results of the third Tanganyika expedition conducted by Mr. W. A. Cunnington in 1904-5 was read. Report on the fishes : G. A. Boulenger. The collection consisted of 300 specimens referable to eighty-four species, twenty-eight of which were new.-Crustacea: Dr. W. T. Calman. In addition to the two species already known from Lake Tanganyika, no fewer than ten specimens of new species belonging to the family Atyidæ, including the representatives of two new genera, were obtained. From lakes Nyasa and Victoria Nyanza only a single species was obtained, the widely distributed Caridina nilotica (C. wyckii). The absence of this common species from the gatherings made in Tanganyika emphasised the isolated character of the Macruran fauna of that lake. All the species found in Tanganyika, and all but one of the genera, were peculiar to the lake. There was no ground for regarding the Macrura of Tanganyika as having any specially marine " affinities. The other members of the groups to which they belonged, the genus Palamon and the family Atyidæ, were characteristically, and all but exclusively, fresh-water animals.-Mollusca : E. A. Smith. This collection contained examples of thirtythree species, one of which was new.-Fresh-water sponges obtained from lakes Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, and Nyasa: R. Kirkpatrick. The collection comprised eleven specimens representing five species, one from Tanganyika being new to science, two others from Tanganyika (Spongilla moorei, Evans, and S. tanganyikae, Evans) having already been recorded from that locality. Small specimens of a fourth species, viz. Spongilla carteri, Bowerbank, were obtained from the Victoria Nyanza, and a fairly large specimen of a fifth, viz. Spongilla biseriata, Weltner, was collected in a swamp bordering Lake Nyasa. Included in Mr. Kirkpatrick's report were descriptions of two new species and a new variety of fresh-water sponges, based on material obtained from the White Nile.-Oligochate worms: F. E. Beddard. They comprised examples of four new species.-The medusæ of the genus Limnocnida obtained during the expedition: R. T. Günther. had emerged in a breeding-cage kept, with many others, Geological Society, March 7.-Sir Archibald Geikie, Sec.R.S., president, in the chair.-The occurrence of limestone of the Lower Carboniferous series in the CannockChase portion of the South Staffordshire Coalfield: G. M. Cockin. Silurian limestone underlies the Coal-measures in the southern part of the South Staffordshire Coalfield, and a rock, probably similar, was found in a borehole at Cannock-Chase Colliery. A shaft was sunk some thirty years ago north of the latter locality, but was abandoned. In the waste-heaps, which have remained undisturbed since 1875, a number of fossils belonging to the Lower Carboniferous Limestone have been found. A fault must be pre-life-history of Trichoptilus paludum, Zell. Dr. T. A. sumed to bring Carboniferous Limestone into the position indicated. An account of the strata pierced by boring is appended.-Liassic Dentaliida: L. Richardson. Among the fossils collected in the cuttings on the new Honeybourne and Cheltenham Railway were many belonging to the family Dentaliidæ, and, as the majority are new, author has investigated the Liassic members of the family contained in several collections. The growth of the scaphopod-shell is effected by additions at the anterior end, while the posterior end suffers by wear and absorption. The members of this class are essentially marine, inhabiting deep water, and feeding principally on Foraminifera. Eight new species are described, and eight species already known are discussed. the Entomological Society, March 7.-Mr. F. Merrifield, president, in the chair. Two specimens of Microdon latifrons, Lw., a rare dipteron taken in the New Forest in June, 1905: H. W. Andrews.-Examples of Nonagria neurica, Hb., and N. dissoluta, var. arundineta, Schmidt, from Germany, with (?) var. arundineta from Central Asia, for comparison with N. dissoluta and N. var. arundineta from Kent, Cambridge, and Norfolk: H. M. Edelsten. A variable series of Gynopteryx gladiaria, Guen., and its varieties: L. B. Prout.-Combs of the honey bee formed on a branch of nut tree, the bees having swarmed late in the year: A. J. Chitty. After July the bees deserted the combs, and, having consumed all the honey contained in them, again swarmed on a neighbouring tree. A specimen of Prodenia littoralis, Boisd., which Chapman. Some parasitic hymenopterous insects of Physical Society, March 9.-Dr. C. Chree, vicepresident, in the chair.