228 



NATURE 



[December 15, 1910 



New South Wales, 

 Linnean Society, September 28. — Mr. C. Hedley, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — C. T. Musson and W. M. Came : 



The adventitious roots of Melaleuca linariifolia, Sni. — 

 R. J. Tillyard : Some experiments with dragon-fly larva;. 

 This paper embodies the results of experiinents carried 

 out with the object of showing : — (i) That dragon-fly 

 larvae of certain kinds live longer than one year. An un- 

 known Libellulid larva taken at Heathcote on October 10, 

 1908, and more than half-grown then, has lived in an 

 aquarium to the present date. It now appears full-fed, 

 and may be expected to emerge this season. Its age, from 

 the egg, must be more than two and a half years. 

 (2) That certain dragon-fly larvag can resist severe and 

 prolonged drought. Eight larvae of Synthemis eustalacta, 

 Burm., were placed in a shallow-water aquarium over 

 sand ; no food given from December 25, 1909, and water 

 allowed to evaporate. The aquarium was dry on 

 February 2, and the larvae were kept alive, hidden in the 

 sand, until May 29, a period of nearly four months. The 

 larvse were then returned to water and fed up. Seven are 

 still alive, and may be expected to emerge this season. — 

 T. Harvey Johnston and Dr. J. Burton Cleland : The 

 Haematozoa of Australian Reptilia. No. i. A list of 

 Australian reptiles from which Hajmatozoa have been re- 

 corded is given, and three species of Haemogregarina 

 (Karyolysus) are described as new. 



October 26. — Mr. C. Hedley, president, in the chair.- — 

 T. Iredale : An additional note on the birds of Lord Howe 

 and Norfolk Islands. The opportunity of inspecting the 

 Watling drawings in the British Museum prompted the 

 author to investigate the authenticity of the early chronicles 

 relating to some of the birds of Norfolk and Lord Howe 

 Islands, now extinct, or the identity of which has never 

 been settled satisfactorily. From the consideration of the 

 historical evidence available, the author concludes that the 

 extinct white gallinule (Notornis alba) was restricted to 

 Lord Howe Island; that the "Norfolk Island petrel" of 

 Latham is probably Puffinus griseus, Gm., which still 

 breeds about the typical locality, and not P. chloro- 

 fhynchus, Less., as supposed by the late Dr. Sharpe ; and 

 that drawing No. 282, regarded by Dr. Sharpe as repre- 

 senting P. tenuirostris, Temm., is undoubtedly a figure of 

 the CEstrelata still breeding, or which apparently used to 

 breed, on Norfolk Island, which must bear the name 

 CEstrelata philUpi, Gray, and which is different from 

 CE. neglecta, Schl. Some omissions are rectified, and 

 observations supplementary to those of Mr. Hull (Proceed- 

 ings, 1909, p. 636) are given. — A. F. Basset Hull : 

 Further notes on the birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk 

 Islands, with the description of a new spyecies of petrel. 

 The author endeavours to dispel the uncertainty enshroud- 

 ing the identification of the petrels of Norfolk Island. 

 Captain Hunter's " bird of providence " remains a 

 mystery, as visits to Mount Pitt in November, and in the 

 succeeding year in August, offered no signs of birds or 

 burrows, a condition of things possibly due to the exter- 

 mination of the old-time colony, or its removal to more 

 secure breeding grounds; The " Big Hill mutton-bird " of 

 Lord Howe Island, which breeds upon Mount Gower, is 

 shown to be markedly different from CEstrelata neglecta, 

 Schlg., and is described as new. — J. H. Maiden and E. 

 Betche : Notes from the Botanic Gardens, Sydney. 

 No. 16. — A. M. Lea : Australian and Tasmanian Psela- 

 phidae (Coleoptera). 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, December 15. 

 Linnean Society, at 8. — Reports on the International Botanical Congress 



at Brussels, 1910 : Dr. Otto Stapf, F.R.S., and others. — Non-calcareous 



Sponges from the Red Sea, collected by Mr. Cyril Crossland : R. W. H. 



