1899] NEWS 171 



the Fellows of the Society to give expression to their sense of obligation for the 

 efficient manner in which he has discharged the arduous duties of his office. 

 There is a consensus of opinion that the most suitable form for marking appre- 

 ciation would be a portrait painted in oil colours. This would find an appro- 

 priate place on the walls of the Society's apartments at Burlington House, where 

 Sir John Evans has for many years past spent a considerable proportion of his 

 time in carrying on the work of the Society. Subscriptions from Fellows of 

 the Society will be received by the assistant secretary. 



At a meeting of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, on January 18, 

 the following communications were read : — On the genesis of some Scottish 

 minerals, part i., by Mr. J. G. Goodchild ; on the minute structure of the so- 

 called " rectal " gland of the skate, by Dr. John Crawford ; and on spiders of 

 the Edinburgh district (190 species now recorded), by Mr. W. Evans and Mr. 

 G. H. Carpenter. Mr. Crawford contrasted the structure of the "rectal" 

 gland with that of the appendix vermiformis, and noted especially the remark- 

 able disposition of the vascular supply. A glycerine extract gave no evidence 

 of digestive function. 



At the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Bridge Road, London, the following- 

 penny science lectures were delivered during January : — Rev. R. H. Whit- 

 combe, "Science Jottings in Switzerland"; Mr. R. A. Gregory, "Astronomy 

 before Telescopes " ; Prof. Farmer, " Plants as Engineers " ; Mr. C. W. Andrews, 

 "Christmas Island"; Prof. Frank Clowes, " Old Father Thames." 



During the present term Mr. A. G. Tansley is giving a course of about 

 thirty-three lectures on the morphology and histology of the vascular system 

 of plants at University College, London. Each lecture is followed by two 

 hours' practical work. 



The conflagration which recently broke out in the physical laboratory of the 

 University of Geneva destroyed Prof. Chodat's botanical collection, together 

 with 200 drawings by the professor, which were the result of ten years' labour. 



In an article in the Glasgow Herald of January 7 Dr. Robert Munro refers 

 to an article on the marine structure recently discovered in the estuary of the 

 Clyde, which appeared in the November number of Natural Science, and in 

 which his name is introduced as one who, after making a thorough investiga- 

 tion of the site, "declared it was the most curious, puzzling, and interesting 

 find of the kind he had met with in all his long experience, and, so far as he 

 knew, unique." From the general purport of that article the public may have 

 supposed that the opinions there promulgated as to the age, structure, and 

 marvels of the Dumbuck crannog have been endorsed by Dr. Munro. But this 

 is not so, as he regards it neither as a pile-structure nor as a monument of Neo- 

 lithic times. In attempting to solve the riddle of the remarkable art gallery — 

 idols, amulets, and ornaments of shale and shell — there are two alternative con- 

 elusions to be formulated. Either these objects are what the investigators 

 assert them to be, the genuine relics of the inhabitants of the fort and crannog, 

 or they are not. On the former hypothesis they form the most remarkable 

 collection of archaeological remains ever found in Scotland. On the latter, they 

 are the productions of some idle practical joker. 



Dr. Munro wishes to state that he has not the slightest clue to the proven- 

 ance of the relics whose genuineness he calls in question, as his opinion is based 

 entirely on their inherent character and total variance with all other archaeo- 

 logical remains known to him. 



Dr. F. P. Moreno, of the La Plata Museum, exhibited at the Zoological 

 Society of London, on January 17, a fragment of the skin of the animal 

 described by Ameghino as Neomylodon. The piece was about 18 inches across 

 either way. Dr. Moreno and Professor Seeley maintained that the fragment was 

 probably a portion of a Mylodon which had been preserved under similar con- 



