540 



NATURE 



[June 15, 191 1 



standirij^ ih 



• •\:iiniiii<l ll 

 l!iin>|)';m ii 

 I 111- |)ar,isil' 

 r.ilil)il, .(iiil 

 loj^iralls th. 

 |ii-(uli,iril \ 

 some Irom 

 iKirlh-i.isi l\l 

 lli;il ;iiii(im;. 



I.I, 1 iliai i,/.)s,M)/,i l^iljuilts ll 



. .1 :,, ■■ I'.,,;. . '..■ .■. I h 



>l ^■\.•l^,•ll, 111(1. 



W.I-, .il>ii ''X.iiiiiiiiil ill ili> MiMxl (ll .1 iiiiiiik.\, 



j^o.il ill|i(i>(i lldlll the |);ili.-;it. Miirpl).. 



1 1 \ |). 11111-.! nil'- was lounil th' s.-iiin- 



s W.I-. olisi I veil ill ilii .1 lry|):i!i(i- 



1 |).ilirnt inlrili-d in tin i .,,,.■ \'ail<\- <>l 



iijrsia. I Ills |)('( uli.'iril V <i>nsisir(l in tip' fad 

 till' slioil liiiins sonii- !i.i\i- till- luicli-us at 

 thr posii lini (n(>n-(la<^ill;ir) i-xi niiiiiy . In .1 (onilition of 

 hfa\\ inlriiimi llp-sr- ixwli-riui iiiu li-ai 1 1 \ iiaiiosomi-s form 

 frtMii J to 5 |)i-r ci-nt. of the total parasiti s pri-Miit. .\ 

 s'-cond int(-ri-sliiij4 jxiinl in tlic niorpholofjy <>l llii-^ ]i.ir.i>;ii 

 is tli.il thr (-ylopl.isin.-i w.is fr''ciii('iitl\- fouiiil li> ]«• \a(iii>- 



1.1 I'd ill ;i 1 '1 11, 'irk, 1 hi' 

 .1 rijiis|;nil li-.itui''- W'- 

 .•miimiil of mat' ri.'il a( mii 

 or i^oal iiii.cul.il' (1 with th'- 

 ill .ill till- dis.;i^i- r.iii .-111 

 lll'ir iihs'TX-.ilioMs, ih'- aull 

 1 r\ p.inosdiii'' in t|iii-slion is 

 olh'T li.ind, it vi-ry rl(>s,-l\ 

 is piohaliK idi-iilic.il with it 

 in .-1 dislrirt (Dowa 

 a. f^tilpiilis h.i.s 111 \ir 



u 1 1 .' 1 1 1 



■ .lis 



■ p.ir 



\\'hiihi-r or not this is 

 to si.it'- Irom ill'- sm;ill 

 sal. A nil ink'-\ , r.-ihhit , 

 r.is-;.- h'-raiiii- i nhiM '-d , ,-ind 

 n- \s ;, r'siilt of 



iiiiiidii that thi- 

 ol / . •:,iiiihiciis<\ ( )n th'- 

 i-mh|i ■- 7 . I lii>(lrsiiusc, .iiid 

 111'- dis'-.is'- was rontraii'-d 

 -dislrii-I of .\ni4onil;ind ) wii'-i-- 

 loiind, hui wlli-li- a. ilK'r^itan- 



is known to i-\ 

 th'-n-fori', th.-it 

 disl iiK I s])i-(-ios 

 .-is'i-nr than (i. 



st in l.'ir^'- miinhi- 



this 1 1-\ p.-inoso;n'- 



rapahk- of tr.in- 



palpalis, prohahK" 



s. 1 1 app'-.irs pi'i , 



( '/'. yll,>,l,'SI,IISr 



• iiission l)\ soni'- oili-r 

 C/'. Diorsitaiis. — (Japtain 



J-i. McCarrison : The cxperinicnfal transmissioti of goitre 

 from man to animals. — Dr. Helen Chambers and Dr. S. 

