432 



NATURE 



\_Marck 6, 1890 



"Upon the initial cells of the ovary in fresh-water Hydrse, by M. 

 Joannes Chatin. — Note on a new putrefaction ptomaine, ob- 

 tained by the culture oi Bacterium allii, by Mr. A. B. Griffiths. 

 The author gives analyses of an alkaloid, produced by the de- 

 composition of albuminoids by this organism, showing it to be- 

 long to the hydropyridine series, and to possess the formula of 

 hydrocoridine, CjoH^yN. — On the chromogenous functions of 

 the pyocyanic bacillus, by M. C. Gessard, —Fossil Radiolarians 

 inclosed in albite crystals, by M. A. Issel. The author con- 

 cludes from the data given — (i) that a sedimentary fossiliferous 

 rock has become crystalline and rich in plagioclastic crystals, 

 without the stratification being sensibly altered ; {2) that this 

 change has been produced in a Tertiary formation ; (3) that a 

 hydrothermal action is indicated. — A contribution to the history 

 of chrome-iron, by M. Stanislas Meunier. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 

 London. 



THURSDAY, March 6. 



■Royal Society, at 4.30. — On a Second Case of the Occurrence of Silver in 

 Volcanic Dust — namely, in that thrown out in the Eruption of Tunguragua, 

 in the Andes of Ecuador, January 11, 1886 : Prof. J. W. Mallet, F. R.S.— 

 On the Tension of Recently-formed Liquid Surfaces : Lord Rayleigh, 

 Sec.R.S. — (i) On the Development of the Ciliary or Motor Oculi 

 Ganglion; (2) The Cranial Nerves of the Torpedo (Preliminary Note): 

 Prof. J. C. Ewart. 



LiNNKAN Society, at 8. — On the Production of Seed in some Varieties 

 of the Common Sugar-Cane (Saccharum officinarum) : D. Morris. — An 

 Investigation into the True Nature of Callus ; Part i, the Vegetable 

 Marrow, and Ballia callitricha : Spencer Moore. 



'Royal Institution, at 3. — The Early Developments of the Forms ot 

 Instrumental Music : Frederick Niecks. 



FRIDAY, March 7. 

 Physical Society, at 5. — On Bertrand's Refractometer : Prof. S. P. 

 Thompson. 



-Geologists' Association, at 8. — On some Pleistocene (non-Marine) Mol- 

 lusca of the London District : B. B. Woodward. — Notes on some Pleisto- 

 cene Sections, in and near London : W. J. Lewis Abbott. — Note on a 

 Curious Appearance produced by the Natural Bisection of some Spherical 

 Concretions in a-Yoredale Stone Quarry near Leek : Dr. Wheelton Hind. 



'Institution OF Civil Engineers, at 7.30.— Telephonic Switching: C. H. 

 Wordingham. 



Royai Institution, at 9. — Electrical Relations of the Brain and Spinal 

 Cord : Francis Gotch. 



SATURDAY, March 8. 

 Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Electricity and Magnetism : Right Hon 

 Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



SUNDAY, March 9. 

 Sunday Lecture Society, at 4 — Pasteur, and his Discoveries (with 

 Oxyhydrogen Lantern Illustrations): Sir Henry E. Roscoe, M.P., 

 F R S 



MONDAY, March 10. 

 Royal Geographical Sociktv, at 8.30.— On Lieut. H. B. Vaughan's 

 Recent Journey in Eastern Persia : Major-General Sir Frederic J. Gold- 

 smid, K. C.S.I. 

 --Victoria Institute, at 8. — On the Monism, Pantheism, and Dualism of 

 Brahmanical and Zaroastrian Philosophers: Sir M. Monier-WilUams, 

 IC C I E 



TUESDAY, March ii. « 



Society of Arts, at 8. — The Claims of the British School of Painting to a 



Thorough Representation in the National Gallery : James Orrock. 

 Anthropological Institute, at 8.30. — Exhibition of the Skull of a 

 Carib, from a Cave in Jamaica: Prof. Flower, C.B., F.R.S.— Manners, 

 Customs. Superstitions, and Religions of South African Tribes : Rev. 

 James Macdonald. 

 'Jn.stitution of Civil Engineers, at 8.— The Hawksbury Bridge, New 

 South Wales: C. O. Buree.— The Erection of the Dufferin Bridge over 

 the Ganges at Benares: F. T. G. Walton.— The New Blackfriars Bridge 

 on the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway: G. E. W. Cruttwell. 

 (Discussion.) 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— The Post-Darwinian Period : Prof. G. J. 

 Romanes, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, March 12. 

 • Geological Society, at 8.— On a Deep Channel of Drift in the Valley of 

 the Cam, Essex: W. Whitaker. F.R.S.— On the Moiiian and Basal 

 Cambrian Rocks of Shropshire : Prof. J. F. Blake.— On a Crocodilian Jaw 

 from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough : R. Lydekker.— On Two New 

 Species of Labyriiuhodonts : R. Lydekker. 

 Society of Arts, at 8. — The Chemin de Fer Glissant, or Sliding Railway : 

 Sh- Douglas Galton, K.C.B., F.R.S. 



THURSDAY, March 13. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. 



