2 l6 



NATURE 



\yan. 2, 1890 



celebrated Magdeburg hemispheres have also come into the 

 possession of the Society, and were exhibited at the same time ; 

 they are perfect except in the want of the leather packing. 



Amsterdam. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, November 30, 1889. — Dr. 

 Hoek read a paper on the Zuyder Zee herring, showing that it 

 belongs to a race of spring herrings (herrings spawning in spring) 

 closely related to the spring herrings of the Baltic, as described 

 by Heincke. But whereas, in the Baltic, two races of herrings 

 —an autumn or winter herring, and a spring herring — can be 

 distinguished, all the herrings which enter the Zuyder Zee— both 

 those which enter it in autumn and those which are caught in 

 spring— belong to one variety : they all spawn in the spring 

 months only ; they are reproduced only in water that is rather 

 brackish (nearly fresh) ; and their fry is very small in comparison 

 with that of open-sea herrings. Considering that the Zuyder 

 Zee herring is a variety which has sprung from the open North 

 Sea herring, it furnishes a striking instance of the formation of 

 a variety under changed conditions in the course of a few cen- 

 turies. — Prof, van de Sanden Bakhuyzen gave an account of the 

 meeting of the Committee for the Construction of the Photo- 

 graphic Map of the Heavens, held at Paris in September last, 

 and spoke about the share of the Dutch astronomers in that 

 undertaking. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 

 London. 



THl/HSDAy, ]A>iVAiiY 2. 



•Royal Institution, at ■\. — Electricity (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory) : 

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



FRIDAY, January 3. 



■Geologists' Association, at 8. — On the Fossil Fishes of the English 

 Lower Ojlites (illustrated by Specimens from t'le Collection of Tnos. 

 Jesson) : A. Smith Woodward. —A Short Account of the Excursion to the 

 Volcanic Regions of Southern Italy (illustrated by Photographic Views): 

 Dr. H.J. Johnston Lavis. 



SATURDAY, January 4. 



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

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



SUNDAY, January 5. 



S 'NDAY Lecture Society, at 4. — Ballooning in the Service of Science 

 (with Oxyhydrogen Lantern Illustrations) : Eric S. Bruce. 



MONDAY, January 6. 



'k'lCTORiA Institute, at 8. — Iceland : Rev. Dr. F. A. Walker. 



society of Chemical Industry, at 8. — Peroxide of Hydrogen, its 



Preservation and Commercial Uses : C. T. Kingzett. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 8. — Practical Cenainty the Highest Certainty : 



R. E. Mitcheson. 



TUESDAY, January 7. 

 Anthropological Institute, at 8.30. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Electricity (adapted to a Juvenile Auditorv) • 

 Prof. A. W. Rucker, F.R.S. ^ n 



WEDNESDAY, January 8. 



Geological Society, at 8. — On some British Jurassic Fish-remains refer. 



able to the Genera Eurycormus and Hypsocormus : A. Smith Woodward. 



— On the Pebidian Volcanic Series of St. Davids : Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan! 



The Variolitic Rocks of Mount Genevre : Grenville A. J. Cole and J. W. 



Gregory. 

 •Royal Microscopical Society, at 8. — On the Variations of the Female 



Reproductive Organs, especially the Vestibule, in Different Species of 



Uropoda : A. D. Michael. 

 S jcibtv of Arts, at 7. 



THURSDAY, January 9. 

 •Royal Society, at 4.30. 



•Mathematical Society, at 8.— On the Deformation of an Elastic Shell : 

 Prof. H. Lamb, F.R.S.— On the Relation between the LogicalTheory of 

 Classes and the Geometrical Theory of Points : A. B. Kerape, F. K.S. 

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

 Prof. A. W. Rucker, F.R.S. ' 



/^y?/Z).4r, January id. 



.Royal Astronomical Society, at 8. 



iFSTiruTiON of Civil Engineers, at 7.33. —The Irrigation Works on 

 the Cauvery Delta ; Alfrad Chatterton. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Challenger Report ; Physics and Chemistry, vol. ii. (Eyre and Spottis- 

 woode). — Manuel de 1' Analyse des Vins : E. Banllot (Paris, Gauthisr-Villars). 

