2g6 TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIES. 



liable to spontaneous fracture.— " Oy/ the Phaucyoi^amic Flora of the Divi- 

 sions of Vitenhage and Port Elizabeth " : Prof. S. Schonland. There are 

 2.290 species recorded, of which 98 are considered by the author not to be 

 native.- Thev are distributed over 128 natural orders and 712 genera. 

 Thefe are, however, still large tracts of this area unexplored. Most 

 of the locahties quoted are contained in about 600 square miles, while the 

 total area is about 2,500 square miles ; much of the remaining tract is, 

 however, covered by fairly uniform karroid succulent vegetation.—"/! 

 Lunar Period in the Rates of Evaporation and Rainfall. Dr. J. R. 

 Sutton. The author called attention to the possibility of a lunar influence 

 governing the evaporation from a water surface, and a lunar period in the 

 incidence of rainfall. As a result of hourly observations of evaporation 

 and rainfall during the 120 lunar months from August. 1899, to April, 

 1909. rainfall has its maximum frequency about the time of moonrise, and 

 its minimum just after moonset ; the rate of evaporation has a maximum 

 and minimum, respectively, shortly after the moon passes the meridian 

 above and below the horizon. 



Wednesday, September 26th : L. A. Peringuey. D.Sc, F.E.S., F.Z.S., 

 President, in the chair. — ''Note on the Abnonnal Development of the 

 Genital Organs of Jasus Lalandii." W. von Bonde. The author recorded 

 a peculiar abnormality in a male Cape Crawfish. Three distinct genital 

 apertures were developed, two normalh". and a third abnormally, the 

 latter occurring on the fourth walking leg of the right side. — " On the 

 Colour-Octahedron as a Complexity : being suggestions towards a mathe- 

 matics of Colour": Dr. G H. Malan. Developing certain ideas of 

 Meinong. who contends that the possibility of representing certain well- 

 known facts in connection with colour-psychology by a diagram in the 

 form of an octahedron rests on the presence of certain a priori relations 

 incidental to the very nature of colour itself, the author examined Afein- 

 nong's contention critically in the light of modern mathematical logic. 

 ]\Ieinong's theory, though true in its intention, is seriously at fault in its 

 practical conception of an a priori science of colour, because of the ignor- 

 ance of its author of the principles of mathematics as revealed by recent 

 researches of mathematicians. A more exact discrimination between the 

 standpoints of empirical psychology and mathematical science is necessi- 

 tated. — "A List of South African Fungi": Miss A. M. Bottomley- 

 A systematic compilation, with indexes of all the South African fungi in 

 the Government Mycological Herbarium. 276 genera and 800 named 

 species were recorded. 



Wednesday, October T7th: A. J. Anderson, M.A.. M.?,., D.P.H., 

 M.R.C.S.. Vice-President, in the chair. — " Spectrum phenomena in the 

 Chromium Compounds" : Dr. J. Moir. It has been found that although 

 aqiieous solutions of the chromium salts do not show any narrow charac- 

 teristic bands in the spectrum, yet when anyhydrous (or nearlv anhydrous) 

 solutions are used, the spectrum is crossed by narrow bands in the red 

 similar to what are seen in the ruby or emerald spectrum. The solutions 

 of chromium oxide in concentrated sulphuric and in fused metaphosphoric 

 acid have been investigated and the bands measured: they are very similar 

 to those seen in the emerald, but not absolutely identical ; whilst the bands 

 of the ruby, although similar in arrangement, are displaced into a region 

 of lower frequency. Both gem colours are due to chromium, but the 

 vil)rations are differently loaded (silica and beryllia against alumina). — 

 ''Derivatives of the unknotvn ortho-para-phenolphthalein." — Dr. J. Moir, 

 Phthaleins in which one of the hydroxyl-groups is ortho- and the other 

 para- to the central carbon have been prepared from para-substituted 

 phenols with oxybenzoylhenzoic acid. They are like the common phtha- 

 leins, but their absorption-bands are broad, although in much the same 

 position. An attempt to make o-/'-phenolphthalein itself gave a produc* 

 very closely resembling common phenolphthalein, and a similar substance 

 was obtained by dehydrating oxybenzoylhenzoic acid alone with sulphuric 

 acid. Tliey are, nevertheless, probably not identical with common phenol- 

 phthalein. " Phenolphthaleinoxime " is not an oxime. but is the /'-oxyanil 

 of oxybenzophenonecarboxylic acid. Common phenolphthalein in normal 

 alkali is colourless when cold, but becomes pink on warming. 



