l62 



HA RD IVJCKE'S S CIENCE- G OSS IP. 



remarkable New Zealand lizard, Hattcria punctata. 

 It is embedded in the substance occupying the parietal 

 foramen. This is an illustration in the same animal 

 of the invertebrate as well as the vertebrate type of eye. 



M. Chevreul, the distinguished French physicist, 

 has been honoured by the Paris Academy by the 

 formal " homage " of the members, on the completion 

 of the one hundredth year of his age. 



At the recent Royal Society's conversazione, Mr. 

 Caldwell exhibited a complete series of embryological 

 specimens of the Australian mud-fish (Ceratodus) 

 from the unsegmented egg to hatching ; also early 

 stages in the development of the platypus and Echidna, 

 as well as of such marsupials as Phascolarctos and 

 Halmaturus. 



We are sorry to have to record the death of Dr. 

 T. R. Lewis, the author of various papers published 

 in the " Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science," 

 as well as in Science-Gossip. He was one of the 

 first to institute the modern method of investigation 

 of Bacteria, etc. 



Mount Etna has been in *a state of intense 

 eruption, and the city of Nicolosi has been threatened 

 with destruction by the descending lava-streams. 



The Great Eastern Railway Co. have very wisely 

 reprinted the various articles which are scattered 

 through magazines and newspapers relating to the 

 character of the country through which their lines 

 pass. No more agreeable nooks and corners for 

 botanists, geologists, or entomologists can be found 

 in England than in the Eastern Counties. 



We have received a copy of Bright's "Guide to 

 Bournemouth," edited by Mr. C. H. Octavius 

 Curtis, F.S.A. Many naturalists visit this well- 

 known locality, and to such the capitally got-up 

 descriptions and lists of the fauna, flora, and 

 geology of the district will be very welcome. 



We are pleased to notice from the report of the 

 Albany Museum (Cape of Good Hope) for 1885 that 

 a most valuable series of the zoological, geological, 

 mineralogical, etc., productions of the colony are 

 being gathered together, thanks to the generous 

 donations of the colonists. The report is admirably 

 drawn up by M. Glanville, the Curator of the 

 Museum. 



" The Medical Annual," for 1S86 (by Dr. Percy 

 Wilde), contains a review of popular and general 

 science for last year, written by Dr. J. E. Taylor, 

 F.L.S., etc. ; also a review of the therapeutics of the 

 year, by Dr. W. Wynn Westcott ; a review of the 

 New British Pharmacopoeia, by the same author ; 

 papers on, "Abdominal Surgery," by Mr. J. W. 

 Taylor ; Skin Diseases, by Dr. Tom Robinson ; 

 retrospect of psychological medicine for the year, 

 by Dr. P. Jones ; " Midwifery," by Dr. H. Pye 

 Smith, etc. 



Mr. J. W. Oliver has compiled a very useful 

 little pamphlet, called " Synopsis of the Natural 

 Orders of British Flowering Plants." 



From the Rev. H. W. Lett, M.A., we have 

 received a reprint of his valuable paper (published 

 in the Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field 

 Club) on " The Fungi of the North of Ireland," 

 in which he enumerates 581 species and assigns their 

 localities. 



Among the useful publications of the Calcutta 

 Public Health Society a capital and very readable 

 paper has just appeared, by Mr. W. J. Simmons, 

 entitled "Air, Water, and Soil, as affecting 

 Health." 



Nos. 73 and 74 of Mr. William Wesley's " Natural 

 History and Scientific Book Circular" are to hand. 



Mr. L. Upcott Gill has just published the ninth 

 annual little volume on "Bicycles and Tricycles," 

 for 1886. This is a chronicle of all the new 

 inventions and improvements relating to these 

 machines. 



An old correspondent of Science-Gossif, and a 

 well-known botanist, Mr. G. C. Druce, F.L.S., 

 announces the publication, at an early date, of "The 

 Flora of Oxfordshire and the Contiguous Portion of 

 Berkshire." It will make a volume of 500 pages, 

 and the price will be \os. to subscribers. 



The "Youths' Scientific and Literary Society of 

 London," whose headquarters are at the Tolmer's 

 Square Institute, Drummond Street, is making ex- 

 cellent progress and doing excellent work, both at 

 headquarters and at the country branches. Mr. A. 

 Ramsay, F.G.S., editor of "The Garner," is presi- 

 dent for the current year. 



MICROSCOPY. 



The Wing-case op Beetle (Cirindda campes- 

 tri s }, — The " dots " on the under membrane are hair- 

 like projections, and are situated at regular intervals 

 from each other. Dr. Carpenter, I since learn, speaks 

 of them as tubes. The double lining of the circular 

 cells of the intermediate membrane is real, and in no 

 way connected with depression of the cell. Lastly, 

 the hexagonal cells of the upper surface are thrown 

 into spherical protuberances, in the same manner as 

 the eyes of most insects. From the coincidence in 

 distance between the tubes of the under membrane 

 and the centres of the hexagonal cells an interesting 

 problem suggests itself : What is the purpose of these 

 tubes ? Are they merely supports in maintaining the 

 rounded surfaces of the cells, or, if not, what end do 

 they serve, and why the coincidence between each 

 hair and cell centre ? — E. F. M. 