 — Traite de Photographic par les Procedei Pelliculaires, tome premier et 

 second: G. Balagny (Pans, Gauthier-Villars). — Legoni sur la Theorie 

 Mathematique de I'Electricit^ : J. Bertrand (Paris, Gauthier-Villars!.— 

 Sundevall's Tentamen, translated by F. Nicholson (Porter). — The Nests and 



j Eggs of Indian Birds, vol. i., 2nd edition : A. O. Hume, edited by E. W. 



[ Oates (Porter). — The Cosmic Law of Thermal Repulsion (iVew York. 



I Wiley). — Old Age: Dr. G. H. Humphry (Cambridge, Macmillan and 



I Bowes). — A Hand-book of Quantitative Analysis : J. Mills and B. North 

 (Chapman and Hall). — Alternate Elementary Physics : J. Mills (Chapman 



, and Hall). — Solutions to the Questions set at the May Examinations of the 



I Science and Art Department, 1881 to 1886 ; Pure Mathematics, Stages i and 

 2 : T. T. Rankin (Chapman and Hall). — Perspective Charts for Use in Class- 



j teaching: H. A. James (Chapman and Hall).— Theoreiische Mechanik 

 Starrer Systeme : Sir R. S. Ball, herausgeben von H. Gravelius (Berlin, 

 Reimer). — Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria, decade -xix. : F. McCoy 



! (Triibner) — The Garden's Story, 2nd edition : G. H. Ellwanger (Appleton). 

 — New Light from Old Eclipses: W. M. Page (St. Louis). — A Trip 

 through the Eastern Caucasus: Hon. John Abercromby (Stanford). — 

 A Manual of Palajontology, 2 vols., 3rd edition : H. A. Nicholson and R. 

 Lydekker (Blackwood). — A Thousand Miles on an Elephant in the Shan 

 States : H. S. Hallett (Blackwood). — Descriptions of Eighi New Species of 

 Fossils, &c. : J. F. Whiteaves (Montreal). — Victoria Water Supply, Third 

 Annual General Report (Melbourne). — Studies from the Biological Labora- 

 tory, Johns Hopkins University, vol 4, No. 5 (Baltimore). — Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. 58, Part 2, Nos. i and 2 (Calcutta). — Journal 

 of the Anthropological Institute, November 1889 (Triibner). — Journal of the 

 Royal Microscopical Society, December (Williams and Norgate). — Pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 1889, vol. 6, Part 5(Br.sbane). 

 — Zahl und Vertheilung der Markhaltigen Fasern im Froschruckenmark, 

 No. 9 (Leipzig, Hiizei). — Notes from the Leyden Museum, vol. xi., No. 4 

 (Leyden. IJnll). — The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, December 

 (Churchill). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Bermuda Islands. By Dr. H, B. Guppy . . . 193 



The Useful Plants of Australia. By D. M 194 



Mount Vesuvius 195 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Turnbull : " Index of British Plants."— J. G. B. . . 196 

 Wilson : " Practical Observations on Agricultural 



Grasses and other Plants." — W 196 



Wilson: "The State" .... 196 



Mills and North : " Introductory Lessons in Quanti- 

 tative Analysis" 197 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Note on a Probable Nervous Affection observed in an 



Insect. — E. W. Carlier 197 



Does the Bulk of Ocean Water Increase ? — -Rev. O. 



Fisher • 197 



Exact Thermometry. — Herbert Tomlinson, F.R.S. 198 



Self-luminous Clouds. — George F. Burder .... 198 



Duchayla's Proof. -Prof. J. D. Everett, F.R.S. . . 198 



The Satellite of Algol.— W. H. S. Monck .... 198 



Maltese Butterflies. — George Eraser 199 



A Preservative. — H. Leslie Osborn 199 



The Evolution of Sex. — M. S. Pembrey 199 



Fighting for the Belt. — F. C. Constable 199 



The British Museum Reading-Room. — A. B. M. . . 199 



" Among Cannibals." {Illustrated.) 200 



British Earthquakes. By William White 202 



Effect of Oil on Disturbed Water. By Richard 



Beynon 205 



Recent Observations of Jupiter. By W^. F. Denning 206 



Notes 207 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowlerj 210 



Dr. Peters's Star Catalogue 210 



Longitude of Mount Hamilton 211 



Comet Borelly, ^ 1889 (December 12) 211 



Comet Brooks, ^/ 1889 (July 6) 211 



The Solar Eclipse 211 



Accumulations of Capital in the United Kingdom in 



1875-85 211 



University and Educational Intelligence 212 



Scientific Serials 212 



Societies and Academies 2 [2 



Diary of Societies • • . 216 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 216 



