Perpetual Secretary Research Articles

Lavoisier

AMONGST the crop of literature which the centenary of the French Revolution has produced, there are probably no works more interesting to the historian of science in general, and certainly none more interesting to the historian of chemistry in particular, than the two biographies of Lavoisier which then appeared, the one due to the patient industry of M. Grimaux, and the other to the patriotic zeal of M. Berthelot. These works have necessarily much in common, but they differ essentially in the standpoint from which their authors regard their subject. M. Grimaux's book was the first to make its appearance. It deals more especially with the public life of Lavoisier, with his work as a fermier-général and at the Régie des Poudres, and with his labours as an economist and as a social and political reformer. To a reader but little versed in the history of science the general tendency of M. Grimaux's work is to place in high relief the political side of Lavoisier's career; and to magnify the servant of the State at the expense of the chemist. Hence [it was but proper and natural that M. Berthelot, the Perpetual Secretary of the Academy, should have felt urged to set forth in a clearer light the nature of the service which his illustrious predecessor, who fought so nobly for the Academy during the dark days of the Great Terror, has rendered to science. M. Berthelot has accordingly occupied himself almost exclusively with the scientific part of Lavoisier's work. If he dwells at all on the details of his career as an administrator, it is only for the purpose of explaining the conditions which directed, controlled, or in any way modified the course of his investigations. For the greater part of these details he is mainly indebted to M. Grimaux. M. Berthelot has, however, enjoyed this advantage over M. Grimaux, that he has been in a position to study the minutes of the Academy, more especially at about the period of the Revolution, and he has had the rare privilege of being able to peruse the laboratory journals of Lavoisier, which had been preserved by the pious care of Madame Lavoisier and her descendants. These documents are of the greatest interest and importance, for they enable us not only to determine the exact time and sequence of his researches, but also to trace the gradual development of his conceptions, and the manner in which he shook himself free from the trammels of phlogistonism. These registers, thirteen in number, are deposited in the Archives of the Institute. They have been most carefully examined and collated by M. Berthelot, and a statement of the results of the analysis forms a considerable and specially valuable section of his work. La Révolution Chimique: Lavoisier. Par M. Berthelot. (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1890.)

The Geological Survey of Belgium

PROBABLY no country of Europe has had its geology more attentively studied and mapped than Belgium. From the early labours of the veteran and pioneer D'Omalius down to those of Dumont and his contemporaries, the structure of this country has engaged the attention of many able observers, and in its broad features is now well known. The map of Dumont, on the scale of 1-160,000, is one of the most excellent geological representations of any part of the European continent. But a good many years have passed away since its publication, and though it remains essentially accurate, it is now capable of improvement as regards details. Accordingly, after many discussions of the subject, a Commission was appointed to undertake a more detailed and exhaustive geological investigation of the country. This Commission consists of five members of European reputation, viz., M. Brialmont, Inspector-General of Engineers, one of the most distinguished engineer officers in Europe; M. Maus, Honorary Director-General of Bridges, Roads, and Mines, who made the preliminary plans for the piercing of the Mont Cenis Tunnel; M. Stas, the well-known chemist; M. Liagre, Perpetual Secretary of the Royal Academy of Belgium, who measured base-line of Belgium, and M. Houzeau, Director of the Royal-Observatory, whose writings on geological geography are widely appreciated. These able and thoroughly representative men of science were constituted as a Board of Control by which the operations of the Survey were to be governed, the practical carrying out of the work being placed in the hands of M. Dupont, Director of the Royal Museum of Brussels—a geologist of established reputation.

Societies and Academies

PARIS Academy of Sciences, August 31.—M. Bouley, President, in the chair.—On the cyclonic character of the solar spots, in reply to M. Tacchini's objection, by M. Faye. In their normal state the spots, like terrestrial cyclones, are described as of circular form, with funnel-shaped penumbra, concentric circumferences, and vertical axis, varying in size from almost imperceptible pores to abysses large enough to engulph the earth. The mechanical identity of the two phenomena is thus established, while the absence of this special disposition in the penumbra of certain spots proves nothing against the author's theory, which accounts both for the development and occasional disappearance of the cyclonic form.—Note respecting M. Bochefontaine's experiment on the origin of cholera, by M. Trécul. A pill containing the comma bacillus having been swallowed by M. Bochefontaine with impunity, the author infers that Koch's germ may not after all be the active principle of cholera. In any case he protests against the ridicule cast upon the experimenter, whose courageous act is worthy rather of admiration and reward.—On the part played by the bacilli in the ravages of the vine attributed to Phylloxera vastatrix, by M. Luiz de Andrade Corvo. From his experiments the author concludes that the disease, to which he gives the name of “tuberculosis,” is quite distinct from, and independent of, Phylloxera, that it is constitutional and hereditary, and may also be transmitted by contagion, the insect merely playing a secondary part in its propagation.—Octahedrons of sulphur with square base, which is physically a rhombus, by M. Ch. Brame.—On certain points in the physiological action of tanguin, the poison used at ordeals in Madagascar, by M. Ch. E. Quinquand.—Influence of the sun on the vegetation, the vegetable functions and virulence of the cultivated virus of Bacillus anthracis, by M. S. Arloing.—A letter was read by the Perpetual Secretary from King Oscar of Sweden, to the effect that on attaining his sixtieth year, in 1889, he proposes offering a prize of 2500 francs, with a gold medal valued at 1000 francs, to the author of the most important contribution to mathematical science. The already nominated judges are a German, a Swiss, and M. Hermite of the Academy. —Experiments with various kinds of wheat, with a view to ascertain the most productive variety under normal conditions, by M. P. P. Dehérain. Five varieties yielded the following returns per hectare (2½acres):—

