258 



NA TURE 



\Jan. 27, 1876 



advance in the morphology of Infusoria by their recent re- 

 searches. — Prof, Selenka contributes a concise but very interest- 

 ing account of the development of Phaicolosoma dongatum from 

 impregnation to the fourth day, beyond which his specimens did 

 not develop. The changes in the first few hours after impreg- 

 nation are carefully figured at brief intervals ; the formation of 

 the alimentary canal by invagination was very clearly made out. 

 Prof. Selenka contemplates publishing a monograph on the 

 Gephyreans. — Prof. H. Nitsche gives a preliminary account of 

 his researches on the structure and budding of Loxosoma Kefer- 

 steinii ; the most important result he claims to have demonstrated 

 is the exclusive origin of the bud from the ectoderm of the 

 parent, so that there is a direct conversion of ectodermal elements 

 of the parent into entoderm elements of the offspring. — Dr. 

 Anton Dohm gives a full account of the regulations and manage- 

 ment of his zoological station at Naples. 



The September number of the same journal opens with some 

 very interesting observations made in the aquarium at the Naples 

 Zoological Station by Prof. Kollmann, chiefly relating to the Ce- 

 phalopods. The most notable paper is one by Dr. Malbranc on 

 the lateral lines and their sense-organs in Amphibia. The posi- 

 tions in which these organs occur are described and figured for 

 a number of species in each main division of Amphibia, the 

 nerves which supply the lateral-organ system are traced, espe- 

 cially the distribution of branches of the vagus, and the micro- 

 scropic structure of the organs is described and figured. He 

 shows their intimate correspondence in structure with the taste- 

 goblets of the Tadpole, the similarity of the characteristic cells 

 being remarkable. The discovery of taste-goblets in many 

 species of Amphibia is also recorded, and is to form the subject 

 of another paper. — Prof. Kollmann contributes a paper describing 

 his investigations on the circulation in Aplysise, Lamellibranchs, 

 and Cephalopods, Among the most important of his conclu- 

 sions are that Aplysise and Lamellibranchs have arterial hearts, 

 and that there is not really any lacunar system in Cephalopods. 

 He has also made very careful investigations as to the admission 

 of water into the blood in many MoUusca. — O. Biitschli gives a 

 brief contribution on the development of Cucullanus etegans, 

 showing the formation of its embryo by a process of involution. 

 It is connected in several important characters with the embryo 

 of Sagitta, — Dr. Dohrn has a paper of fragmentary notices on 

 Insect Development, devoted principally to points in the deve- 

 lopment of the Silkworm and the Mole-cricket. — One of Dr. 

 von Willemoes-Suhm's letters from the Challenger concludes the 

 number. 



Reichert and Dii Bois Reymond's Archiv, Nov. 1875. — This 

 number includes a continuation of Robert Hartmann's contribu- 

 tions to the knowledge of the anthropomorphic primates, dealing 

 with the osteology of a number of specimens of chimpanzee col- 

 lected by Dr. Schweinfurth ; the conclusion of Paul Mayer's 

 elaborate account of the anatomy of Pyrrhoeoris apterus ; and 

 an aiticle by L. Dittmer on the theory of double monsters. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Chemical Society, Jan, 20.— Prof, Odling, F,R.S., vice- 

 president, in the chair. — Dr. Armstrong exhibited a specimen of 

 pure crystallised glycerin from Messrs. Dunn and Co., of Stratford. 

 — Mr. E. Neison then communicated a note on sebate of cobalt. — 

 After which Dr. C. R. A. Wright gave an abstract of Part IV. of 

 the researches by himself and Mr. G. H. Beckett on narcotine, 

 cotamine, and hydrocotarnine ; on oxynarcotine, a new opium 

 educt, and its relationship to narcotine and narceine. — The last 

 paper was on a method for estimating bismuth volumetrically, 

 by Mr. M. M. P. Muir. 



Zoological Society, Jan. 18. — Mr. Robert Hudson, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Prof. A. H, Garrod read a paper 

 on a peculiarity in the carotid arteries and on other points in the 

 anatomy of the Ground Hornbill {Bucorvus abyssinicus). — Mr, 

 Edward R. Alston read a paper on the classification of the order 

 Glires, Lilljeborg's sub-orders Glires simplicidattati zxA. dtipUci- 

 dentati were recognised, the former being divided into sections 

 equivalent to Brandt's sub-orders Sciuromorphi, Mycmorphi, and 

 Hystricomorphi. A third sub-order was proposed for the recep- 

 tion of the fossil form Typotherium. — A communication was read 

 from Mr, E, A. Liardet, containing notes on the Land Shells of 

 Taviuni, one of the Fiji Islands, with descriptions of several new 

 species, — Mr, E, A. Schafer read a paper prepared by himself 



and Mr. D. J. Williams on the structure of the mucous mem- 

 brane of the stomach in the kangaroos, in which he gave a 

 minute description of the histological characters of the different 

 portions of this organ. — A communication was read from Mr. 

