Societies and Academies

Abstract

PARIS Academy of Sciences, August 4.—M. Rolland, President, in the chair.—Reply to two notes of M. Wroblewski on the subject of the liquefaction of hydrogen and other gases, by M. L. Cailletet.—On the influence of temperature on the property of absorbing and losing moisture, possessed by vegetable earth and other substances exposed to contact with the atmosphere, by M. Th. Schlœring.—On the change in the excentricities of the planetary orbits due to the concentration of matter in space, by M. Hugo Glydén.—Report of Messrs. Gosselin, Vulpian, Marey, Bert, Pasteur, Richet, Bouley, and Charcot on various communications received by the Academy on the subject of cholera. An examination of forty-three letters, notes, and memoirs has led to no results calling for special consideration. The chief remedies proposed are hypodermic injections of chloride of pilocarpine, the internal application of sulphate of quinine, of oxygenated water, sulphuric lemonade, &c. More important are the views of Dr. Duboué of Pau, who recommends as a preventative the strengthening of the endothelial and epithelial systems by the daily administration of two doses of 0.25 grain of pure tannin prepared with ether. His curative method consists in restoring the circulation by copious intravenous injections of an artificial serum to which should be added one grain per litre of pure tannin.—Observations of the Barnard comet made in Algiers, by M. Trépied.—Note on the distribution of the facules on the solar disk during the year 1883, with tabulated results, by M. P. Tacchini.—Description of a fixed astronomic telescope, being a modification of M. Lœwy's “equatorial coudé,” by M. G. Hermite.—An account of the method by which the absolute value has been determined of the horizontal component of terrestrial magnetism at the observatory of the Park Saint-Maur, Paris, by M. Mascart.—Description of a new apparatus for collecting the snow of carbonic acid required in producing low temperatures (one illustration), by M. Ducretet.—On the decomposition of white cast iron by heat, by M. L. Forquignon.—Note on the composition of the cyanides of mercury, zinc, and of some other elementary compounds of cyanogen, by M. G. Calmels.—On the nature of the visual faculty, and on the respective parts played by the retina and the brain in the elaboration of optical impressions, by M. H. Parinaud.—Researches on the biological rôle of phosphoric acid, and on the part played by this substance in the formation of the animal tissues, by M. A. Mairet.—On the permanent immunity from charbon of rabbits vaccinated with the attenuated virus of this disease, by M. Feltz. Seven months after the vaccination six rabbits so treated and six others were operated on with a strong preparation of the virus. The six fresh animals all died of charbon, while the six that had been vaccinated remained unaffected by the second operation. But when again treated, eighteen months afterwards, they yielded to the virus, and all ultimately perished. The author infers that the operation preserves its efficacy in the rabbit not longer than eighteen months.—Description of a filter which yields absolutely pure water free of all animal life, by M. Ch. Chamberland.—On the anatomical origin of spermaceti; description of the so-called spermaceti case, by MM. Pouchet and Beauregard.—Memoir on the carboniferous measures of the Central Pyrenees, by M. L. Lartet.—On the composition and quality of coal in connection with the nature of the plants from which it has been formed, by M. Ad. Carnot.—On the oxychloride of calcium, and the simple and chloruretted silicates of lime, by M. Alex. Gorgen.—On the origin of the phosphorites and of the ferruginous clays in limestone districts, by M. Dieulafait.—Account of the effects produced by a stroke of lightning at Campan on July 24, by M. A. Soucaze. A house near the telegraph station was entered through the closed door by a living mass of flame, which, after a few seconds withdrew by the same way without injuring any of the inmates or damaging the furniture.—A hypothesis on the temperature of the zone of the solar protuberances, by M. Tardy. The author suggests that in this zone the hydrogen is rendered luminous by an atmosphere of oxygen, in which case the temperature would be that of the fusion of platina, while the temperature of the inner zone would be still higher.