i8, 1875] 



NA TURE 



57 



Ir//«) produced by climate, by Dr. Kraatz.— On tb« anatomy 

 irbellarice, by L. Graff. 

 :tion 7. Anatomy and Physiology. — On the texture of the 

 rellum of man, by 13. Stilling.— On the time necessary for 

 oping muscular currents, by H. Hermann. — On the nervus 

 >, by Dr. Steiner. — Application of anilin-red for micro- 

 cal objects, by E. Hermann.— Contribution to the physio- 



Ilogy of muscles, by Prof Auerbach. — On Newton's law of tem- 

 peratures with regard to animal heat, by A. Adamkiewicz. — 

 Prof Gscheidlen proved that the activity of nerves is connected 

 with oxidising processes. — On the retina of snakes, by Dr. 



F1p«ch. 



he Sections 8 {Pathology), 9 {Medicine), 10 {Surgery), \l 

 ':thalmology and Oliatrits), 12 {Midwifery^, 13 {Psychiatrics), 

 Ut{Hygiene),^\i, {Military Suroety^, and 20 {Diseases of Children), 

 being devoted to medicine, must be omitted in this report ; 

 excepting, however, a paper read in Section 9, by Dr. Knapp, 

 on the Styrian habit of arsenic- eating. The speaker introduced 

 two men, fifty-five and twenty-five years old, who had been in 

 the habit of eating arsenic for years, the former having con- 

 tracted this habit in 1849, to save himself (in his opinion) from 

 an epidemic of typhus then raging. The other, a farm-servant, 

 applied arsenic to improve the health of cattle, and accustomed 

 Mmself to its use. They have gradually increased the dose to about 

 o*5 gram. As.jOj or AsoSj, taken once a week. They swallowed 

 before the eyes of the Section o"3 gr. of orpiment and 0-5 gr. of 

 arsenious acid respectively. Only strong people seem to adopt 

 this habit, and they do not appear to suffer in health through it 

 With women it has been known to produce abortus (see also 

 Section 17). 



Section 16 " Naturwissenschaftlische Paedagogic " {on the 

 Teaching of Science in Schools) was composed of teachers, who 

 discussed the means for teaching and the extent to which science 

 should be taught in schools. 



Section 17. Agricultural Chemistry. — On estimating atmo- 

 spheric carbonic acid, by Dr. Fittbogen. — On experiments made 

 in the agricultural station of Proskau on the influence of shearing 

 in increasing the weight of sheep (it being found that shearing 

 increases their appetite), and on the influence of arsenic in 

 fattening animals, by O. Kellner. It appears that arsenic in- 

 creases the power of digesting fat, and decreases the amount of 

 nitrogen given off in urine, thus assisting materially in the for- 

 mation of flesh.— On potato-feeding, by Dr. Wolf. — On the 

 specific weight of seeds and on the bearing of analytical results 

 ! on the physiological value of seeds, by G. Marck. — On fibrous 

 plants and their cultivation in moors lor the purpose of paper- 

 I making, by H. Stiemer. — On the value of animal protein, by Dr. 

 j Wild. — On the proportion of solid and hquid matter in plants 

 I in different periods of their vegetation, and on the decrease of 

 j salts in water used for watering fields in Westphalia, by Dr. 

 ' Konig. — On the solubility of phosphates of lime, and on the 

 -.iiient of bones with superheated steam, by Dr. Krocker. 

 ction 18. Geography and Ethnology. — Prof. Friesach ex- 

 ijxiiined a table destined for mariners to facilitate the finding of 

 the shortest route between two points of the globe. — Dr. V. 

 I Zwiedinesk reported on a journey to the Wan Lake (Curdistan). — 

 ! Von. Hochstaetter showed Mr. Mundy's photographs of New Zea- 

 ' land. — On the couse of the Arctic vessel Tegethof, by Vice- 

 I Admiral Baron Wiillerstorff. — On Arctic ice, by Lieut. Wey- 

 ■ precht. — On the project of connecting the Algerian-Tunisian 

 ; plain (Chotto or Sebkhas) with the Mediterranean, by G. 

 Stache. The author is of opinion that the advantages of this 

 1 (Capt. Rondaire's) project are not in proportion to its difficulties 

 ' and costs. — On Dante's views on the advancing and receding of 

 ' the sea, by W. Schmidt. 



j Section 19. Anthropology. — On prehistorical remains (urns) 



I at Maria- Rast, near Marburg (Styria), by Prof. Milliner. This 



burial-ground was visited by the Section, as also the field near 



Leibnitz, where various bronzes have been found, and the 



tumuli near Purgstall ; Count W^urmbrand'acting as guide. — The 



latter reported on burial-grounds in Upper Hungary. — On a 



; burial-ground near Innsbruck, by Dr. Wieser, — On Slavian 



I legends, by Prof Miillner. — On Keltic remains in Styria, by 



I F. Ferk. — On the cavern of Byci-Scala in Moravia, by H. 



j ^Wankel. — On diluvial man, by Count Wurmbrand. — On lake- 



j cities (Pfahlbauten) in the moors of Laibach, by Dr. Deschmann. 