-The velocities of the ions of alkali salt vapours at high temperatures: Prof. H. A. Wilson. This paper contains a summary of previous work. It is shown that all results so far obtained are consistent with the view that any salt of cæsium, rubidium, potassium, sodium, or lithium gives in a Bunsen flame negative ions having a velocity of 1000 cm. per sec. for one volt per cm., and positive ions having a velocity of about 80 cm. per sec. This result can be explained by supposing that each salt molecule emits a negative corpuscle which forms the negative ion, and that the rest of the molecule forms the positive ion. Some experiments on earth-currents at Kew Observatory: Dr. J. A. Harker. An account of experiments made some years ago at Kew Observatory on the earth-currents produced by electric traction schemes, and on the disturbances they cause on the self-recording magnetic instruments kept continuously running to register the variations in the declination and the horizontal and vertical forces. Two large earth-plates were buried about 4 feet deep and 200 yards apart, and connected through a photographic recording voltmeter of high resistance. On the traces given, the effect of the trains on the Central London Railway was strikingly shown. The nearest point to Kew is about six miles distant. The same disturbances, and also those due to special traction experiments carried out on the system of the London United Electric Tramway Α Company during the period when the Central London Railway was shut down, were also clearly shown on magnetograph curves. The effects are much greater on the vertical force than on the horizontal force or the declination. second system of investigation was to connect the earthplates through the primary of a transformer, the secondary terminals of which were connected to a sensitive movingcoil galvanometer of suitable period and damping. The galvanometer recorded a ballastic throw for each movement of a tramway controller, while the slower variations due to magnetic storms were without effect. A telephone similarly connected gave a perceptible sound for each controller movement. Royal Meteorological Society, March 21.- Mr. R. Bentley, president, in the chair.-South Africa as seen by a meteorologist: Dr. H. R. Mill. The lecture was illustrated by a series of lantern-slides from photographs taken during the tour of the British Association in 1905. The places visited included Cape Town, Table Mountain, Durban, Maritzburg, Ladysmith, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Bulawayo, the Matoppo Hills, the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, Salisbury, Umtali, and Beira. During the return journey, Mombasa, Cairo, and the Suez Canal were visited. Photographs were shown of meteorological stations in many of the places named, and the views of the scenery were selected to bring out the climatic features. CAMBRIDGE. Philosophical Society, February 12.-Mr. F. Darwin in the chair. Notes on cycads with exhibition of a rare species acquired by the Botanic Garden: A. C. Seward. The author exhibited a plant of Cycas Micholitzii, Dyer, recently obtained by the curator of the Botanic Garden from Messrs. Sanders and Sons. This species was discovered by one of Messrs. Sanders' collectors, Mr. W. Micholitz, in Annam, and described last year by Sir William Thiselton-Dyer in the Gardeners' Chronicle, August 19, 1905, p. 142. The author directed attention to the importance of cycads as representing scattered survivals from a remote past, and as plants which still retain traces of ancestral characters.-Respiration and vitality: F. F. Blackman. Experiments on the hybridisation of barleys: R. H. Biffen. The behaviour of the more important differentiating characters to be found among the varieties of barley has been investigated.-A comparison of the results from the Falmouth declination and horizontal force magnetographs on quiet days in years of sun-spot maximum and minimum: Dr. Chree. optical activity of the solutions, is that of a unimolecular ance. PARIS. Academy of Sciences, March 19.-M. H. Poincaré in the chair.-Observations of nebulæ M. Bigourdan.-The distillation of titanium and the temperature of the sun: Henri Moissan. The boiling point of titanium is very high, and it was necessary to employ a current of 1000 amperes at 55 volts in the electric furnace to volatilise it readily. The distined titanium was obtained on the cold tube mixed with lime, distilled from the furnace body. This lime was removed by acetic acid, and the residue was proved by its chemical properties to be titanium. Taking the temperature of the electric arc as 3500° C. (Violle), it is clear from the fact that titanium vapour exists in the sun that the temperature of the sun must be above 3000° C.