 Russ : The action of radium radiations upon some of the 

 main constituents of normal blood. Experiments have 

 been performed in vitro with the following results :— 

 When blood is mixed with radium emanation haemolysis 

 occurs with gradual conversion of oxyhaimoglobin into 

 met-hnemoglobin. The haemolysis is a gradual process, 

 and lias been found to occur as a direct result of a radia- 

 tion. I.eucocytes show marked degenerative changes when 

 exposed to o rays. During the process of clothing leuco- 

 cytes appear to move away from a region radiated by 

 o rays. This motion is not due to a direct action of the 

 rays on the leucocytes, but has been attributed to changes 

 found to occur in the surface tension of blood serum when 

 radiated. The specific properties of opsonin and haemo- 

 lytic complement are lost when serum is exposed to o rays. 

 The progressive changes caused by these rays indicate the 

 separate identity of opsonin and complement. The ^ and 

 y rays have- yielded negative results in analogous e.xperi- 

 ments.-— F. L. Usher and J. H. Priestley : The 

 rnechanism of carbon assimilation. — Part iii. Details are 

 given of further experiments supjX)rting conclusions arrived 

 at in parts i. and ii. of this series, as to the primary 

 products of photolytic reduction of aqueous solution of 

 carbon dioxide. By the use of other sources of energy, 

 viz. (i) a and /3 rays from radium emanation and its 

 products, and (2) the radiation from a quartz mercurv 

 vapour lamp, solutions of carbon dioxide have been de- 

 composed with formation of small quantities of form- 

 aldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide 

 formed was identified by the titanium sulphate reaction ; 

 the formaldehyde by Schryver's reaction. Further experi- 

 ments with chlorophyll films are described, leading to the 

 conclusion that bleaching of chlorophyll in sunlight, 

 whether carbon dioxide is present or not, is due to forma- 

 tion of hydrogen peroxide ; but the production of form- 

 aldehyde in such condition and quantities as to be recog- 

 nisable bv the use of SchifT's reagent seemed only to 

 occur when carbon dioxide was present. Evolution of 

 oxygen from green tissues in which the catalase has not 

 been killed, and from gelatin films containing catalase 

 over which a film of chlorophyll has been spread and ex- 

 posed to light in an atmosphere containing carbon dioxide, 

 has been established by further experiments. Qualitative 

 tests for emission of oxygen have been made bv methods 

 involving the utilisation of Beijerinck's photo-bacteria ; 

 quantitative tests by the use of apparatus enabling verv 

 small quantities of oxygen to be measured. Further 

 evidence that some of the energy supplied to a film of 



nienta 



rarbor 



upon the 



of til- '^alv. 



when stjri 



urr^-nt. I 



protozoa have b' 



Experiments on • 



NO. 2172, VOL. 861 



by sunlight is us' phololytit redu, 



I", i di(»\ide has I" ■ .cd by an .-vti, , 



it -III ll tiliii in sunlight, in pr>-- 



•s ;it ;i lo'A- ■ ti-m[)> ratiif' th.iii .: 



-.il.linlll, hut 

 I Kill hides with 



.\I>eriinental evidi-iti 1 and 1 (<ni kisioiis i-cord- I 

 ill p.irts i. and ii. of this series of papers. — T. Ooodey . 