, — On prehistorical walls and ditches in Hungary, by Dr. 



I Romer. — On the natural law of the formation of states, by L. 



j Gumplowicz. — On prehistorical measures, by R. v. Luschin. — 



j On Keltic warfare, by Dr. W^eiss. A. Oppenheim 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 

 Mathematical Society, Nov. 11. — Prof Cayley, F.R.S., in 

 the chair. — Prof Sylvester, F.R.S., gave an account of results 

 arrived at in his communication "on the fifteen young ladies 

 problem and a general mathematical theory of pure syntax. " The 

 problem, which was first considered by Mr. Sylvester more 

 than twenty-five years ago, was not at that time published by him : 

 it was' then discussed by Prof. Cayley, next proposed by Rev. 

 T. P. Kiikman in the "Lady's and Gentleman's Diary" for 

 1850: solutions were given in the "Diary" for 1851 ; but it was 

 not until the year 1862 that an elaborate solution was given by 

 Mr. W. S. B. Woolhouse in the volume for that year. The 

 problem may be enunciated as follows : — "In a school of fifteen 

 girls, a rule has been laid down that they shall walk out every 

 day in rows of threes, but that the same two girls shall never 

 come together twice in the same row. The nile is supposed to 

 have been carried ont correctly during the six working days of 

 the week, but when the time comes for their going to church to- 

 gether on Sunday it is found to be absolutely impossible to continue 

 it any further. Can the rule have been carried out correctly during 

 the six previous days?" — Other papers brought before the 

 Society were : " On the relation between Bernoulli's numbers 

 and the binomial coefficients, " by Mr. J. Hammond. The paper, 

 which was accompanied by a coloured diagram, showing how 

 certain four determinants for the numbers are formed of 

 selected coefficients, contained some interesting numerical results 

 which foUow directly from certain division formulae given in a 

 former paper by the same writer. — " On three-bar motion in 

 plane space," by Mr. S. Roberts. In this communication the 

 author determines three foci, any two of which may be taken as 

 centres of the link movement and the nature of the linkwork in 

 each case. — "Values of certain infinite products, with an appli- 

 cation to the summation of the geometrical series of the «th 

 order as a definite integral," by Mr. J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S. — 

 " On the form of cam which, acting on a lever, shall communi- 

 cate a motion such that the angular velocity ratio of the lever and 

 cam is a given function of the angle described by the latter," by 

 Major J. R. Campbell. 



Geological Society, Nov. 3. — Mr. John Evans, V.P.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — Mr. Thomas Andrew, 18, Southemhay, 

 Exeter; Mr. Harry M. Becher, White Lodge, Barnes, S.W. ; 

 Mr. Arthur Back Kitchener, F.C. S., 19, Buckingham Street, 

 Strand, W.C.; Mr. Daniel Morris, Grammar School, Burnley ; 

 Mr. Christopher Thomas Richardson, M.D., 13, Nelson Crescent, 

 Ramsgate ; and Mr. Gustavus A. H. Thureau, Lecturer 

 on Geology and Practical Mining, School of Mines, Sand- 

 hurst, Victoria, were elected Fellows of the Society. — On 

 some new I^Iacrurous Crustacea from the Kimmeridge Clay 

 of the Sub-Wealden Boring, Sussex, and from Boulogne- 

 sur-Mer, by Mr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S. The first species 

 described by the auchor belonged to the fossorial family Thalas- 

 sinidse, six species of which belonging to lour genera are now 

 found on the British coasts. The knoAvn fossil species are from 

 the Chalk of Maestrich, the Greensand of Bohemia and Silesia, 

 the Chalk of Bohemia, the Greensand of Colin Glen, near Bel- 

 fast, and the Upper Marine Series of Hempstead, Isle of Wight. 

 All these are referred to the genus Callianassa, which also in- 

 cludes the species from the Kimmeridge Clay described in this 

 paper. The fossil is seen in profile on several sections of the core, 

 and has the enlarged hands of the fore limbs more nearly equal 

 in size than in the living species of Callianassa ; the carapace 

 and segments of the abdomen are smooth, and the latter are 

 somewhat quadrate in profile, contracted at each extremity, and 

 not pointed, and the caudal plates are oval. For this Crustacean 

 the author proposes the name of Callianassa isochela. The 

 second species described belongs to the genus Mecochirus, distin- 

 guished by the great length of the fore-limbs, which is equal to 

 that of the whole body, the oldest known species of which (/!/. 

 olifex, Quenst) is from the Lower Lias of Wiirtemberg. It 

 was obtained, together with Lingula oz'alis, from the Kimmeridge 

 Clay of Boulogne, by Mr. J. E. H. Peyton, after whom the 

 author proposes to name it M. Peytoni. In this species the fore- 

 legs are very finely punctate, and measure seventy-five millims. in 

 length. The rostrum is somewhat produced, and the carapace, 

 which is finely granulated, measures thirty millims. in length. 

 The antennae are long and slender. The abdomen measiues 

 forty-five millims. , and the epimeral borders of the segments are 

 falcate. The species is intermediate in size between M. socialise 



