April 12, 1888] 



NATURE 



575 



each of five observers. — Mr. G. Massee read a paper on the 

 type of a new order of Fungi, Matule.-e.— Mr. J. Rattray gave 

 a rhume oi his paper, "A Monograph of the genus Aulaco- 

 ciiscus," the subject being ilhistrated by diagrams, and by a 

 . tabulated list of groups of allied species.— The Chairman an- 

 nounced that the date of the next conversazione had been fixed 

 for April 25. 



Entomological Society, April 4.— Dr. D. Sharp, President, 

 ill the chair. — Mr. H. Goss exhibited a large number of insects 

 lately received from Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, F.R.S., of 

 Melbourne, which had been- collected by Mr. Sayer on Mount 

 Obree, and the adjoining ranges in New Guinea, during Mr. 

 Cuthbertson's recent expedition there under the direction of the 

 Royal Geographical Society of Australia. The collection com- 

 prised Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera, Hymeno- 

 ptera, and Orthoptera. The Lepidoptera included twenty 

 species of butterflies belonging to the genera Calliflcca, 

 Chanapa, Hamadryas, Melanitis, Mycalesis, Hypocysta, 

 Tenaris, Hypolimnas, Cyrestis, Neptis, Acrcra, Danis, 

 Pithicops, Appias, Ornithoptera, and E my ens. — Mr. Osbert 

 Salvin, F.R. S., exhibited, and made remarks on, about sixty 

 specimens— no two of which were alike— of a species of butterfly 

 belonging to the genus Hypolimnas, all of which had been 

 caught by Mr. Woodford near Suva, Fiji, on one patch of 

 Zinnias.— Mr. H. T. Stainton, F.R.S., exhibited, on behalf of 

 Mr. G. C. Bignell, cases of 7 hyridopteryx ephememformis, 

 collected near Charleston, U.S.A. Mr. Stainton said he hoped 

 Mr. Bignell would not introduce this pest into England.— Mr. 

 W. F. Kirby exhibited, and read notes on, about twenty species 

 of South African dragon-flies lately received from Mr. Roland 

 Trimen, F. R. S., of Cape Town. The collection included some 

 new species. — Mr. Goss read a letter from Mr. Bignell, correct- 

 ing a statement made by Mr. Poulton at the March meeting of 

 the Society, to the effect that the variety Valezina of the female 

 of Argynnis paphia did not occur in Devonshire. Mr. Bignell 

 said that the variety Valezina was included in Mr. Reading's 

 "Catalogue of Devonshire Lepidoptera" ; and he had himself 

 taken specimens of this variety in Bickleigh Vale, Devon. — Mr. 

 Waterhouse read a paper entitled " Additional Observations on 

 the Tea-bugs {Helopeltis) of Java,^' and exhibited a number of 

 specimens of these insects. He said that the species infesting 

 the Cinchona in Java was supposed to have been introduced 

 from Ceylon in tea, but that he had discovered that the species 

 on the tea and on Cinchona in Java were distinct, and that both 

 species were distinct from Helopeltis antonii of Ceylon. — Herr 

 Jacoby read a paper entitled "New, or little-known, species of 

 Phytophagous Coleoptera from Africa and Madagascar." — A 

 letter was read from Mr. E. C. Cotes, of the Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, asking for the assistance of British entomologists in 

 working out certain groups of Coleoptera, Neuroptera, Ortho- 

 ptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera in the Indian Museum. A 

 discussion ensued, in which Mr. McLachlan, F.R.S,, Dr. Sharp, 

 Mr. Waterhouse, Herr Jacoby, and Mr. Distant took part. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, April 3. — M, Janssen, President, in 

 the chair. — A new theory of the equatorial coude^cad^ of equa- 

 torials in general (continued), by MM. Loewy and P. Puiseux. 

 In the present paper the authors deal with the new processes for 

 determining the position of the polar axis, concluding with some 

 remarks on the bend of the arm. Six distinct methods are given 

 for determining the constant n, and five for A. — Results of com- 

 parisons of the standard Peruvian unit of measure and the inter- 

 national metre made by M. Benoit, presented by M. Wolf. 

 From these comparisons, which have been made at the Inter- 

 national Bureau of Weights and Measures, it appears that the 

 Peruvian standard is substantially in the same condition as when 

 it was constructed by Langlois in 1735. But it is also made 

 evident that the Peruvian arc, measured with this standard, has 

 been hitherto incorrectly compared with the other terrestrial 

 arcs. In fact it is somewhat shorter than was supposed, and in 

 a future paper the author will point out the consequences to be 

 drawn from this error as affecting the form of the globe. — On 

 the relations of atmospheric nitrogen with vegetable soil, by M. 

 Th. Schloesing. The author here deals with an objection that 

 might be raised against the results of his previous experiments. 