Notes

MONDAY'S sitting of the Paris Academy of Sciences was one of unusual interest. M. Jamin, who was in the chair, delivered an eloquent address on the services rendered to science and to the Academy by M. Dumas, and presented to the illustrious Perpetual Secretary the medal subscribed for by his admirers as a testimonial on the occasion of the fiftieth year of his nomination as an academician. The medal is accompanied by silver and bronze replicas. The Whole of the audience, which was very numerous, broke into enthusiastic plaudits. When the enthusiasm subsided, M. Dumas returned thanks, which he did with masterly eloquence.

THE PARIS OBSERVATORY

AS we announced some time ago, an important step has been taken for the reorganisation of the Paris Observatory. A decree of the President of the French Republic has appointed ten members of the new council of the Observatory, in pursuance of the provisions of the organic decree we referred to two months ago. The principal object of this new institution being to connect the observatory with the several large French administrations, three Government departments have sent two delegates each. The War Office is represented by Col. Laussedat, the director of the balloon service, and Commander Perrier, the chief of the Ordnance Survey; the Minister of Marine by two rear-admirals, one of them, M. Jurier de la Gravière, being a member of the late Council; the other is M. Clouet; the department of agriculture by M. Tisserand, Director of the National School of Agriculture, and M. Hervé Mangon, a member of the Institute and president of the Meteorological Society of France. The Academy of Sciences is represented by four members, carefully selected, viz., M. Dumas, the perpetual secretary, who is to be appointed president, and M. Liouville, the celebrated geometer, and two astronomers, M. Faye and M. Mouchez, both of them members of the Section of Astronomy. It must be noted that the Council of the Observatory, although vested with the right to present to the minister two candidates for the directorship of that establishment, are not to interfere with the solution of technical questions. A special council composed of all the astronomers en tilre of the Observatory, are to meet once a month to solve them with the director of the Observatory. The first meeting of the Council of the Observatory took place on April 24, M. Dumas being in the chair. The members had been summoned in order to send to the Ministry a list of two candidates for the direction rendered vacant by the demise of M. Leverrier. The meeting was very short, and the members having been unable to agree, it was postponed to the 26th, when M. Faye wished to deliberate on the vexed question of the separation of meteorology and astronomy. This, however, was not allowed, when M. Faye protested and declared that he would bring the question before the Academy of Sciences at its next meeting, on April 29. After several scrutinies the Council decided to send in the names of MM. Mouchez, Loewy, and Tisserand as their nominees for the directorship of the Observatory, the last two having obtained an equal number of votes. Such was the result of the deliberations of the Observatory Council, which on the whole seem to conducted with becoming dignity. At Monday's sitting of the Academy, M. Dumas simply read M. Bardoux's letter, and summoned a meeting for to-day of a Committee of the Academy composed of all the sections in the mathematical sciences. A list of candidates will then be formed for proposal to the whole Academy, which will vote its candidates on May 5. It then remains with the Government to choose between the candidates proposed by the Council and Academy. M. Faye made no protest at the Academy meeting on Monday, though, our correspondent writes, he was expected to speak on the subject in a secret committee which met after the meeting of the Academy. We trust that throughout these important steps for the appointment of a successor to Leverrier all personal feelings will be suppressed, and the interests of the Observatory and of science alone considered.

French Association for the Advancement of Science

THIS year's Congress was opened at the Hôtel de Ville, Clermont, on Friday, August 18, under the presidency of Prof. Dumas, the well-known chemist and the perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences. M. Dumas praised in warm terms the spirit of individual initiative so largely developed in England, and he compared the British Association with her younger sister, the French Association. He spoke in high terms of English men of science, and referred to the Exhibition of 1851, and the important results which have followed it in the development of permanent scientific institutions in England. M. Dumas acknowledged the zeal of the French Government in helping science, and he showed that science must be promoted not only by benevolent and intelligent individuals, but also by the State. He, in eloquent terms, presented to the assembly the testimony of his long-continued labours extending over a period of more than sixty years, as a proof that science was conducive only to happiness. He advised men of science not to meddle either with theology or with philosophy, but to leave all questions in these regions in the hands of theologians and philosophers. The province open to science is large enough to give every satisfaction to the widest ambition.

