April 5, 1877] 



NATURE 



503 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Large-eared Brocket {Cervus auritus) from 

 South America, presented by Mr. Charles Cooper ; two Common 

 Otters {Lutra vulgaris), European, presented by Mr. Augustus 

 B. Foster ; a Vulpine Phalanger {P/ialangista vulpinu) from 

 Australia, presented by Mr. Thos. Welsh ; two Rufous Tina- 

 mous (Rhynchotus rufescens) from South America, presented by 

 Mr. F. Searle Parker ; eighteen Roach {Leuciscus ruit/us), six 

 Perch {Perca fluviatilis), six Tench ( Tinea vulgaris), a Bream 

 {Abromis bramd), a Prussian Carp {Carassius vulgaris) from 

 British fresh waters, presented by Mr. J. Smith ; three Fire- 

 tailed Finches {Erythrura prasina) from Sumatra, purchased ; a 

 Feline Dcurocouli {Nyciipithecus felinus), a Kinkajou {Cerco- 

 leptes caudivolvulus), three Blue-shouldered Tanagers ( Tanagra 

 cyanopta-a), an Adorned Terrapin {Clenwiys ornata) from South 

 America, deposited ; a Great Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), 

 a Yellow-footed Rock Kangaroo {Petrogale xanthropus), a 

 Collared Fruit ]5at {Cynonycterus collaris), a Black Swan 

 {Cygnus alratus) born in the Gardens. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society. — March i. — "Note on the Electrolytic 

 Conduction of some Organic Bodies," by J. H. Gladstone, 

 Ph.D., F.R.S., FuUerian Professor of Chemist)7 in the Royal 

 Institution, and Alfrtd Tribe, F. C.S., Lecturer on Chemistry in 

 Dulwich College. 



Our results, preliminary as we considered them to be, show 

 that the iodides of ethyl, isobutyl, and amyl, the bromides of 

 ethyl and propylene, the acetate of ethyl, and chloroform are 

 practically non-conductors to a battery-power of lOO cells Grove, 

 and that alcohol is to some extent traversed by the current. 

 They show also that when these liquid non-conductors are mixed 

 with the feeble conductor, alcohol, the conductivity of the mixture 

 is greater than that of alcohol alone, which offers at least a partial 

 clue to the readiness with which such mixtures are decomposed 

 by the copper-zinc couple. 



The very considerable development of heat in these liquids, 

 which conduct the electric current with great difficulty, is a cir- 

 cumstance worthy of notice. In these cases it is evident that it 

 does not result from any chemical change, because the decom- 

 position, if anything at all, is utterly insignificant in amount. 



" On the Protrusion of Protoplasmic Filaments from the Glan- 

 dular Hairs of the Common Teasel," by Francis Darwin. Com- 

 municated by Charles Darwin, F.R.S. 



The following is a summary of the results arrived at by Mr. 

 Darwin : —Certain observations have been made on the protrusion 

 of protoplasmic filaments, from leaf-glands on the teasel ; and 

 the only theory which seems at all capable of connecting these 

 facts is the following. That the glands on the teasel were 

 aboriginally {i. e. , in the ancestors of the Dipsacaceae) mere resin 

 excreting organs. That the protoplasm which comes forth was 

 originally a necessary concomitant of the secreted matters, but 

 that from coming in contact with nitrogenous fluids it became 

 gradually adapted to retain its vitality and to take on itself an 

 absorptive function. And that this power — originally developed 

 in relation to the ammonia in rain and dew — was further deve- 

 loped in relation to the decaying fluid accumulating within the 

 connate leaves of the plant. 



March 8. — *' On the Structure and Development of Vascular 

 Dentine," by Charles S. Tomes, M.A. Communicated by John 

 Tomes, F.R.S. 



March 15.— "On the Density of Solid Mercury," by Prof. J. 

 W. Mallet, University of Virginia. Communicated by Prof. 

 Stokes, Sec. R.S. 



The author gets I4'I932 as the number representing the density 

 of solid mercury at its fusing point as referred to water at 4° C. 

 taken as unity. This result, which differs considerably from 

 previous figures, he thinks, may be fairly accepted with con- 

 fidence. 



"The Automatic Action of the Sphincter Ani," by W. R. 

 Gowers, M.D., Assistant Physician to University College Hos- 

 pital. Communicated by J. S. Burdon Sanderson, M.D., 

 F,R.S. 



' ' Description of the Process of Verifying Thermometers at the 

 Kew Observatory," by Francis Galton, F.R.S. 