 The objection is based on the considewition that vegetable 

 humus, like all dead organic matter, is a prey to two different 

 kinds of microbes, one working in the absence, the other in the 

 presence, of oxygen. But the conclusions previously arrived at 



do not appear to be materially affected by this circumstance. — 

 On the blizzard of March 11 and 12 in the United States, by M. 

 H. Faye. Comparing the public reports with the remarks of 

 Dr. G. Hinrichs, Director of the Iowa Weather Service, the 

 author concludes that a blizzard is a local snowstorm accom- 

 panied by an extremely sudden fall of temperature, and con- 

 trolled by a general cyclonic movement passing over regions 

 subject to great extremes of climate. The phenomenon is 

 analogous to such atmospheric disturbances as the Russian bora 

 or buran, the khamsin or sandstorms of the Sahara, the fdkn 

 of the Alps, all of which are modified by the different local con- 

 ditions.— Remarks accompanying the presentation of a work on 

 the Elasmotherium, by M. Albert Gaudry. From the specimens 

 obtained from Russia a more correct idea can now be formed of 

 this huge pachyderm than was hitherto possible. It flourished in 

 the Quaternary epoch, and, notwithstanding several aberrant 

 features, appears on the whole to have somewhat closely re- 

 senibled the rhinoceros. Surviving till the close of the Glacial 

 period, it became gradually modified, like the elephants and 

 ruminants, to the altered climatic conditions, under which a sub- 

 tropical vegetation was replaced by herbaceous plants. — On a 

 disposition, by means of which powerful objectives may be 

 employed in meridian observations, by M. G. Bigourdan. By 

 the arrangement here described the great meridian instruments, 

 such as those of Greenwich and Paris, which at present can 

 scarcely observe stars beyond the twelfth magnitude, may be 

 placed on a level with the equatorials. — Observations of the 

 Sawerthal Comet made at the Observatory of Nice with the 

 o'38 m. Gaulier equatorial, by M. Charlois. These observa- 

 tions, covering the period from March 14 to March 21, 

 give the right ascension, polar distance, and other data for 

 the comet and three comparison-stars. — On the velocity 

 of sound, by MM. J. Violle and Th. Vautier. From the 

 experiments here described it is'placed beyond doubt that th'e 

 velocity of the sound-wave diminishes with its intensity ; also that 

 the pitch of the sound has no influence whatever on the velocity 

 of its propagation. The slight differences observed appear to be 

 due solely to the different intensities of the sound-wave in the 

 respective cases. — Photographic experiments on the penetration 

 of light in the waters of the Lake of Geneva, by M. F. A. Forel. 

 Comparing his present researches with those of previous years, 

 the author finds that for the chloride of silver the limits of absolute 

 darkness range from 45 metres in July to r lo in March ; that the 

 variations in these limits run parallel with those of the limits of 

 visibility ; and that the water of the lake is much more limpid in 

 winter than in summer, the difference being mainly due to the 

 greater abundance of organic matter held in suspension during the 

 latter season. — On the latent heats of vaporization for some ex- 

 tremely volatile substances, by M.James Chappuis. The author 

 points out that his own previously announced conclusions have 

 been substantially confirmed by those recently announced by MM. 

 Cailletet and Mathias. — On the laws of chem cal equilibrium, by 

 M. H. Le Chatelier. In connection with the discussion on the 

 theory of the thermodynamic potentials, the author here shows 

 how, starting with the hypothesis of MM. Gibbs and Duhero, 

 and employing the same methods, the general formula indicated 

 by M. Van t' Hoff may be established in an extremely simple 

 way. — On the active crystallized matter of the poisoned arrows 

 used by the Somali people, by M. Arnaud. This is an extract 

 from the Wabaio plant, a species of Carissa, the poisonous ex- 

 tract from which (wabain) is shown by analysis to be a compound 

 of carbon, hydrogen, barium, and oxygen, with the formula 

 ^30^48012. — On the adulteration of olive oils, by M. R. Brulle. 

 A mixture of ordinary nitric acid and the albumen of jerked beef 

 is shown to be an excellent chemical reagent for rapidly detect- 

 ing the presence of one or more vegetable oils in the olive-oil of 

 commerce. — On a simple and practical method of detecting and 

 analyzing the impurities contained in the alcohols of commerce, 

 by M. L. Godefroy. The reaction here described is extremely 

 sensitive and accurate, detecting a millionth part, or I c.c. of 

 impurities in icoo litres of alcohol. — M. Engine Dupuy describes 

 some interesting experiments on dogs, cats, and rabbits, in con- 

 nection with the motor functions of the brain. The results seem 

 to be at variance with the theory usually advanced to explain 

 the mode of production of movements or paralysis originating in 

 the brain. 



Astronomical Society, March 7. — M. Flammarion, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — M. Valderrama sent a drawing of a sunspot 

 with white spots in its interior on January 15. M. Schmoll 

 showed a drawing of the same on January 14. According to M. 



