December 15, 192 1] 



NATURE 



sn 



f Vercors massif. — P. Loisel : The existence of a new 

 •t radio-active emanation in the springs of Bagnoles- 

 de-l'Orne and its neighbourhood. The experiments 

 described can be best explained on the assumption of 

 the presence of a new simple radio-active element, 

 provisionally named emilium. — L. Dnnoyer : The graphi- 

 cal determination of average wind velocities. — L. Besson 

 and H. Dutheil : Relations between the direction of 

 the cirrus clouds at Paris and the barometric situa- 

 tion in Europe. The results of an examination of 

 ten years' statistics. — Miss Ethel Mellor : The lichens 

 which attack glass and their mechanical action on 

 stained glass windows of churches. The immediate 

 cause of the corrosion of stained glass windows 

 is the mechanical action of the lichens ; this action 

 follows on the chemical weathering of the glass, itself 

 accelerated by the growth and life of the lichens. 

 The remedy suggested is annual window cleaning. — 

 L. Plantefol : The teratological spikes of Plantago 

 lanceolata. — A. Dauphine : The experimental produc- 

 tion of acceleration in the evolution of the conducting 

 apparatus. Experiments on the growth of the root 

 of the lupin, from which certain parts have been 

 removed. — F. Obaton : The comparative structure of 

 leaves of the same age and different dimensions. In 

 small and large leaves from the same branch and of 

 the same age the histological elements are practically 

 the same magnitude for the parenchymatous part, 

 and are also nearly identical in the composition of 

 the structure of the phvsiologically comparable veins. 

 —P. Freundler and Mile's. Y. Menager and Y. Laurent : 

 The composition of the Laminaria. The maximum 

 proportions of iodine, carbohydrates, and brown pig- 

 ments coincide with the period of maximum insola- 

 tion.— G. Bertrand and Mme. M. Rosenblatt : The dis- 

 tribution of manganese in the organisms of the 

 higher plants. A detailed study has been made of 

 two plants, Nicotiana riistica and Lilitim lancefolium 

 rubrum, at different stages of growth. The maximum 

 proportion of manganese is usually found in the 

 organs where the chemical transformations are the 

 rnost active. The seeds also contain a high propor- 

 tion of manganese.— M. Doyon : The utilisation of the 

 frog for the demonstration of the anti-coagulating 

 action of the nucleic acids. — A. Michel : The fibril- 

 lary tissue and nerve tissue of the elytron and dorsal 

 cirrus of the Aphroditian Annelids.— C. Julin and A. 

 Robert : New observations on the formation of the 

 cardio-pericardic organ and of the epicardium in the 

 oozoid of Distaplia. — E. Roubaud : Fertility and 

 longevity of the domestic fly. A minimum 'of 600 

 eggs is estimated as the average production of a 

 normal fly, and taking the period of evolution from 

 egg to egg-laying as eighteen days, and it mav be 

 as low as thirteen days, from May 1 to September 30 

 a single fly may give rise to 4000 billions (4x10"). — 

 A. Gruvel : Pearl oysters on the coast of Madagascar. 

 — R. Koehler : The services which radiography may 

 render in the study of Clypeaster.— H. Heldt': The 

 co-operation of the dirigible balloon in sea-fishing. 

 The dirigible balloon has proved useful in rapidlv 

 sketching out the nature of the sea-floor, knowledg'e 

 of use to the fisherman. Shoals of fish are also 

 readily seen ; the balloon can hover over the spot and 

 send signals to the fishing fleet. — C. Noiszewski : 

 Glaucoma and the relations between intra-ocular and 

 intra-cranial pressure. — G. Bourgnignon : The localisa- 

 tion of poisons and infections on the neuro-muscular 

 systems of man according to their chronaxy. 



Melbourne. 

 Royal Society of Victoria, September S.— Prof. A. J. 

