S36 



NA TURE 



\April 27, 1876 



ture next to language being the tape-like flattening of their hair 

 noticeable in an ordinary lens. The paper was accompanied 

 with a comprehensive exliibition of Papuan weapons, works of 

 art, utensils, and articles of dress, which will remain at the In- 

 stitute till their next meeting, April 25, when the discussion, in 

 which Col. Fox, Lieut. Armit, R. N., Mr. Franks, Mr. Hyde 

 Clarke, the Rev. A. H. Sayce, and others took part, will be 

 continued. — Mr. Brabrook, the Director, then read a paper by 

 Mr. B. Walker entitled " Religion, Politics, and Commerce of 

 Old Calabar," which contained an account of the singular insti- 

 tution of Egbo, the principal object of which is to secure mutual 

 protection amongst the freemen. Admission to the various 

 grades, nine in number, is by purchase. As regards religion 

 each district has a separate but subordinate divmity. Their 

 commerce consists of palm oil, ebony, ivory, and barwood. The 

 inhabitants appear to be advancing in civilisation. 



Entomological Society, April 5. — Prof. Westwood, president, 

 in the chair. — Messrs. ]. W. Douglas, E. C. Rye, G. Lewis, C. Fenn, 

 J. Dunning Kay, and W. C. Copperthwaite were elected Ordinary 

 Members ; and Mr. B. A. Bower, jun., was elected a Subscriber. 

 — Mr. F. Bond exhibited a specimen of Xylina laiitbda taken 

 near Erith in September last by Mr. W. Marshall, being the 

 fifth instance of its having been taken in Britain. He also exhi- 

 bited Ebulea stachydalis, taken by himself at Kingsbury. Middle- 

 sex, in June 1862. — Mr. Champion exhibited specimens oiAigialia 

 rufa, taken by Mr. Sidebotham near Southport, and he brought 

 examples of Psammodius suleicollis for distribution. — The Presi- 

 dent made some observations respecting the habits of the common 

 gnat, in continuation of his remarks at the meeting of Nov. 4, 

 1872. Large numbers of females had again appeared in his 

 house at Oxfird, not a single male having been observed, and 

 he believed they had hibernated in the house, appearing the first 

 warm days of spring. He also remarked that Dr. Leconte's 

 valuable collection of Coleoptera had been presented to the Uni- 

 versity of Cambridge, Mass. — Sir Sidney .S. Saunders exhibited 

 living specimens of Stylops Kirhii taken by himself at Plamp- 

 stead ; altogether he had found eighteen males. Mr. Enock 

 also exhibited a row of eleven males taken on the wing at the 

 same place and about the same time. — The Rev. A. E. Eaton 

 stated that he was preparing a supplement to his monograph of 

 the Ephemeridii: {Trans. Ent. Soc, 1871), chiefly from materials 

 in the collections of Mr. McLachlan and Mr. Albarda, and that 

 he would be glad of any assistance that could be given him by 

 entomologists possessing insects belonging to that group. It 

 appeared that the deficiency in legs in Campsurus and some of 

 its allies was due to their being shed with the pupa skin when 

 the insect obtains well-developed wings, and that in some forms 

 all the legs were thus cast off by the female. — Mr. Smith made 

 remarks on the distribution of some genera of Hymenopterous 

 insects from New Zealand, of which a collection had been placed 

 in his hands by Mr. C. M. Wakefield ; and was followed by 

 Mr. McLachlan, who remarked on the gradual extinction of the 

 endemic fauna of New Zealand, although introduced forms throve 

 wonderfully. — The Rev. R. P. Murray stated that he was pre- 

 paring a list of the species of Japanese butterflies, and that he 

 would be grateful to any entomologist who could assist him with 

 the loan of specimens. — Mr. McLachlan exhibited a series of 

 Anomalopteryx Ckauviniana, Stein., from Silesia, given to him 

 by the discoverer of the species, Fraulein Marie von Chauvin, 

 of Freiburg. This singular Trichopterous insect pertained to the 

 family Li?nnof'hilidcc, and was remarkable for the lanceolate 

 anterior, and abbreviated posterior wings of the male ; those of 

 the female being normal, excepting that the posterior wings were 

 smaller than usual. Also apterous females of Acentropus niveus 

 received from Mr. Ritsema, of Leyden ; and a microscopic slide 

 with a full-grown female example of Phylloxera vastatrix of the 

 root form. This he had recently obtained, with many others, 

 from a vinery near London, which was terribly infested with the 

 insect. 



Meteorological Society, April 19. — Mr. H. S. Eaton, 

 president, in the chair. — T. H. G. Berrey, Assoc. Inst. C.E., 

 H. G. Bolan, J. Bravender, J. Holden, G. A. Hutchins, F, 

 Jackson, J. L. Johnson, B. Latham, A. G. McBeath, W, R. 

 Maguire, A. S. Moss, C. Pink, J. R. Rogers, E. Toller, S. 

