Jan. 9, 1890] 



NA TURE 



239 



beds in that direction. From the uniform character of the 

 Westleton shingles, the author maintained that they must origin- 

 ally have been formed on a comparatively level sea-floor, and 

 that the inequalities in distribution had been produced by 

 subsequent differential movement to the extent of 500 feet or 

 more to the north and west above that experienced to the east 

 and south, where the chronological succession remained un- 

 broken, also that the inequalities below the level of the West- 

 leton beds had been produced since the period of their deposition, 

 as, for instance, the gorge of the Thames at Pangbourne and 

 Goring, and most of the Preglacial valleys in the district ; 

 furthermore, evidence was adduced in favour of the formation of 

 the escarpments of the Chalk and Oolites since Westleton times, 

 whilst certain observations supplied data for estimation of the 

 relative amounts of pre- and post-glacial denudation of the 

 valleys. It was stated, in conclusion, that the time for the vast 

 amount of denudation was so limited that it was not easy to 

 realize that such limits could suffice, but the author did not see 

 how the conclusions which he had arrived at could well be 

 avoided. After the reading of this paper there was a discussion, 

 in which the President, Mr. Topley, Prof. Hughes, and others 

 took part. 



Linnean Society, December 19, 1889. — Mr. J. G. Baker, 

 r.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — Prof. P. M. Duncan made 

 some supplementary remarks on a specimen of Hyaloneina Sie- 

 holdii, which he had exhibited at a previous meeting. — Mr. W. 

 Hatchett Jackson exhibited and gave an account of an electric 

 centipede {Geophilus electricus), detailing the circumstances 

 under which he had found it at Oxford,and the results of experi- 

 ments which he had made with a view of determining the nature 

 and properties of a luminous fluid secreted by it. This, he 

 found, could be separated from the insect, and could be com- 

 municated by it to every portion of its Integument. An inter- 

 esting discussion followed, in which Mr. Briese, Mr. A. W. 

 Bennett, Prof. Stewart, Mr. A. D. Michael, Dr. Collingwood, 

 Mr. Christy, and Mr. J. E. Harting took part. The last-named 

 speaker pointed out that the observations made by Mr. W. 

 Hatchett Jackson on this centipede had been long ago antici- 

 pated by Dr. Macartney in an elaborate paper on luminous 

 insects published in the Philosophical Transactions for 18 10 

 (vol. c. p. 277). — A paper was then read by Mr. T. Johnson on 

 Dictyopteris, in which he gave a detailed account of the life- 

 history of this brown seaweed, with remarks on the systematic 

 position of the Diciyotacca:. Dr. Scott, Mr. George Murray, 

 and Mr. A. W. Bennett criticized various portions of the paper, 

 and acknowledged the important scientific bearing of the facts 

 which had been brought out by Mr. Johnson's careful and 

 minute researches. — In the absence of the author, Mr. W. P. 

 Sladen detailed the more important portions of a paper by the 

 Rev. John Gulick, on intensive segregation and divergent evolu- 

 tion in land MoUusca ; a paper which might be regai'ded as a 

 continuation and amplification of the views which the same 

 author had expressed in a former paper published in the Society's 

 Journal last year (vol xx., Zool., pp. 189-274). 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, December 30, 1889.— M. Hermite 

 in the chair. — List of the prizes awarded to successful competitors 

 in the various branches of science during the year 1890: — Geo- 

 metry : Prix Francoeur, M. Maximilien Marie ; Prix Poncelet, 

 M. Edouard Goursat. Mechanics : Extraordinary Prize of 6000 

 francs, MM. Caspari, Clauzel, and Degouy, 2000 francs each ; 

 Prix Montyon, M. Gustave Eiffel ; Prix Plumey, M. Widmann. 

 Ashonomy : Prix Lalande, M. Gonnessiat ; Prix Valz, M. Char- 

 lois ; Prix Janssen, Mr. Norman Lockyer. Physics : Prix L. 

 La Caze, M. Hertz. Statistics : Prix Montyon, two prizes 

 awarded — one to the late M. Petitdidier and M. Lallemand, the 

 other to Dr. F. Lede. Chemistry : Prix Jecker, MM. A. 

 Combes, R. Engel, and A. Verneuil ; Prix L. La Caze, M. F. 

 M. Raoult. Geology : Prix Delesse, M. Michel Levy. Botany : 

 Prix Desmazieres, M. E. Breal ; Prix Montagne, MM. Ch. 

 Richon and Ern. Roze ; Prix Thore, MM, de Bosredon and de 

 Ferry de la Bellone. Agriculture : Prix Vaillant, M. Ed. Pril- 

 lieux. Anatomy and Zoology: Grand Prize of the Medical 

 Sciences, MM. L. Felix Henneguy and Louis Roule. Medicine 

 and Surgery : Prix Montyon, three prizes were awarded to M. 

