2l6 



'NATURE 



[December 30, 1897 



certain substances on solidification. — Prof. A. C. Haddon pre- 

 sented a paper upon the Actiniaria of Torres Straits. This 

 account of the Actiniaria is based mainly on the collections 

 made by the author in 1888-9, supplemented by descriptions 

 published by Mr. Saville-Kent in his works "The Great 

 Barrier Reef of Australia" and "The Naturalist in Australia." 

 In order to render the paper more complete, allusions are made 

 in it to genera which are not recorded from Torres Straits. In 

 a second paper, Prof. Haddon described a new species of 

 Actiniaria from Oceania — Phellia Sollasi. This was collected 

 by Prof. Sollas in the lagjoon at Funafuti, Ellice Group, W. 

 Pacific, in 1896 —The following objects were exhibited at this 

 meeting : The Coccolilhs of Dublin Bay, by Mr. H. H. Dixon, 

 and Prof J. Joly, F. R.S. — A collection of economic plant 

 products from the Gold Coast, by Prof. T. Johnson. 



St. Louis. 

 Academy of Science, December 6. — Mr. Julius Hurter 

 exhibited specimens of a considerable number of reptiles and 

 batrachians, mostly of southern origin, which had been collected, 

 by him during the past season, and were additions to the known 

 fauna of Missouri. Among the more interesting additions were 

 the cotton-mouth moccasin, the banded water snake, Ilolbrook's 

 water snake, the little brown snake, the Louisiana mud turtle, 

 the chestnut-backed salamander (first detected west of the 

 Mississippi River by Mr. Colton Russell), and the marbled 

 salamander. — Mr. H. von Schrenk exhibited a series of 

 specimens and drawings illustrating some of the injuries inflicted 

 on the trees of St. Louis by the tornado of May 1896, showing 

 not only the~formation of double twig elongation and growth 

 rings, but the exfoliation of the bark and the consequent drying 

 out of 50 per cent, or more of the wood through the trunk and 

 branches, in several species. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, October 27. — Prof J. T. Wilson, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Descriptions of new species of Australian 

 Coleoptera, Part 4, by Arthur M. Lea. Thirty-four species, 

 principally belonging to the Curctiliontda , were described as new ; 

 with critical notes and remarks on synonymy. — On the lizards 

 «f the Chillagoe district. North Queensland, by Dr. R. Broom. 

 Twenty-three species were collected during a six months' resi- 

 dence at Muldiva, seventy miles west of Ilerberton, a district in 

 which during eight months of the year (April-December) as a 

 rule there is practically no rain. A species of Lygosoma was 

 described as new. — On a Trachypterus from New South Wales, 

 by J, Douglas Ogilby. In this paper the author gave a detailed 

 description of a young example washed ashore near Newcastle, 

 and reviewed at length our present knowledge of the genus in 

 the south-western Pacific. — Contributions to a more exact know- 

 ledge of the geographical distribution of Australian Batrachia, 

 No. 5, by J. J. Fletcher. The present contribution is ba.sed 

 upon the examination of collections from Tasmania and West 

 Australia. In the British Museum Catalogue (second edition) 

 seven (? eight) species are attributed to Tasmania, and fourteen 

 to West Australia. Three additional species are now recorded 

 for the former Colony, and six for the latter, including an un- 

 described species of Crinia belonging to the group having the 

 abdominal surface non-granulate. — Mr. Froggatt exhibited a 

 number of scale insects {Eriococcus coriaceus, Mask.), upon a 

 twig of Eucalyptus, among which had been placed a great 

 number of the eggs of the scale eating moth Thalpochares cocco- 

 phaga, Meyr. The eggs are pale pink, circular, and beautifully 

 ribbed. The scales were infested with the larvae of Cryptolaintis 

 niontrotizieri, Muls., a useful small black ladybird beetle. Both 

 these enemies of Eriococcus are of great economic value, as the 

 ■moth larvae have now taken to eating the olive scale {Lecanhim 

 ■ olecB, Sign. ), and the ladybird beetle is bred both in New Zealand 

 and America. Also living specimens of our largest white ant, 

 Calotermes longiceps, Froggatt, which were taken out of a log 

 of fire-wood, and had already been in captivity for over two 

 months. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



MONDAY, January 3. 



Society of Chemical Industry, at 8. — Standard Methods of Tanning 

 Analysis as adopted by the International Association of Leather Trades 

 Chemists, with Remarks thereon : Prof. H. R. Procter and Dr. J. G. 

