increase in the sums at present annually devoted towards the expenses of the Royal College of Science will be made. Thus the Royal College, in its immensely enhanced possibilities of usefulness owing to its large new buildings, will be able to bring to the common aim, not only its fabric and its excellent equipment, and, of course, its good will and prestige, but also a satisfactory annual income as a substantial contribution to what must be the heavy annual expenditure involved in the great work to be carried on for higher scientific and technological education in the metropolis. As Mr. Haldane, the chairman of the committee referred to by Lord Londonderry, said on the same occasion, there is now a prospect of the establishment of such a school of mining and metallurgy as will make London the first city of the Empire in point of education in these matters. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL CAMBRIDGE.-Some five or six years ago a special committee was called together at Cambridge, and an effort was made to obtain the cooperation of the colleges and the town and county councils in a scheme for the improvement of the milk supply of Cambridge. The committee had as its primary object the eradication of tuberculosis, beginning with bovine tuberculosis, from the county of Cambridge. Concurrently it took up the question of the housing of cattle, the sterilisation of milk, the methods of storage and distribution of milk, and the question of what milk should be refused by the colleges and by private purchasers. All these points were considered, not only with regard to tuberculosis, but also in connection with other infectious diseases, e.g. diphtheria, scarlet fever, and typhoid fever. The Cambridge Town Council undertook to pay the expenses of a veterinary surgeon, and the following colleges undertook to consider the matter favourably, and in most cases offered a certain annual subvention:-Gonville and Caius, Trinity Hall, King's, Christ's, Sidney, Emmanuel, Downing, and Girton, but the larger colleges stood out, and the scheme fell through. Prof. Woodhead, in an interesting article in the Cambridge Review of last week, raises the question whether some such scheme should not be revived, and points to the recent outbreak of scarlet fever, which was especially prevalent in one or two colleges, as an instance of a disease which might easily have been avoided if the community had taken proper precautions. It is proposed to erect a building containing examination rooms on a site on the north-east corner of the museum grounds. At present the university is put to great cost in hiring rooms which, apart from their expense, are not well adapted for examinations. The syndicate appointed to consider this question estimates that for a sum of 7500l. it could provide for all examinations held in the university throughout the year, except, perhaps, for a week or two in June and December. The Vice-Chancellor announces the generous offer of the Drapers' Company to find the sum of 5000l. towards the cost of a building for the department of agriculture provided that a further sum of 5000l. is raised by voluntary subscriptions by the end of the current year. The long vacation course in pathology, public health, and pharmacology will begin on Monday, July 3. Special courses of lectures have been arranged on phagocytosis, by Prof. Woodhead, with the assistance of Mr. W. Malden; on illness caused by unsound food, by Mr. H. E. Durham; on diphtheria, agglutinins, precipitins and hæmolysins, by Mr. G. S. Graham-Smith; and on protozoa and protozoal diseases, by Dr. Nuttall. Further information about these courses may be obtained by writing to Prof. Woodhead, The Museums, Cambridge. Special Courses on physiology, osteology, human anatomy, and histology will be given during the long vacation by Mr. Barcroft and Mr. Cole, Dr. Barclay-Smith, Dr. A. Hill, and Mr. Manners-Smith. These will begin on July 5. THE jubilee of Cheltenham Ladies' College was cele brated on Saturday last, and a new science wing was declared open. The new laboratories and lecture-rooms have been erected at a cost of 18,000l., and include rooms well equipped for the teaching of physics, chemistry, and botany. THE following resolution was carried at a meeting of the council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, held on Thursday last :-" That it be referred to the Committee of Management to consider and report as to the desirability of treating chemistry, physics, and biology as subjects of preliminary education, and of requiring that an examination in them should be passed before the recognition of the commencement of medical studies, and to report further as to the desirability of the two colleges approaching the Universities and other examining bodies with the view of adopting a five years' curriculum of professional study from the date of passing the Preliminary Science Examination." AN entrance scholarship in science, value 481. for three years, will be awarded by the council of Bedford College for Women (University of London) on the result of an examination to be held June 28-30. Full particulars can be obtained from the principal, and forms of entry must be received by June 12. The council, on the recommendation of the Reid trustees, will award the Reid fellowship in June to a graduate of the University of London who is also an associate of Bedford College. Applications should 18 Chemical Society, May 4.-Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., president, in the chair.-Notes on sodium alum: J. M. Wadmore. The author has confirmed the observations of Augé, Zellner, and Dumont as to the existence and certain of the properties of sodium alum.