84 



NA TURE 



[May 2S, 1875 



— Dr. Arthur Schuster exhibited an interesting collection of 

 objects brought by him from Siam and the Western Himalayas. 

 — On a graphical method of drawing spectra, by Mr. William 

 Dodgson. — Evidence to prove that a bone from the Windy Knoll, 

 Castleton, named by Prof. W. BoydDawkins, F.R.S., " Sacrum 

 of young Bison," is a sacral bone of the Cave Bear {Ursus 

 spelaeus), by John Plant, F.G.S. 



April 4. — Mr. E. Schunck, F.R. S., president, in the chair. — 

 Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F. R.S., called the attention of the 

 Society to the depreciation of silver which is now under the 

 notice of a select committee of the House of Commons, and in 

 connection with this called attention to the enormous mining 

 wealth of the Nevada silver-mining district, a part of which he 

 had had the opportunity of examining last autumn. — On some 

 isomerides of alizarine, by Edward Schunck, F.R. S., and Dr. 

 Hermann Roemer. — Prof. Boyd Dawkins, F. R. S., said with 

 reference to the Windy Knoll bone, spoken of by Mr. Plant at 

 the last meeting, that he had re-examined the evidence, and con- 

 sulted Mr. Davis, of the British Museum, and found that he was 

 mistaken in referring it to bison. The evidence of the jaws and 

 teeth proves that the bear of Windy Knoll is not the cave, but 

 the great fossil grizzly bear ( U. ferox fossilis = U. priscus), as 

 may be seen by a reference to the Quart. Geol. Journ., Lond., 

 1875, pp. 251-2. — The Eucalyptus near Rome, by Dr. R. Angus 

 Smith, F.R.S., V.P. 



April 18. — Annual General Meeting. — Mr. E. Schunck, 

 F.R. S., president, in the chair. — The number on the roll on 

 April I, 1876, was 166. — Mr. Edward William Binney, F.R.S., 

 F.G.S., was elected President. — Mr. W. E. A. Axon read a 

 note on a church bell, at North Wooton, Somersetshire, dated 

 A.D. 1265, in Arabic numerals, and on a MS. dated A.D. 1276, 

 in which they are freely used. 



Vienna * 



Geological Society, March 7. — M. F. Karrer examined, 

 together with M. Linzow from Odessa, the limestones and lime- 

 sand beds of the environs of Odessa, and found that nearly the 

 whole mass of them is composed of Foraminifers belonging to 

 the genus Nubecularia, which attach themselves to various other 

 bodies, and therefore appear in many different forms. — Director 

 Ruecker stated the most recent results obtained concerning ihe 

 division of the coal-strata of Ajka, in Hungary, and presented to 

 the Society a rich collection of fossils from this country.— M. F. 

 Posepny referred to the salt-pits of Bex, near Geuf, and argues 

 that neither the salt-beds of the Alps nor those of other countries 

 are bound to a fixed geological horizon. — Dr. R. Homes on the 

 remains of Anthracotherium from Zoveneedo. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, May 15. — Vice- Admiral Paris in 

 the chair. — The following papers were read : — Meridian obser- 

 vations of small planets at the Greenwich and Marseilles Obser- 

 vatories during the first three months of 1876 ; communicated 

 by M. Le Verrier. — Note on the theoretical and experimental 

 determination of the relation of the two specific heats in perfect 

 gases whose molecules are monatomic, by M. Yvon Villarceau. 

 In the ideal case where each gaseous molecule consists of only 

 one atom, the relation of the two specific heats would be inde- 

 pendent of the chemical nature of the gas, and equal (the author 

 showed) to i'666. Now MM. Kundt and Warburg have lately 

 obtained for mei-cury vapour the number i "67. He suggests the 

 possible existence of other monatomic gases. M. Berthelot re- 

 served his assent to the conclusions regardmg mercury vapour. — On 

 a working model of a new system ot navigation locks, applicable 

 specially to cases where the surfaces of water of the canals are 

 very variable, by M. de Caligny. — Second note on the bitter 

 lakes of the Isthmus of Suez, by M. de Lesseps. Notwithstand- 

 ing the solution of the bank of salt in the middle, and the evapo- 

 ration, the saltness diminishes. This must be due to currents, 

 produced through difference of density between the water of the 

 lake and that of the extremities of the canal ; the heavy water 

 Hows to the sea, while the surface currents bring in water that is 

 less salt. Hence an orifice of small section may suffice to pre- 

 vent large sheets of salt watei', though far from the sea, being 

 concentrated by the heat. — Study of several questions relative to 

 the Suez Canal, M. de Lesseps. Inter alia, rain now falls at 

 least twice a month ; during the construction of the canal, pre- 

 viously to 1870, M. de Lesseps observed rain not more than 

 once in the year. — On the danger of introduction of certain 



American vines into the vineyards of Europe, by M. Mares. 

