August I, 1878] 



NATURE 



375 



a grass which somewhat resembled the other plant before the 

 flowers appear. — Mr. Distant exhibited some specimens of the 

 homopteron Ricania australis. Walk., which had been sent him 

 for identification through Dr. Sharp, from Mr. Lawson, of 

 Auckland, New Zealand, where the species had been observed 

 last year on the dahlia for the first time. These New Zealand 

 forms were, however, much darker in colour than Australian 

 specimens, and hence had probably been introduced for some 

 time. Mr. Jenner Weir exhibited two specimens of Leucania 

 iurca with several pollinia of Habenaria bijolia attached to the 

 trunk of each, and which was only observed in these two 

 instances out of fifty specimens examined. Mr. Weir also exhi- 

 bited an interesting variety of Hipparchia hyperanthus. — I'rof. 

 Westwood remarked on a recent note in Nature, vol. xviii. 

 p. 226, referring to observations made by Dr. A. S. Packard on the 

 manner in which lepidoptera escape from their cocoons, and 

 stated that similar observations had been previously made and 

 recorded by Capt. Hutton {Trans. Ent. Soc, 1st. ser. vol. v. 

 p. 85). Prof. Westwood also stated that he had recently heard 

 of injuries done to potato crops by Cetonia aurata, which had 

 been found stripping the leaves, and a lepidopterous larva 

 {probably a species of Botys), which bored into the stem. — Mr. 

 Dunning read a note on spiders resembling flowers. — The 

 Secretary read a note from Mr. J. Haselden relating to the 

 habits of the honey bee (Apis fasciata ?) in Egypt. — Mr. Water- 

 house communicated a paper on new coleoptera from Australia 

 and Tasmania in the collection of the British Museum. 



Cambridge 



Philosophical Society, May 20. — A communication was 

 made by the Rev. E. Hill, on some points connected with the 

 influence of geological changes on the earth's axis of rotation. — 

 The author proved by elementary methods the following results 

 recently obtained by Mr. G. H. Darwin : — (i) That small 

 deformations of the earth cannot alter the position in space of the 

 earth's axis of rotation. For if external forces be neglected this 

 follows immediately from the conser^'ation of angular moments. 

 If we introduce the attractions of the sun and moon, the investi- 

 gation of precession and nutation will in general still apply to 

 the deformed earth, and the mean obliquity be unchanged. 2. 

 That these deformations cannot sensibly separate the axis of 

 figure from that of rotation. It was shown that as soon as a 

 separation began, the rotation-pole would appear to trace out on 

 the surface a cyclone with its base in the direction along which 

 the figure-pole might be shifting ; that the two would coincide 

 about every 300 days, and the greatest divergence thus be infini- 

 tesimal. 3, That should the earth yield to strain, these poles 

 would describe a spiral on the surface. This was only shown in 

 a single case. 4. Expansion and contraction w ill be less effective 

 in shifting the principal axes than transference of surface-matter. 

 For expansion and contraction involve transference of m'atter 

 from within outwards, or vice versA, and the effect of increase of 

 matter at one point of a radius would be more or less counter- 

 "baianced by its subtraction from another point. But transference 

 of matter on the surface may be so arranged that the gain at one 

 ^ioint is reinforced by the loss at the other. 



Manchester 



Literary and Philosophical Society, December 4, 1877. — 

 Transit of the shadow of Titan across the disc of Saturn, 

 November 23, 1877, by Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S. 



February ii, 1878. — Mr. Binney, F.R.S., sent a marine alga 

 •from the Isle of Man for identification. It was not in fruit, but 

 was undoubtedly an unusually narrow fronded form of Chon- 

 drus crispus (Lamx.). — Mr. C. Bailey, in the absence of Mr. 

 Hurst, read a paper by the latter on the best method of collecting 

 and preserving plants for herbarium purposes, when gathered 

 in tropical or subtropical countries. — Mr. J. Boyd exhibited 

 •slides of Spongilla fluviatUis, the fresh-water sponge, showing 

 spicules. 



February 25. — Results and deductions of rain-gauge observa- 

 tions made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the year 1877, 

 by Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S. 



March 5. — On the decomposition of ultramarine by carbonic 

 acid, by Mr. S. Sugiura (Student in the Chemical Laboratory of 

 the Owens College). Communicated by Prof. Roscoe, F.R.S, 

 — On siliceous fossilisation, by J. B. Hannay, F.R.S.E., 

 Assistant Lecturer on Chemistry in the Owens College. Com- 

 municated by Prof. Roscoe, F.R.S. 



'■• March 11. — On bryozoa, by Arthur Wm. Waters, F.G.S. 



March 19. — On a remarkable flash of lightning, by B. St. J. 

