Oct. 3, 1889] 



NATURE 



56: 



Feld., which he believed to be hermaphrodite. He also ex- 

 hibited, for comparison, a female of the same species. A dis- 

 cussion on hermaphroditism ensued, in which Mr. Distant, 

 Captain Elwes, Mr. McLachlan, and Mr. Baker took part. — Dr. 

 Sharp exhibited specimens of Cychramus luteus and fiingicola, 

 Auct., and stated that they are the sexes of one species, C. luteus 

 being the male, C. funf^icola the female. In working through 

 the Central American Cychraviini, he had found that in some 

 genera the males differed greatly from the females in size and 

 sculpture ; but this was not a constant character, for in some 

 s[)ecies, while certain males scarcely differed from the females in 

 these respects, others were so different that they would scarcely 

 be recognized as belonging to the same species. — Mr. E. A. Butler 

 exhibited specimens of Platymetopius undatus, from Ewhurst, 

 Surrey. lie remarked that the species was recorded as having 

 been once previously taken near Plymouth by the late Mr. ]. 

 Scott. — Mr. G. T. Baker read a paper entitled " On the distri- 

 bution of the Charlonia group of the genus Ant/ioc/taris." Mr. 

 Baker stated that the species of this small division of the genus 

 Anihocharii formed a very natural and closely allied group, 

 presenting many points of interest, both in their relationship to 

 each other, and in their geographical distribution, which ex- 

 tended from the Canaries on the west to the valley of the Indus 

 on the east. The author's theories as to the causes of the pre- 

 sent distribution of the group, which were based on geological 

 data, were discussed by Captain Elwes, Mr. McLachlan, Mr. 

 Distant, and Mr. Stainton. — The Chairman read a paper en- 

 titled " On the genus Argynnis," which gave rise to a discussion 

 in which Mr. Distant, Mr. Jenner-Weir, and Prof. Riley took 

 part. 



Sydney. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, August 7. — Sir 

 Alfred Roberts, Vice-President, in the chair. — The Chairman 

 announced that the Council had awarded the Society's bronze 

 medal and a money prize of ;^25 to the Rev. John Mathew, 

 Coburg, Victoria, for his paper upon the aborigines of Australia : 

 also that the Clarke Memorial Lectures would be delivered to 

 the members of the Society by Mr. C. S. Wilkinson, Govern- 

 ment Geologist, as follows : (i) on the geological researches of 

 the late Rev. W. B. Clarke, F.R.S., S. Stutchbury, and other 

 early Australian geologists, November 13 ; (2) on the geology 

 and ancient life-history of Australia, November 20 ; (3) on the 

 economic geology of Australia, November 27. — The following 

 papers were read : — On the source of the underground water in 

 the western districts, by H. C. Russell, F. R.S. ; on the eruptive 

 rocks of New Zealand, by Capt. F. W. Hutton ; on the applica- 

 tion of prismatic lenses for making normal-sight magnifying 

 spectacles, by Mr. P. J. Edmunds ; flying-machine memoranda, 

 by Lawrence Hargrave. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, September 23. — M. Des Cloizeaux, 

 President, in the chair. — International Congress of Chrono- 

 metry ; International Congress of Applied Mechanics, by Mr. 

 Phillips. The former, at his instance, expressed the desirability 

 of thorough experiments, at Government expense, to determine 

 how compensation is affected by the nature of metals and alloys 

 used for springs and balance wheels, and the various types of the 

 latter. The other Congress expressed a similar wish for the for- 

 mation of testing laboratories for materials and machines, and 

 for an International Commission to fix units and uniformize 

 methods ; it also proposed definitions of the terms used in 

 mechanics. M. Mascart called attention to the fact, that, while 

 the proposed unit of power, the poncelet, was lOO kgm. per 

 second, the electricians' kilowatt was 102 kgm. per second. M. 

 Berthelot objected to proper names being used for abstract units. 

 — On analysis of the light diffused by the sky, by M. Crova. 