-Benzyland phenylborneols and their products of dehydration: the benzyl- and phenyl-camphenes: A. Haller and E. Bauer. The secondary benzylborneol was prepared by the reduction of benzylcamphor, and its dehydration by phthalic anhydride; formic acid and pyruvic acid gave rise to the a-benzylcamphene. The tertiary benzylborneol was prepared by Grignard's reaction from camphor; its dehydration gave an isomeric B-benzylcamphene, the properties and derivatives of which are described. The facies of variation of certain nepheline syenites from the Los Islands: A. Lacroix. Gennadas, or bathypelagic Peneids: E. L. Bouvier. The sheet of the Geological Survey, on the scale of 180,000, dealing with the region of Gap: Michel Lévy. Functions which depend on other functions: Vito Volterra. Observations of the Kopff comet (1906b) made with the bent equatorial of the Observatory of Lyons: J. Guillaume. The observations were made on March 5, 6, and 7. The comet appeared as a nebulous star of 15" diameter and about 10.5 magnitude. Observations of the comet 1906b made at the Observatory of Algiers with the 31-8 equatorial: MM. Sy and Villatte. Observations were made on March 5, 6, 7, and 8.-A new solution of the February 26.-Dr. Fenton, vice-president, in the chair.An indicator for strong acids and bases: Dr. Fenton. Reference was made in previous communications by the author to a new condensation product, derived from methylfurfural, which has the molecular formula C,,H,O,. It was pointed out that this substance may have useful applications in organic analysis, since it gives highly characteristic colour-reactions with certain classes of compounds, such as amines and ureas. In the present paper it is shown that the reagent serves also as an indicator of alkalinity, and further, that by condensation with urea a colourless base is obtained which is turned blue with acids, and may therefore be used as an acid indicator.-The action of acid chlorides of acetylenic acids on ketonic compounds: S. Ruhemann. The paper gives an account of experiments undertaken with the view of supporting the constitution of the product of the reaction between phenylpropiolyl chloride and acetylacetone, and the formula of the substance formed from it under the influence of secondary bases. The properties of this substance have been found to resemble in every respect those of oxalyldi- | problem of magnetic induction for an isotropic sphere: benzylketone.-The dihydrotetrazines : S. Ruhemann. The author has extended his research on tetrazoline, and found that the properties of dimethyltetrazoline differ most markedly from those of tetrazoline.-The velocity of transformation of sugars by alkalies: R. S. Morrell and A. E. Bellars. Aqueous solutions of glucosates, fructosates, and mannosates of guanidine, potash, and soda undergo slow change indicated by a decline in the rotatory power. The velocity of change, as measured by the diminution of the Tommaso Boggio. The resistance of emission of an antenna: C. Tissot. A discussion of the most favourable conditions for using a thermal indicator as a receiver of Hertzian waves.-The mechanism of the positive light: P. Villard. The positive column in a Geissler tube is regarded as a chain of gaseous particles traversed by the current. It still remains to be determined whether the emission of light is due to the passage of the current or to the progressive dislocation of the chain by the shock of the negative ions.-Antimony and sulphide of antimony: MM. Chrétien and Guinchant.-The action of the aminoimino-chlorides ethers and on organo-magnesium derivatives R. Marquis. An attempt at a new general method for the synthesis of ketones, starting with the imino-ether R.C(OR): (NR). The yield in the case of benzophenone is good, but the method is not general. In some cases the imino-chloride gives better results.-The preparation of glycidic ethers and of aldehydes in the hexahydroaromatic series: Georges Darzens and P. Lefébure. The glycidic esters were obtained by the interaction of chloracetic ester with cyclohexanone in the presence of sodium ethylate. The aldehyde is prepared from the glycidic ester by heating in a vacuum. The reaction has been applied successfully to homologues of cyclohexanone.-The structure and probable origin of the magnetic iron ore of Diélette, Manche: L. Cayeux. Conclusions as to the mode of formation of the ore are drawn from a micrographic study.-The gasteropods collected by the Charcot Antarctic Expedition: A. Vayssière.-The structure of the sporal wall of the Myxosporidia: L. Léger and E. Hesse. A genus of lamellibranchs with multiple mouths Paul Pelseneer. The genus Lima is characterised in its normal condition by having two symmetrical buccal orifices, each of which leads directly into the œsophagus.-X-rays and genital activity: F. -The disease of wine (Graisse): E. Kayser and E. Manceau. The toxin and antitoxin of cholera : MM. Brau and Denier. The serum of animals which have received the toxin under the skin possesses very slight antitoxic power. The antitoxic power of the serum becomes much more marked when the toxin has been injected into the veins. The laws of muscular elasticity and their application to energetics: Charles Henry.-Some new palæontological data on the Devonian of western Ahenet, Central Sahara (expedition of MM. R. Chudeau and E. F. Gautier): Emile Haug.