 W. IT. Hudson, containing notes on the habits of the Rails of 

 the Argentine Republic— The Hon. W. H. Drummond read a 

 paper on African Rhinoceroses, in which he gave reasons for 

 believing in the existence of five species in Africa, including 

 R. osiuelli, which, however, might probably be merely a variety 

 of R. simus. — A communication was read from Mr. E. Pierson 

 Ramsay, containing a continuation of his remarks on the birds 

 met with in North-eastern Queensland, chiefly at Rockingham 

 Bay.— A communication was read from M. L. Taczanowski, 

 containing the description of a spotted deer found in Southern 

 Ussuri, district of Amoorland, for which he proposed the name 

 Cenits dyhowskii. — Mr. A. G. Butler communicated a revision 

 of the Lepidopterous genus Teracoliis, with descriptions of the 

 new species. 



Geologists' Association, Jan. 7.— Mr. Henry Woodward, 

 F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — On the geology of New 

 Zealand, with special reference to the drift of that country, by 

 Dr. Hector, C. M. G, , F. R, S, The author first drew attention to 

 the geographical position of the islands, indicating on the South 

 Polar chait their situation relative to known lands of the Antarctic 

 area. Great ice-packs encumber the intervening ocean, circu- 

 lating around the pole ; travelling in a spiral, and thus increasing 

 their distance from the centre. On the meridian of South Shet- 

 land, as low as 40"^ S. latitude, the seas are at all seasons 

 crowded with icebergs, but there is an indentation of the ice- 

 pack opposite Australia and New Zealand, though erratic 

 masses escape sometimes. There are, however, five degrees of 

 latitude off the extreme south of New Zealand, clear of the 

 limit where icebergs are ever found. As regards latitude the islands 

 occupy a position equivalent, in the Northern Hemisphere, to 

 a line between Paris and Algiers. They lie parallel to Australia, 

 1,200 miles E. by S., and repose on a sub-marine plateau, which, 

 along the west shores of the islands, is submerged to a depth of 

 from 1,200 to 1,300 feet, but further westward termmates in 

 water 6,600 feet deep. The edge of this plateau comes close in 

 shore on the S.W. extremity of the Southern (middle) island. 

 Thus New Zealand is a remnant of a once far more extensive 

 land, whose eastern boundaries are not as yet clearly defined, 

 but the author was disposed to include the Chatham Islands as 

 a portion of it. North Island. — The eastern shore is the 

 boldest ; foul weather, and consequently denudation, coming from 

 the N.E. The west side is more shelving; but the great 

 volcanic boss of MouQt Egmont, which rises at a gentle angle to 

 a conical summit, protrudes its protecting buttresses of lava far 

 into the western sea, and has thus been the means of preserving 

 a great tract of Miocene tertiaries behind it ; these constitute 

 some of the best land in the country. South Island. — The 

 denudation comes from the west : its western shores also 

 approach nearer to the edge of the plateau, and the mountains 

 of the south-west angle rise from a profound abyss to a 

 height of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. In the North Island a belt 

 of hard rocks, consisting of the Upper Palaeozoics, and 

 the older Mesozoics, constitutes a sort of back-bone, occu- 

 pying the east-central portions, against which the sofier 

 beds of more recent age recline. In the South Island this 

 belt of Upper Paleozoic rocks, constituting the high mountain 

 chain known as the Southern Alps, sweeps down through the 

 centre with an incline towards the west, and then curves round 

 towards the east again quite to the sea on that side. Against 

 these also the Upper Mesozoics and Tertiaries recline. On the 

 west and south of this easterly bend of the belt of the newtr 

 Palaeozoics a great mass of fohated rocks occur in the province 

 of Otago, constituting the well-known gold-field. In the far 

 south-west we have only crystalline rocks, and these belong to a 

 series which seems to reappear in much of the detached lands 

 of the Southern Ocean, such as Kerguelen's Land, Auckland 

 Islands, &c., where Miocene volcanic rocks also occur. The 

 meteorology of the country, as having an important bearing on 

 the denudation of the surface, was next considered. Referring 

 principally to the Southern Island, we have here the mixing poinc 

 of the N. E. and S. W. currents. On the west side, at Okitika, the 

 annual range of temperature is 50° ; on the east side, at Christ- 

 church, 65° ; moisture, west side, 90°, east side, 75° ; rainfall, 

 west side, 120 inches ; east side, 25 inches ; number of lainy 

 days, west side, 202 ; cast side, 91, Much of this enormous 

 precipitation is deposited as snow in the Southern Alps, which 



