Jan. 4, 1877] 



NATURE 



21 1 



Riigen, were elected foreign members. — Mr. M'Lachlan (on 

 behalf of Mr. W. Denison RoeVmck, of Leeds) exhiliited some 

 locust-!, a swarin of which had passed over Yorkshire during 

 la^t auturnn. He believed that they belonged to the Pachytylus 

 cimascens, an insect which was supposed to breed in some parts 

 o' Northern' Europe. — Mr. W. C. Boyd exhibiteil living larvoe of 

 Brachycentrus subnubilus in their quadrilateral cases, having been 

 reared from the ec^gs. They were of a much larger size than those 

 previously exhibited by him at the meeting of November, 1873, 

 bein^ more than half an inch long. — Mr. S. Stevens (oa behalf 

 of Mr. Edwin Birchall) exhibited a specimen of Cii-rhcedia xe- 

 rampelina, var. unicolor, Agrotis liicernea, var. latens, and what 

 appeared to be a small variety of Zy^iena filipeiiduhe with the 

 pupa case and cocoon. They were all taken by Mr. Birchall in 

 the Isle of Man. — Mr. Meldola referred to a request made by 

 dr. Riley, of St. Louis, Missouri, that entomologists should 

 apply him with cocoons of the parasite Mtcrogaster glomerulus, 

 which were much wanted in America to destroy the numerous 

 broods of Furls rapa which had been imported into that country. 

 Mr. M'Lachlan had at a subsequent meeting stated that M. glome- 

 rulus was parasitic on J\ brussica, but doubted whether it ever 

 attacked P. rupw ; and Mr. Meldola now exhibited the insects 

 he had found parasitic on these two species, that on P. rupee 

 being Pleromuhis imbulus (one of the Chulcididie), while on P. 

 brussicic he had observed Microgaster glomerutus and a dipterous 

 species Tachinu uugustu. Specimens of all of these were exhi- 

 bited. — Mr. Smith remarked that he had received a nest of 

 Osmia niururiu, sent to him from Switzerland, in which he had 

 found in one of the cells a yellow larva, which ultimately proved 

 to be that of a beetle belonging to the Cl-ridec {Trichodes ulve- 

 urius). — Sir Sidney Saunders exhibited a large box of insects of 

 all orders, which had been collected in Corfu by Mr. Whitfield. 

 — Mr. C. O. Waterhouse remarked on the " Catalogus Coleop- 

 terorum " of Gemminger and v. fiarold, the concluding portion 

 of V* hich was now published. The total number of generic names 

 given is 1 1,6x8, of which 7,364 are adopted genera, and 4,254 

 apjicar as synonyms. The total number of species recorded is 

 77,ooS. Dejean's first Catalogue, published in 1821, gave 

 6,692 specie.-, while that of 1837 (the 3rd edition) gave 22,399 

 species, of which, however, only a portion were tlien described. 

 Taking into consir'era ion the number of species described during 

 the publication cf die Munich Caia'ogue, the number of described 

 species at the present date could not bi; less than 80,000. Thus, 

 since 1821, the known species of Coleoptera had increased 

 iwelvefuld. — Sir Sidney Saunders exhibited several larva: of 

 Melol'lic in their first stage, received froiii M. Jules Lichtensteiii, 

 of Montpellier, including (i) the primary larval form of Situris 

 colleles found oa Colletes suceincla, Iteding on ivy blossoms ; (2) 

 the same larval stage of Alylubris melunuru obtained from the 

 tgg, and furnished with triple tarsal appendages like other larvae 

 ot MtloidiC in their primary form ; (3) the exuviae of the primary 

 form of Aleloi' cicutncosus (ho\n the egg), and also the second 

 stage of the same larva, stdl bearing legs ; (4) the primary larva 

 ot Meloe proscarnbcriis (?) differing from the foregoing in the struc- 

 ture of the anteiinte, taken on an Andrena ; (5) the corresponding 

 larval stage of Meloe uulumnalis (?), also differing as aforesaid, 

 taken on Seollu kirUi. — Mr. C. O. Waterhouse read descriptions 

 of twenty new species of Coleoptera from various localities. 