 This is on account of the phylloxera found in galls on the leaves 

 of American vines. — Mineralogical and geological researches on 

 the lavas of the dykes of Thera, by M. Fouque. This memoir 

 furnishes new data on the distinction of felspathic species, the 

 simultaneous presence of several trichnic felspars in one 

 rock, the structure of lava at the moment of effusion, and 

 the bedding and production of tridymite in volcanic rocks. — 

 On the phylloxera issue of the winter egg, by M. Boiteau. 

 — Another note on the subject, by M. Lichtenstein. — On the 

 presence of phylloxera in submerged vines, by M. Trou- 

 chaud. — On the effects produced by absence of cultivation at 

 the surface of the soil, in vineyards attacked by Phylloxera, by 

 M. Fran9ois, — Ephemerides of the planet 162, by M. Rayet. — 

 On determination of the temperature of solidification of liquids, 

 and particularly of sulphur, by M. Gernez. The point of solidi- 

 fication is sometimes substituted for the point of fusion, being 

 supposed identical with it ; but the determination may be vitiated 

 by phenomena of superfusion, M. Gernez utilises these pheno- 

 mena to determine the temperature of solidification with great 

 precision. He shows how the temperature of solidification 

 varies in the different kinds of sulphur ; only insoluble sulphur 

 being constantly solidified at one temperature, 114° '3, whatever 

 the temperature at which it has been fused. — On calorific spectra, 

 by M. Aymoimet. He used a Bourbouze lamp, and a refracting 

 system of flint. The heat maximum approaches the less refran- 

 gible part of the spectrum in proportion as the temperature of 

 the source decreases. Flint becomes less diathermanous as the 

 temperature falls ; a solution of iodine in chloroform, more dia- 

 thermanous. (The distribution of heat in the spectrum is indicated 

 by numbers.) — On the presence of selenium in refined silver, 

 by M. Debray. It is nearly always present, and comes from 

 the sulphuric acid used in refining. — Chemical researches on 

 vegetation (continued). Inunctions of leaves. Origin of carbon, 

 by M. Corenwinder. Not only can leaves acquire carbon by 

 their surface, but they can assimilate the carbon contained in the 

 carbonic acid which circulates in their tissues. — On the heart of 

 Crustacea, by M. Dogiel. The muscular bundles of the peri- 

 cardium act in the opposite direction to those of the heart itself 

 (they are dilators). The blood of Crustacea is to be considered 

 as lymph, and their heart a lymphatic heart ; its movements de- 

 pending on the action of the nervous system on the muscular 

 elements. — The limbs of the aquatic Salamander, fully extirpated, 

 are not regenerated; notebyM. Philipeaux. The basilar bones must 

 be completely removed. — On the signification of the filament of 

 the stamen, by M. Clos. He thinks it the analogue, not of the 

 petiole, but of the nervureor median portion of the petals. — On 

 the crystalline system of several substances presenting optic 

 anomalies ; theory of crystalline groups ; explanation of dimor- 

 phism, by M. Mallard. — On a new mineral from the Pyrenees, 

 by M. Bertrand. This, called Friedelite, is a hydrated silicate 

 of protoxide of manganese. — On the flora of the sandstone of 

 Fontainebleau, by M. Contejean. — On the antiseptic properties 

 of borax, by M. Bedoin. — On a new motor based on the elastic 

 force of salid bjdies, by M. Arnaudeau. 



CONTENTS p^^^ 



Lord Carnarvon's VivrfECTioN Bill g^ 



Wilson's "Prehistoric Man" By Edward B. Tvlor, F.R.S. . . 65 



Thb Arai.o-Casi'ian Region (,=, 



Our Book Shelf 6S 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Supposed New Laurentian Fossil. — Dr. William B. CARPENfER, 



F.R.S ^68 



Theory of Electrical Induction. — Rev. J. F. Blake 63 



Dynamometers and Units of Force. — Prof. Henry Hennbssv . . 69 

 The Potato Disease, 1 1. By Worthington G. Smith {IVi'k 



Iliiis/rniion) yo 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Occultation of Saturn, August 7, A M 71 



New Red Star 72 



The Double Star 2 3,121 72 



The Loan Collection Conferences 72 



Section Chemistry. — Opening Address by the President, Dr. Frank- 



lanl, F.R.S 73 



The Press on the Loan Collection 76 



Notes 78 



Scientific Serials 81 



Societies and Acadbmiks 81 



