5i8 



NATURE 



[December 15, 1921 



marsh — the inner — two plant associations, (a) Sali- 

 cornietum and (b) Juncetum, are recognised. At Cab- 

 bage Tree Creek drift sand has been raising the level 

 of the marsh for some years, and Juncetum, the mar- 

 ginal association of the saltmarsh, is invading Sali- 

 cornietum. — A. M. Lea : Description of new species 

 of Australian Coleoptera. Part xvii. Thirty-nine 

 species are described as new, belonging to sixteen 

 genera in the families Nitidulidae, Malacodermidae, 

 Chrysomelida?, Erotylidae, Endomychidae, and Corylo- 

 phidae. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, October 5. — Mr. 

 E. C. Andrews, president, in the chair. — A. R. 

 Penfold : The essential oil of Leptospermum flavescens 

 (Smith). This tea-tree grows extensively in the coastal 

 and mountainous districts around Sydney. The 

 average yield of oil is about 08 per cent, from the 

 distillation of 5 ton of material. The principal con- 

 stituents are a- and ^-pinene, aromadendrene, eudes- 

 mene, dextro-rotatory eudesmol, leptospermol (new 

 liquid phenol), small amounts of citral, and uniden- 

 tified alcoholic bodies. — J. K. Taylor : A note on 

 chemistry of Kurrajong seeds. A syrupy red oil was 

 extracted from the seeds with a solvent ; some could 

 be obtained by subjecting them to pressure. The oil 

 belongs to the semi-drying group of vegetable oils. The 

 oilcake remaining after pressure treatment is compar- 

 able with other cakes. — C. W. Mann : Preliminary 

 note on the occurrence of porphyritic intrusions at 

 Yass, New South Wales. It was thought that these 

 beds were flows of volcanic material which had issued 

 contemporaneously with the formation of the inter- 

 bedded sedimentary rocks. New evidence indicates 

 that after the deposition of the sedimentary material 

 the beds of porphvry were intruded into their 

 present positions. The rocks occurring In the upper 

 side of the shelf of porphyry are thin beds of breccia 

 formed bv the inclusion of fragments of sedimentary 

 rocks while the molten magma was in process of 

 intrusion towards the surface. 



Cape Town. 

 Royal Society of South Africa, October 19. — Dr. J. D. F. 



Gilchrist, president, in the chair. — Miss M. R. Michel! : 

 Some observations on the effect of fire on the vegeta- 

 tion of Signal Hill. Within three weeks of a bush fire 

 in February, 1919, which killed the aerial parts of plants, 

 some had put up vigorous shoots, notably Asparagus 

 capensis. They were perpetuated by regeneration from 

 the underground parts or by seed. The fire stimulated 

 erosion. It was favourable to the spread of the 

 Rhenoster bush ; no evidence of eradication of species 

 by burning was obtained. — Miss A. V. Duthie : The 

 morphology of Selaginella piimila. The species is an 

 annual occurring in abundance near Stellenbosch. The 

 base of the vegetative leaf contains well-defined aeren- 

 chyma communicating with the atmosphere by stomata 

 which are confined to the aligular surface of the leaf 

 and the leaf-margin. The roots are destitute of root- 

 hairs, and contain an endophytic fungus. — A. R. E. 

 Walker : Note on a specimen of Phacops africauiis, 

 Lake. A nodule containing an internal cast and a 

 mould of the external surface of the thorax and tail 

 of the trilobite Phacops africanus. Lake, was described. 

 Each segment of the axis of the thorax bore a strong 

 medium spine, and the thorax was composed of eleven 

 segments. — J- W. C. Gunn, M. Goldberg, and J. H. 

 Ferguson ; A note on the pharmacological action of 

 Scilla Cooperi, Hook, Fil., 5. Rogersii, Baker, and 

 S. lanceaefoUa, Baker. Extracts of these South 

 African species of squill have similar eflects on frogs 

 and mammals to the extracts made from the digitalis 

 group, such as S. marititna, th'^ugh they are less 



NO. 2720, VOL. 108] 



poisonous. Thev all contain glucosides. — C. Sj 

 wrobbelaar : I. Some .South .\frican Paramphistc 

 midae, Fisch. The conditions favouring natural in^ 

 fection of stock, the effects of infection, and the! 

 general distribution of the family in South .Africa are! 

 noted. Isidora (Physa) tropica, Krauss, is the inter- 

 mediate host of Paramphistomiirn caticophorum, Fisch. 

