Oct. 26, 1876] 



NATURE 



583 



the Lawas River, where they are not uncommon, but on the 

 Trusan and Brunei Rivers, which lie close to, the species is 

 quite unknown to the natives, even by name. 



The Liverpool Geological Society held its first annual meet- 

 ing of the session on the loth instant, when the retiring presi- 

 dent, Mr. T. Mellard Reade, C.E., F.G.S., delivered his 

 annual address. The subject was an interesting one, being a 

 calculation of the amount of solid matter removed annually from 

 the surface of England and Wales in solution, in rain, or rather 

 river water. The result of the calculations, which were of an 

 elaborate nature, founded upon the analysis of water given by 

 the Rivers' Pollution Commission in their Sixth Report, and the 

 rainfall chart prepared by Mr. Symons, showed that it would 

 take 13,000 years to remove, in this manner, one foot in depth 

 of solid matter over the entire surface of England and Wales. 

 This calculation was compared with others prepared by Mr. 

 Reade, of the soluble denudation of the great river basins of 

 Europe, viz., the Danube, the Rhine, and the Rhone. As 

 throwing light upon the age of sedimentary deposits, the calcu- 

 lations taken, together with the amount of matter annually 

 brought down in river water in suspension in the form of mud, 

 are extremely interesting, and Mr. Reade deduced from them 

 that the minimum amount of time which must have elapsed 

 since the first sedimentary rocks we know of were laid down is, 

 in round numbers, 500 millions of years, thus supporting the 

 views of Lyell, Hutton, and other great geologists, as to the im- 

 mense age of the world. 



We have on our table the following books : — " The River 

 Clyde," by James Deas (J. Maclehose). Piddington's " Sailor's 

 Horn-Book," 6th edition (Fredk. Norgate). " Spiritualism," 

 Prize Essays. "Chemia Coartata; or, the Key to Modem 

 Chemistry," Dr. A. H. Kollmyer (Churchill). Heer's "Primaeval 

 World of Switzerland," edited by James Hey wood, 2 vols. (Long- 

 mans). Oscar Peschel's "Races of Man " (H. S. King and Co.). 

 " Text-book of Veterinary Obstetrics," by George Fleming, 

 Parts I. and II. (Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox). "A Study of the 

 Rhsetic Strata of the Val de Ledro in the Southern Tyrol," by 

 T. Nelson Dale. Three more volumes of Stanford's * ' British 

 Manufacturing Industries." 



From the i8th inst. numerous spots have been observed on 

 the sun, and a large number of protuberances detected round the 

 disc by means of the spectroscope. The observations have been 

 made at Brussels by Monkhoven, and reported^daily in the Inde- 

 pendance Beige. 



A NEW and enlarged edition of Hayden's "Dictionary of 

 Dates " is in the press, bringing the book down to this autumn. 

 It is being thoroughly revised and corrected under the hands of 

 Mr. Vincent, of the Royal Institution. 



Mr. Murray will publish during this autumn, " A Life of 

 Thomas Edward, A.L.S., a well-known Scotch Naturalist," by 

 Mr. S. Smiles, author of " Self-Help." The book will contain 

 a portrait etched by Rajon ; "The EflFects of Cross and Self- 

 Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom," by Charles Darwin, 

 F.R.S., and a new edition of " Kirke's Handbook of Physio- 

 logy," by Mr. W. M. Baker. In this book many chapters have 

 been rewritten, and about 160 new illustrations added. 



We are glad to find that a second edition of Mr. James 

 Geikie's work, "The Great Ice- Age," has been called for. A 

 considerable number of alterations have been made, and some 

 parts have been almost re-written. Daldy, Isbister and Co. are 

 the publishers. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rhesus Monkey (Macacus erythroeus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. M. Almond ; a Grivet Monkey {^Cerco- 

 fithecus grisea-viridis) from North-east Africa, presented by Mr. 

 T. T. Sich ; three Palm Squirrels {Sciurus pahnaruvi) from India, 

 presented by Mr. Henry Grey ; a Collared Peccary {Dicotyles 



taja(u) from Venezuela, presented by Mr. C. J. Sims ; a Greater- 

 spotted Woodpecker (Picus major) European, presented by Mr. 

 Henry Laver ; a Magpie Tanager {Cissopis leveriand) from 

 Brazil, purchased. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Bulletin de VAcademie Imperiale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, 

 t. XX. Nos. 3 and 4. — From these parts we note the following 

 papers : — On an artificial way of producing snow crystals, by J. 

