192 



NATURE 



{Dec. 26, 1889 



logical microscope made upon the same lines ; also, a small box 

 for holding slides, for which a patent had been obtained by Mr. 

 Moseley, its inventor. The slides were held in flat trays in the 

 usual way, but they were so arranged that, upon opening the 

 front of the box, the trays were drawn forward so as to form a 

 series of layers overlapping sufficiently to expose the labels at 

 the front end of each row, and enabling the position of any par- 

 ticular slide to be seen without the necessity of removing the 

 trays in search of it. — Mr. Crisp exhibited apparatus by which 

 it was proposed to convert a microscope into a microtome by 

 placing the embedded substance in the lower end of the tube, 

 and cutting sections by means of a blade fitted to move upon the 

 stage plate. — Mr. J. Mayall, Jun., described the various micro- 

 scopes and accessories which he had examined at the Paris 

 Exhibition, pointing out that, whereas at former International 

 Exhibitions most of the best makers in England, America, and 

 ■other countries were exhibitors, on this occasion they had been 

 rather conspicuous by their absence. The French opticians 

 were fairly well represented as to numbers, but the instruments 

 'they exhibited were for the most part of the old, not to say 

 ■antiquated, types. He had seen very little that was new in the 

 .matter of design. 



Zoological Society, December 3. — Mr. Osbert Salvin, 

 'F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — The Secretary read a 

 report on the additions that had been made to the Society's 

 Menagerie during the month of November 1889. — An extract 

 was read from a letter received from the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, 

 concerning some specimens of Bipalitim ^ewense, which he was 

 keeping in captivity at Cape Town. — Mr. Henry Seebohm ex- 

 'hibited and made remarks upon some specimens of new or rare 

 species of birds lately received from the Bonin Islands, North 

 Pacific. — ^Mr. Sclater exhibited and made remarks on an egg of 

 'the crested screamer {Chauna chavaria), from the collection of 

 Mr. J. J. Dalgleish.— Mr. F. E, Beddard read the first of a 

 series of contributions to the anatomy of Picarian birds. The 

 present communication treated of some points in the structure of 

 •the hornbills {Bucerotida:), particularly of the syrinx, and of the 

 muscular anatomy of these birds. — Mr. Beddard also read a 

 paper upon the anatomy of Burmeister's cariama ( Chunga bur- 

 meisteri), and pointed out the differences between this form and 

 Cariama cristata. — Mr. G. W. Butler read a paper on the rela- 

 tions of the fat-bodies (subperitoneal and subcutaneous) of the 

 Sauropsida. The author showed that a consideration of the sub- 

 peritoneal fat-bodies appeared to throw light on the condition of 

 the abdominal membranes in the monitors. — A communication 

 was read from the Rev. H. S. Gorham, containing descriptions 

 of new species of the Coleopterous family Erotylidae from various 

 localities. — A communication was read from Mr. L. Taczanowski, 

 containing the description of a new warbler of the genus Locus- 

 Jella from Corea, which he proposed to call Locustella pleskei. — 

 Mr. Oldfield Thomas pointed out the characters of a new mun- 

 goose, allied to Herpestes albicaudatus, which he proposed to 

 call H. grandis. The type specimen (a skeleton) had been 

 obtained by Mr. T. E. Buckley in South-East Africa. 



Stockholm. 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, December 11.— The Asco- 

 ceratidse and the Lituitidas of the Upper Silurian formation of 

 Gotknd described, by Prof, G. Lindstrom. — Researches on the 

 constitution of the spectra of emission of the chemical elements, 

 by Dr. T. R. Rydberg. — On the observations at the Observa- 

 tory of Upsala to determine the equinoctium of the spring 1889, 

 by Dr. K. Bohlin and C. Schulz-Steinheil. — Definitive elements 

 of the orbit of the comet 1840, by C. Schulz-Steinheil.— On 

 the ores and minerals of the Gellivard district, especially the 

 apatite, by Herr A. Sjogren. — The English edition of the atlas 

 of fac-simile maps, by Prof. A. E. Nordenskiold, exhibited by 

 himself.— On the conductibility of snow, by Dr. S. Hjaltstrom. 

 — On the influence of the averting force of the telluric rotation 

 on the movement of the air, by Dr. N. Ekholm. — A large 

 collection of mosses from Japan, Korea, and East India, pre- 

 sented to the State Museum by Captain S. Ankarcrona, R.N., 

 and determined by Dr. W. Brotherus, of Helsingfors, and by Dr. 

 Carl Miiller, in Halle, exhibited by Prof. Wittrock. On the 

 recently-published first part of the second supplement to C. F. 

