192 



NATURE 



[Dec. 28, 1876 



of electric images and its application to the case of two charged 

 spherical conductors placed opposite one another, Mr. W. 

 D. Niven. — On viscous fluids, and Quaternion forms of some 

 general propositions in fluid motion, Mr. J. G. Butcher (com- 

 municated by Mr. G. H. Darwin). An easy method of finding the 

 invariant equation expressing any poristic relation between two 

 conies, Prof. Wolstenholme. 



Geological Society, December 6. — Prof. P. Martin Duncan, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Thomas Collinson, P. Lind- 

 say Galloway, the Rev. George Middleton, S. H. Needham, 

 Maskell Wm. Peace, Nathaniel Francis Robarts, and John 

 Stirling, were elected Fellows of the Society. — The President 

 announced the sad loss the Society had sustained in the death 

 of Mr. David Forbes, F.R.S., one of its secretaries, which took 

 place on the morning of Tuesday, December 5. On this ac- 

 count the only paper read was on the intrusive character of the 

 Whin Sill of Northumberland, by Mr. W. Topley, F.G.S., 

 Assoc. Inst. C.E., Geological Survey of England and Wales, 

 and Mr. G. A. Lebour, F.G.S., Lecturer on Geological Survey- 

 ing at the University of Durham College of Science, Newcastle- 

 on-Tyne. The Carboniferous Limestone series of the north of 

 England contains a bed (or beds) of basalt, known as the 

 "Whin Sill," regarding the nature of which opinion has long 

 been divided. Some writers regard it as truly interbedded and 

 contemporaneous ; others look upon it as intrusive, and as having 

 been forced laterally between the planes of bedding. The latter 

 opinion is that held by the authors. Amongst the practical 

 miners of the north of England there are very few who will 

 admit any doubt that the Whin lies evenly, and at one constant 

 horizon, amongst the strata. Clear cases to the contrary are 

 looked upon as merely local variations, possibly due to succes- 

 sive eruptions of submarine lava. The work of the Geological 

 Survey has shown that the Whin Sill lies at different horizons in 

 different places : sometimes it even lies above the Great Lime- 

 stone itself. In other words, ike Whin Sill, which is supposed to 

 mark the base of the Yoredale series, sometimes lies above the livie- 

 stone which forms the top of that series. With the disappearance 

 of the supposed base-line of the Yoredales goes also any good 

 reason for drawing a line here at all. The authors traced the 

 Whin Sill through Northumberland, as far north as Dunstan- 

 borough Castle, showing the varying positions at which it occurs 

 in the Limestone series, and noting points of interest in some of 

 the sections. The Whin shifts its position amongst the strata to 

 the extent of 1,000 feet or more. It frequently comes up in 

 bosses through the bedded rocks, and bakes the beds above it 

 quite as much as those below, especially when those beds con- 

 sist of shale. As to the age of the Whin Sill, nothing definite 

 can be said. 



Edinburgh 



Royal Society, December 18. — Sir William Thomson, pre- 

 sident, in the chair. — The following communications were 

 read : — On the roots of the equation p </> p = o, by Gustav Plarr, 

 communicated by Prof. Tait. — Applications of the theorem that 

 two closed plane curves cut one another an even number of 

 times, by Prof Tait. — On the distribution of volcanic debris over 

 the floor of the ocean — its character, source, and some of the 

 products of its disintegration and decomposition, by Mr. John 

 Murray, communicated by Sir C. Wyville Thomson. — On new 

 and little- known fossil fishes from the Edinburgh district. No. i., 

 by Dr. R. H. Traquair. — Note on the Ruff (Machetes pugnax), 

 by Prof. Duns. 



Manchester 



Literary and Philosophical Society, November 6. — 

 Charles Bailey in the chair. — Wealden fossils from Columbia, 

 South America, by John Plant, F.G.S. — The raised beaches of 

 County Antrim, their molluscan fauna, and flint implements, by 

 Mark Stirrup, F.G.S. 



November 14. — E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., president, in 

 the chair. — Notice of a passage in Clement of Alexandria on the 

 origin of certain arts and customs, and their introduction into 

 Greece, by William E. A. Axon, M.R.S.L., &c. 