 Parker. — Extraction of Tanning Materials at various Temperatures : Dr. 

 J. G. Parker.— Neatsfoot Oil : J. H. Coste and E. J. Parry. 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30. — Ancient Civilizations : Rev. John Tuck- 

 well. 



TUESDAY, January 4. 

 Roval Institution, at 3.— The Principles of the Electric Telegraph: 



Prof. Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. 

 Royal Victoria Hall, at 8.30.— Coal : W. F. Rudler. 



WEDMESDA Y. January 5. 

 Geological Society, at 8.— On the Structure of the D.nvos Valley : A. 

 Vaughan Jennings. — Sections along the Lancashire, Derbyshire, and 

 E.ist Coast Railway, between Lincoln and Chesterfield : C. Fox-Strang- 

 ways. 



THURSDA Y. January 6. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— The Principles of the Electric Telegraph : 

 Prof. Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. 



FRIDA K, January 7. 

 GeOLOGiSTs' Association, at 8. — A Brief Account of the Excursions in the 

 Urals, down the Volga, in the Caucasus, &c., made in connection with 

 the Interntional Geological Congress held in Russia, August-September, 

 1897 : L. L. Belinfante. 



SATURDAY, January 8. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— The Principles of the Electric Telegraph: 

 Prof. Oliver Lodge, F.R S. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — L'Electro-chimie : A. Minet (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Intro- 

 duction to the Study of Organic Chemistry : J. Wade (Sonnenschein). — 

 Naturliche Schopfungs-Geschichte : Prof. E. Haeckel, 2 Vols., Neunte 

 Umgearbeitete Auflage (Berlin, Reimer). — Notes on Carpentry and 

 Joinery: T. J. Evans, Vol. i (Chapman). — What is Life?: F. Hovenden 

 (Chapman). — The Collected Mathematical Papers of Arthur Cayley, Vol. 

 xiii. (Cambridge University Press). — Physikalisch-Chemische Propae- 

 dentik : Prof. H. Griesbach, Zweite Halfte, 2 Liefg (Leipzig, Engelmaiin). 



Pamphlets. — Magnetic and Pendulum Observations: G. R. Puinam 

 (Boston, Mass.). — Hand-Guide to the Botanic Gardens, Buitenz^rg 

 (Batavia, Kolff). 



Serials. — Traits Encyclop^dique de Photographic : Dr. C. Fabre, 

 Cinq*^ Fasc. B. (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — Journal of the Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society, December (Williams). — Century Magazine, January 

 (Macmillan) — (Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, December 

 (Churchill). — Natural Science, January (Dent). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Motive Power and Gearing. By ; Prof. A. Gray, 



F.R.S 193 



A Pioneer of Medicine 194 



Selections from a Diary 195 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Adie : " Agricultural Chemistry." — R. W 196 



Lapparent : " Notions generalessur I'Ecorce terrestre." 



— H. B. W 196 



Maspero : ' ' The Dawn of Civilization : Egypt and 



Chaldnsa" 196 



Scott : " The Local Distribution of Electric Power in 



Workshops, &c." I97 



Edridge-Green : " Memory and its Cultivation " . . 197 



Parish: "Illusions and Hallucinations " 197 



" Transactions of the Rochdale Literary and Scientific 



Society" I97 



Sidersky : " Les Constantes Physico-Chemiques " . . 197 

 Briggs : " By Roadside and River : Gleanings from 



Nature's Fields " 198 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Dugong.— W. F. Sinclair . 198 



Potato- Disease.— G. W. Bulman 198 



The Prevention and Cure of Rinderpest 198 



Large Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes. By 



Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer 200 



The Woburn Abbey Deer. {Illustrated.) By R. L. . 201 



The Late Professor A. Schrauf 203 



Notes 204 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in January 207 



Nautical Al/itanac Corrigenda 207 



Occultation of the Pleiades 207 



Partial Eclipse of the Moon 207 



New Investigations of ;3 Lyrse , 207 



The Atmospheres of Planets 207 



The Densities of Certain Gases. By Lord Rayleigh, 



F.R.S 20S 



The Northam Pebble Ridge. By W. H. Wheeler . 209 

 Random Selection. By Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., 



and L. N. G. Filon 210 



Modification of the Great Lakes by Earth Move- 

 ment. [With Map.) By Prof. G. K. Gilbert ... 211 

 Forests and Rainfall, By Prof. H. A. Hazen . . . 213 



University and Educational Intelligence 214 



Societies and Academies 215 



Diary of Societies 21O 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 216 



I 



NO. 1470, VOL. 57] 



