Februarv 17, 1898J 



ISTA TURE 



383 



an Australian cuckoo, Scythrops tiovcE-hollandice, which he was 

 disposed to regard as being more nearly allied to Etidynamys 

 than to any other form of the Cuculidie. — Dr. A. G. Butler read 

 a paper on a collection of Lepidoptera made by Mr. F. V. 

 Kirby, chiefly in Portuguese East Africa. Ninety-two species 

 were enumerated, of which one (Ettralia kirbyi) was described 

 as new. The paper also contained the description of a new 

 species of Cyclopides, viz. Cyclopides carsoni, from Fwambo, 

 collected by Mr. A. Carson. — A communication from Dr. N. 

 H. Alcock, on the vascular system of the Chiroptera, was read 

 by Prof. Howes. The anatomy of the vascular system of 

 Pleropus meditis was described and shown in its general plan to 

 resemble in many respects that occurring in the Rodentia, and 

 observations of a comparative nature were added on the pleurae, 

 pericardium, and lungs. A summary of the literature upon the 

 Chiroptera was also included in the paper. 



Entomological Society, February 2.— Mr. G. H. Verrall, 

 Vice-President, in the chair. — The Secretary read a letter 

 from Mr. A. D. Michael asking if any entomologists, who 

 might find insects attacked by mites (Acari) among their dis- 

 used boxes, would be willing to send him such insects, with 

 the mites still on them or accompanying them, or at least, 

 the mites the^iselves, with the name of the insect given in all 

 cases, for Uhs purpose of his forthcoming monograph of the 

 Tyroglyphidse. — Mr. J. W. Tutt showed a fine series of forms 

 of Hemerophila abruptaria, Thunb., captured and bred by Mr. 

 W. S. Pearce at Holloway, varying from the normal colour, 

 through mahogany-brown to dark fuscous, some of the specimens 

 of the second brood showing a purplish hue. One gynandro- 

 morphous example was shown, with the wings and right antenna 

 of the female type, the left antenna being strongly pectinated. 

 He also exhibited two specimens of Dianthacia luteago, bred 

 by the Rev. F. Lowe, from larvae obtained in Guernsey, and of 

 a very distinct character, having a tendency to the ochreous 

 coloration of the typ)e-form, but being differently marked. — On 

 behalf of Mr. Heyne, Mr. Jacoby exhibited a series of tempera- 

 ture-varieties of Lepidoptera. — Mr. G. H. Carpenter read a 

 paper by himself and the Rev. W, F. Johnson on the larva of 

 Pelophila borealis, describing its structure and life-history. On 

 the larval characters the species, hitherto considered as of 

 doubtful relationship, was regarded as being closely allied to 

 Elaphrns. — Papers were communicated by Mr. F. D. Godman, 

 F.R.S.,and Mr. O. Salvin, F.R.S., on new species of American 

 Rhopalocera, and by Mr. M. Jacoby, on some phytophagous 

 Coleoptera (Eumolpidae) from the Islands of Mauritius and 

 Reunion. 



Chemical Society, February 3. — Prof. Dewar, President, 

 in the chair. — The following papers were read : — The volumetric 

 estimation of sodium, by H. J. H. Fenton. Sodium dihydroxy- 

 tartrate is^ very sparingly soluble in water at 0° and the 

 solubility in presence of excess of a dihydroxytartrate is 

 practically' negligible ; since dihydroxytartaric acid is readily 

 oxidised by permanganate m sulphuric acid solution, the 

 formation of the sodium salt affords a simple and accurate 

 method of estimating the metal.— The atomic weight of boron, 

 by F. P. Armitage. From determinations of the water of 

 crystallisation in borax, Na2B407, H.^O, the atomic weight of 

 boron is calculated as 10-928.— Rate of escape of ammonia 

 from aqueous solution, by E. P. Perman. After drawing a 

 volume V of air through a dilute solution of ammonia at a 

 uniform rate, the amount q of ammonia left in solution is 

 \ogq = a-byj , where a and b are constants; with variable 

 temperature /, log b = a + 0(, a and B being constants.— On the 

 dissociation of potassium platinichloride in dilute solution ; and 

 the production of ' platinum monochloride, by E. Sonstadt. 

 Potassium platinichloride, in a o-i per cent, aqueous solution, 

 is scarcely changed on heating ; in a Q-oi per cent, solution 

 platinum monochloride is gradually precipitated on heating, in 

 accordance with the equations (i) K2PtCl6 = 2KCl-l-PtCl4 ; and 

 (2) 2PtCl4-<-6H20 = 2PtCl-H6HCl + 3H.p2.— Effect of the 

 mono-, di- and tri-chloracetyl groups on the rotatory power of 

 methylic and ethylic glycerates and tartrates, by P. Frankland 

 and T. S. Patterson. In order to ascertain the rotatory effect of 

 the halogens when attached at a point in the molecule remote 

 from the asymmetric carbon atom, the authors have examined 

 the mono-, di- and tri-chloracetyl derivatives of the methylic 

 and ethylic tartrates and glycerates ; tables of the optical data 

 are given. — The rotation of ethylic and methylic dimono- 

 chloracetyltartrates, by P. Frankland and A. Turnbull. 



