5o6 



NATURE 



|_ J l>i\ t 6, i y 1 i 



of the type-specimen of Osteocella aeptentrionalis from 

 Burrard's Inlet, British Columbia, preserved in the British 

 Museum, no doubt could be entertained that the specimen 

 from Lucy Island belongs to the same species. Large 

 pennatulids from the same waters similar to this in struc- 

 ture have been described by different authors under the 

 names Verillia, Haliptcris, Pavonaria, and Ballicina. 

 There can be no doubt that most of these specimens belong 

 to the same species, and the proper name for it by the 

 rules of nomenclature is Osteocella septentrionalis. The 

 paper contains some general account of the structure of 

 Osteocella, but, apart from the characters of the axis, the 

 most important character is the great development of 

 fleshy substance on the ventral side of the rachis and the 

 presence of ventral radial canals. 



Dublin. 

 Roval Irish Academy, May 8. — Rev. Dr. J. P. 

 Mahaffy, president, in the chair.— K. T. Wanar : The 

 difTerentiation of quaternion functions. Quaternion func- 

 tions are considered which involve only one quaternion, the 

 constanfs being scalars. The formula 



dfq=f'q dq + (f'q.Yq-Vfq)V{Vdq : Vq) 

 is obtained, where /'(g) is the differential coefficient of f(q) 

 formed as if q was a scalar. Several examples are given, 

 and also application to the operator a (defined by 

 dz= —iSdqa). — L Arwidsson : Some Irish Maldanidae. 

 The paper dealt with a small collection of polychaet 

 worms belonging to the family Maldanidaj, collected in 

 Irish waters. One new genus, Caesicirrus, and two new 

 species, C. neglectus and Nichomache maculata, were 

 described. Both species had been found previously by 

 various naturalists, but were erroneously identified. — 

 G. A. J. Cole : Glacial features in Spitsbergen in relation 

 to Irish geology. The paper arises out of the excursion 

 made in connection with the International Geological Con- 



fress of 1910. The comparison of Spitsbergen with 

 reland towards the close of the Ice age is rendered an 

 apt one, both on account of the scale of the surface 

 features and the proximity of the open oceanic waters 

 through a large part of the year. The effect of frost 

 action, and especially of " nivation-hollows," is pointed 

 out as originating the recesses, which are ultimately con- 

 verted into cirques. It is urged that in plateau areas, like 

 those of the eastern part of the Ice Fjord and around 

 Killary Harbour in Ireland, cirques arise by the notching 

 of the plateau edges below the snow-line. The Irish 

 cirques, it is argued, belong to a late stay in the glacia- 

 tion of the country. The possibility is discussed of the 

 retention of lowland ice in the central areas of Ireland 

 after regions to the east had become free. Interglacial 

 phenomena may thus be traceable only on the margin of 

 the Irish " ice-island," though pronounced in other areas. 



May 22. — Rev. Dr. Mahaffy, president, in the chair. — 

 James Murray : Rotatoria bdellotda (Clare Island Survey). 

 No fewer than sixty-five species of bdelloid rotifers have 

 been collected on Clare Island and the neighbouring main- 

 land by Mr. Murray and his helpers, among them one 

 species (Habrotrocha hibernica) new to science. The Irish 

 bdelloids correspond closely with those of Scotland, only 

 two species being, so far, unknown from that country. 



Royal Dublin Society, May 23.— Prof. T. Johnson in the 

 chair. — Prof. James Wilson : The inheritance of milk- 

 yield in cattle. This investigation involved considerable 

 preliminary inquiry, especially on the following points : — 

 (a) the corrections to be made in short and prolonged 

 lactations in order to bring them to the normal ; (6) the 

 allowances to be made for age ; (c) in determining how far 

 a^ cow's total normal yield might be estimated from her 

 yield early in a lactation. These points having been deter- 

 mined, it was found that in full-sized breeds there are 

 three grades of cows, a low grade giving from 450 to 600 

 gallons, a high grade giving from 1000 to 1200 gallons, 

 and an intermediate grade giving from 750 to 950 gallons, 

 and it was found, also, that the high and low grades are 

 approximately " pure " strains, while the intermediate 

 grade is a " Mendelian " hybrid between them. — Prof. T. 