Geologists' Association, December i. — Mr. William Car- 

 ruthers, 1' .R.S., president, in the chair. — On the comparative 

 ages ot the English and Scottish coal-fields, illustrated by the 

 geology of the Lothians and Fifeshire, and the structure and age 

 of Arthur's Seat, Andrew Taylor, F.C.S. The author, after 

 alluding to the early interest evoked by the geological problems 

 which a study of Arthur's Seat suggests, proposed to bring for- 

 ward some loci sections bearing on the question of its age. A 

 section, beginning with the Burdiehouse limestone quarries at 

 East Calder, deals with upwards of 1,700 feet of strata. This 

 area had undergone much disturbance ; the trap-sheets were 

 shown to fill the crevices, consequent on the subsidence, both in 

 the main lines of shrinkage and in the parallel ones ; nor does 

 this shrinkage and contemporaneous emission of volcanic matter 

 terminate in the lower strata. The structure of the Torbane 

 hdl mineral basin proves this. Another section was described 

 at North Qutensferry, through what was originally supposed 

 to have been a compact mass of intrusive dolerile. During 

 the earlier operations no igneous rock was touched ; it was 

 only towards the close of the work that the narrow plug 

 became visible. The superposition of the beds cut through is 

 — 3. Sandstone, 2. Shale, l. Freshwater (Burdiehouse) lime- 



stone. The freshwater limestone was found only in the plug of 

 the tunnel, standing almost vertically, and having a white 

 crystalline character. Below it occurred a bed of ozokerite, 

 three inches thick. The shale near the plug lost its fissile lami- 

 nated character, assuming a somewhat columnar form. Whilst 

 the dolerite on the hill is visibly crystalline, at the plug it pre- 

 sents a compact aphanitic mass. We have here, as elsewhere, 

 the association of ozokerite and bitumen with limestone. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, December 18, 1876. — Vice-Admiral 

 Paris in the chair. The following papers were read : — Note on 

 the integration of total differential equations, by M. Bertrand. — - 

 Theorems concerning couples of segments taken the one on one 

 tangent of a curve, and the other on an oblique of another curve, 

 and making together a constant length, the curves being of any 

 order and class, by M. Chasles. — On the secular displacements 

 of the plane of the orbit of the eighth satellite of Saturn (Japhet), 

 by M. Tisserand. If we consider on the sphere great circles 

 representing the orbit o Saturn and his ring, and draw through 

 their intersection two great circles suitably chosen, the orbit of 

 the satellite will form with these two latter circles a triangle or 

 constant surface. — Microscopic study of the volcanic rocks of 

 Nossi-Be, by M. Velain. — Method of methodic compression and 

 immobilisation, by M. Chassagny. A solid inextensible enve- 

 lope with a caoutchouc bag under it incloses the region to be 

 compressed {e.g. a limb), and the bag is injected with air 

 or water. — On a particular class of left unicursal curves 

 of the fourth order, by M. Appel.— Manometer for mea- 

 suring high pressures, by M. Cailletet (already noticed in 

 connection with the Journal de Physujue). — Researches on 

 mannite with regard to its optical properties, by MM. Miintz 

 and Aubin. Mannite, of whatever origin, presents the same 

 optical properties. — On the keel of least resistance, by M. 

 Beleguic. — Various notes on Phylloxera. — Calculation of three 

 observations of the new star of Cygnus, by M. Schmidt. 

 — Preliminary note on photographs of stellar spectra, by Dr. 

 Huggins. He submitted a copy of the photographed spectrum 

 of Vega (o Lyrse), in which are seven broad lines, two of 

 them coinciding with the two lines of hydrogen in the solar 

 spectrum. — Observations on the explanation of the pheno- 

 menon of the black drop at the moment of exterior contact 

 oJ Venus and the sun, by M. van de Sande Backhuyzen. 

 — Second note on the theory of the radiometer, by Mr. 

 Ciookes. — On an arrangement for reproducing Foucault's ex- 

 periment (stoppage of a turning disc under the action of an 

 electro-magnet), with the aid of the syren, by M. Bourbouze. 

 The copper disc is fixed on the axis of the syren, and when the 

 magnet is made the sound sud .ealy stops. — Practical method of 

 testing an element of a battery, by M. Leclanche. He states 

 some interesting effects of varia.ion of temperature on a Daniel! 

 •element. — Note on the presence of sugar in the leaves of beets, 

 by M. Corenwinder. — Note on a rapid means of determination 

 of lime in presence of magnesia, and on the application of mag- 

 nesia to the defecation of saccharine juices, by MM. Bernard 

 and Ehrmann. — On the fall of coldjair which produced the 

 disastrous frost in the middle of April, 1876, by M. Barral. This 

 he considers strongly in favour of M. Faye's theory. — Absorp- 

 tion, by a meadow, of the fertilising principles contained in a 

 liquid charged with manure and employed in watering, by M. 

 Leplay. — On the quantity of rain that fell and was collected 

 during the heaviest showers, from i860 to 1876, by M. Berigny. 

 The average of water which fell in ten to forty-five minutes, in 

 the heaviest showers, was 0'5i mm. per minute, which would 

 give I '53 cc. for thirty minutes (an exceptional case occurred on 

 August 2, 1866, when a shower furnished, in ten minutes, 

 1162 mm. of water, equivalent to I"i6mm. per minute). — Re- 

 lations between the optical elements of Arthropoda and ihose of 

 certain worms, by M. Chatin. — On the beds of fossil bones of 

 Pargny Filain and of Dezanne. — M. Decharme described an ex- 

 periment with coloured rings. Directing a current of vapour of 

 bromine, iodine, or sulphydrate of ammonia against a metallic 

 plate, he obtains, by chemical process, coloured rings similar to 

 the thermal rings he got with a jet of flame. 



Berlin 

 German Chemical Society, November 13, 1876.— A, W. 

 Hofmann, president, in the chair. — O. Pettersson has determined 

 the atomic volumes of isomorphous mixtures of selenates and sul- 

 phates, notably ofthealumns, containing both acids. — A. Horst- 