-The fauna of the Lower Coalmeasures of Baudour (Hainaut): J. Cornet.-The flora of the same: Armand Renier.-Chalk and clay on the sea floor: J. Thoulet. Villemin. THURSDAY, APRIL 5. ROYAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.-Probable Paper: On the Physiological Action of a Recently Discovered African Arrow Poison: Dr. Charles Bolton. CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.-An Improved Apparatus for measuring Magnetic Rotations and obtaining a Powerful Sodium Light: W. H. Perkin, Sen. The Rusting of Iron: G. T. Moody. On the Determination of Carbon in Soils: A. D. Hall, N. H. J. Miller and N. Harmer The Electrolysis of the Salts of 88-Dimethylglutaric Acid: J. Walker and J. K. Wood.-Bromo- and Hydroxy-Derivatives of 888 8-Tetramethylsuberic Acid : J. K. Wood.-Some new Orthoxylene Derivatives: G. Stallard.-A new Solvent for Gold. Preliminary Note: J. Moir.— The Molecular Condition in Solution of Ferrous Oxalate: a Correction: S. E. Sheppard and C. E. K. Mees. ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 5.-Internal Combustion Engines: Prof. B. LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.-Exhibition: Some Plants new to the Pre-Glacial FRIDAY, APRIL 6. MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.-On a Species of the Land Molluscan DIARY OF SOCIETIES. ROYAL SOCIETY, at 4.30.-On the Dilatational Stability of the Earth: INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, at 8.-Adjourned Discussion: FRIDAY, MARCH 30. ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 9.-Recent Progress in Magneto-optics: Prof. P. Zeeman. SATURDAY, MARCH 31. ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 3.-The Corpuscular Theory of Matter: Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. MONDAY, APRIL 2. SOCIETY OF ARTS at 8.-Fire, Fire Risks, and Fire Extinction: Prof. Vivian B. Lewes. SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, at 8.-The Ropiness in Flour and Bread. and its detection and Prevention: E. J. Watkins.-The RöseHerzfeld and Sulphuric Acid Methods for the Determination of the Higher Alcohols.-A Criticism: V. H. Veley, F.R.S. The Problems of Geology. (Illustrated.) The National Physical Laboratory Notes Our Astronomical Column: Comet 1906 Observation of Comet 1905c after Perihelion The Supposed Nebulosity around Nova Aquile No. 2 518 . Studies on the Synthesis of Peptides and Proteids. By J. B. C.. 518 The Protection of Birds 519 The Place of Polytechnics in Education. By Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C. B., F.R.S. 521 University and Educational Intelligence 521 Societies and Academies 524 525 528 Diary of Societies. THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 1906. IONS, ELECTRONS, AND CORPUSCLES. Les Quantités élementaires d'Électricité: Ions, Electrons, Corpuscles. Mémoires réunis et publiés par Henri Abraham et Paul Langevin. volumes. Pp. xvi+1138. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars et Fils, 1905.) Price 35 francs. THIS Two HIS very important work, which has been brought out by the French Physical Society under the joint editorship of MM. Abraham and Langevin, consists of a series of digests of the memoirs on which the foundation of the electrodynamic theory of matter is laid. In some cases résumés of their researches have been written especially for this work by the original authors, but in the majority of instances the papers have been dealt with by abstractors. The value of this method depends entirely on the insight which is brought to bear upon it, and the task must have been particularly difficult in the present instance owing to the great variety of the material concerned, since many of the investigations are purely experimental, whilst others require all the skill in abstract reasoning possessed by the pure mathematician. The excellence which we should expect from the names of the editors, one of whom, M. Langevin, has himself made extensive and valuable contributions to the subject, is completely justified by the result. Whenever it was consistent with the necessary brevity, the abstractors have kept to the original words of the author, and, so far as the reviewer has been able to discover, no author can claim that his views have been misrepresented in any important particular. The book will be heartily welcomed by all who are interested in the development of the electron theory, whether it be in its most general aspect as a fundamental theory of physical phenomena or in its extremely interesting applications to such complex branches of the subject as the conduction of electricity through gases and radio-activity. It is true that we have a number of books, such as J. J. Thomson's "Conduction of Electricity through Gases and Electricity and Matter," Larmor's "Ether and Matter," Poincaré's "Électricité et Optique," Stark's "Die Electrizität in Gasen," and Rutherford's "Radio-activity," which in one