Prizes of the French Academy

AS our readers are aware, the Paris Academy of Sciences holds at the end of December each year a solemn meeting for hearing éloges of the departed members, and delivering prizes to the most deserving essayists. But owing to the calamity of the war the prizes for 1873 were distributed in the end of 1874, and the prizes for 1874 remained undistributed. An extraordinary solemnity was celebrated on June 21, for the distribution of the 1874 prizes, and henceforth we hope nothing will prevent the Academy fulfilling its yearly duties with punctuality. M. Bertrand, the new perpetual secretary, read an essay on the life and works of M. Élie de Beaumont, his predecessor in the office. Since Abbé Duhamel, the first of these perpetual secretaries, died, this has been the constant practice. So Abbé Duhamel was praised by Fonten elle, Fontenelle by Fouchy, Fouchy by Condorcet, &c. &c. But M. Élie de Beaumont did not produce any éloge on Arago; it will be the next duty M. Bertrand will have to perform, and a very attractive one it is. The following are the results of last year's competition as announced at the meeting:—

A French Official Account of the Origin of the Royal Society

WE find in the first volume of the “Memoirs of the French Academy” a few curious details relating to this subject which may be of some interest to our readers. We translate the text verbatim, with the addition of a few explanatory remarks. These details were originally published in Latin, by the first perpetual secretary of the Academy, and may therefore be considered as official.

Societies and Academies

PARISAcademy of Sciences, Oct. 5.- M. Bertrand in the chair. __The following papers were read:-Researches on the conditions of resistance in cylindrical boilers, by?. H. Resal.-On the exact values of the angles in the crystals of titaniferous iron, by?. N. de Kokscharow˜-Report on the machine for freezing by the evaporation of methylic ether, invented by M. Ch. Tellier; and on the preservation of meat in the air, cooled by this apparatus, by the Commissioners, MM. Milne-Edwards, Peligot, and Bouley. -On the temperature of the sun, by M. J. Violle. The author starts with the fundamental equation aP - a* = - ax, and from s determinations of the intensity of solar radiation assigns the value 15500 to what he calls the effective temperature of the sun. The true mean temperature of the surface of the sun is estimated at 2,000°.-Note on magnetism, by M. J. M. Gangain, a continuation of former researches.-Seventh note on the conductivity of J igneous bodies, and of other substances which are bad conductors, by M. Th. du Moncel.-Experimental researches on explosive substances, by MM. Roux and Sarran.-On a register giving continuous indications for the determination of the law of variation of pressures produced by the gases of gunpowder, by M. Ricq.-On the synthesis of purpurine, and of some analogous colouring matters, by M. A. Rosenstiehl.-New observations on the chemical composition of the waters of Bagneres-de-Luchon, by?. E. Filhol.-Method of determination of copper by means of titrated liquids, by M. Pr. Lagrange.-Comparative and critical examination of the hypotheses which have been advanced to explain the figure of comets and the acceleration of their motion, by?. H. Champion. The author attempts to show in this memoir: (1) that a force directed along the radius vector develops in the two opposite parts of an elliptical orbit separated by the major axis, two tangential components of contrary signs, of which the effects are exactly compensating; (2), that the force gives rise to a third component opposed to gravitation, of which the final result is to increase the dimensions of the orbit · (t) it shown that at the distance at which comets' tails commence to be seen, the rays of the sun would not produce an appreciable elevation of temperature in a highly rarefied substance. -On the comparative chemical composition of the different parts of the vine when healthy and when attacked by Phylloxera by? Boutin.-Experiments made at Cognac on phylloxerised vines with the coal-tar recommended by M. Petit, by M. P. Mouille-fert.-Experiments made at Montpelier with the same substance by M. Alph. Rommier.-Observations on the points gained by science concerning the known species of the genus Phylloxera · a letter from M. Signoret to the perpetual secretary. - Observations concerning the recent communication of M. Balbiani on the different known species of the genus Phylloxera, by M. Lich-tenstein.-Trial of infection of a healthy vine by putting Phylloxera in contact with its roots, by M. Delorme.__ On the 6means proposed to check the propagation of Phylloxera, the method of uprooting in particular, by M. P. Naudin.-Experiments on a method of treatment of phylloxerised vines, by the sap of a Euphorb;a, by M. L. Balme.-On the appearance of Phylloxera in the canton of Geneva, and on different curative measures proposed, by M. E. Ador.-The Minister of Foreign Affairs transmitted further details of the recent eruption of Etna.-M. Dumas announced that the news received from the first four Transit of Venus expeditions was satisfactory on all points.-On the pretended Saharan Sea, by M. A. Pomel.-Observations on the ancient central sea of the Tuniso-Algerian Sahara, by M. Virlet d'Aoust.-On the theory of curves in space of? dimensions, by M. C. Jordan.-Electro-diapason of variable period, by?. E. Mer-cadier.-Electro·spectral tube, or "fulurator,“for the observation of the spectra of metallic solutions, by MM. B. Delachanal and A. Mermet.-Note on supersaturition, by M. Lecoq de Boisbaudran.-On the action of bromine on certain alcohols', by?. E. Hardy.-Note on the production ot oxamic acid by the oxidation of glycocol, by M. R. Engel.-Action of heat on diphenylmethane and phenyl-toluene; on the products of the reduction of benzophenoie, by M. Ph. Barbier.-Curious association of garnet, idiocrase and datholite, by M. J. Lawrence Smith.-Balloon meteorological observations, byM. G. Tissandier. -Note on the spectroscopic observations made during the balloon ascent of Sept. 24, for studying variations in the extension of the colours of the spectrum, by M. W. de Fonvielle.--On the feeble influence which diluvian waters have exercised on the formation of the valleys of the Paris basin, by?. E. Robert.