 Carroll J Experiments carried out at the Albert Agricultural 

 Institution, Glasnevin, Dublin : an inquiry into the potato 

 disease Phytophthora infestans. The experiments consisted 



NO. 2 171, VOL. 86] 



of (a) placing in a field of potatoes a case protected Ly 

 cotton-wool from the entrance of disease spores. Tlv- 

 |x>tatoe8 planted in the case belonged to a variei . 

 to disease; but the haulms and tubers of these ]/; 

 potatoes were not attacked, whilst the surf""' 

 protected crop was badly affected, (fc) A porti' 

 in which potatoes were growing was compl' 

 with cotton-wool immediately after the plants had 

 their appearance, when.it was found that the tubers 

 the crop were completely free from disease, although 

 surrounding crop was much diseased, as were the hauls 

 of the protected potatoes, (c) Between the drills 

 ridges) holes were made 12 inches, 6 inches, and 

 deep, into which immature potato tubers were p.-, 

 haulms of the potatoes being placed over them. i)- 

 potatoes from the 12-inch hole were free from dis'^.n^' , 

 those from the 6-inch and 3-inch holes were one-tli 

 two-thirds diseased respectively. Experiments with • 

 tubers were also undertaken, (a) These were plantci :n a f 

 cool conservatory ; disease did not appear in the plantM 

 nor in their tubers, although crops in the n'if'''-!...nrh<*fwfT 

 were badly diseased, (b) One of the tubers o' 

 ment planted in the conservatory showed no s;^ 

 up to September of the following year. The haulms 

 this plant were removed, and, the soil having been ca: 

 fully removed from the tuber, diseased haulms from aj 

 plant grown outside were shaken over the exposed tuber 

 after they had been sprayed with pure spring waterJ 

 Almost all the tubers contracted the disease on their ex4 

 posed surfaces. These and other experiments were undefij 

 taken in order to test whether the disease Phytophthora 

 infestans is carried to the tubers of potato plants from th 

 leaves through the stems, and with the object of provir 

 the value of preventive spraying and suggesting its raise 

 d'etre. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, May 29. — M. Armand Gautier ii 

 the chair. — H. Deslandres : A simple explanation of t' 

 solar protuberances and other phenomena by very we 

 magnetic fields. By assuming the existence of a sola] 

 magnetic field analogous to that of the earth and also th< 

 ionisation of the gas of the black filaments and prO' 

 tuberances with the predominance of ions of the sanM 

 sign. "Ihe consequences of this assumption are developed 

 and compared with various experimental data. — Ch. 

 Lallemand : A project for an international map an^ 

 aeronautical fixed points. Proposals for a map for the us( 

 of aeronauts, enabling the position to be readily deter 

 mined. The necessity for an international agreement 

 pointed out. — A. Haller and Ed. Bauer : The oximes am 

 phenylalkylisoxazolones obtained with ethyl, methyl, a 

 dimethylbenzoylacetic esters. The oxime of benzoylethyl 

 acetic acid described by MM. Hantzch and Miolati d 

 not exist, and is, in fact, phenylethylisoxazolone. Th 

 esters of monomethyl, monoethyl, and dimethylbenzoyl 

 acetic acids, whatever their mode of preparation, give rii 

 to substituted phenylisoxazolones when treated wii 

 hydro.xylamine hydrochloride and alcoholic potash. Th 

 oximes, however, can be obtained by treating these estci 

 in alcoholic solution with the chlorzincate of hydroxylamin 

 (Crismer's salt). — Ch. Ed. Quillaume : The coefficient 

 the quadratic term in the formula of the expansion 

 nickel steels. The value of the coefficient of the quadrad 

 term in the expansion is plotted against the percenta^ 

 of nickel, the data from eighty-four alloys being utilisi 

 The disturbing effects of chromium and manganese 

 discussed. — S. Arloingr, M. Fern, and J. Chattot : 

 influence of the anaemia of the organs on the incidero 

 of tuberculous lesions. Tubercle bacilli, varying in vir 

 lence, do not produce lesions in an organ deprived i 

 circulation by aseptic means. — M. Godlewski was el 

 a correspondant for the section of rural economy in ^ 

 place of the late M. Fliche. — J. Guillaume : Observati 

 of the sun made at the Observatory of Lyons during 

 first quarter of 191 1. The results of observations on fi 

 nine days are given in three tables showing the num| 

 of spots, their distribution in latitude, and the distribu^ 

 of the faculae in latitude. — ^Jules Drach : The determi: 

 tion of the asymptdtic lines to the general surfaces of 

 third degree. — Lucien Codeaux : Linear congruences 