Boston 



Natural History' Society. — Mr. S. H. Scudder's contribu- 

 tions on the orthoptera continue to be among the most important 

 papers published by this society. His ' ' century " of new forms 

 has reached its sixth decade. His latest published paper is 

 entitled " Critical and Historical notes on Forficulariae, including 



Descriptions of new Generic Forms, and an Alphabetical Synonymic 

 list of the described Species." This extends over fifty pages, and 

 will be of great use to entomologists. — W. H. Niles has con- 

 tributed a paper on the geological agency of lateral pressure, 

 exhibited by certain movements of rocks, referring especially to 

 observations in sandstone quarries at Berea, Ohio, and in lime- 

 stone quarries at Lemont, Illinois. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, October 19, November 16, 

 23. — The following are some of the papers read: — Researches 

 on the contractility of the capillaries, by M. Strieker. — On the 

 integration of linear differential equations of the second order 

 through simple quadratures, by M. Winkler. — On the discri- 

 minants of the Jacobi covariants of three ternary quadratic 

 forms, by M. Igel. — On the fresh-water fishes of South-Eastern 

 Brazil, by M. Steindachner. — On the absorption spectrum of 

 hypermanganate of potash, and its use in analytical chemistry, 

 by M. Briicke. — On the magnetic observations of the Austro- 

 Hungarian Polar Expedition, 1872-74, by M. Weyprecht. — On 

 the action of bromine on succinimide, and a new way of forming 

 fumaric acid, by M. Kisielinski. — On the velocity of propagatioa 

 of sound-waves from explosion, by M. Mach. — Three papers by 

 M. Velten (sealed packet), i. On the transference of material 

 particles by the electric current ; 2. On the polar and magnetic 

 behaviour of plant-cells ; 3. On the magnetic behaviour of por- 

 tions of the cell contents. — On the heat-conductivity of ebonite, 

 by the Secretary. 



Geneva 



Physical and Natural History Society, November 2. — 

 M. Lucien de la Rive gave an account of his researches on the 

 specular reflection of surfaces covered with hairs, these being 

 considered as cylinders with circular base. The condition neces- 

 sary for a cylinder to present an edge of specular reflection 

 is that the axis of the cylinder be found in the plane normal 

 to the bissectrice of the angle of the luminous and visual rays. 

 It results that it is only possible to have a luminous angle by 

 starting from a certain inclination of the visual ray. This 

 principle is proved mathematically. It is applied to bodies of 

 various forms, and explains the apparently abnormal play of 

 light on children's heads, for example, and on any surfact 

 covered with hair. (Vide Archives des Sciences Physiques et 

 Naturelles, t. Ivii. p. 219, Nov. 1876). 



CONTENTS Page 



Dr. Schliemann's Discoveries at MycenvE . , 173 



Peschel's " Races of Man." By Prof. Alfred R. Wallace, F.R.S. 174 

 Our Book Shelf : — 



De Mosenthal and Harting's " Ostriches and Ostrich Farming " . 176 

 Rudolf Schmid's " Darwin'sche Theorien und ihre Stellung 



zur Philosophic, Religion und Moral " 176 



Lbttkrs to the Editor : — 



Sea Fisheries. — B. G. Jenkins 176 



Sense of Hearing in Birds and Insects. — Rev. George J. ROiM anes, 



F.R.S 177 



"Towering" of Birds. — J. Hopkins Walters 177 



The Tasmanians. — W. W. Spicey ...^ 178 



Algoid Swarm-spores. — E. Rodier 178 



Meteor.— Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S 178 



On the Relation between Flowers and Insects ...... 178 



An Account OF Duplex Telegraphy (M^jV,^ ///7«^mifzV'«.j) . . . 180 

 Museum Specimens for Teaching Purposes, II. By Prof. W. H. 



Flower, F.R.S 184 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The New Star in Cygnus , 186 



The Binary Star 6/ Eridani , . , 186 



Periodical Comets in 1877 ......,,...,,.. 186 



Ancient Solar Eclipses j86 



Meteorological Notes : — 



The Storm of March 12, 1876 . . . . , 186 



Diurnal Barometric Range at Low and High Levels 187 



The Climate of Geneva 187 



Climate of Lund 188 



Weather Summary , 188 



Influence of Forests on Ozone 188 



Notes «.....,., 188 



Scientific Serials , 191 



Societies and Academies , . , , . 191 



