34 



NATURE 



[March 2, 191 1 



I 



during the Minoan civilisation. This conclusion was based 

 on a comparison of the Roman numerals with a set of 

 Minoan numerical symbols. — Prof. A. H. Qibson : The 

 manner of motion of water flowing in a curved path. The 

 conclusions which would appear to be justified as a result 

 of the experiments described are : — (i) that whenever flow 

 talies place past a curved solid surface, whether this is 

 ex{X)sed to water on its concave or its convex side, the 

 motion, except for the slowest velocities, is unstable ; and 

 (2) that in the fluid itself curvature with the velocity 

 greatest on the inside of the path tends to stability, while 

 curvature with the velocity greatest at the outside of the 

 path tends to instability. ' Another fact which the experi- 

 ments appear to indicate is that the tendency to eddy 

 formation in the relative motion of a fluid and solid surface 

 is greater, for a given relative motion, when the fluid, as 

 a whole, is moving past a stationary surface than when 

 the surface is moving through still fluids. This receives 

 Indirect confirmation from experiments by Stanton, 

 Beaufoy, Froude, Dubuat, and Morin on the resistance of 

 plane surfaces when moving through still water, or when 

 held stationary in a moving stream. — Miss Margaret C. 

 March : Studies in the morphogenesis of certain Pelecy- 

 poda. II. — The ancestry of the Gibbosae. The ornament 

 of the Trigoniae, as shown by the ontogeny and phylogeny 

 of modern species, develops from concentric to radial, with 

 tuberculations developed on alternating radii. Fossil forms 

 show the development of a third type of ornament, viz. 

 diagonal by the junction of these alternating tubercles. 

 Working from this basis, the Gibbosae (part of the 

 Glabrae, Lycett) can be traced back through the Undulata 

 (Lycett) to the Triassic purely concentrically ornamented 

 form Myophoria curvirostris. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, March 2. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Reversal of the Reflex Effect of an Afferent 

 Nerve hy altering the Character of the Electrical Stimulus applied : 

 Prof. C. S. Sherrin8;ton F.R.S., and Mis< S. C. Sowton. — Carbon 

 Dioxide Output dnrina: Decerebrate Rigidity (Preliminary Communi- 

 cation) : Dr. H. E. Roaf. — The Alcoholic Ferment of Yeast Juice. 

 Part VI. The Influence of Arsenates and Arsenites on the Fermentation 

 of the Sugars by Yeast Juice: Dr. A. Harden.^ F.R.S., and W. J. 

 Young. — Experiments to ascertain if certain Tabanidse act as the Carriers 

 of Trypanosoma pecorum: Col. Sir D. Bruoe, F.R.S., and others. — 

 Experimental Studies in Indian Cottons: H. M. Leake. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8, — Dermaptera (Earwigs) preserved in Amber, from 

 Prussia : Dr. Malcolm Burr. —Report on the Marine Polvzoa of the 

 Collection made by Mr. T. Stanley Gardiner in the Indian Ocean in 

 H.M.S. Sealark: Miss Laura Roscoe Thoinely. — On the Mysidacea 

 and Euohausiacea collected in the Indian Ocean during 1905 : W. M. 

 Tattersall. 



RSntgen Society, at 8.1=;. — Some Experiments with a 10,000 volt. Storage 

 Battery : A. A. Campbell Swinton. 



FRIDAY, March 3. 

 Royal Institution, at 9 — Scents of Butterflies : Dr. F. A. Dixey, 



F.R.S. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Lagos Harbour Survey, 1909- 



1910 : H. Ellis Hill. 



SATURDAY, March 4. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Radiant Energy and Matter: Sir J. J. 



Thomson, F.R.S. 

 Essex Field Club, at 6 (at the Essex Museum of Natural History). — 



further Notps on Moorlog, a Peaty Deposit from the Dogger Bank : 



H. Whitehead and H. H. Goodchild, with Notes on the Plants by 



Clement Reid, F R.S. — Note on some Ichneumonstung Larvae: Rev. 



W. K. Wyley. — Notes on Plnsia moneta in Britain : C. Nicholson. 



MONDAY, March 6. 



f^ociETY of Engineers, at 7.^0.— Petrol Air-gas : E. Scott-Snell. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— Applications of Electric Heating : Prof. 

 J. A. Fleming, F.R.S. 



Aristotelian Society, at 8. — Knowledge by Acquaintance and Know- 

 ledge by Description : Hon. Bertrand Russell. 



Society of Chemical Industry, at 8.— The Industry of Brewing: A. C. 

 Chapman. 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30. — Psychology : Rev. Canon I. Gregory Smith. 



TUESDAY, March 7. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Crvstalline Structure : Mineral, Chemical, 

 Liquid : Dr. A. E. H. Tutton, F.R.S. 



