Oct. ii, iSSSJ 



NA TURE 



583 



the proper place of the ' symmetric function tables ' as studied 

 by Hirsch, Cay ley, Durfee, and others, in the algebra of such func- 

 tions ; to point out that the fact of their existence depends upon 

 a wide theorem of algebraic reciprocity which leads to an equally 

 wide theorem of algebraic expressibility, and that they are a 

 particular case, and not the most important case from the point 

 of view of application, of a system of such tables" (pp. 1-36). — 

 Prof. W. \\ . Johnson contributes a paper on the integrals in 

 series of binomial differential equations (pp. 37-54). " Binomial 

 equation" is here used in Boole's sense. — Some interesiing geo- 

 metrical results are given in the next paper, by M. d'Ocagne, 

 " Sur certaines courbes qu'on peut adjoindre aux courbes planes 

 pour l'etude de leurs proprietes infinitesimales "j| (pp. 55-70). 

 — Prof. Cayley closes the number with an instalment on the 

 surfaces with plane or spherical curves of curvature (pp. 71-98). 

 The paper is a reproduction in a compact form, with, additional 

 developments, of papers by Bonnet {Journal de I ) Ecole Polyt., 

 t. xx., 1853, pp. 117-306), and Serret (Liouville, t. xviii., 1853, 

 pp. 1 13-162). 



Englers Jahrbiicher, vol. viii. Part 5, contains : — Contributions 

 to the knowledge of the Cupuliferae, by K. Prantl. The author 

 concludes that the segments of the cupule are not themselves 

 leaves, but outgrowths of the axis covered with leaves, and that, 

 with the exception of this peculiarity, the male and female 

 catkins are similarly constructed. His views will be stated in 

 Engler's " Die Naturliche Pflanzenfamilien," for which this paper 

 was a preparatory study. — A revision of Bentham and Hooker's 

 "Genera Plantarum," and " Florae Columbian specimia selecta," 

 by H. Karsten. — The rest of the number is taken up with 

 abstracts of botanical papers, and the list of the more important 

 works on classification and geographical botany published in the 

 year 1886. 



Vol. ix. contains the following articles : — On the roots of the 

 Aracese, by Max Lierau. An investigation of the roots of about 

 130 species from 46 genera of this natural order, leads the author 

 to the result that those histological characters by which the stem 

 and leaf of the several sub-orders of Engler are distinguished 

 recur also in the roots, and thus these organs, though performing 

 the most various physiological functions, have constant characters 

 of systematic value. — In his contributions to the knowledge of 

 the Capparidacea.-, Dr. Ferd. Pax discusses the questions of (1) 

 the part taken by the axis in the construction of the flower ; (2) 

 the relation of the Capparidoideae to the Cleomoideje, in respect 

 of the andrcecium. He concludes that the disk, androphore, and 

 gynophore, are of axial nature, and not the result of coalescence 

 of sporophylls ; further, that the construction of the andrcecium 

 is uniform throughout the order, being based upon the presence 

 of two dimerous whorls, increased often very greatly by duplica- 

 tion. — Observations on the organization and biological conditions 

 of northern tree's, by F. W. C. Areschoug. — Specilegium 

 canariense, by H. Christ. — Dr. Marloth gives an interesting 

 account of the morphology, anatomy, and biology of the Naras 

 (Acanthosicyos horrida, Welw. ) of the south-west coast of Africa, 

 and of observations of the peculiar property of the fruit in pro- 

 moting the coagulation of milk. — On the flora of the German 

 East-Asiatic Protectorate, by K. Schumann. — Contributions to 

 the morphology and classification of the Ranunculaceae, by K. 

 Prantl. The author distinguishes "honey-leaves" {Honig- 

 bliiltcr) from the perianth, defining them as "floral leaves, the 

 chief function of which is the secretion of honey, and which have 

 been produced from stamens independently of the differentia- 

 tion of the perianth into calyx and corolla " : thus he would 

 describe the corolla of Ranunculus as consisting of such " honey- 

 leaves," while the calyx would be regarded as a simple perianth 

 The greater part of the paper is occupied by the classification of 

 the species within the genera. — New contributions to the flora 

 of Greenland, by Eug. Warming. — Contributions to the know- 

 ledge of the walnut {Jnglans regia, L. ) by Dr. M. Kronfeld, 

 with two plates. — A posthumous paper, by Dr. Hillebrand, 

 descriptive of the vegetation of the Sandwich Islands. — Orchi- 

 daceae herbarii Dcm.-J Arechavatetae det. et descr., by F. 

