296 



NATURE 



\_Feb, 7, 1878 



placed in a straight line with the crystal between them, and held 

 together by a slight horizontal pressure. Holes are drilled in 

 the copper rods for thermometers, and the curves of tempera- 

 ture being given by these, that for the intermediate crystal can 

 be at once calculated. 



Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, January 21.— Prof. 

 Lias, of St. David's College, read a paper on Matthew Arnold 

 and modern culture. 



February 4. — The Right Reverend Bishop Cotterill read a 

 paper upon scientific thought and religious belief. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, January 22. — Mr. Bateman, 

 president, in the chair. — The paper read was on some recent 

 improvements in dynamo-electric apparatus, by Dr. Higgs, 

 Assoc. Inst. C.E., and Mr. Brittle, Assoc. Inst. C.E. 



Manchester 



Literary and Philosophical Society, December 11, 1877. 

 — Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Note on 

 the daguerreotype portrait taken of the late Dr. Dalton, by J. B. 

 Dancer, F. R. A. S. — Note on metallic niobium and a new niobium 

 chloride, by Prof. H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S. — On the retention of 

 saline impurities by hydrated ferric oxide, by Mr. Charles Fre- 

 derick Cross, Dalton Scholar in the Owens College. Com- 

 municated by Prof. H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S. 



December 26. — Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., president, in the 

 chair. — Notice of a large boulder stone at Old Trafford, Man- 

 chester, by E. W. Binney, F.R.S. — On the geometrical repre- 

 sentation of the equation of the second degree, by Charles 

 Chambers, F.R.S., Superintendent of the Colaba Observatory, 

 Bombay. Communicated by J. A. Bennion, F.R. A.S. 



Edinburgh 



Chemical Society, January 16. — Mr. W. Inglis Clark, 

 B.Sc, vice-president, in the chair. — A paper was read by Mr. 

 John Gibson, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., on yttrium and erbium, being 

 the second part of an historical sketch of the rarer elements. 



January 30. — Mr. Newton Bums presiding. — Papers were read 

 by Mr. G. Carr Robinson, F.R.S.E., on the solid fatty acids of 

 cocoa-nut oil, and by Messrs. Robinson and Thomson on the 

 composition of gases from lime-kilns. 



Philadelphia 



Academy of Natural Sciences, July 3. — Prof. G, A. 

 Konig, on protovermiculite, a new micaceous mineral from Ar- 

 kansas, R'aR^'Si'^gO'ia + HjO, related to jefferisite and colsage- 

 cite. 



July 24. — Mr. J. A. Ryder, on colour variation in mammals. 

 The distribution of colour in wild and domestic animals was 

 Compared, showing that bilateral symmetry of colouring is inter- 

 fered with in some way by domestication, wild animals almost 

 invariably being symmetrically coloured, 



July 31. — Dr. Rothrock, on the poisonous properties of the 

 LeguminostE. 



August 14. — Prof. G. A. Konig, on strengite, from Virginia. 

 This mineral, FejPaOg + 4H2O, was discovered in cavities in 

 dufrenite. 



August 28. — Dr. D. J. Jordan and W. S. Brayton, on Lago- 

 chila, •} new genus of catostomoid fishes, known in Georgia as 

 the Hare-lip Sucker, 



Wellington 



Philosophical Society, August 4, 1877. — W. T. L. Travcrs, 

 F.L.S., M.H.R., president, in the chair. — Dr. Hector drew 

 attention to several interesting additions to the museum, which 

 were arranged on the table. Among the most important was a 

 handsome bird from New Guinea, the Goura victoria;. — Mr. 

 Kirk also called attention to a log of black maire, a species of 

 olive {Olea apitita), sent by Mr. EUiotte, of the Pakuratahi, 

 which, on account of its great hardness, is much used as blocks 

 and cogs in machinery. — Capt. Edwin read a letter from Mr. 