Mathematical Society, at 8.— Som-i Groups of Circles connected with 

 Three given Circles: R. Lachl.an.- Perfect Numbers: Major P. A. Mac- 

 Mahon, R.A. _ • ir t. 



'SociKTY of Arts, at 5. — Agriculture and the State in India : W. R. 



Robertson. 

 'Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — The Theory of Armature 

 Reactions in Dynamos and Motors; lames Swinburne. — Some Points in 

 Dynamo and Motor Design : VV. B. Esson. (Discussion.) 



Royal Institution, at 3. — The Barly Development of the Forms ol 

 Instrumental Music (wiih Musical Illustrations) : Frederick Niecks. 



FRIDAY, March 14. 

 Royal Astronomical Sociktv. at 8. 



Rf^VAL Institution, at 9. — The Glow of Phosphorus: Prof. T. E. Thorpe, 

 F R S 



SATURDAY, March 15. 

 .Society of Arts, at 3. — The .Atmosphere : Prof. Vivian Lewes. 

 Royal Institution, at 3. — Electricity and Magnetism : Right Hon. Lord 

 Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Prodromus Faunae Mediterranea;, Part 2 : J. V. Carus (Stuttgart, Koch). 

 — The Elements of Laboratory Work: A. G. Earl (Longmans). — History 

 of Botany (1530-1860): J. vim Sachs; translated by H. E. F. Garnsey ; 

 revised by I. B. Balfour (Clarendon Press). — Traite Encyclopedique de 

 Photographie, neuv. fasc. : C. Fabre (Paris, Gauthier-Villars). — A Syllabus 

 of Elementary Dynamics : Prof W. N. Stocker (Macmillan). — Synoptical 

 Tables of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry : C. J. Leaper (Gill). — The 

 Growth of Capital : R. Giffen (Bell).— Coal Gas as a Fuel : T. Fletcher 

 (Warrington, Mackie). — The Zoological Record for 1888 (Gurney and Jack- 

 son). — An Elementary Treatise on Light and Heat, 2nd edition : Rev. F. 

 W. Aveling (Relfe).— Demoids : J. B. Sutton (Bailliere).— The Railways of 

 Scotland : W. M. Ackworth (Murray).- Electrical Engineering : W. Slingo 

 and A. Brooker (Longmans).— Un Viaggio a Nias : E. Modigliani (Milano, 

 Fratelli Treves).— Transactions of the Astronomical Observatory of Yale 

 University, vol. i. Part 2 (New Haven). — Cycles of Drought and Good 

 Seasons in South Africa : D. E. Hutchins (Wesley).— How to Know Grapes 

 by the Leaves: A. N. M'Alpine (Edinburgh, Douglas). — Boilers, Marine 

 and Land, 2nd edition : T. W. Traill (Griffin).— Four-Figure Mathematical 

 Tables, 2nd edition : J.T. Bottomley (Macmillan).— The Cultivated Oranges 

 and Lemons, &c., of India and Ceylon, text and plates : Dr. E. Bonavia 

 (Allen). — Elementary Manual of Magnetism and Electricity, Part 2 : Prof 

 Jamieson (Griffin) —Quarterlv Journal of Microscopical Science, February 

 (Churchill).— Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, 49 Band, 3 Heft 

 (Williams and Norgate).— Foumal of the Royal Microscopical Society, 1S89, 

 Part 6a, 1890. Part i (Williams and Norgate).— Studies from the Biological 

 Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, vol. 4, No. 6 (Baltimore).— Trans- 

 actions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society, vol. xvii. Part 3 (Edin- 

 burgh). —Annual Report of the Canadian Institute, Session 1888-89 

 (Toronto). 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



The Science Collections at South Kensington . . 409 

 Three Recent Popular Works upon Natural 



History. By G. B. H 409 



A General Formula for the Flow of Water ... 411 



The Compass on Board 412 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Bartholomew : " Library Reference Atlas of the 



World" 413 



Harker : " The Bala Volcanic Series of Caernarvon- 

 shire and Associated Rocks " 4^4 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Inheritance of Acquired Characters.— Herbert 



Spencer ; Prof. E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. . . 414 

 Physical Properties of Water.— Prof. P. G. Tait ; 

 Prof. Arthur W. RUcker, F.R.S. ..... 416 



Visualized Images produced by Music— Geo. E. 



Newton 4^7 



Foreign Substances attached to Crabs.— Walter 



Garstang 4' 7 



A Key to the Royal Society's Catalogue.— James C 



McConnel 4i8 



A Meteor.— T. W. Baker . . . . ' 4^8 . 



The Discovery of Coal near Dover. By Prof. W. 



Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S 418 



The Relation between the Atomic Volumes of Ele- 

 ments present in Iron and their Influence on its 

 Molecular Structure. By Prof. W. C. Roberts- 

 Austen, F.R.S 420 



Sedgwick and Murchison : Cambrian and Silurian. 



By Prof. James D. Dana 421 



The Weather in January. By Chas. Harding ... 425 



Notes 42a 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope.— A. Fowler 428 



The Total Solar Eclipse of December 22, 1889 ... 428 



Comets and Asteroids discovered in 1889 428 



Mass of Saturn 429 



The Opening of the Forth Bridge 429 



University and Educational Intelligence 43° 



Societies and Academies 43° 



Diary of Societies 432 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received .... 432 