Row. — Comparative Anatomy of Leaves of Veronica : R. S. Adamson. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30. — The Taj Mahal and its Relation to 



Indian Architecture : R. F. Chisholm. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Submarine Cables for 



Long Distance Telephone Circuits : Major W. A. J. O'Meara, C.M.G. 



FRIDAY, December 16. 

 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, at 8. — The Production of 

 Castings to withstand High Pressures : Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter and 

 C. A. Edwards. — The Constitution of Troostite and the Tempering of 

 Steel : Andrew McCance. 



NO. 2146, VOL. 8sl 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Mathematical Deduction of 

 the most Economical Ratio of Reinforcement for Reinforced-concrete 

 Structures: R. N. Mirza. 



SATURDAY, Decemheu 17. 

 Essex Field Club (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Stratford), 

 at 6. — Notes on a " Neolithic Floor " near Rayleigh, Essex : F. W. 

 Reader and .S. Hazzledine Warren. — Sarsens, Basalt, and other Boulders 

 in Essex : Dr. E. A. .Salter. 



MONDA Y, December 19. 



Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30. — The French Antarctic Ex- 

 pedition, 1909-1910 : Dr. J. B. Charcot. 



Institute of Actuaries, at 5. — On the Valuation of the Liabilities of 

 an Insurance Company under its Employers' Liability Contracts : W. 

 Penman, Jr. 



TUESDAY, December 20. 



Royal Statistical Society, at 5. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — The Winning of Coastal Lands 

 in Holland : A. E. Carey. 



lYEDNESDAY, December 21. 



Geological Society, at 8. — The Keuper Marls around Charnwood 

 Forest ; T. O. Bosworth. — The Relationship of the Permian to the Trias 

 in Nottinghamshire : R. L. Sherlock. 



Royal Microscopical Society, at 8.— Modern Methods of Research on 

 a Scientific Crui'-er : Arthur Earland. 



Royal Meteorological Society, at 7.30. — (i) Report on Balloon Ex- 

 periments at Blackpool, 1910 ; (2) The Meteorological Significance of 

 Small Wind and Pressure Variations : CajJt. C. H. Ley. — Atmospheric 

 Waves of Short Period : Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Cavendish Laboratory 195 



A New Book on Reptiles. By G. A, B 196 



The Calculus of Variations. By G. B. M 197 



Hydroelectric Engineering. By Stanley P. Smith , 198 



The Origin of Coal. By F. W. R 199 



The Voice and Singing. By Prof, John G. 



McKendrick, F.R.S 199 



Our Book Shelf 201 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Morphological Method and the Ancestry of Verte- 

 brates,— Prof. J, Graham Kerr, F,R,S, ... 203 

 Mendelian Expectations. — Prof. J. C. Ewart, 



F.R.S 205 



Arctic Plants from the Valley Gravels of the River 



Lea, — S, Hazzledine Warren 206 



A New Theory of the Descent of Man.— Prof. A, 



Keith 206 



The Cocos-Keeling Atoll.— Madge W. Drummond 206 

 Positions of Birds' Nests in Hedges, — Lt,-Col. J, H, 



TuU Walsh 207 



Tribo Luminescence of Uranium. — Prof. W, A. 



Douglas Rudge 207 



Marked Birds in Two Senses 207 



A Monograph of the Okapi, {Ilhistrated.) By Sir 



H, H. Johnston, G. C.M.G. , K.CB .209 



International Mineral Statistics. By Prof. Henry 



Louis 211 



Notes , . 213 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Nova Arte, 98. 1 9 10 218 



Saturn's Rings ." 218 



Publications of the Allegheny Observatory . . . . . 218 



The Orbit of the Perseids 218 



Definitive Elements for the Orbit of Comet 1904 II. 



(1904^?) 218 



Designations of Newly Discovered Variable Stars . . 218 

 The Transandine Railway. {^Illustrated.) By Dr. 



John \V. Evans 219 



Evolution : Darwiniain and Spencerian 220 



The Work of Polytechnic Institutes 220 



Certain Physical Characters of the Negroes of the 



Congo Free State and Nigeria 221 



Science and the State. By Dr. T. Muir, C.M.G,, 



F.R.S 221 



University and Educational Intelligence 223 



Societies and Academies 225 



Diary of Societies 228 