 Ewart, president, in the chair. — J. Shephard : The 

 Rotifera of Australia and their distribution. Two 



NO. 2720, VOL. 108] 



hundred and thirty species have been recorded as the 

 result of the work of seven or eight observers. The 

 wide distribution of rotifers may be regarded as due 

 to man's agencies. — E. T. Qnayle : Local rain-pro- 

 ducing influences in South Australia. The greatest 

 rain improvement area in South Australia owes its 

 origin to Lake Torrens, while Lake Frome is the 

 source of another area of probably equal improve- 

 ment. The full plotting of this rainfall departure on 

 a map showed marked rainfall deficiency both to 

 northward and southward of the improved area, but 

 ending abruptly at the lake, showing that it was not 

 due to any specially favoured storm tracks. Several 

 other lakes showed slighter effects of the same kind, 

 proving that evaporation from the lakes was a very 

 effective factor in rain production inland. Lakes 

 Torrens and Frome were considered together. The 

 probable run-off rainfalls and the percentage of rain- 

 fall finding its way into the lakes were considered to 

 be increasing. The rainfall is not retained, as 

 formerly, in numberless small reservoirs in the up- 

 lands, but is hurried down to the lower levels, and 

 finallv into lakes or swamps, which tend to improve 

 rainfall locally. It is considered that the filling of 

 i Lakes Torrens and Eyre from the sea would make 

 the whole area south-east of them capable of close 

 settlement, especially when aided by proper use of 

 the waters of the Murray and its great northern 

 tributaries. One cause of Australian aridity is the 

 growth of drought-resistant perennial vegetation 

 which regulates evaporation adversely to storm de- 

 mands for rain production, and prevents accumula- 

 tion of water in inland lakes by its own moisture re- 

 quirements and by its prevention of the formation by 

 erosion of defined stream channels. Human occupa- 

 tion tends to improve climate by reason of forest 

 destruction and the substitution of grass and crops 

 for drought-resistant vegetation, by water storage, 

 and the tapping of underground water supplies. — 

 T. H. Laby : A new type of barometer. — T. H. Laby : 

 A gravity metre. 



Sydney. 

 Linnean Society of New South Wales, September 28. — 

 Mr. G. A. Waterhouse, president, in the chair. — 

 T. G. Sloane : Description of a new tiger beetle from 

 the Wyndham district. A new species of Cicindela 

 was described. — L. Harrison : Note on the pigmenta- 

 tion of frogs' eggs. Results are recorded of observa- 

 tions on the pigmentation of the eggs in some Aus- 

 tralian species of the genera Limnodynastes, Pseudo- 

 phr}-ne, and Hyla. — E. W. Ferguson : Revision of the 

 Amycterides. Part vii. : Hyborrhynchus and allied 

 genera. A small group of genera having affinities 

 both with the Acantholophus-Cubicorrhynchus and the 

 Euomid complexes are dealt with. — C. T. White : 

 Notes on the genus Flindersia (fam. Rutaceae). The 

 genus Flindersia, founded by Robert Brown in 1814 

 on F. aiistralis, the common "crow's ash " of Queens- 

 land or "teak" of New South Wales, consists of 

 eighteen species, fifteen of which are found in eastern 

 Australia. The genus includes some of the most valu- 

 able timber trees of Australia. — A. B. Walkom : A 

 specimen of Noeggerathiopsis from the Lower Coal 

 Measures of New South Wales. A large specimen of 

 Noeggerathiopsis showing radiate arrangement of the 

 leaves was described. All specimens previouslv 

 described with this arrangement have been obtained 

 from the Upper (Newcastle) Coal Measures. — Marjorie 

 I. Collins : The mangrove and saltmarsh vegetation 

 near Sydney, with special reference to Cabbage Tree 

 Creek, Port Hacking. The mangrove formation — the 

 outermost — is characterised by the two species, 

 Aviceiinia officinalis and Aegiceras majus ; in the salt- 