 He made observations on the top of Mont Ventoux, with a 

 modified form of his spectro- photometer, which could be directed 

 to any part of the sky. The curves for zenithal light (alone 

 examined) show a predominance of the more refrangible radia- 

 tions at sunrise, diminishing towards midday, then increasing 

 towards sunset ; but not reaching, in homologous hours after 

 noon, the same values as in the morning. The curves vary 

 notably from day to day, with the state of the aimosphere. His 

 figures show to what extent the light is bluer than the direct sun- 

 light, and the light of the sky at Montpellier. — The Emperor of 

 Brazil announced, by telegram, an observation of globular light- 

 ning on September 16. — Observations of Davidson's comet, with 



the bent equal 01 ial (0-35 m.) of I yons Observatory, by M. Le 

 Cadet. — Observations of Bicoks's comet and its ccmpanion, by 

 the same. The nebulosity of ihe ccmpanion was elongated in 

 the line of junction, and, at times, leemed I0 join the oiher. — 

 On the deteimination of integials of certain equations with 

 partial derivatives by their values on a contt ur, by M. E. Picard. 

 — I hysiological reseaiches on hydrocyanic acid, by M. N. Gie- 

 hant. Diminishing the force of the poison by dilution, &c., he- 

 found (in dogs and frogs), the heart-beats persist after the re- 

 .spiratory movements Cgradually) stopped.— On the phosphor- 

 escent infection of Talitrus and other Crustacea, by M. A. Giard. 

 On examining microscopically a brightly phosphorefcent Talitrus 

 he found walking slowly on the beach (instead of leaping like its 

 companions), he traced the light to bacteria in its muscles, which- 

 were greatly altered. He inoculated other individuals (both' 

 Talitrus and Orchestia) with blood containing these microbes, 

 and produced the disease with entire success. The laboratory 

 cellar had quite a "fairy-like " aspect in the evening. The inocula- 

 tions were continued to the sixth (luminous) generation, without 

 attenuation, apparently, of the microbes' action. The "disease- 

 follows a regular course; and the animal dies in three or four 

 days, the phosphorescence lingering some hours after death. M. 

 Giard also inoculated crabs successfully, and will describe results 

 later. — On the metamorphosis and the migration of a free 

 Nematode {Rhabditis oxyuris, Cls.), by M. R. Moniez. This- 

 animal is common in cow's dung. Young individuals fix them- 

 selves to the carapace of an Acarian (sometimes as many as sixty 

 on one), by a chitinous plate (secreted from the anterior part> 

 and short stem ; then the tissues and organs shrink together from 

 the tiansparent skin, forming a smaller ovoid body. When the 

 dung dries, the Acarian, with these new larvae on it, altsches 

 itself to some insect, and is conveyed to fresh dung, where new 

 transformations doubtless take place (not followed by the author). 

 This was observed in August. — On the probable cause of the 

 frondal bifurcations of ferns, by Dom B. Rimelin. When one- 

 of these anomalies is met with, others may generally be found 

 quite near. The author thinks they must be due to fungi, e.g. of 

 the family of Uredineas ; basing this induction on the diseased 

 look where they are numerous, reproduction of the anomalies 

 from sori of those divided ferns (considered with the fact that 

 some parasitic fungi specially affect the organs of reproduction),. 

 &c. — Recent eruptive rocks of the Western Pyrenees, by MM^ 

 Seunes and Beaugey. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Psychology of Protozoa. By Prof, George J. Ro- 

 manes, F.R.S 541 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Johnson : " Treatise on Trigonometry " 542: 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Taming the Puma. — Wm, Lant Carpenter . , . , 542 

 On some Effects of Lightning. — Arthur E. Blown ; 



A. F. Griffith ; W. G. S 543, 



On the Remarkable Form of Hailstones. — ^J. Shear- 

 son Hyland 544 



Erinus his f aniens (?) on the Roman Wall. — Dr. Sydney 



H. Vines 544 



Noctilucous Clouds. — Prof. John Le Conte .... 544 

 On Boscovich's Theory, By Sir William Thomson, 



„FKS 545 



Notes 547- 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Mr. Tebbutt's Observatory, Windsor, New South 



Wales 550 



The Variable tj Argus 550 



The Rotation Period of the Sun 550 



Comet 1889 (/(Brooks, July 6) 550- 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1889 



October 6-12 551 



Geographical Notes 551 



The British Association : — 



Reports 551 



The American Association for the Advancement of 



Science. By Arnold Haultain 556- 



The Iron and Steel Institute 560- 



Scientific Serials 562 



Societies and Academies c62 