-Camphoryl-pseudosemicarbazide: M. O. Forster and H. E. Fierz. This compound was obtained by reducing camphorylnitrosopseudo-carbamide with zinc dust in dilute acetic acid; it condenses readily with aldehydes and ketones, yielding products characterised by high specific rotatory powers.Some derivatives of anhydracetonebenzil: F. R. Japp and J. Knox. Descriptions of the condensation products of benzil with certain unsaturated ketones are given.-The dihydrocyanides of benzil and phenanthraquinone, part ii. : F R. Japp and J. Knox.-A condensation product of mandelonitrile: F. R. Japp and J. Knox. It is shown that Minovici's compound, CH12ON, (Ber., 1899, xxxii., 2200), obtained by saturating mandelonitrile in dry ether with hydrogen chloride, is identical with the substance obtained by Japp and Miller by the action of hydrogen chloride on a solution of benzil in alcoholic hydrocyanic acid Trans. Chem. Soc., 1887, li., 29).-Action of hydrazine on unsaturated y-diketones: F. R. Japp and J. Wood. The authors have used Paal and Schulze's reaction to distinguish the configurations of certain analogous unsaturated diketones. By this means they have obtained confirmatory evidence for the configuration assigned by Japp and Klingemann to the two modifications B-dibenzoylstyrene and of dibenzoylstilbene.-The synthests of substances allied to adrenaline: H. D. Dakin. -Methylation of p-aminobenzoic acid by means of methyl sulphate: J. Johnston.-The atomic weight of nitrogen: R. W. Gray. By the examination of (1) the relative densities and compressibilities of nitric oxide and oxygen, and (2) the decomposition of nitric oxide with finely divided nickel. 2 mean value of 14.006 (which is regarded as possibly too low) was found for this constant.-The methylation of gallotannic acid: O. Rosenheim. A pentamethyl-derivative was obtained, by methylation with methyl sulphate, and this on hydrolysis furnished a mixture of irimethyl- and dimethyl-gallic acids. The interaction of hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide: W. R. Lang and C. Carson. An investigation of Wackenroder's solution showed that the action of hydrogen sulphide produces first sulphur and water, and that by the further action of sulphur dioxide on sulphur polythionic acids are produced. -The formula of cyanomaclurin: A. G. Perkin. It is now found that the formula C,,H,,O, is to be preferred in place of C,,H,,O, formerly used. PARIS. of Academy of Sciences, May 8.-M. Troest in the chair.The increase of the rotatory power of fatty molecules in passing to the state of cyclic compounds: A. Haller and W Desfontaines. A comparison is given of the rotatory powers of alkyl esters of B-methyladipic acid with the esters of the corresponding B-cyclopentanonecarboxylic acids, the rotations of the latter being found to be about thirty times those of the former. The densities and boiling points of the various esters under examination are also given-On a new synthesis of oxalic acid: H. Moissan. It has been shown in a previous paper that whilst perfectly dry carbonic acid is without any action upon potassium hydride, in the presence of a minute trace of Water the two substances react with the quantitative formation of potassium formate. It is now shown that if this reaction is allowed to take place at a higher temperature, 80° C., a mixture of potassium formate and oxalate is produced. The oxalic acid formed was separated, and its identity proved by analysis and numerous reactions.-Endoglobular pseudo-hematozoa: A. Laveran. As some of the normal elements of blood, more or less modified in : their appearance, have on more than one occasion been mistaken for endoglobular hematozoa, a detailed account, with diagrams, is given of some of the more common cases leading to this error.- -On the magnetic hysteresis produced by an oscillating field superimposed on a constant field: P. Duhem. A theoretical investigation completing a former paper on the same subject.-Geodesic and magnetic work in the neighbourhood of Tananarive: P. Colin. The triangulation of the rectangular section between the south and west of Tananarive has been completed at sixtyseven points. At the same time magnetic observations have been carried out at twenty-six stations, a tabular view of the results being given.-The oscillations of railway carriages on entering and leaving a curve: Georges Marié. Observations of the Giacobini comet (1905 a) made with the large equatorial of the Observatory of Bordeaux Ernest Esclangon.-On Voss surfaces and non-Euclidean geometry: Alphonse Demoulin.-On the indeterminate equation xa+ya=bza; Ed. Maillet.-On some points in the theory of numbers and the theory of functions: Georges Rémoundos.-On a new spectrum observed in gadolinium: G. Urbain. The author, having obtained a specimen of gadolina of such purity that twenty successive fractions gave the same value for the atomic weight, has examined the spectrum. There is no absorption spectrum in the visible region, but there are some strong absorption lines in the ultra-violet. The ultra-violet phosphorescence given by this gadolinium in the kathode rays proved to be the same as that attributed by Sir W. Crookes in 1898 to a new element named by him victorium. The author proposes to submit the question as to the identity of gadolinium and victorium to further experiment.-On the triboluminescence of potassium sulphate: D. Gernez. The experiments of the author are not in accord with those of Bandrowski on the same subject. The emission of light appears to be the result of breaking up of crystals already formed, and if due precautions against shock be taken, the phenomenon is not observed at the moment of separation of the crystals from their mother liquor.