 B. Joule. — On a barometer, by Dr. J. P. Joule, F.R.S. — A 

 comparison of the standard barometer of the Owens College 

 Physical Laboratory with the working barometer, by Mr. 

 Morisabro Hiraoka, Student of Owens College. Communicated 

 by Prof. B. Stewart, LL.D., F.R.S. — On a new calorimeter, 

 by J. B. Hannay, F.R.S. E., Assistant Lecturer on Chemistry, 

 Owens College. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, March 14. — On pro- 

 cesses of degeneration and regeneration in normal peripheric 

 nerves, by HeiT Mayer. — Embryology of ferns, by Herr Leitgeb. 

 — New experiments in proof of Doppler's theory of tone 

 and colour variation through motion, by Dr. Mach. — Re- 

 searches on the origins and the functions of the accelerating 

 nerves, by Dr. Strieker. — On a fluorescein-carbon acid, by Dr. 

 Schreder. — On phenomena in the circulatory apparatus after 

 temporary closure of the aorta (a contribution to physiology of 

 the spinal cord), by Dr. Mayer.— On the salivary glands of 

 Eledone moschata, by Dr. Dietl. — On a new geological inclosure 

 in the region of the Carlsbad springs, by Prof. Hochstetter. — On 

 the magnetic declination and inclination at Vienna, by Herr 

 Liznar. — The daily and yearly course of temperature at Port 

 Said and Suez, by Herr Kostlivz. 



March 21. — On peculiar openings in the upper surface flower 

 leaves of Francisea macrantha, Pohl, by Dr. Waldner. — On the 

 electromotive force of metals in aqueous solutions of their 

 sulphates, nitrates, and chlorides, by Dr. Streintz. — On the 

 diffusion of carbonic acid through water and alcohol, by Dr. 

 Stefan. 



April 4. — The following, among other papers, were read : — 

 On determination of electric resistance by the electrostatic 

 method, by Herren Gruss and Biermann. — On the heat 

 capacity of mixtures of methylic alcohol and water, by Hen- 

 Lecher. — Main features of the actinic theory of heat, by Herr 

 Reschl. — The basaltic lava of the Eifel, by Herr Hussak. — On 

 the organisation of the brain of invertebrates, by Dr. Dietl. — 

 On the arrangement of the more recent tertiary formations of 

 Upper Italy, by Dr. Fuchs. — On Canides from the diluvium, by 

 Dr. Woldrich. 



April II. — New and rare fish of the Vienna museum, by Dr. 

 Steindachner. — Two problems of the dynamical theory of gases, 

 by Lieut. Schlemiiller. — The products of the volcano Monte Ferru, 

 by Prof. Doelter. — The geological formation of Attica, Boeotia, 

 Locris, and Parnassus, by Dr. Bittner. — On great subterranean 

 watercourses and reservoirs, and the purity and transparency of 

 certain lakes, by Dr. Boue. — On peculiar properties of some 

 astronomical instruments, by Herr Sterneck. 



May 9. — The dolomite ridges of Southern Tyrol and Venetia, 

 by Dr. v. Mojsisovics. — The reptiles and fishes of the Bohemian 

 chalk formation, by Prof. Fric. — On the results of the meteorology 

 of the present, by Herr Hann. — Fish fauna of the Magdalene 

 stream, by Dr. Steindachner. — Nostocolonies in the thallus of 

 the Anthoceroteae, by Prof. Leitgeb. — On continuous acoustic 

 rotations and their relation to the principle of surfaces, by Herr 

 Haberditzl. — Comparative anatomy of the seeds of Vicia and 

 Ervum, by Dr. Beck. — Experimental pathology of oedema of 

 the lungs, by Dr. Mayer. — On the electrolysis of water, by Dr. 

 Exner. — On the relative volumes of atoms, by Herr Wachter. — 

 Development of Cheetopoda, by Prof. Stossich. — Chemical com- 

 position of diastase and grape jelly, by Prof. Zulkowsky. — 

 Interpolar electrotonus, by Dr. Fleischl. — On the internal fric- 

 tion of glycerine, by Herr Schottner. 



May 16. — On the colours which follow each other in Newton's 

 ring system, by Prof. Rollett. — On azophenols, by Prof. Weselsky 

 and Dr. Benedikt. — On the existence of man at the time of the 

 loess formation, by Count Wurmbrand. — On the apparently 

 secular variations of dry land, by Prof. Suess. 



May 23. — On the course of spark-waves in the plane and in 

 space, by Prof. Mach.— On the path of the Comet H. of 1873, 

 by Herr Becka.— Influence of pressure and temperature on the 

 spectra of vapours and gases, by Herr Ciamician. — Theory and 

 application of electro-magnetic rotations, by Dr. Margules. — 

 The laws of the individuality of planets of our solar system ; 

 attempt to found a general theory, by Herr Lehmann.— Stones 



