76 



NA TURE 



[July 14, 1923 



differences between the ground-waters of the Null.igine 

 area and of the Dry Lake region. — L. Glauert : 

 Contributions to the fauna of Western Austraha, 

 No. 4. A freshwater isopod, Phreatoicus palustris, 

 sp. nov., recently found in the swamps and small 

 lakes near Perth, is described. The animal is closely 

 allied to species found on Mount Kosciusko (5700 ft.) 

 and Baring Tops (5000 ft.) in New South Wales ; 

 on Mt. Wellington (3800 ft.), Tasmania ; on Dividing 

 Range (2000 ft.), Victoria ; on Table Mountain 

 (2000 ft.), S. Africa ; and in New Zealand, blind, 

 in wells. Its distribution suggests former land 

 connexion between New Zealand, Australia, and 

 S. Africa. — T. H. Withers : An Australian cretaceous 

 cirripede. Additional material from Gingin shows 

 that a barnacle previously described by R. Etheridge, 

 junr., as Pollicipes (?) ginginensis is a species of 

 Calantica (Scillaelepas), 



April 10. — Mr. E. de C. Clarke in the chair. — 

 A. D. Ross and R. D. Thompson : Magnitude observa- 

 tions of the star Beta Ceti obtained since the recent 

 reported outburst. The reported increase in intensity 

 can be explained by the fall into the star of a body 

 of planetary size. — E. O. G. Shann : The present 

 position in international exchange. A critical dis- 

 cussion is given of the various schemes to regain 

 stability. 



Sydney. 



Linnean Society of New South Wales, March 28. — 

 Mr. G. A. Waterhouse, president, in the chair. — 

 G. A. Waterhouse (annual address) : (i) Biological 

 survey of Australia. Attention was directed to the 

 slaughter of Australian marsupials for the sake of 

 their skins, and to the export of enormous numbers 

 of birds. The scientific interest of the fauna is 

 evidenced by the number of collecting expeditions 

 visiting Australia. The protection of the flora is 

 a necessary corollary of any attempt to protect the 

 fauna, and support is given to a recent suggestion 

 to preserve the forests of all those portions of New 

 South Wales which are more than 4000 feet above 

 sea-level. (2) A further account of breeding experi- 

 ments with the Satyrine genus Tisiphone. An 

 account of the family from an orange female caught 

 at Port Macquarie, April 17, 1922. This female had 

 probably not laid any eggs before her capture, and 

 she laid 14 eggs in captivity, from which 12 butterflies 

 were obtained. The family shows, in the general 

 shape of the forewing markings and the absence of 

 the hindwing band, a closer approximation to abeona 

 than to morrisi ; the colour of three-fourths of the 

 specimens is that of abeona rather than morrisi, but 

 the size and coloration of the ocelli approximate 

 rather to morrisi than abeona. 



Mr. A. F. Basset Hull, president, in the chair. — 

 R. Greig- Smith : The high temperature organism 

 of fermenting tan-bark. Pt. ii. In the process of 

 white-lead manufacture, the spent bark, before being 

 again used, is subjected to a preliminary fermentation 

 in which moulds play a part. Several that were 

 isolated were able to convert cellulose into soluble 

 products capable of being attacked by the high- 

 temperature organism. The tempered bark contains 

 humic acid as a typical constituent, and this substance 

 is fermentable. Tempering is clearly a biological 

 process in which the woody matter of the bark 

 is altered to substances that can be fermented by 

 the high - temperature bacterium. — J. McLuckie : 

 Studies in symbiosis. No. 3. A contribution to the 

 morphology and physiology of the root-nodules of 

 Podocarpus spiniilosa and P. elata. The development 

 of the root-nodules of these two species of Podocarpus, 

 the method of infection of the roots by the bacteria, 

 the distribution of the bacteria in the cells, and of 



the fungal hyphae which are frequently present, :i: 

 discussed. The nitrogen-fixing power of the organi.->:.. 

 causing the nodule formation has been estimated. — 

 G. F. Hill : New Termites from Central and South- 

 East Australia. One new species of Coptotermes 

 and two new species of Eutermes are described. 