 11. Some trematodes in the .South .African anura and 

 the relationships and distribution of their hosts. — C. 

 Pijper and H. Zwarenstein : The " .Account Book " of 

 Jan Haszing. Jan Haszing practised as a surgeon at 

 Cape Town ; his "Account Book " starts at 1736 and 

 runs on continuously until 1767; it throws light on the 

 life of Cape Town at that epoch. — J. Moir : Coloui 

 and chemical constitution. Pt. 16 : Further -misi 

 cellaneous observations. The position of the absorp- 

 tion band Is given for ten further derivatives of benz- 

 hydrol, twelve further derivatives of phenolphthalein, 

 five derivatives of qulnolinlc acid, eleven further 

 triphenvl-carblnol dyes, and ten other substances con^ 

 nected with colour and fluorescence. 



Books Received. 



Obras Completas y Correspondencia Cientifica de^ 

 Florentino .Ameghlno. Dirigida por Alfredo J. Tor- 

 celll. Volumen i : VIda y Obras del Sabio. Pp. ^qq. 

 Volumen 2 : Permanos Trabajos Clentificos. Pp. 

 773. (La Plata : Minlst^re des Travaux Publics.) 



A Treatise on Probability. By J. M. Kevne=:. 

 Pp. xI+466. (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 

 i8.f. net. 



Ravs of Positive Electrlcitv and their .Application 

 to Chemical Analyses. By Sir' J. J. Thomson. (Mono- 

 graphs on Physics.) Second edition. Pp. x+ 237+9 

 plates. (London : Longmans, Green and Co.) 165. 

 net. 



The Elements of Social Justice. Bv Prof. L. T. 

 Hobhouse. Pp. 208. (London : G. Allen and Unwin, 

 Ltd.) los. 6d. net. 



British .Astronomical .Association : Observer's Hand- 

 book for IQ22. Pp. 36. (London : Eyre and Spottls- 

 woode, Ltd.) Members, is. 6d. ; non-members, 2s. 



A Handbook of some South Indian Grasses. Bv 

 Rai Bahadur K. Ranga .Achat iyar. Pp. vI+318. 

 (Calcutta : Butterworth and Co., Ltd. ; London : Con- 

 stable and Co., Ltd.) 4.8 rupees. 1 



A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. By; 

 J. H. Maiden. Vol. :^, Part 9- (Part 49 of the com-j 

 pletework.) Pp. 11+ 26 1-290+ plates 200-203. (Sydney:. 

 W. A. Gullick.) 3s. 6d. 



Physikallsche Rundblicke. Gesammelte Reden und 

 .Aufsdtze. Bv Max Planck. Pp. iv+i68. (Leipzig:! 

 S. HIrzel.) 60 marks. .it 



Nutrition de la Plante. By M. Molliard. I. : 

 Echanges d'Eau et de Substances MInerales. Pp. xiv+ 

 7o;. II. : Formation des Substance's Tenaires. Pp. 

 vI+438. (Encvclopedie sclentifiaue : Bibliotheaue de 

 Phvsiologle et de Pathologic V^g^tales.) (Pans: 

 Gaston Doin.) 2 vols., 14 francs. 



Chemical Reactions and th^ir Equations : A Gui'le 

 and Reference Book for Students of Chemistry. By 

 Prof. I. W. D. Hackh. Pp. viiI+138. (Philadelphia : 

 P. Blaklston's Son and Co.) 



Philosophv and the New Phvsics : An Essay on the 

 Relativltv Theorv and the Theory of Quanta. Bv 

 Prof. L.' Rougler. Authorised translation from the 

 author's corrected text of "La Materialisation de 

 I'Energle" bv Prof. M. Maslus. Pp. vi+159. (Phila- 

 delphia : P. Blaklston's Son and Co.) 



Western Australia. Astrographic Catalogue 19000. 

 Perth Section, Dec. -31° to -41°, from Photographs 



