143 



TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIES. 



RovAL Society of South Africa. — Wednesday, J\lay 19th : L. A. 

 Peringney, D.Sc, F.E.S., F.Z.S., President, in the chair. — " The equiva- 

 lent )iiass of a spriu,s: vibnitiuf:^ loii,s:itiidiiially " : Prof. A. Broiwn. The 

 paper dealt with the allowance to be made for the mass of a spring when 

 a weight attached to it is oscillating under gravity and the tension of the 

 spring. Experiments were described confirming the theoretical results. — 

 "The occurrence of Dinosaur Bones in Bushiiianh^nd " : Dr. A. W. 

 Rogers. Dinosaur bones were found in a well in Bushmanland at 112 

 feet below the surface. The well is in an old valley cut in gneiss and 

 filled in with local debris. Probably the climate became dry while the 

 dinosaurs lived there, and since then the valley has been steadily filled up. 

 "Description of the Dinosaur bones from Buslnnanlaiui " : S. H. 

 Haughton. The bones discovered by Dr. Rogers consist of a maxillary 

 tooth and portions of the hind limbs and caudal vertebra of a medium- 

 sized Ornithopodous Dinosaur. They were described by the author under 

 the name Kangnasaurus Coetzeei. The form is younger than Campto- 

 saunis, but no estimate of its exact age could be given. — " The Coccidcc of 

 South Africa " : C. K. Brain. The paper, which is the first contribution 

 to a catalogue of the Coccicte of South Africii, dealt with five sub-families, 

 vis: — Pseudococcincc, OrtJiesiince, Coccince. Monoplilebincr, and Margaro- 

 dincc. Sixty-three species and two varieties were described, thirty-two for 

 the first time. "A Note on the molecules of liquid crystals" : J. S. 

 van der Lingen. The object of the paper was to show the effect of 

 bi-prisms on the Lane spots. Experiments carried out with prisms of 

 sodium chloride show that the spots are " fluted," and that the central 

 spot is elliptic instead of circular. — ''On the 'lines' within Rontgen 

 interference photographs" '. J. S. van der Lingen. These lines are due 

 to the ruptured surface, which will most probabh' resemble an echelon 

 grating. Sodium chloride, quartz, silicon, and magnesium hydroxide 

 photographs were described. These show " irregular spots " under 

 certain conditions. 



Wednesday, June 16th : L. A. Peringuey, D.Sc, F.E.S., F.Z.S., Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — " Osteology of Palccornis with other notes on the 

 genus " : R. W. Shufeldt. A description was given of one of the most 

 abundant parrots of India — Palccornis torquatus, or the ring-parrot — so 

 named for the reason that in the adult a ring or collar forms part of the 

 plumage of the neck. These birds are supposed to have been known to 

 the Greeks and Romans, but they were not considered as a sub-familv of 

 parrots until 1825. — "Note on apparent apogamy in Pterj'godium New- 

 digatas " : Aliss A. V. Duthie. A cleistogamous variety of the South 

 African orchid Ptcrygodiuni Nezvdigatce, of special interest because cleis- 

 togamy, rare enough among orchids, appears here to be accompanied by 

 apogamy. Sections of the ovary and column at various stages of deve- 

 lopment show no trace of pollen tubes. The gland-like " pollen masses " 

 do not appear to develop beyond the mother cell stage. — '" A Record of 

 plants collected in Southern Rhodesia " : F. Eyles. This record includes 

 representatives of 160 families, 869 genera, and 2,397 species, besides 112 

 varieties. 



Wednesday, July 21st: L. A. Peringuey, D.Sc, F.E.S.. F.Z.S., Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — "A nezv Type of Fossil Reptile from the Karroo." S. H. 

 Haughton. A somewhat incomplete skull, with associated limb-bones 

 and vertebrae, from the upper Tapinocephalus zone of the Beaufort West 

 District were exhibited. In general form it recalls the Dinocephalia, 

 although much smaller ; but in the possession of a few small palate teeth, 

 in the vertical occipital plate, the shallowness of the basicranium and some 

 other features it recalls the Gorgonopsia. — " Note on Conus shells illustrat- 

 ing variation in markings '' : K. H. Barnard. A series of shells was exhi- 

 bited, showing gradation in the pigment from a condition in which the 

 coloration is strongly marked to that in which the shells are practically 

 colourless. The question of the origin of the pigment and its relation to 

 the environment and heredity of the mollusc was discussed. — (T) "Simple 

 apparatus for finding g"; (2) "Simple apparatus for standardising a 