NO. 1477, VOL. 57] 



Manchester. ' 



Literary and Philosophical Society, January 25.— Mr. 

 J. Cosmo Melvill, President, in the chair. — Mr. Louis Schwabe 

 was elected an ordinary member of the Society. — The President 

 referred to the loss sustained by the Society through the death 

 of Mr. Thomas Ashton, who, since the death of Mr. James 

 Heywood, was the " Father " of the Society, having been elected 

 in 1837. — Mr. J. J. Ashworth called attention to a paper by 

 Mr. J. Smith, in vol. xxi. of the Society's " Memoirs" (1859) 

 on the origin of colours and the theory of light, in which is 

 given a complete description of the colour phenomena seen when 

 a black and white disc is rapidly rotated. As the phenomena 

 have been to some extent re-discovered during the past few years, 

 and have attracted considerable interest, he thought it advisable 

 to direct attention to a paper which appeared to have been for- 

 gotten, in which the subject is treated with great thoroughness. 

 — Apropos of an inquiry at a recent meeting of the Society, as 

 to the origin of wheat, the President exhibited specimens of 

 y^gilops, Triticum, and Agropyrum from his herbarium. Men- 

 tion was made of a grass, yEgilops ovata, L., which was declared 

 by a French botanist some fifty years ago to become wheat on 

 being cultivated, and subsequent experiments appeared to con- 

 firm this statement. The opinion generally held by botanists 

 now, however, is that in all probability wheat had its origin in 

 Triticum motiococciitn, L., a plant found in Asia Minor, Mesopo- 

 tamia and Greece. — Mr. Alelvill afterwards communicated a 

 paper by Mr. Peter Cameron entitled " Hymenoptera Orientalia, 

 or Contributions to a Knowledge of the Hymenoptera of the 

 Oriental Zoological Region," part vii. 



February 8. — Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill, President, in the chair. — 

 Mr. Brothers exhibited and described the latest form of Mr. F. E. 

 Ives' photo-chromoscope, called the " Kromskop." Stereoscopic 

 photographs were shown in which the various objects, when 

 viewed through the arrangement of red, blue, and green glasses, 

 were seen in all the colours of nature-groups of flowers, 

 landscapes, &c., being thus realistically reproduced. — On the 

 collision of two explosion- waves, by Messrs. R. H. Jones and 

 J. Bower. This paper was a description of experiments carried 

 out in the research laboratories of Owens College to examine 

 whether there was any increase of pressure on the collision 

 of two explosion-waves. This was shown to be the case, both 

 by direct hydraulic tests of the tubing used and by photographs 

 of the explosions. It was also argued that the increased 

 luminosity at the point of collision and the increased speed of 

 the reflected wave from the point of collision above that of 

 reflection from a hard surface established the fact of greater 

 pressure. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, February 7. — M, Wolf in the 

 chair.— The President announced to the Academy the death of 

 M. Jean Albert Gauthier-Villars. — Histological mechanism of 

 cicatrisation ; immediate synaptic reunion, by M. L. Ranvier. 

 If two parallel incisions of equal length are made in the cornea 

 of the rabbit, one going only a third to a half through the 

 membrane, the other penetrating right through into the chamber 

 behind, the latter heals more quickly than the simple wound. 

 These effects are due to the part played by fibrin in cicatrisa- 

 tion. — On the development of real non-analytical functions, by 

 M. P. Painleve. — Transparency of bismuth in a magnetic field, 

 by M. H. Buisson. The electromagnetic theory of light re- 

 quires a relation between the transparency and electrical re- 

 sistance of a body. By placing a thin sheet of bismuth in an 

 intense field caused by an electromagnet, it is possible to cause 

 sudden variations in the resistance of the plate. Since not the 

 slightest variation in the intensity of the transmitted light could 

 be detected under these conditions, the author concludes that 

 the conductivity which intervenes in luminous phenomena is 

 probably of a different order to that ordinarily measured. — 

 Cycles of magnetic torsion and the residual torsion of soft iron, 

 by M. G. Moreau. — On a method of comparing curves of 

 torsion, by M. H. Bouasse. — Transformation of the X-rays by 

 transmission, by M. G. Sagnac. A continuation of preceding 

 work on the properties of the secondary rays, or rays emitted 

 by bodies struck by the X-rays. — On photographic development, 

 by M- R. Colson, — On the melting points of gold and silver, 

 by M. Daniel Berthelot. The metals in the form of wire were 

 heated in the furnace described in a previous paper, and the 

 temperature of fusion measured by a platinum-iridium thermo- 