On the application of the Binomial Law to Statistical Enquiries, illustrated by the Law of the growth of Man at different ages

In recent years, the writer who has done the most good service in bringing scientific methods to bear on the collection and comparison of statistics, is M. Quetelet, the Director of the Royal Observatory in Bruxelles, President of the Central Commission of Statistics, and the Perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. Nearly all the learned Academies of Europe claim the credit of enrolling him as a member. He was amongst the small number of illustrious men, including Professor Babbage, Whewell, Malthus, Drinkwater, Jones, Col. Sykes, &c., who at the third meeting of the British Association for the advancement of Science, at Cambridge in 1833, succeeded in establishing the special Section F on Economic Science and Statistics, and which afterwards led to the formation of the Statistical Society of London and various provincial Societies. He was also the originator of the International Statistical Congresses, which have been so useful in improving the methods of collection and publication of facts in all branches of statistical enquiry by every Government in Europe.

Societies and Academies

Societies and Academies

Bibliographical Notices A History of the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood . By P. Flourens, Perpetual Secretary to the Academy of Sciences (Institute of France), &c. Translated from the French by J. C. Reeve, M.D. Cincinnati: Rickey, Mallory & Co. 1859. 12mo. pp.178.

Bibliographical Notices A History of the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood . By P. Flourens, Perpetual Secretary to the Academy of Sciences (Institute of France), &c. Translated from the French by J. C. Reeve, M.D. Cincinnati: Rickey, Mallory & Co. 1859. 12mo. pp.178.

I. Copy of a Letter from Professor Fuss, Perpetual Secretary of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, to the Baron Berzelius, Perpetual Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, on the contemplated extension of the Swedish Arc of Meridian, from its northern extremity at Pahtawara to the North Cape; with a Letter from Capt. Sir John

I. Copy of a Letter from Professor Fuss, Perpetual Secretary of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, to the Baron Berzelius, Perpetual Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, on the contemplated extension of the Swedish Arc of Meridian, from its northern extremity at Pahtawara to the North Cape; with a Letter from Capt. Sir John

Review An Essay on the Theory of the Earth , translated from the French of M. Cuvier, perpetual secretary of the French Institute, professor and administrator of the Museum of Natural History, &c. By Robert Kerr, F. R. S. With mineralogical notes, &c. by Professor Jameson. Edinburgh, 1815. 8vo.

Review An Essay on the Theory of the Earth , translated from the French of M. Cuvier, perpetual secretary of the French Institute, professor and administrator of the Museum of Natural History, &c. By Robert Kerr, F. R. S. With mineralogical notes, &c. by Professor Jameson. Edinburgh, 1815. 8vo.

I. A monstrous human foetus, having neither head, heart, lungs, stomach, spleen, pancreas, liver, nor kidnies. By Claude Nicholas Le Cat, M. D. Professor and Demonstrator Royal in Anatomy and Surgery; perpetual Secretary to the Academy of Sciences at Rouen, F. R. S. &c. Translated from the French, by Michael Underwood, Surgeon to the British Lying-in Hospital, in London.

M. F****, a chair-woman, in the parish of <italic>Carville de Dernetal</italic>, aged thirty-four years, was brought-to-bed, at nine months end, on tuesday the third of january, 1764, of two children, having already had six.