way or another contain the whole of the material of the two volumes under review; but in these cases the material has usually been selected, often, of course, with gain of interest, so as to emphasise the point of view of the particular author. In the present work, on the contrary, we are furnished with an account of each portion of the subject as it developed itself in the mind of its discoverer. The work therefore fills a distinct lacuna in the literature of the subject. Recent advances in electrodynamics have placed the fundamental principles of physics in an interesting but not altogether satisfactory position. By considering the energy of the electric field, J. J. Thomson showed, many years ago, that a moving electric charge possessed a spurious mass due to the disturb ance it created in the ether through which it was moving. This idea has been more than confirmed by the experiments of Kaufmann on the mass of the Becquerel rays or negative electrons. These experiments show that the whole of the mass of these electrons is of electrical origin, and is due entirely to the motion of their electric charges. The work of Lorentz and Larmor has given very good reasons for supposing that all matter consists solely of electrons, so that we are forced to the conclusion that the mass of all matter is due to the electrical charges of its ultimate particles. The reasoning by which this result has been arrived at is dynamical in character, and is therefore based on mass, space, and time as fundamental conceptions. Thus, by the application of a system of thought in which mass is a fundamental conception, we have succeeded in resolving the idea of mass into something, viz. electricity, which lies outside the system. There appear to be two ways of escape from the confusion implied by this paradoxical result. The first is to resolve electricity into the mass motion of a mechanical ether, and thus to make everything again consistent with the fundamental laws of mechanics. Attempts to construct a dynamical theory of the ether have continually been made ever since the ether began to figure in the literature of exact science. The most successful hitherto has been that of Larmor, which made the ether a perfect fluid composed of gyrostatic atoms. According to this view, which has been criticised by Poincaré in his " Electricité et Optique," the velocity of the ether is along the lines of magnetic force. We have, however, good grounds for thinking that the drift velocity of the ether is proportional to the vector product of the electric and magnetic forces, and it is probable that the successful ether theory will furnish an explanation of this result. 66 The second way of escape is to take the equations of the electromagnetic field as ultimate relations which are empirically given and of which there is no explanation." By making energy the fundamental conception, we could then obtain a consistent scheme which would not involve the idea of mass in any fundamental way. The equations of motion of any material system could then be obtained by an appropriate variation of the energy function, which of course contains only electric and magnetic terms, and the results expressed in terms of force subsequently if required. On this view the momentum in any system is obtained as the volume integral of the vector product of the electric and magnetic forces, and mass is simply the vector coefficient which results on dividing the increase in this by the corresponding increase in velocity. This method of stating the case, which makes mass a very secondary conception, will at once be recognised as our old friend the "energetic" view of things, and the electrodynamic explanation of mass may justly be regarded as a great triumph for energetics. The considerations which have been brought forward in the preceding paragraph show, however, that the solution in terms of energy is not the only solution of the problem, and it remains for the future to decide which of the two is the more convenient and the more fundamental. The "energetic" system of physical philosophy suffers by being intangible and lacking in imaginative stimulus, whilst the material it makes use of in order to build up a picture of the phenomena of nature is not characterised by the simplicity which is desirable in relations of so ultimate a character. Returning to the book under review, we find, naturally, that a great deal of it refers to the important investigations on the charge, mass, velocity, and other properties of ions and electrons. These have been described with that excellence which characterises the whole production. The reader will find a particularly satisfactory account of Townsend's very exact investigations on ionisation by collisions. There is a minor point which may be criticised, and that is the prominence given to Moreau's results on the velocity of ions produced by metallic salts in flames. That