 Nyman's "Conspectus florae Europese," by Prof. Wittrock. — 

 Echinologica, by Prof. S. Loven. — Some morphologic researches 

 •on the arteries of the brain of the Vertebrata, by Herr A. Klin- 

 kowstrom. — Derivatives of ortho-amido-benzyl alcohol, ii., by 

 Dr. G. H. Soderbaum and Prof. Widman. — On distri azol com- 

 binations, by Dr. Bladin.— On naphtoe acids, by Dr. Ekstrand. 



— Derivatives of sulphate of ammonium, by Herr O. S. Hector. 

 — Demonstration of some theories of Poincare, by Herr de 

 Brun. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



London. 

 SATURDAY, December 28. 

 RoYAi. Institution, at 3.— Electricity (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory) : 

 Prof. A. W. Riicker, F.R.S. 



TUESDAY, December 31. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Electricity (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory) : 

 Prof. A. W. Riicker, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, January i. 

 Society of Arts, at 7. 



THURSDAY,^ AiiVARY 2. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Electricity (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory) : 



FRIDA Y, January 3. 

 Geologists' Association, at 8. 



SATURDAY, January 4. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Electricity (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory) : 

 Prof. A. W. Riicker, F.R.S. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



The Bala Volcanic Series of Caermarthenshire and Associated Rocks : A. 

 Harker (Camb. University Press). — The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb 

 Fichte, 2 vols.; translated Iby Dr.' W. Smith (Triibner). — Astronomy 

 with an Opera-Glass : G. P. Serviss, 2nd edition (Appleton). — Logic Taught 

 by Love: M. Boole (Edwards). — The Collected Mathematical Papers of 

 Arthur Cayley, vol. ii. (Camb. University Press). — Apergu des Travaux 

 Geographiques en Russie : Baron N. Kaulbars (St. Petersbourg).— Mag- 

 netic and other Physical Properties of Iron at a High Temperature : Dr. J. 

 Hopkinson (Triibner). — On a Fossil Fish: M. Browne (Leicester). — Journal 

 of the Chemical Society, December (Gurney and Jackson). — Brain, Part 47 

 (Macmillan). — Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. xi. No. 5 

 (Stanford). — The Prevention of Measles : C. Candler (K. Paul). — Lectures 

 on the Religion of the Semites : W. Robertson Smith (Edinburgh, Black). — 

 Le Temps de Pose : A. de la Baume Pluvinel (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — 

 Manual de Phototypie : M. G. Bonnet (Paris, Gauthier-Villars).— The Pro- 

 ceedings of the Lxnnean Society of New South Wales, vol. iv. Part 2 

 (Sydney). — Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, Band ii. Heft 5 

 (Triibner). 



CONTENTS. ^E 



Recent Ornithological Works. By R. Bowdler 



Sharpe 169 



Descartes. By W. J. L 171 



A Text-book of Organic Chemistry 172 



Our Book Shelf:— 



DuChaillu: " The Viking Age ; the Early History, 

 Manners, and Customs of the Ancestors of the 



English-speaking Nations." — F. Y. P 173 



Dunman and Wingrave : " A Glossary of Anatomical, 



Physiological, and Biological Terms 173 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Acquired Characters and Congenital Variation. — The 



Duke of Argyll, F.R.S 173 



Who Discovered the Teeth in Ornithorhynchus ? — 



Prof. Oswald H. Latter 174 



Galls.— Prof. George J. Romanes, F.R.S.; Dr. 



St. George Mivart, F.R.S 174 



The Permanence of Continents and Oceans. — ^Joseph 



John Murphy 175 



Does the Bulk of Ocean Water Increase? — T. 



Mellard Reade 175 



A Natural Evidence of High Thermal Conductivity 



in Flints.— Prof. A. S. Herschel, F.R.S. . . . 175 

 Foreign Substances attached to Crabs. — Francis P. 



Pascoe 176 



A Marine Millipede. — R. I. Pocock ....... 176 



Suggestions for the Formation and Arrangement of 

 a Museum of Natural History in Connection with 

 a Public School. By Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S. . 177 

 The Fishery Industries of the United States . . . 178 



Notes 180 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowleri 183 



Variable Star in Cluster G.C. 3636 . . .' 183 



Changes in Lunar Craters 183 



On the Future of our Technical Education .... 183 

 A First Foreshadowing of the Periodic Law. ( IVzi/i 



Diagram.) P. J. Hartog 186 



Scientific Serials 188 



Societies and Academies 189 



Diary of Societies • • . 192 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 192 