-The specific volume of a liquid in a capillary space: M. Ponsot. On the electrical resistance of metallic wires for high-frequency currents: André Broca and M. Turchini. The authors have compared the resistances obtained experimentally with those calculated from Lord Kelvin's formula. For non-magnetic metals, copper and platinum, the deviations from the law calculated by Lord Kelvin are small for moderate frequencies. These deviations, however, are greater than the experimental error, and follow a definite law.-A new method of calculating the exact molecular weights of liquefiable gases from the experimental determination of their densities: Philippe A. Guye. The method described, the detailed proof of which is reserved for a later paper, has been applied to the cases of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and acetylene. The values for the atomic weights of carbon, hydrogen, sulphur, and chlorine agree very closely with those determined by chemical methods. The value for nitrogen (14.006) is lower than the value deduced from chemical data (14-04), and there is reason to suppose that the latter is too high.-The action of potassammonium upon barium bromide: A. Joannis. The reaction has been found to be in accordance with the equation BaBr ̧ +2NH,K=2KBr+H2+Ba(NH2)2. On the colloidal forms of ferric chloride: G. Malfitano. -The electrolytic reduction of the nitrocinnamic acids: C. Marie. Meta- and para-nitrocinnamic acids give by electrolytic reduction in alkaline solution the corresponding azoxy acids. The position of the nitro or the amino group has a marked influence on the ease with which the hydrogen is added to the lateral chain. Para derivatives give hydrocinnamic compounds much more easily than the corresponding meta compounds.-The action of carbon monoxide upon silver oxide, and its application to the determination of small quantities of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere: Henri Dejust. Silver oxide, dissolved in ammonia, is immediately reduced by traces of carbon monoxide. The author proposes a colorimetric method based on this reaction for the estimation of minute traces of carbon monoxide in the air.-On strontium ammonium : a M. Ræderer. Strontium ammonium is prepared in a similar manner to the compounds of ammonia with barium and calcium, and has the analogous formula Ba(NH3)6Osmosis through tubes of fused quartz: G. Belloc. The passage of gases through quartz tubes appears to be the result of a kind of devitrification caused by moisture and high temperature, the tendency to crystallisation being clearly made out under the microscope.-On a new osmium compound and Piñerûa reaction for osmium : new Alvarez. The process is based on the formation of a green compound of hydriodic acid and osmium iodide of great tinctorial power -The action of alkalis on aqueous solutions of acetol: André Kling. The behaviour of acetol on neutralisation with bases seemed to point to its being a pseudo-acid, and this view was confirmed by a study of the changes in its electrical conductivity.-On the saccharification by malt of artificial starch: Eug. Roux. -The action of metal ammoniums on the halogen derivatives of methane: E. Chablay. The equation of 2NH,Na+ 2CH,¦=2NaCl+CH,+CH,.NH2+ NH, was found to represent the reaction between methyl chloride and sodium ammonium. The reactions with chloroform and iodoform were more complicated.-On the use of metal ammoniums in organic chemistry: the formation primary amines: Paul Lebeau.-On a new method of characterising the purity of milk based on the estimation of the ammonia: A. Trillat and M. Sauton. Ammonia should not be present in normal pure milk; its presence is evidence of pollution.-On polymorphic transformations by mechanical action: Fred. Wallerant. On the state of preservation of minerals in arable earth: M. Cayeux. In opposition to the views of MM. Delage and Lagatu, the author finds that minerals in an altered state are always present in arable earth.-New species of endophytes of orchids Noël Bernard. The culture of Morchella: Ch. Répin. The elective action of chloroform on the liver: M. Doyon and J. Billet.-On the toxicity of the urinary alkaloids: H. Guillemand and P. Vranceano. The estimation of the sugar in the blood at the moment of accouchement in the goat without udders: M. Porcher. ---The influence of sexuality on the nutrition of Bombix mori at the later stages of its evolution. The localisation of the glycogen, fat, and soluble albumen in the course of nymphosis: C. vaney and F. Maignon. SATURDAY, MAY 20. ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 3.-The Evolution of the Kingship in Early SOCIETY OF ARTS, at 8.-The Uses of Electricity in Mines: H W VICTORIA INSTITUTE, at 4.30.-Minerals and Metals of the Old Testa ment: Cavaliere W. P. Jervis. TUESDAY, MAY 23. SOCIETY OF ARTS, at 4.30 -The Cape to Cairo Railway: Sir Charles ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, at 8.15.-The Great Zimbabwe: Franklin LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.-Anniversary Meeting. SOCIETY OF ARTS, at 8.-Modern Lightning Conductors: Killingworth ROYAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.-Croonian Lecture on "The Globulins": W. B. ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 5.-Electro-magnetic Waves: Prof. J. A. Flem- ROVAL INSTITUTION, at 9.-The Development of Spectro-chemistry: ROYAL INSTITUTION. at 3.-The Evolution of the Kingship in Early DIARY OF SOCIETIES. THURSDAY, MAY 18. ROYAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.-On Lesage's Theory of Gravitation and the FRIDAY, MAY 19. Pre ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 9. The Native Races of the British East Africa Protectorate: Sir Charles Eliot, K. C.M G. PIDEMIOLOGICAL SO IETY, at 8.30. -Phthisis Rates; their Significance and their Teaching: Dr. A Ransome, F.R.S.-Demonstration of a New Method for Recording the Incidence of Infectious Disease: C. H. Cooper. |