Linnean Society, March 15. — Prof. Allman, president, in 

 the chair. — The Rev. A. Gardner Smith and Mr. A. Y, Stewait 

 were elected Fellows. — The Secretary read a paper on the 

 poisoned spears and arrows of the Samoa Islanders, by the Rev, 

 Thos, Powell. The information thereon had been derived from 

 the son of a native chief. According to his account, the weapons 

 are pointed with human thigh and parietal bones, these being 

 ground to a fine tapering point. A milky juice, the product of 

 several kinds of trees — among others Callophyllum inophyllum — 

 is used for dipping the arrow and the spear-heads into, and there 

 is added a substance obtained from wasps' nests, besides some of 

 the fluid of putrid Sea-cucumbers (Ilolothuria). A kind of kiln is 

 then prepared, where the weapons are smoked, after which they 

 are inserted into the dried flower-stalk of a species of Tacca, to pre- 

 vent bad effects from humidity ; lastly, they are bundled together 

 and laid by ready for use. The effects of the poison on the 

 human system — viz., convulsions and tetanus, and the reputed 

 means of cure the author duly mentions, Mr, G, Busk, how- 

 ever, questions the active quality of the said poison ; at least 

 some experiments of his incline him to think that a local irrita- 

 tion may be set up rather than an immediate deadly influence of 

 a virulent vegetable poison, such as is the " Woorali " of South 

 America, On the other hand, Messrs. Nichols and Pratt cor- 

 roborate Mr. Powell's statements. — Dr, A. Gunther gave a 

 notice of two large extinct lizards formerly inhabiting the Mas- 

 carene Islands, The remains of the bones had been partly 

 obtained by Mr. Edward Newton, already well known for his 

 researches on the extinct Mascarene fauna, and partly by 

 Mr, H. H. Slater, Naturalist to the Transit of Venus Expe- 

 dition. Comparisons have led Dr. Gunther to regard one rela- 

 tively large animal as most nearly allied to the families of Zonu- 

 ridse and Scincidae, But it differs both from the Glass Snakes 

 and Skinks, hence a new genus has been assigned it and the 

 name Didosaurus mauritianus given. The remains of another 

 form from Rodriguez shows it to be allied and indeed identical 

 with the Geckos, close to G. verus but specifically distinct, and 

 accordingly named G. newtonii. — The second part of contri- 

 butions to the ornithology of New Guinea, by Mr. R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, dealt with a collection made by the late Dr. James. 

 This young enthusiastic naturalist was murdered by the natives 

 during an expedition to one of the islands in Hall's Sound, 

 whither he had gone to collect Birds of Paradise. Of fifty-three 

 species obtained only three are new to science, and from this it is 

 inferred that the south-eastern province visited has by no means 

 so rich an avifauna as the northern parts of New Guinea are 

 known to possess. The new species are Melidora collaris, Pho- 

 nygama jamesii, and Tanysiptera microrhyncha. But a still more 

 interesting night-flying black hawk, Machaeramphus alcinus, has 

 turned up in this locality, whose habitat previously was supposed 

 only to be Malacca and Tenasserim. Only four specimens of 

 this rare bird are known to exist. — Samples of supposititious 

 " manna " from Persia, and a bark (Leptospermum ?) from New 

 Zealand, with tonic qualities, were exhibited and remarked on 

 by Mr. Stewart, of the Apothecaries Hall. 



Zoological Society, March 20. — Dr. E. Hamilton, vice- 

 president, in the chair. — Mr. Sclater called the attention of the 

 meeting to an article in the Oriental Sporting Magazine ior May, 

 1876, by which it appeared that a two-homed rhinoceros had 

 been killed in February, 1876, at a place some twenty miles 

 south of Comillah, in Tipperah. Mr. Sclater stated that this 

 was the third recorded occurrence of a two-horned rhinoceros 

 north of the Bay of Bengal. — Mr. Sclater also called attention 

 to the fact that Mr. W. Jamrach had just imported a young 

 living specimen of the rhinoceros of the Bengal Sunderbunds, 

 which was either Rh. sondaicus or a very closely allied form. — 

 Mr. Sclater exhibited a small living AmphisbDenian (Bla7ius 

 cinereus), which had been accidentally brought to England in 

 the roots of a hot-house plant from Port St. Mary, Spain. — 

 Messrs. Charles G. Danford and Edward R. Alston read a paper 

 on the mammals of Asia Minor, based principally on collections 

 made by the former in that country. The list included one 

 species of Bat, two of Insectivores, twenty of Carnivores, seven 

 of Ungulates, and fourteen of Rodents. Spermo philusxantho- 

 prymnus, Benn., was redesciibed, and the name Mus mysta- 

 cinus was proposed for a new species of field-mouse. — Mr. A. 

 G. Butler read a paper on the Myriopoda obtained by the Rev. 

 G. Brown in Duke of York Island. The species sent home were 

 two in number, both of them allied to but distinct from pre- 

 viously described species. Mr, Butler proposed to designate 

 them as Heterostoma bro^cvni and Spirobolus cinctipes, — A com- 



