Societies and Academies

Abstract

PARISAcademy of Sciences, September ??.-?. Peligot in the chair.-Experimental researches on the mechanism of the formation of sugar in the liver, by M. Cl. Bernard.-Referring to the preceding paper, M. A, Trecul then read a treatise on the formation of starch and of cellulose in plants.-M. Th. du Moncel then presented to the Academy a copy of his "Recherches Ies meilleures conditions des electro-aimants."-On the variation of atmospheric pressure at different altitudes, determined at the Puy-de-Dome Observatory, during the cyclones of last winter, by M. Alluard. The author found, on comparing the barometrical readings at the Puy-de-D6me Observatory with those of Clermont Observatory, that the most remarkable discrepancies existed, the barometer having frequently risen several millimetres at Clermont, when at the same time it fell considerably on the Puy-de-Dome. He asks whether the supposition is justified that, while a cyclone passes over the land, other smaller cyclones are situated inside of it and remain at different heights, without reaching the ground 1 Or does the strange phenomenon result from local reasons which appertain to the relief of the Dome s chain and to the relative position of the two observatories? In all cases this phenomenon shows the necessity of studying the atmosphere in different layers and the great importance of the Puy-de-Dome Observatory.-On a process of preserving the flesh of fish (extract from a note), by M. R. M. cTAmelio.-On the presence of phylloxera in the department of Loir-et-Cher, by M. J. Duplessis. The writer has found that the pernicious insect has now penetrated as far as Villebarron, and the district infested near Orleans now has the shape of a vast equilateral triangle of 60 kilometres side.-M. Ed. Prillieux then read a note on the causes which have brought about the invasion of phylloxera into the Vendome district.-M. J. Maistre in a letter to M. Durnas speaks of the effects of sulphocarbonates against the insects.-The Minister for Agriculture and Commerce wrote a letter to M. Dumas on the same subject.-M. Faye then drew the attention of the Academy to some interesting results obtained at Washington Observatory by the observation of the two satellites of Mars recently discovered. It appears from a communication made by Admiral J. Rodgers, that in the telegram first sent to Europe by the Smithsonian Institution at Washington there was a mistake, viz., in ascribing to the inner satellite a distance of fifty seconds; half of the major axis of its orbit amounts only to thirty-three,seconds of arc.-A letter was then read by the president from M. Ch. Lamey on some observations he made during the winter of 1864-65, and which caused him to believe that Mars is surrounded by a ring of asteroids of all sizes, and as a whole resembling, in some respects, the ring of Saturn. M. Lamey had observed an uncertain reddish light on each side of the disk of the planet and corresponding nearly to its equator. He directs the attention of the observers of the two new satellites to this phenomenon.-M. Leverrier then announced the discovery of another new planet in the zone between Jupiter and Mars, by Mr. Watson, at Ann Arbor, on the 3rd instant, R.A. 23'iom. Dec. -f o° 45'. Daily motion in R.A. 555.; in Decl. - i'; magnitude n.-On the theory of the smalt motions of a weighty point on a fixed suface which is described round a vertical axis of revolution, by J. Boussinesq.-On locomotives of the compound system, by M. A. Mallet.-On the specific heat ' and the melting heat of platinum, by M. J. Violle. In the course of experiments made by this gentleman he found the true melting-point of pure silver at 954° C.-A note by M. V. Neyre-neuf on the specific induction power.-On nitroso-guanidine, by M. Jousselin.-On the methods which the ancients must have employed to lift and transport the great Celtic or Gallic monoliths, by M. E. Robert.-A note by M. L. Hugo on some curves representing certain elements of the planetary system.