346 



NA TURE 



[Feb. 15, 1877 



readers one of the most valuable parts of this address is the 

 account of the work of the various U.S. Surveys for 1876. We 

 regret that space prevents us doing more than referring to this 

 interesting address. 



At the last session of the Berlin Academy a letter was read 

 from Dr. J. M. Hildebrandt, travelling under the auspices of the 

 Academy, who on December 10 was preparing to leave Mom- 

 bassa, in Zanzibar, for an extensive expedition in the Kibuyn 

 land. The chief aim of the undertaking will be to study the 

 snowy regions of the lofty chain of mountains bordering on the 

 coast-land. One of the first efforts will be directed to scaling 

 the lofty summit of the Kenia. 



Die Natur for February 12 contains a paper by Karl Emil 

 Jung, " On the Family Conditions of the Australian Natives," 

 in which he states some facts with regard to their marriage 

 customs that deserve the attention of ethnologists. 



No. 3 of the Bulletin Triniestriel of the Cairo Geographical 

 Society contains a paper by Dr. GUssfeld on his exploration in 

 West Africa, and a paper of great value by Col. Colston giving 

 the results of his observations among the Bedouins of Sudan and 

 Kordofan. Accompanying letters from Col. Gordon, which have 

 been referred to by us already, are four maps of the course of the 

 Nile in the region of the great lakes. 



We have received a copy of a lecture on the English Arctic 

 Expedition given at the Scientific Club, Vienna, by Dr. Cha- 

 vanne, forming one of a series of cheap popular scientific lectures 

 which are being published by A. Hartleben, of Vienna. 



Seven weekly meetings of the Cambridge University Natural 

 Science Club were held during the last (October) term, when 

 the following papers were read: — "On Analogies between the 

 Senses in Man," by J. Allen (St. John's) j " The Pectoral and 

 Pelvic Girdles," by T. W. Bridge, B.A. (Trinity); "The 

 Probable Age of the Earth," by E. B. Sargant (Trinity); 

 '• Caves," by J, E. Marr (St. John's) ; " The General Anatomy 

 and Functions of the Cerebrum," by O. A. Biowne, B.A. 

 (Trinity); "Fermentation," by A. Hill (Downing); "The 

 Chemical Composition of the Albumenoids," by S. H. Vines, 

 B.A. (Christ's). Seven meetings are arranged to take place 

 during the present (Lent) term. There are nineteen members 

 in residence. 



Pjrof. Ogden Rood has called attention {Am. Journ. of 

 Set, and Arts) to some cases in his own experience, which, along 

 with an experience described by Tait, seem to prove that our 

 retinal apparatus for reception of waves of liiiht of medium 

 length is more liable to be strained by nervous shocks or by pro- 

 longed excitation, than that designed for reception of waves of 

 greater or less length. Thus nervous derangement and prolonged 

 excitation may produce temporary green colour blindness. The 

 effects Prof. Rood observed were in recovering from effects of 

 chloroform, exposure to bright white light out of doors (when 

 white objects seemed at first purplish red), and convalescence 

 from typhoid fever (when white objects appeared of a weak 

 orange yellow). 



The works in connection with the Paris [Exhibition of 1878 

 are progressing with surprising activity. The buildings, which 

 must be ready in the end of March by contract, will be com- 

 pleted before the appointed time. 



In the February Session of the Wurtemberg Anthropological 

 Society, a somewhat novel communication was presented by 

 Prof. v. Zech, the statistician of the Society. He instituted a 

 careful comparison between the returns of the late parliamentary 

 election and the anthropological statistics of the kingdom col- 

 lected during the past year. The majorities of the government 

 party were invariably obtained in districts where light-coloured 



hair and eyes predominate. The Sekwarzen, the Ultramon- 

 tanes, formed a medium class with regard to complexion, &c., 

 and were not recruited from among the black-haired and the 

 black-eyed, who seemed on the contrary to be the champions of 

 social democracy. 



The A»ieriean Naturalist for February contains an Account 

 of the Natural History of the Fanning Group of Islands, by 

 Dr. T. H. Streets. These are four coral islands in the Pacific, 

 stretching from 1° 57' N. to 5° 49' N., and from 157° 27' to 

 162° 11' W. They do not seem to have been yet grouped on 



any chart. 



r 



A SECOND edition, revised to December 31, 1876, has been 

 published of the "Catalogue of the Publicationi of the United 

 States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories." 

 Since 1867, forty-one publications have been issued, besides 

 twenty-five maps. A considerable list of works in process of 

 publication and in preparation is also given. 



At the meeting of the Brighton and Sussex Natural History 

 Society, held on the 8th inst, an interesting paper by Miss Crane 

 was read, " On Certain Genera of Living Fish and their Fossil 

 Affinities. " It is reported in full in the Sussex Daily Nnus of 

 February 10. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey {Macacus cynomolgus) 

 from India, presented by Master R. Wallace; two Chinese Geese 

 {Anser cygncides) from China, presented by Mr. A. H. Med- 

 hurst ; a Common Raven [Corvus eorax), European, presented 

 by Mrs. Nathan ; a Common Magpie {Pica eaudata), European, 

 presented by Miss Jessie Bovill ; a Rough-legged Buzzard (Ar- 

 chibuteo lagopus), European, presented by Mr. W. R. Paxton ; 

 a Common Marmoset {Hapale jacchus) from Brazil, a Common 

 Paradoxure {Paradoxuriis typus) from India, deposited ; two 

 Maned Geese {Bernicla jiihata) from Australia, a Red-vented 

 Cockatoo {Cacatua philippinaritni) from the Philippine Isles, 

 purchased. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



In the January number of the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopieal Scienee we find that Dr. Klein has superseded Dr. Payne, 

 as one of the editors. Mr. H. N. Moseley has two valuable 

 papers, the first on the colouring matter of various animals^ and 

 especially of deep sea forms dredged by PI. M.S. Challenger, in 

 which a large number of fresh band-producing colours from 

 sponges, Coeienterata, Echinoderms, Annulosa, and Mollusca are 

 described with figures of their spectra. In the second, Stylochus 

 pelagicus, a new species of Pelagic Planarian, is described, with 

 notes on other pelagic species, together with the larval forms of 

 Thysanzoon, and of a gymnostomatous Pteropod. — Dr. Klein, 

 in a note on a method ot preparing the carnea by the employ- 

 ment of caustic potash and lunar caustic. — Mr. Kidd describes 

 Schiefferdecker's Microtome, and gives an epitome of a paper 

 by Engelmann on " Contractility and Double Refraction." — Mr. 

 Peek has an important paper on the minute structure of the gills 

 of Lamellibranch molluscs, the investigation having been under- 

 taken in the Histological Laboratory of Exeter College, Oxford, 

 at the instigation of Prof. Lankester. The filamentary gills of 

 Area and Mytilus are shewn to explain the nature of the more 

 complicated organ in Anodon, the most simple type being fila- 

 ments bent on themselves at their middle points, outwards for 

 the outer gills, and inwards for the inner, so that in section they 

 form a W. — The last paper is a resume, by Mr. Archer, of recent 

 contributions to our knowledge of freshwater Rhizopoda. 



Jourtial de Physique, January. — On the phenomena of induc- 

 tion, by M. Mouton. — Chromatic polarisation of tufts in biaxial 

 crystals, by M. Mare.— Note on the experiment of the Franklin 

 portrait ; a new glass breaker, by M. Barat. — On absorption of 

 radiant heat by aqueous vapour, by M. Hagu. — Note on the 

 employment and choice of spectacles designed to correct bad 

 vision, by M. Dubois. 