 Kriinzlin. — Dr. A. Breitfeld, in a paper on the anatomical 

 structure of the leaves of the Rhododendroideae, attempts to 

 rank anatomical details with the characters of flower and fruit, in 

 the classification of the group, and finds the most useful 

 characters in the epidermis. — On continuous and saltatory varia- 

 tion, by Franz- Krasan. — Biographical notices on some of the 

 collectors and authors named in the " Plantae Ryddeanas," by 

 F. a on Herder. — Marine Algre of Puerto-Rico, by Dr. F. Hauck. 



— In addition to the above original treatises, the volume for the 

 year contains a list of the papers of 1887 on the classification, 

 description, and geological distribution of plants, as well as 

 abstracts of the most important of these. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Sydney. 



Linnean Society of New South Wales, July 25. — 

 Dr. J. C. Cox, Vice-President, in the chair. — The following 

 papers were read : — The insects of King's Sound and its vicinity, 

 part 2, by William Macleay. This paper contains a list of all 

 the Lamellicorn insects in the collection made by Mr. Froggatt 

 in the West Kimberley district. Of the seventy-six species 

 recorded, fifty-nine are described as new, but are all referable to 

 known genera. The genera most numerous in species are Onlho- 

 phagus and Heteronyx. The sub-family Cetoniides is repre- 

 sented by four species only. — Catalogue of the known Coleoptera 

 of New Guinea, &c, part 2, by George Masters, Curator of the 

 Macleay Museum. Part 2 of this catalogue, comprising the 

 Tetramerous and Trimerous divisions, amounting to about lioo 

 species, completes the list of Coleoptera hitherto described from 

 the region under consideration. The total number of species 

 recorded is 2079. — Malaysian land and fresh-water Mollusca, by 

 Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods. After some introductory remarks 

 on the extent and physical geography of the region under con- 

 sideration, and on the characteristic features of its land and 

 fresh-water Mollusca, the author gives a list of about 400 species 

 indigenous to the Malay Peninsula in the States south of Keddah, 

 and the Indian Archipelago, not including the Philippines and 

 New Guinea. A bibliographical list is appended. — Mr. Ogilby 

 exhibited a specimen of a deep-sea fish (Chlcrophthalmns nigri- 

 pennis), originally described by Dr. Giinther in the Ann. oj 

 Nat. Hist., 1878, and figured in vol. xxii. of the " Challenger 

 Reports." The original specimens were taken by the Challenger 

 naturalists off Twofold Bay, in 120 fathoms ; the specimen ex- 

 hibited was captured quite recently off Port Jackson in 70 

 fathoms, the only other occasion on which the species has been 

 met with since its discovery. — Mr. Ogilby also exhibited a 

 photograph of Acatithias Blainvillii, not hitherto recorded from 

 New South Wales, and one of a variety of AcanlhoJiiius 

 lit tor ens, originally described by Forster in " Cook's Voyage," 

 the former having been taken in deep water off Port Jackson, 

 the latter under stones between tide-marks at Lord Howe 

 Island. — Mr. Brazier exhibited a spherical stone, about ^ inch in 

 diameter, found in the crop of a Goura pigeon (C. Albertisi, 

 Salvad.), from Hall Sound, New Guinea. Also a tube of fresh- 

 water shells (Segmentina australiensis, E. A. Smith), from 

 Waterloo Swamps. — Mr. MacDonald showed under the micro- 

 scope an interesting exhibit of Rotifers (Megalotrocha sp. ), living 

 in clusters on pond weed. — Mr. Burnell exhibited two living 

 slow-worms (Typhlops nigrescens), from Wentworthville, near 

 Parramatta. — Mr. Deane exhibited a remarkable excrescence on 

 a root of Monotoca elliptica, found by Mr. J. F. Fitzhardinge in 

 the neighbourhood of Sydney ; a specimen of an apodal lizard 

 {Delma impar) found by Mr. C. F. Price, of Arable, near 

 Cooma, where the species is said to be abundant in basaltic 

 country ; and examples of concretionary nodules occurring 

 abundantly in a slaty rock in a cutting near Bredbo on the 

 Goulburn to Cooma Railway. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, October 1.— M. Des Cloizeaux in 

 the chair. — Relative values of the two constituents of the force dis- 

 played in the stroke of a bird's wing, deduced from the direction 

 and insertion of the fibres of the great pectoral muscle, by M. 

 Marey. Of the forces in question, one, as shown in previous 

 communications, equals the weight of the bird and enables it 

 to resist gravitation, the other is horizontal and enables it to 

 resist the air. From a study of the disposition of the muscular 

 fibres of the breast, the author now infers that the latter force, 

 contrary to the general opinion, is much greater, and may even 

 be double that of the former. — Positions of Barnard's comet 

 (September 2, 1888) measured at the Observatory of Besancon 

 with the o - 22 m. equatorial, by M. Gruey. The observations 

 cover the period from September 5-15. — Observations of Saver- 



