456 



NATURE 



[March 13, 1890 



preparation and properties of aricine, by MM. H. Moissan and 

 Ed. Landrin. — Influence of light and of the leaves upon 

 the development of the tubers of the potato, by M. Pagnoul. — 

 The comparative physiology of the sensations of taste and touch ; 

 note by M. Raphael Dubois. — A method of studying the nuclei 

 ■of white corpuscles, by M. Mayet. — On the localization, in 

 plants, of the principles w^hich yield hydrocyanic acid, by M. 

 Leon Guignard. — On the intensification of sexuality in a hybrid 

 {Ophrys tenthredinifero-scolopax), note by M. L. Trabut. — 

 On the relations which appear to exist between the Cretaceous 

 Mammalia of America and the Mammalia of the Cernaysienne 

 fauna in the neighbourhood of Rheims. — Remarks by M. Albert 

 Gaudry on the communication of M. Lemoine ; appearances of 

 inequality in the development of the beings of the Old and New 

 Worlds. — New anthropological discoveries at Cham pigny (Seine), 

 by M. ^mile Riviere. — Note on the formation of the delta of the 

 Neva, according to the latest researches, by M. Venukofif. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



London. 



THURSDAY, March 13. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — On the Organization of the Fossil Plants of the 

 Coal-Measures, Part 17: Prof. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.— The Nitri- 

 fying Process and its Specific Ferment, Part i : Prof. P. F. Frankland 

 and Grace C. Frankland. 



Mathematical Society, at 8. — Some Groups of Circles connected with 

 Three given Circles : R. Lachlan.— Perfect Numbers: Major P. A. Mac- 

 Mahon, R.A. 



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

 Robertson. 



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

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

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



Royal Institution, at 3— The Early Development of the Forms of 

 Instrumental Music (with Musical Illustrations) : Frederick Niecks. 



FRIDAY, March 14. 



Royal Astronomical Society, at 8. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — The Glow of Phosphorus : Prof. T. E. Thorpe, 



SATURDAY, March 15. 

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

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

 Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



SUNDAY, March 16. 



Sunday Lecture Society, at 4. — A Trip to British Columbia — the Life 

 of an Emigrant iff North-West Canada (with Oxyhydrogen Lantern Illus- 

 trations) : Dr. James Edmunds. 



MONDAY, March 17. 



Society of Arts, at 8. — Some Considerations concerning Colour and 



Colouring : Prof. A. H. Church, F.R.S. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 8. — Symposium — The Relation of the Fine 



Arts to one another : B. Bosanquet, E. W. Cook, and D. G. Ritchie. 



TUESDAY, March 18. 



Zoological Society, at 8.30. — On the South American Canidae : Dr. 



Mivart, F.R.S. — A Revision of the Genera of Scorpions of the Family 



Buthidee, with Descriptions of some New South African Species : R. I. 



Pocock — On some Points in the Anatomy of the Condor : F. E. Beddard. 

 Society of Arts, Jat 5. — Brazil : James Wells. 

 Mineralogical Society, at 8.-^An Account of a Visit to the Calcite 



Quarry in Iceland : J. L. Hoskyns Abrahall. — Mineralogical Notes : H. 



A. Miers. — The History of the Meteoric Iron of Tucson : L. Fletcher, 



F.R.S. 

 Royal Statistical Society, at 7.45. — On Marriage-Rates and Marriage- 

 Ages, with Special Reference to the Growth of Population : Dr. William 



Ogle. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — Lough Erne Drainage : James 



Price, Tun. 

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



Romanes, F.R.S. 



WEDNESDAY, March 19. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— Commercial Geography : J. S. Keltie. 



Royal Meteorological Society, at 7. — A Brief Notice respecting 



Photography in Relation to Meteorological Work : G. M. Whipple. — 



Application of Photography to Meteorological Phenomena : William 



Marriott. 

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



Reproductive Organs, especially the Vestibule, ih different Species of 



Uropoda : A. D. Michael. 