 Dogiel. — On the appearance of Encke's comet in 1875, with 

 remarks on the existence of a resisting medium in the celestial 

 space, by E. von Asten. — On a remarkable motion observed in 

 a very sensitive level, by H. Romberg. — On the property of the 

 sphagnnin of marshes, to absorb liquid water and water vapour 

 from the atmosphere, by N. GeleznoC — On the determination of 

 the brightness of fixed stars by means of Zoellner's photometer 

 and gradual elevation, by Ed. Lindemann. — On pentamethyl- 

 ethol and its derivatives, by A. Boutlerow. — Diagnose of new 

 plants of Japan and Mandshuria, by C. J. Maximowicz (tenth 

 part ; this treatise is in Latin). — On the mean curvature of 

 planes, by Ferd. Minding. — Some observations on reflex move- 

 ments, by J. Setchenow. — On three new pinacolines, by A. 

 Wischnegradsky. — On some derivatives from lepidene, by N. 

 Zinin. — On the calculation of the elliptical orbit by means of the 

 two radii vectores r and r', of the angle 2/ they enclose, and of the 

 time t between the two observations of the planet, by M. Kowalski. 

 — T. xxi. Nos. I to 4. — From these parts we note the following 

 papers : — Researches on the rabbit (Lepus cuniculus), from a 

 zoo-geographical and palaeontological point of view, by J. F. 

 Brandt. — Some observations on the sexual glands of insects, by 

 Dr. A. Brandt. — On dimethylparabanic acid, and on succid- 

 cyanic ethers, by N. Mentschutkin. — On the orbit of the double 

 star 2 1728 = 42 Comae Ber., by O. Struve. — On the observations 

 of the planets at St. Petersburg, by A. Sawitsch. — Results of 

 measurements made on dolomite, barytes, titan-iron, and zinc 

 blende crystals, by N. Kokscharow. — Researches on blood, by 

 H. Struve. — On some derivatives from lepidene, by N. Zinin. — 

 Analysis of the coal newly discovered at Gelazk, in Imeretia, by 

 Heinr. Struve. — On the remains of extinct rhinoceros found in 

 Russia, by J. F. Brandt. — On a new siphon barometer, by H. 

 Wild. — Some observations made based on the theory of primor- 

 dial cellular leaves in the vegetable kingdom, by A. Famintzin. 

 — On an anemometer provided with a simple apparatus to 

 measure the force of the wind, by H. Wild. — On the trans- 

 formation of some hydrocarbons in the ethylene series and the 

 corresponding alcohols, by M. Boutlerow. — On the milky sap of 

 Cyanchum acutum, L., by the same. — On diphenylcarbinol and 

 some of its derivatives, by A. Zagumennoy. — Osmotic pheno- 

 mena produced in vegetable and animal cells by the action of 

 ether, by H. Struve. — On the curves of the smallest perimeter 

 on surfaces of revolution, by Prof. Minding. — Speech delivered 

 at a public meeting of the Academy on December 29 last, in 

 praise of the late Prof. Jacobi, by H. Wild. — On the question 

 whether the Karian sea can be looked upon as an ice-cellar, by 

 K. E. van Baer. — Report on the memoir by M. Wex on the 

 diminution of waters in sources and rivers, by MM. Helmersen 

 and Wild. — Experimental Researches on some functional pro- 

 perties of the smaller brain, by Ph. Owsiannikow and W. We- 

 liky. — Photometric researches concerning the diffused light of 

 the sky, by H. Wild. — On the double star 22120 = Herculis 

 210, by O. Struve. — On the action of zincethyl on acetalde- 

 hyde, by G. Wagaer. — Additional remarks by K. E. van 

 Baer, on the memoir on the law of the formation of river beds. 

 — T. xxi., No. 5 contains only a {^^ft papers of interest. We 

 note the following : — On the mineral substances containing 

 paraffin in the peninsula of Apcheron, by H. Abich. — On the 

 properties of Leuchtenbergite under the microscope, both in its 

 pure and in its metamorphosed state, by Duke Nikolas, of 

 Leuchtenberg. — Microscopical properties of the Indian green 

 aventurine, by the same. — On the chemical composition of dia- 

 lurates, by N. Menschutkin. — On the morphology of Ulothrichea 

 (a genus of Algce), by L. Cienkowski. 



Revue des Sciences Naturelles, tome t. No. I. — In this number 

 M. CoUot carries out in the plant-kingdom a line of inquiry that 

 has been prosecuted in the animal. He shows that many plants 

 before reaching their final form pass through forms very different 

 from that ; these young forms lack special character and show 

 the average and most common conformation of the group to 

 which the plant belongs (AtistraUan Acacias, &c.), or serve to 