 The Australian termite fauna now comprises 6 species 

 of Coptotermes and 28 species and i variety of 

 Eutermes. — T. G. Sloane : Studies in Australian 

 entomology. No. xviii. Synoptic tables of the 

 Australian species of the genera Dyschirius, Craspedo- 

 phorus, and Dicrochile are given, and a table of 

 genera of the tribe Odacanthini — introducing 

 genera. 



Calcutta. 



Asiatic Society of Bengal, June 6. — S. L. Hora : 

 The adhesive apparatus on the toes of certain geckos 

 and tree-frogs. It appears probable that all such 

 adhesive apparatus consist of mere friction devices. — 

 M. J. Seth : A memuscript Koran in classical Armenian. 

 — L. R. Rau : On the age of the Uttatur marine 

 transgression. The fossils in the lowermost Uttatur 

 deposits and their correlation with foreign equivalents 

 appear to show that the term " Cenomanian trans- 

 gression," now generally employed for this encroach- 

 ment of the sea on land in Southern India during 

 cretaceous times, does not faithfully represent it in 

 point of time and has to be modified so as to accord 

 with an older age. — R. Chanda : (i) Note on the 

 discovery of supposed Neolithic writing in India. 

 The inscription on one neohth is evidently a modem 

 date in Arabic numerals. The other object is not 

 a neolithic artifact, and the letters are probably 

 scratches. (2) Prof. Mazumdar on the dates of the 

 Sanchi inscriptions. A fifth test letter, dha, for 

 distinguishing post - Mauryan Brahmi. — N. K. 

 Majumder : Siddhanta-Sekhara of Sripati. A brief 

 introductory account of an important treatise on 

 Indian astronomy, Siddhanta-Sekhara, by the reputed 

 Indian astronomer, Sripati, of the eleventh century 

 A.D. Recently a copy was discovered in the Trivan- 

 drum Palace Library, and a few other copies in the 

 Government Oriental Manuscripts Library of Madras. 

 — C. B. Kloss : On Blyth's hu\hn\. ' {Xanthixus 

 flavescens). Specimens from North Cachar are 

 sufficiently different from specimens collected in 

 Arrakan to be accepted as representing a new 

 sub-species. — P. C. Mahalanobis : A first study of 

 the head-length of Bengal castes and tribes. A 

 biometrical analysis of the head -length of 36 Bengal 

 castes and tribes. 



Official Publications Received. 



Records of the Survey of India. Vol. 16 (Supplementary to General 

 Report, nf20-21). Annual Reports of Parties and Offices, 19-20-21. Pre- 

 pared under the direction of Col. C. H. D. Ryder. Pp. iv + 140-hlO maps. 

 (Dehra Dun : Trigonometrical Survey.) 4 rupees ; 8s. 



Canada. Department of Mines : Mines Branch. Summary Report of 

 Investigations made by the Mines Branch during the Calendar lear 

 ending December 31, 1921. Pp. 346 + 20 plates. (Ottawa : V. A. Acland.) 



Mellon Institute of Industrial Research of the University of Pitt«bur;;h. 

 Tenth Annual Report on the Industrial Fellowships of Mellon Institute, 

 liy Edward R. Weidleim, for the Institutes Fiscal Year, March 1, 1922, to 

 March 1, n>23. Pp. vi + 20. (Pittsburgh, Pa.) , „. -i 



Proceedings and Reports of the Belfast Natural History and Philo- 

 sophical Society for the Session 1921-22. Edited by Arthur Deane. 

 Pp. viii + 131. (Belfast) 5s. 



ReiKjrtof the National Research Council for the ^ ear July li 1^1. to 

 June 30 1922. Pp. iv+S5. (Washington : Government Pruiting Office.) 



Diary of Societies. 



TUESDAY, Jl-ly 17. 

 Royal Anthropological Institute (Special Meeting), at 8.15.— Pr. 

 D. B. Derry : The Discovery of Fossil Human Bones in Egj'pt, possiDiy 

 of Pleistocene Age. 



NO. 2802. VOL. 1 12] 