 University College Chemical and Physical Society, at 5. — The 



Manufacture of Aluminium by the Deville-Caslner Process : F. A. 



Anderson. 



THURSDAY, March 20. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. 



LiNNBAN Society, at 8. — The External Morphology of the Lepidopterous 

 Pupa ; Part 2, the Antennae and Win^s : E. B. Poulton, F.R.S.— On the 

 Intestinal Canal of the Ichthyopside with especial Reference to its Arterial 

 Supply : Prof. G. B. Howes. 



Chemical Society, at 8. — The Evidence afforded by Petrographical 

 Research of the Occurrence of Chemical Change under Great Pressures : 

 Prof. Judd, F.R.S. 



Zoological Society, at 4. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. 



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

 Instrumental Music (with Musical Illustrations) : Frederick Niecks. 



FRIDAY, March 21. 



Physical Society, at 5. — On the Villari Critical Point of Nickel : 

 Herbert Tomlinson. — On Bertrand's Idiocycloph.inous Prism : Prof. 

 Silvanus Thompson. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 7.30. — Economy Trials of a Com- 

 pound Mill-Engine and Lancashire Boilers : L. A. Legros. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — Electro-magnetic Radiation : Prof. G. F. 

 Fitzgerald, F.R.S. 



SATURDAY, March 22. 

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

 Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45. 



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

 Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



The Reign of Law, 19th Edition: Duke of Argyll (Murray). — Recherches 

 sur les Tremblements de Terre : J. Girard (Paris, Leroux). — The English 

 Sparrow in North America: Dr. C. H. Merriani and W. B. Barrows 

 (Washington). — Facsimile-Atlas to the Early History of Cartography : A. 

 E. Nordenskiold ; translated by J. A. Ekelof and C. R. Markham (Stock- 

 holm).— Birds' Nests, Eggs, and Egg-Collecting : R. Kearton (Cassell). — 

 Force as an Entity with Stream, Pool, and Wave Forms: Lieut-Colonel 

 W. Sedgwick (Low). — Notes on Indian Economic Entomology (Calcutta). — 

 National Academy of Sciences, vol. 4 ; Second Memoir, the Solar and the 

 Lunar Spectrum ; S. P. Langley. — Erliiuterungen zu der Geologischen 

 Uebersichtskarte der Alpen : Dr. F. Noe (Wien, Holzel). — Journal of 

 Morphology, vol. 3, No. 3 (Collins). — North American Fauna, No. 3 : C. 

 H. Merriam (Washington). — Himmel und Erde, Heft 6 (Berlin). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



German Contributions to Ethnology 433 



English and Scottish Railways. By N. J. L. ... 434 



Diseases of Plants. By D. H. S 436 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Gairdner : " The Physician as Naturalist " 436 



King: "Materials for a Flora of the Malayan 



Peninsula."— J. G. B 437 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Panmixia. — Prof. George J. Romanes, F.R.S. . 437 

 Newton in Perspective. {Illustrated.) — Robert H. 



Graham 439 



Thought and Breathing. — Mrs. J. C. Murray- 



Aynsley 441 



Former Glacial Periods. — Dr. James CroU, F.R.S. 441 

 Australasian Association for the Advancement of 



Science. By Prof. Orme Masson 441 



Meteorological Report of the Challenger Expedition 443 

 The Botanical Laboratory in the Royal Gardens, 



Peradeniya, Ceylon 445 



The Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College 446 



Notes 447 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 449 



The Solar and the Lunar Spectrum 450 



The Corona of 1889 December 22 450 



The Nebular Hypothesis 450 



Nebula, General Catalogue No. 4795 450 



A New Asteroid 450 



Cambridge Anthropometry. ( With Diagrams.) By 



Dr. John Venn, F.R.S. ; Francis Galton, F.R.S. 450 



Societies and Academies 454 



Diary of Societies 456 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 456 