\ KMitribution t i..„,»„i..,i.,.. ,j .1,,. ,„,,,..„., .,( . . 



soil. The pap* I 

 soil protozoa \\\. 



lU'-nt.-il in limiting the a<iivii\ <d hacteria it) tlit: soil, a- ' 

 thus in hi-lping to n-ndi-r tlie soil comparatively infert;': 

 M' ihixU of oht.iining protozoa in cultures of soil ;- 

 'll srrihid, .ind ,1 list of the different species found so ! 

 is ^i\i 11. .\n exp'-riiivntal method for quickly find--:* 

 i-.-irllcst ciliat'-d i)iot(>/o.-i <x:curring in a soil t a: 

 di-scrilied, in wliii h iisi- is in.K 

 r'-sj)onsi- w-hiih m;in\ of tin- ; 

 l.iti-d h\- me.'ins of .1 contiii., 

 ni'-.-ins of this iii'-iIukI, .-utiv- (ili 

 found in from i\ liouis to ^ hoii 



lf-n;^ili of tine- f cpiind ff>r a ciliated protozoon, Colp' 

 iiiiiillns, to di V' lo[) from its resting cysts have also b' 

 (ondiiri'-il in simil.'u- ni'-di.-i ,-ind at the same temperati, 

 .Is iisi d ill t'li -f>il (-nltures. It lias been found that ■ 

 lim s r'-c|uii-ii for dcvi-lopment in Loth ^oil and 1 

 iihiii-i'-- .u''- conip.-ir.-ih!'-, ;ind •' ■ ' ". cuciiUus 



i i-iir in siiil rultur's ;ir.- .-ihi. aotx-ara- 



witii tlio^i- whirji emerge from ri sting cysts. The co 

 1 lusion drawn from the expyeriments is that the cilia' 

 ])iotozua ;ire only present in the soil in the encysted c 

 dition, and do not, therefore, function as the factor lirr; 

 ing bacterial activity in the soil. — G. Stead : Th" an' 

 and kathode spectra of various gases and vapours. 



neological Society, M'jy 10. — Prof. W. W. \Vat' = 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Prof. E. J. Garwood 

 The Lower Carboniferous succession in the north-west oi 

 England. The area dealt with includes Westmorland 

 north and west of the Dent Fault, North Lancashire to 

 the north of the Lune Valley, and the northern corner of 

 Yorkshire. The value of the zonal indices selected is dis- 

 cussed and their distribution described. Whereas the zonats^ 

 indices chosen for the larger groups of beds are ofteni; 

 sporadically distributed in the zone, the bands form re-\ 

 niarkably trustworthy horizons, extending over large areas,; 

 In no one district is a complete development of all the] 

 zones observed, and only by taking a broad survey of the 

 whole area can the detailed faunal sequence be established. 

 In the Shap area the Michelinia megastoma zone itn 

 scarcely represented, while farther west the fauna of thil^ 

 horizon is one of the richest in the whole of the norths 

 western province. The changes in the fauna of certain 

 zones often depend more on the lithological characters d 

 the rocks than on the introduction of new forms at definite 

 horizons. The deposits are shown to be, for tlv-" mosi 

 part, of shallow-water origin. The lowest dep- 

 characterised by highly magnesian limestoni;- 

 majority of the limestones throughout the series are rich it 

 foraminifera, and the more shaly layers in ostracods at ' 

 bryozoa. Both silicification and dolomitisation of 

 limestones were practically contemporaneous with 

 deposits in which they occur. The movements which ha| 

 affected the rocks in the Arnside district have been 

 result of nearly horizontal thrusts, and it is shown 

 means of zoning that the beds have in places been invert* 

 and are dipping at more than 120°. The palaeontolc^ic 

 divisions are correlated with their probable equivalents 

 the Bristol area. Several new species of corals and 

 new genus are described, and the affinities of several cc 

 and brachiopods are discussed. — Prof. S. H. Reyn< 

 and Dr. .'\. Vaugrhan : The faunal and litholc_ 

 sequence in the Carboniferous limestone (Avonian) 

 Burrington Combe, Somerset. Lithology. — ^The series^ 

 almost continuously calcareous from the base of Z to 

 where the section ends ; the K beds are, to a large 

 shales. Crinoids are the prevalent limestone-buUfj 

 throughout K, Z, and C, ; in C, the rock is of the crir 

 type, known as petit granit by the Belgian geol 

 A band of oolite occurs in the upper part of K,. C, 



