March 2, 191 1] 



NATURE 



western China, by Mr. Malcolm Anderson, for the Duke 

 of Bedford's exploration of eastern Asia. This collec- 

 tion, from a region hitherto almost unrepresented in the 

 British Museum, was perhaps the finest that had ever 

 come from China, at least so far as small mammals were 

 iconcerned. Forty-seven species were included, represented 

 by 350 specimens, presented, as on previous occasions, to 

 the National Museum by his Grace. 



Royal Microscopi cal Society, February i q. — Mr. Plimmer, 

 president, in the chair. — E. Heron-Allen and A. 



Earland : New or rare species of Foraminifera found in 

 jthe shore-sands of Selsey Bill, Sussex. The authors 

 jdirected attention to the identity of the fossil Foraminifera 

 ;of the Bracklesham beds with the living species found in 

 Australian shore-sands. Recent specimens of BoUvina 

 \durrandii (Millett) and Pulvinulina vermiculatis (Brady) 

 'were shown, the only other known records being as 

 'regards the former from the Malay Archipelago and as 

 ■regards the latter from tropical and subtropical seas. In 

 ^addition to these, Miliolina suborbicularis and M. rotunda, 

 .Dextuluria inconspicua, var. jugosa, BoUvina torterosa, 

 tUvigerina asperula, and Sagrina diniorpha were recorded 

 ;as new to Britain. Schlumberayer's unique genus and 

 jSpecies, Hinderina brugesii, was recorded from the Eocene 

 • clays, also the first fossil records of Bulimina subtues and 

 iDiscorbina polystomilloides. The new 'species recorded 

 Jwere Pulvinulina haliotidea (H.-A. and E.) and Nomio- 

 ■nina quadriloculata (H.-A. and E.). Microscopical speci- 

 mens of these were also exhibited. — Lees Curties : A new 

 'dark-ground illuminator. This was made to the instruc- 

 jtions of Mr. Nelson ; it was so constructed as to work 

 fwith slips ranging from o-8 to i-2 mm. in thickness, and 

 'gave a perfectly dark field with a Zeiss apochro- 

 matic 4 mm. lens of 0-95 N.A. The illuminator was pro- 

 vided with a fixed central stop, and also with a slot for 

 utilising the apparatus as an oblique illuminator. A small 

 dot placed on the front lens served for the purpose of 

 centring the condenser to the optical axis. 



Linnean Society, February 16. — Mr. H. W. Moncklon, 

 I treasurer and vice-president, in the chair. — Mrs. L. J. 



■ Wilsmore : Some Hexactiniae from New South Wales. — 

 I Rev. Canon Norman : Three species of harpactid cope- 



■ poda. — The following papers were communicated by Prof. 

 :J. Stanley Gardiner: — Mr. Hirst: Report on the Araneae, 

 I Opiliones, and Pseudoscorpiones. — G. A. Bouleng^er : 

 I List of the batrachians and reptiles obtained by Prof. 



' Stanley Gardiner on his second expedition to the Seychelles 

 i and Aldabra. — Miss Mary J. Rathbun : The marine 

 Brachyura from the Indian Ocean collected in 1905. It 

 dealt with a large collection comprising 245 species and 

 i subspecies, 34 species and 3 subspecies being regarded as 

 ' new to science, with 3 new genera. The results showed 

 I no connection with the West African crab-fauna. 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, February 22. — 

 Mr. Edgar Taylor, president, in the chair. — A. Beeby 

 Thor^pson : The relationship of structure and petrology 

 to the occurrence of petroleum. After describing the 

 general structure of the important oilfields of the world, 

 the author deals briefly with some of the local features 

 which tend to modify the distribution of petroleum, as, 

 for instance, the existence of faults in the strata, abrupt 

 changes from oil-saturated sands to hard rock that is 

 impervious to liquids, the lenticular distribution of oil 

 sands, and the presence of water. Among the influences 

 which have a bearing upon the distribution of oil in an 

 operated field is the tendency of oil to follow certain 

 channels, which probably represent lines of weakness that 

 existed in the early ages of development, when high gas 

 pressures were experienced. On this account, it is some- 

 times found that wells drilled at a later period in proximity 

 to wells of large production will yield a comparatively 

 small amount. In any case, the active development of a 

 rich oilfield in which large volumes of gas are released 

 must almost necessarily produce in course of time some 

 changes in the distribution of the underlying petroleum. 