investigator found that the velocity of the negative ions varied in an unexplained way with the concentration of the salt and the atomic weight of the metal, whereas H. A. Wilson found it to be independent of both these factors. The editors appear to have overlooked the experiments on this subject of the last-named author. With this slight exception, we have nothing but praise for the whole work, and heartily congratulate the French Physical Society and all who have been concerned in its production. We hope that they will be able to bring out more volumes of a like kind as the development of the subject proceeds. It will be remembered that a few years ago the French Physical Society published a very important series of memoirs, on all branches of physics, which had been communicated to the International Congress at Paris in 1900. The extraordinary activity of the society in this way must command the admiration and gratitude of physicists in every part of the world. O. W. RICHARDSON. ANOTHER PLEA FOR RATIONAL On Professional Education, with Special Reference to "TH 'HERE is no state so perilous as that in which things seem good to us, and at present in England the schoolmaster is complacent, the public indifferent." So Prof. Allbutt generalises early in his address, directing attention, however, in a footnote, to a single exception in the case of the headmaster of the Perse School, Cambridge. Though many more earnest schoolmasters anxious to reform scholastic methods could be named, thoughtful observers of English educational procedure must admit - in spite of the current bickerings among politicians as to religious instruction in elementary schools-that the schoolmaster's policy of laisser-aller and the apathy of the public are, and have been, the chief causes of the chaotic and rudimentary state of our secondary education. For half a century it has been dinned into the ears of statesmen, parents, and schoolmasters that no system of higher education, whether academic or technical, can prove successful in the absence of a sane, modern, and broad supply of secondary education given by rationally trained teachers. Prof. Allbutt is to be congratulated upon ranging himself on the side of the prophets, and though for the present he may be a voice crying in the wilderness, his able advocacy of the introduction of sweet reasonableness into our secondary schools will some day be counted unto him for righteousness. A few of Prof. Allbutt's lessons to the schoolmaster may be quoted with advantage. "The scientific study of facts is the lever by which liberal culture has been re-awakened, and we are beginning to see that the ideas and methods of natural science, instead of being merely curious or commercial, are, if not the flower of education, at any rate the stem and branches." "On both sides ' [of most schools], while the memory is exercised, and the intellect somewhat called upon, the imagination, the centre of creative life, the source of great action, is left out in the cold." The teacher who fears the baneful effects of specialisation may note this "I am satisfied that if the two main coefficients of mind-the intellect and the imagination -are fostered, it proves best in the end to promote development in each person on the lines of his own nature." But we have kept what in our judgment is the most important quotation-trite though the advice is to the last :-" It is not so much what a man is taught as how he is taught it." 66 This advice leads naturally to the consideration of the present secondary school curriculum. Not every essential part of a wide subject can be included in a single address, but it is to be regretted that Prof. Allbutt has so little to say on the simplification and lightening of the absurdly congested time-tables of most schools. It is true that we are told that the current teaching of Greek and Latin is a parody of education, and that, like Sir William Ramsay, Dr. Allbutt considers chemistry is not a good subject for boys, but some guidance in the direction of a ruthless cutting down of the number of subjects at present studied by young boys would have been welcome. It is in this direction that the schoolmaster has a right to look to the man of science for guidance. Cannot physiologists and psychologists agree together as to what groups of faculties should be trained during the years of school-life, and, with the help of pedagogical experts, decide which groups of subjects best assist such training? Until this is done, or until some masterful genius filled with the pedagogic passion arises who will solve this most pressing of educational problems, secondary education will continue to be a process of filling the minds of boys and girls with pellets of information in a multitude of subjects, and of loading the verbal memory with a brecciated congeries of unrelated facts. On the tertiary, or university, stage of education |