Zoological Society, at 8.30.— Some New Siphonaptera from China : The 

 Hon. N. Charles Rothschild.— (i) Contributions to the Anatomy of the 

 Anura. I. Some Anatomical Notes upon the Frog Megalofltrys {Lepto- 

 hrachiuiii) fene ; (2) On the Spermatophores in Earthworms of the (ienus 

 Pheretima ( = Perichaeta1: F. E. Beddard, F.R.S.— (i) A Rare Beaked 

 Whale: (2) Age Phases of the Rorqual : R. Lydekker, F.R.S.— On 

 Longevity and Relative Viability in Mammals and Birds ; with a Note 

 on the Theory of Longevity : Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell, F.R.S. 



Royal Anthropological Institute, at 8.15. 



NO. 2157, VOL. 86] 



Institution op Civil Enginerks, at i.— Further dUcutsion: Modern 

 Railway-signalling : gome Developmcnta upon the Great Western Rail- 

 way : A. 1 . Blackall. 



WEDNESDAY, March 8. 

 Geological Society, at 8. — Contributions to the Geology of Cyrenaica: 



Prof. J. W. Clregory, F.R.S., R. B. Newton, F. Chapman, and I). P. 



Macdonald. — The Teeth uf Ptychodus, and their Distribution in the 



English Chalk : G. E. Dibley. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— Plague and its Dissemination: Jam«» 



Cantlie. 



THURSDAY, March 9. ; 



Royal .Society, at i.yo.— Probable Papers: (1) The Absorption Spec 



of Lithium and Ciesium ; (2) Disper.sion in Vapours of the Alkali Meta 



Prof. P. V. Bevan.--On the Ionic Solubility-product : J. Kendall.— No 



on the Electrical Waves occurring in Nature : Dr. W. H. Eccles 



H. M. Airey. 

 Mathematical Society, at 5.30.— On the Reduction and Cla.s.sific 



of Binar>' Cubic Forms which have a Negative Determinant : G. 



Mathews. 

 Institution op Electrical Engineers, at 8.— The Laying and Mu| 



tenance of Transmission Cables : C Vernier. 



FRIDAY, March 10. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — Recent Advances in Turbines : Hon. C. H^: 

 Parsons, F.R.S. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 5. 



Malacological Society, at 8.— On the Recent Species of Vulsella ; 00 

 a New Species of Phasianella : E. A. Smith.- On the Value of tbi 

 Gasteropod Apex in Classification: T. Iredale. — Valvata IVoodwardL 

 n.sp., and Spherriitm Bulieni, n.sp., from the Forest Bed (Cromerian) « 

 West Runton, Norfolk : A. S. Kennard. ^ 



Physical Society, at 8.— Demonstration of the Working of the Gyra 

 Compass : G. K. B. Elphin<tone. — Note on an Electrical Trevelyan 

 Rocker: Dr W. H. Eccles.— Notes on the Tilted Gold-leaf Electroscope: 

 Dr. G. W. C. Kaye. 



SATURDAY, March ii. 



Royal Institution, at 3.— Radiant Energy and Matter: Sir J. J. 

 Thomson, F.R.S. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Researches on Radioactivity. By E. R i 



Dynamo-electric Machinery. By A. G 3 



Romer's Adversaria. By J. L. E. D 4 



Gall-flies and Others. By P. C 4 



The Crystallisation Microscope 5 



Heat-engines. By T. H. B 6 



Geological Nature-study. By G. A. J. C 6 



Our Book Shelf 7 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Stinging Tree of Formosa.^ — Dr. Tokutaro Ito . 8 

 The Sailing-flight of Birds.— Major B. Baden- 

 Powell 9 



The Non-simultaneity and the generally Eastward Pro- 

 gression of Sudden Magnetic Storms. — Dr. L. A. 



Bauer 9 



Colliery Warnings. — ^John Harger ; Prof. W. Gallo- 

 way 12 



The Hydrogen Spectrum.— Charles W. Raffety . . 12 



Life and Habit.— W. H. M. ; The Reviewer ... 12 



Forest Life in India. (Illustrated.) 13 



Distinguished Animals. {Illustrated.) Sir H. H. 



Johnston, G, CM. G., K.C.B 14 



The Kangra Earthquake of April 4, 1905. {Illus- 

 trated.) . .16 



Wireless Telegraphy Systems. By A. J. Makower . 17 



Notes 18 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences for March 23 



A Remarkable Meteor 23 



The Photographic Spectrum of Nova Lacertse .... 24 



Recent Observation of Halley's Comet 24 



Search-ephemerides for Westphal's Comet (1852 IV^) . 24 

 Observations of the Zodiacal Light ind the Gegen- 



schein 24 



The Murnpeowie Meteorite 24 



International Hygiene Exhibition, Dresden, 191 1 . 24 



The Rusting of Iron. By T. M. L 25 



Economic Geology in the United States. By H. L. 25 

 The Affinities of Schizotrypanum, By E. A, M. . 26 

 The Organisation of Technical Education and Re- 

 search. By Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S. ... 26 

 Progress Report of the Carnegie Institution of 



Washington 28 



University and Educational Intelligence 30 



Societies and Academies 31 



Diary of Societies 34 