 Tomiinson, W. A. Mc I. Valon, H. Walker, W. E. Woolley, 

 were elected Fellows of the Society, The following papers were 

 then read : — Velocity of the wind at Liverpool, tabulation of 

 anemometricjirecords, by W. W. Rundell ; on the aspiration of 

 the dry and wetj bulb thermometers, by Samuel H. Miller, 



F.R.A.S. ; on the storm which passed over the south of 

 England on March 12, 1876, by Robert H. Scott, F.R.S.— The 

 members of the Permanent Committee of the Vienna Meteoro- 

 logical Congress were present and took part in the discussion. 



Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, April 3.— Mr. Howard, 

 F. R S., read a paper on the history of Egypt in connection with 

 the Bible, | 



ROMK i 



R. Academiadei Lincei, Dec. 5, 1875. — M. Moriggia com- 

 municated the results of experiments on the natural poisons of 

 the body, bile and amyydaline. — M, Volpicelli gave a short 

 neurological memoir of Wheatstone. 



Jan. 2. — M. Volpicelli described the construction, properties, 

 and applications of a constant inductor. — M. Sella gave the 

 composition of various salt springs in Italy. — M. Capellini pre- ^ 

 sented a paper on Tuscan fossd whales. — M. Castaldi communi-^ 

 cated a note on fossds from the dolomitic limestone of Monte 

 Chaberton, studied by M, Michelotti. — M. Cossa described the 

 periclasiferous predazzite of Monte Somma. — M. Canizzaro re- 

 ported on a memoir by MM. de Negri on the purples of the 

 ancients ; also on a memoir by M. Paterno, on usnic acid and 

 on two new principles accompanying it in zeora sordida ; also on 

 one by M. Selmi, on toxicological chemical studies relating to 

 atropine and its detection. — M. Struver communicated a memoir 

 on the minerals of Lazio. 





BOOKS RECEIVED 



Colonial and Foreign. — Verhandlungen der Naturhistorischen Gesell- 

 schaft fiir Natur-und Heilkunde, 2 parts (Bonn, Cohen and Sohn). — La 

 Transfusione del Sangiie, pel Dott Malachia de-Christoforis (Milan). — The 

 Kungus Disease of India : T. R. Lewis, AL B , and D. D. Cunningham, MB, 

 (Calcutta). — The Soil and its Relation to Disease : Same Authors (Calcutta). 



— Kurze's Chemisches Handworterbuch : Dr. O Dammer (Berlin, K. Oppen- 

 heim) — Check List of North American Kerns : J. Robinson (Salem, Mass.). 



— Freshwater Shell Mounds of the St. John's River (Florida, Jeffries Wyman, 

 Peabody Academy). — Nephrit und Jadeet : Heinrich Fischer (K. Koch, 

 Stuttgart). — Adolf Stieler's Hand-Atlas (Gotha, Justus Perthes). — List of 

 Hemiptera of the Mississippi: P. R. Uhler. — Algebra for Beginners: Prof. 

 James Loudon (Toronto, Copp, Clark and Co.) — Le Positivisme : Andrd 

 P. Gernier Bailliere. — Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution 

 (Washington, US A.) — The Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Formations of the 

 West : E D. Cope (Washington, U S.A —Daily Bulletins of Weather Re- 

 ports for March 1873 (Washington, U.S.A.) 



CONTENTS p^oB 



" .'Scientific Worthies," VII. — Sir Charlus Whiatstone. By 



Prof. P. Volpicelli (,iVith Steel Engraving) 501 



Thb Progress of the Loan Collection 503 



Green's Geology £,05 



Ditt.mak's Chemical Analysis. By R. M 507 



Kichard-on's " Diseases OF Modern LiFij." ........ 50S 



Our Book Shelf : — 



HinchlifiF's " Over the Sea and Far Away " 509 



Some French Geometrical Works . 509 



Lbttbrs to the Editor : — 



" The Recent Origin of Man " — The Reviewer 510 



On the Formation of Coral Sand. — John Munro {With Ilhistra- i 



tion) .^10 



Floating Radiometers. — C. M. Ingleby 51 1 



Preece and Sivewright's "Telegraphy." — J. Sivewricht ... 51 £ 

 On the Nature of Musical Pipes naving a Propulsive Mode of 



Action — Hermann Smith 511 



Solar Halo. — James Heelis ....'. ^,2 



Safety Matches. — Francis Jones 512 



"The Ash Seed Screw."— Dr. Wm. McLahrik ^,_. 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Rotation of Venus ^ i 5 



Minor Planets 513 



HuNTKRiAN Lectures on the Relation of Extinct to Existing 



Mammalia, VIII. By Prof. Flower, F.R.S 51; 



Prof. Huxley's Lectures on the Evidence as to the Origin of 



Existing Vertebrate Animals 5.4 



Thb Unequal Distribution of Rare Plants in the Alps. By 



T. D 5, ; 



Deep-sea Telegiaph Cables : How they are Tested {IVith 



Illustration) 517 



The Climatic Characteristics of Winds as Db^endent on 



THEIR Origin 520 



Science IN Germany. By S. W. {With Illustration) 51 



The Early History of Magnetism. By. K 523 



The Potato Disease. By Worthington G. Smith {With Illus- 

 trations) 5^4 



Science IN Leeds 5 .17 



The Late Sir William Wilde ', . . 527 



Mibdle-Class Education in Holland ^2"^ 



Notes 5iJ 



Scientific Serials .s 



SociRTiHS and Acadkmibs 5 



Books Received , 



