^7^ TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIKS. 



carried on in 1S94-6. The author gave a brief account of the laallasting 

 and laying of the track. 



Wednesday, August gth : Prof. A. E. Snape, M.Sc. A.M.I.C.E., 

 M.R.San. I.. President, in the chair. — "Railway ivatcr supplies, zvith special 

 reference to Vryburg-Bulazcayo section": A. H. Wallis. After a short 

 discussion of the effects of various sahne constituents of water on locomo- 

 tives, the author detailed a number of chemical analyses of waters used 

 on the Vryburg-Bulawayo Section of the South African Railways and 

 gave some account of practical experience of the use of some of these 

 waters and of the treatment applied to them. The subjects of water stor- 

 age, evaporation, and percolation and absorption by the soil were also dis- 

 cussed. 



RoY.AL Society ok South Afric.\.— Wednesday, July 19th : L. A. 

 Peringuey, D.Sc, F.E.S., F.Z.S.. President, in the chair. — "■ On Pelodrilus 

 Africanus, a nezv Haplotaxid from South Africa" : Prof. E. J. Goddard. 

 The species constitutes the iirst representative of the family Haplotaxidac 

 recorded from South Africa. The specimens were obtained in mud on 

 Sneeuw Kop, near Wellington, Cape Province, at an elevation of 5,000 feet 

 above sea level. The length varies from 20 to 40 mm. — " Xote on Poly- 

 saccum crassipes, a coin})ion fungus in Eucalyptus plantations around Pre- 

 toria" : Dr. P. A. vsin der 'Byl. Folysaccuni crassipes is so common in euca- 

 lyptus plantations around Pretoria that it appeared interesting to determine 

 in what relation it stood to the eucal3pti. The author dealt briefily with 

 the morphology of the fungus, and suggested that the relation between the 

 fungus and host is one of symbiosis. 



Wednesda\ , August i6th ; L. .\. Peringuey, D.Sc, F.E.S ., F.Z.S.. 

 President, in the chair. — " The Granite of the Schapenberg, Somerset 

 West": A. R. E.Walker. The granite of the Schapenberg is essentially 

 a gray, biotite-granito-porphyry, intrusive in fine-grained, argillaceous 

 grits of the Malmesbury series. It is essentially an apophysis of one or 

 other of the two large granite masses which occur, the one to the west, 

 and the other to the east, of the Schapenberg. Both fine and medium- 

 grained varieties occur. At certain points along the contact the granite, 

 owing to absorption of material from the invaded formation, is andalusite- 

 liearing. — ''On the Radial Lines in Rontgen Interference Patterns ■" J. 

 S.van der Lingen. The author briefly discussed the theory of radial 

 lines, and pointed nut that on Friedrich"s assumption these lines ought 

 to be present in all interference patterns. Experiments were described, 

 which support the view that radial lines are caused by weakening of tlie 

 lattice of a rigid crystal. The patterns of MgCOPDa, where the water 

 molecules were driven off, and of re-sublimed iodine were exhibited. 

 The pattern of this iodine shows the transition stage from a three-dimen- 

 sional grating to a two-dimensional grating. MgO from MgCOH); shews 

 the two-dimensional gratinu only. — " Some Obseri'ations on Ozobranchus 

 branchiatus " : Prof. 1{. j. Goddard. .An account was given of the 

 Leech — Ozobranchus branchiatus. Some liistorical interest attaches to 

 the form, inasmuch as it was proba))ly tiie first Annulate noted in the 

 Australasian region. The somite is represented in a very primitive con- 

 dition. The author dealt with the constitution of the somite in the various 

 regions of the body, and the conclusions to be thence derived. 



Wednesday, September 27th : L. A. Peringuey, D.Sc, F.E.S. , F.Z.S., 

 President, in the chair. — " On some statics in the Life History of Gne- 

 tuni": Prof. H. 11. W. Pearson and Mary R. H. Thomson. An 

 account was given of an investigation of the ovule and vml)ry(i-sac of Gne- 

 fum africanum (West .Nfrica) and G. Gneinon (Ceylon); the material 

 studied included also G. Buchhahianum (West Africa) and G. scan- 

 dens ( Poona, Darjeeling, Penang, Singajjore) and two species of doubtful 

 identity, one from Singapore and one from Java. — " The Theory of Auto- 

 matic Regulators" : Prof. 1 1. Bohle. Automatic regulators may be classi- 

 fied as sluggisli and fast regulators. Tlie tiieory of each form of 

 regulator was explained. — " I'ariatiou in the Mylabridce illustrating 

 a new Theory of Evolution based on Mendelism " ; Dr. T. F. Dreyer. 