 The author is at pains to show that with the development 

 of oil sources are encountered some of the most wonderful 

 and fascinating natural phenomena, and that no branch of 

 mining is attended with greater interest or makes greater 

 demands on the resources and ingenuity of the engineer in 

 charge. — A. L. Shragrer : Shaft sinking against water in 



NO. 2157, vol . 86] 



fissured ground by cement injection. This paper comprises 

 a brief description of a method of sinking shafts in water- 

 bearing ground, the general result of which is practically 

 to form a cofferdam of cement around the proposed site 

 of the shaft. The particular shaft described in the paper 

 was one sunk in a coalfield in the Pas de Calais basin, 

 and full details are given, not only of the work carried 

 out, but also of the cost, labour, and quantities of material 

 involved. 



Cambridge. 



Philosophical Society, February 6. — Prof. Hobson in 

 the chair. — ^J. J. Lister : The distribution of the Mega- 

 podidse in the Pacific. The genus Megapodius consists, 

 according to M. Oustalet, of some nineteen species. The 

 distribution of fifteen of these extends almost continuously 

 from Borneo to the New Hebrides and from the Philip- 

 pine Islands to Australia. It thus covers an area in which 

 the land masses are nowhere very remote from one 

 another. There are, however, four outlying species far 

 removed from the rest of the genus, namely, in Niuafou in 

 the Tonga Group, the Pelew Islands, the Marianne 

 Islands, and the Nicobar Islands. As the birds are incap- 

 able of long flight, the question arises. How is the dis- 

 tribution of the outlying species to be accounted for? It 

 has been suggested that it may indicate the existence of a 

 former land area by which all these remote islands were 

 at one time connected. The object of this paper is to show 

 that there is a good deal of evidence, negative and positive, 

 to support the view that these outlying species may have 

 reached their present habitats by the agency of the natives, 

 by whom the eggs are highly valued as food. Niuafou is 

 an active volcano 35 miles in its longest diameter. The 

 other birds inhabiting it are of species common to the 

 Tonga Islands, though four, found in the other islands, 

 are apparently absent from it. The birds are " protected " 

 by the chief, and they exhibit a partial albinism, though 

 in very varying degrees. The native name for the bird is 

 Mallow, identical with that of the Solomon Island species 

 and with that generally used by Malay hunters throughout 

 the East Indies. The nearest species of the genus (in 

 distance, but not in affinities) is that of the New Hebrides, 

 some goo miles to the west, no megapode being known 

 from the intervening Fiji Islands, which consist of much 

 larger and more ancient land masses. With regard to the 

 Pelew Islands, Semper gives evidence showing that they 

 consist of raised coral rock investing a volcanic basis 

 formed by a submarine eruption in late Tertiary time. 

 Quoy and Gaimard, the naturalists of the Uranie, visited 

 the Marianne Islands in 1818-20, and state that the species- 

 there found was domesticated by the natives. M. 

 Oustalet considers that there are undoubted affinities 

 between this species and that from the Pelew Islands, and 

 it is evident from the published figures that there is a 

 close resemblance between the latter and the Niuafou bird. 

 Wallace has expressed the opinion that the Nicobar bird 

 has probably been introduced by the Malays. There is 

 evidence that the species found in the Solomon Islands 

 exists in some places in a domesticated or semi-domesti- 

 cated condition. As the natives of the Pacific Islands 

 were in the possession of fowls, dogs, and pigs when they 

 were first visited bv Europeans, the supposition that in 

 some of their wanderings they may have carried mega- 

 podes with them, and thus established the outlying species 

 in their present habitats, appears not improbable. — 

 J. Romanes : Note on Strongylocentroius Uvidiis as a 

 rock-borer. The specimen exhibited, which was colli-ctfd 

 on the west coast of Ireland, shows three echinoids occupy- 

 ing holes which they have excavated out of the solid rock. 

 In cases previously described, the material which was re- 

 moved appears always to have been much weathrrod. In 

 this instance, however, the rock, which is a slate, is civiite 

 fresh, and as it is quite free from calcareous matter, the 

 action must have been of a mechanical rather than a 

 chemical nature. — A. J. Grove : Exhibition of sketches of 

 a peculiar tracheal system of a mycetophilous larva 

 (Diptera);- 



Mancukster. 



Literary and Philosophical Society, February 7.— Mr. 

 Francis Jones, president, in the chair. — Prof. W. Boyd 

 Dawklns : The origin of the Roman numerals I.-X. It 

 was suggested that these numerals wero derived from a 

 svstem of numeration employed b\ ilu inh.iliiiants of Crete 