 Rawson, on the reciprocity of seasons, the character of the 

 seasons in Europe being followed by a similar season in Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand Mr. Carruthers thought that even in 

 New Zealand the seasons did not agree ; and Dr. Hector said it 

 would be necessary to fix upon the one place for comparison, as 

 seasons were not imiform, a moist season on the east coast 

 being frequently a dry season on the west coast. Dr. Newman 

 considered that the seasons were affected all over the world by 

 sun-spots. — Mr. McKay then read a paper on gold found in the 

 Mackenzie district of Canterbury ; on which subject Dr. Hector 

 added some interesting information regarding the occurrence of 



gold generally in that district, and pointing out that Mr* 

 McKay's observation that the gold and associated quartz were 

 found only in the last formed moraines and alluviums, confirmed 

 his theory that the retirement of the glaciers was^chiefly due to 

 the erosion of the mountains. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, December 13, 1877. — 

 On the present state of the water question, by M. Wex. —On 

 the anatomy of the African elephant, by M. Mojsisovics. — The 

 electrical after-currents of transversally magnetised iron bars, by 

 M. Streintz. 



December 20. — The protoplasm of the pea, by M. Tangl. — 

 On a new apparatus for direct volumetric determination of the 

 moisture of the air, by M. Schwackhofer. — Elementary deduc- 

 tion of the complete formula for determination of the tone ot 

 vibration of a mathematical pendulum, by M. Pscheidl. — Con- 

 tribution to knowledge of cupric chloride, by M. Rosenfeld. — 

 On the air-pressure at Vienna, with supplemental remarks on the 

 temperature of Vienna, by M. Hann. 



Gottingen 



Royal Academy of Sciences, November 3, 1877. — 

 Attempt at a theory of electric separation through friction, by 

 M. Riecke. 



December i. — Report of the Secretary (126th anniversary). — 

 Obituary notice of von Baer. — Announcement of subjects for 

 prize competition, &c. — On the formation of the volcano of 

 Fuego in Guatemala, and account of an ascent of it, by M. von 

 Seebach. — On the origin of language, by M. Benfey. 



December 26, 1877. — New geometrical and dynamical constants 

 of the earth, by M. Listing, 



CONTENTS p.vcE 



The Society OF Telegraph Enginkkks ^77 



Tait's "Thermodynamics," II. By Prof. J. Clerk Maxwell, 



F.R.S -: 



Our Book Shelf : — 



D'Anvers' " Heroes of North African Discovery " 2S0 



Henderson's " Manual of Agriculture ; including the Application 

 thereto of Chemistry, Geology, Botany, Animal Physiology, and 



Meteorology" 2- 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Sun-spots and Terrestrial Magnetism.— Dr. John Allan Broun, 



FRS :' 



Terrestrial Magnetism.— Prof. Wm. LeRoy Broun ^ 



Seiches and Earthquakes. — Dr. F. A. Forel .2 



Electrical Experiment. — Prof. R Colley 2I 



Oriental Affinities in the Ethiopian Insect-Fauna. — W. L. Dis- 

 tant 2-- 



Sense in Insects — Drowned by a Devil- Fish. — W. M. Gabb . . 202 



Drowned by a Devil-Fish — George M. Dawson 2S2 



Eucalyptus. — Dr. Calmy 283 



E.xplosive Dust.— F. E. L 2S3 



Dendritic Gold.— R 



Demonstration of Currents originated bv the Voice in Bell's 



Telephone, By F. J. M. Page 2 



Chemistry ANB Algebra. By Prof. J. J. Sylvester, F.R.S., . . 2 = 



Palmen on the Morphology of the Tracheal System .... 2^4 

 On the Evolution of Heat during Muscular Action. By 



P. Frankland 286 



Ernst Heinrich Weber 286 



\\t> p Blekker •• •••••••••••••••• £06 



About Fishes' Tails. By Dr. E. Perceval Wright (IViih Illus- 

 trations) 286 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Literature of the Nebulae and Clusters 288 



New Southern Variable Star 288 



The Royal Observatory, Brussels 288 



A Forecast of the Satellites of Mars 288 



Biological Notes : 



Papuan Plants 2S9 



Horse-shoe Crabs 289 



Green Algsc 289 



Deep Sea Ascidians 289 



The Byssus in the Mussel 2S9 



Aquatic Respiration 290 



Geographical Notes : — 



Exploring Colonies 290 



Sumatra 290 



Nias Island 290 



Arctic Exploration ^9° 



Rohlfs' Expedition 290 



Spitzbergen 290 



Japan =9° 



Notes »9i 



American Science 293 



Prizes of the Paris Academy of Sciences 29^ 



University and Educational Intblugbncb 294 



Scientific Serials 294 



Societies AND Academies - 294 