 A. Charrin, to MM. A. Kelsch and P. L. Kiener, and to M. 

 Basile Danilewsky, respectively ; Prix Breant, M. A. Laveran ; 

 PrixBarbier, MM. M. E. Duval, Ed. Heckel, and F. Schlagden- 



hauffen ; Prix Godard, M. A. Le Dentu ; Prix Lallemand, M, 

 Paul Loye; Prix Bellion, MM. F. Lagrange, and Laborde and* 

 Magnan ; Prix Mege, Dr. A. Auvard. Physiology : Prix 

 Montyon, M. A. d'Arsonval ; Prix L. La Caze, M. Francois 

 Franck ; Prix Pourat, Dr. Johannes Gad and Dr. J. F. Hey- 

 mans ; Prix Martin-Damourette, M. J. V. Laborde. Physical 

 Geography : Prix Gay, M. Drake del Castillo. General Prizes : 

 Prix Montyon (Unhealthy Industries), honourable mention of 

 Dr. Maxime Randon ; Prix Tremont, M. Jules Morin ; Prix 

 Gegner (Physiology), M. H. Toussaint ; Prix Petit d'Ormoy 

 (Natural Sciences), M. Jean Henri Fabre ; Prix Petit d'Ormoy 

 (Mathematical Sciences), M. Paul Appell ; Prix Leconte 

 (Chemical Explosives), M. Paul Vieille ; Prix Laplace, two 

 prizes, ex aquo, to MM. E. A. A. Verlant and E. Ch. E. Herscher. 

 — The following prizes were proposed for the year 1890 : — Grand 

 Prize of the Mathemathical Sciences : To perfect in any im- 

 portant point the theory of differential equations of the first 

 order and of the first degree. Prix Bordin : To study the sur- 

 faces whose linear element may be reduced to the form 



ds"- = [/[u) - <piv)]{du- + dv^). 



Prix Francoeur : Inventions or works tending to the progress of 

 pure and applied mathematics. Prix Poncelet : The author of 

 any work tending most to further the progress of pure and 

 applied mathematics. Extraordinary Prize of 6000 francs : Any 

 improvements tending to increase the efficiency of the French 

 naval forces. Prix Montyon : Mechanics. Prix Plumey : Im- 

 provement of steam-engines or any other invention contributing, 

 most to the progress of steam navigation. Prix Lalande : 

 Astronomy. Prix Damoiseau : To jperfect the theory of the 

 long periodical irregularities in the movement of the moon caused 

 by the planets. Prix Valz : Astronomy. Prix Janssen : Physical 

 Astronomy. Prix Montyon : Statistics. Prix Jecker : Organic 

 chemistry. Prix Fontannes : The author of the best work on 

 palseontology. Prix Vaillant : Researches on the agencies that 

 have caused the foldings in the terrestrial crust — part played by- 

 horizontal displacements. Prix Gay : Orographic study of any 

 mountain system by new and rapid processes. Prix Barbier : 

 Any valuable [discovery in the surgical, medical, or pharma- 

 ceutical sciences, and in therapeutic botany. Prix Desmazieres r 

 The best work on the whole or any part of the Cryptogamic 

 flora. Prix Montagne : The authors of important works on the 

 anatomy, physiology, development, or description of the lower 

 Crytogamic plants. Prix Thore : Works on the cellular Crypto- 

 gams of Europe, and on the habits or anatomy of any species 

 of European insect, alternately. Prix Bordin : Comparative 

 study of the auditory nerve in mammals and birds. Prix 

 Savigny : For young zoological travellers. Prix Serres : On 

 general embryology applied as far as possible to physiology 

 and medicine. Prix Dusgate : The best work on the diagnosis 

 of death, and on the means of preventing premature burials. 

 Prix Montyon : Medicine and surgery. Prix Breant : The dis- 

 covery of a certain cure for Asiatic cholera. Prix Godard : On 

 the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of genito-urinary organs. 

 Prix Lallemand : Researches on the nervous system in the 

 widest sense of the term. Prix Bellion : Works or discoveries 

 serviceable to the health of man or to the improvement of the 

 human species. Prix Mege : The author of a continuation and 

 completion of Dr. Mege's essay on the causes that have retarded 

 or favoured the advancement of medicine. Prix Montyon : 

 Experimental physiology. Prix Pourat : On the properties and 

 functions of the nervous cells attached to the organs of sense 

 or to any one of them. Prix Delalande-Guerineau : For the 

 French traveller or naturalist who shall have rendered the greatest 

 service to France or to science. Prix Jerome Ponti : The author 

 of any scientific work the continuation or development of which 

 may be deemed valuable to science. Prix Montyon : Unhealthy 

 industries. Prix Tremont : For any naturalist, artist, or mechanic 

 needing help in carrying out any project useful or glorious for 

 France. Prix Gegner : In aid of any savant distinguished by 

 solid work done towards the advancement of the positive sciences. 

 Prix Laplace : For the best student leaving the Ecole Poly- 

 technique. 



Berlin. 



Physical Society, December 20, 1889.— Prof von Helm- 

 holtz. President, in the chair. — Dr. Assmann demonstrated his 

 aspiration thermometers and psychrometers after having first ex- 

 plained the theory and construction of the latter (see Nature, 

 vol. xxxvii. p. 215, and vol. xl. p. 660). He first dipped oneof 



