November i8, 1920] 



NATURE 



395 



hydrofien, peroxide, temperature, and acidity) give off 

 oxyfjen, and this can serve as a measure of' the grade 

 of the Hour. — J. Savornin : The continental Aquitanian 

 in South Morocco. 1'. Bonnet: The structure of the 

 Caucasian isthmus and its relations with the oil- 

 fields. — S. Stefanescu : The phylogeny of Elephas meri- 

 dionaUs. — A. Danjon and G. Rougier : The spectrum 

 and theory of the green ray. Photographs of the 

 spectrum of the green ray show that the theorv of 

 anomalous dispersion is untenable ; the results are 

 clearly in favour of the theory of normal dispersion, 

 with absorption of the orange bv the moisturi' in the 

 atmosphere. — C. Dafraisie and J. C. Bongrand : The 

 measurement of the tear-producing power of irritating 

 substances bA- the mHhode du seuil. The "concentra- 

 tion de seti/l" is the lowest concentration which can 

 be detected by its action on the eve in 30 .seconds. 

 This concentration for benzyl bromide is taken asunitv 

 in the measurements, and. although observers differ 

 in .sensibility, the comparative results expressed in 

 this manner are independent of the observer. Figures 

 are given for the principal lacrymogenic substances 

 utilised in the war.— R. Wurmser : The action of 

 radiations of different wave-lengths on the chlorophvll 

 .issimilation. — I^. Deitoncbes : Physiological observa- 

 tions on Convoluta ro!!cnffen<!is.—.\. KrempI : The 

 larval dcvelooment of Coeloplana Himncti'tia. — P. 

 Wintrebcrt : The embryonic functions of the apparatus 

 of relation in the anamniolic vertebrates. 



N'.xi'i.Ks. 

 R. Accademia dellc Scienze Bsicbe e matematiche, 



April i. Prof. .Monticelli, presidimt, in the" chair.- 

 ii. d'hraxino : .Miocene ichthyolites from Syracuse. A 

 description of four species of Telcostomi new to the 

 fossil fish fauna of the calcareous Miocene deposits 

 of the province of Syracuse, of which one (Pagellui 

 siracusanus) is new to science, and also one repre- 

 sentative of the Klasmobranchi of the genus Car- 

 charias. 'I'he paper is accoinpanied by a plate of 

 Sptirnodus vulgaris, Pagellus siracusanus, and Cal- 

 lipterix spinosus. — M. PIcone : Riemann's integral 

 and its relation to that of I-cbesgue. — E. Panianclll : 

 l-!lective absorption of ions in equilibrated solutions. 

 This is a sequel to the author's investigations on the 

 thsorption of ions by plants, in which he employs 

 ni-w experimental methods to elucidate the complex 

 process of absorption of ions in equilibrated solu- 

 tions, whether modified by the addition of salts with 

 the object of maintaining the same osmotic pressure 

 as that of .solutions in which marine or terrestrial 

 plants live, or in experiments with pure salt .solutions. 

 April 10. —M. CIpolla : Mardy's' critirinn of con- 

 verffcncc, ii. 



SviiM-V. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, September i.— 

 Mr. J. Nangle, president, in the chair.— G. D. 

 Oiborne : The volcanic neck at the basin, Ncpcan 

 River. The general geological features of the neck 

 ire discussed and a detailed account of the petrology 

 J the rocks occurring there is given. The neck, 

 ' hich breaks through the Triassic rocks at its surface 

 iitcrop. is filled with a fine-graine<l breccia which 

 ': - intruded by basalt dykes and plugs. The formation 

 • f the neck with the production of a long, narrow 

 vent has been effected bv explosive action concen- 

 trated uiHin n weak fissure structure lying transverse 

 ■n the mnnoclinal fold in that lo<alilv. It has plaved 

 iri important part in the phvsiographir history of the 

 Warra^jamba and Nepean river systems in Cainozoic 

 ■''lies, the present junction of these two rivers being 

 uithin it. In the breccia there o<-cur fragments of 

 the neridotites cognate with the basalt, and foreign 

 xenolifhs of rhvolite, gneissir granld', .ind sandv lime. 



NO. 2664, VOL. 106] 



stone. The basalt contains only cognate inclusions of 

 norites, hyperite, harzburgites, Iherzolites, dunites, pyro- 

 xenites, and troctolite, the last-named recorded for the 

 first time in New South Wales. The cognate inclusions 

 represent fragments of a differentiate which solidified 

 under plutonic conditions. The rhvolite inclusions 

 may have come from the southward extension of the 

 Kuttung series, the granitic rocks from ancient ter- 

 rains and the calcareous clastic rocks from a now 

 denuded roof of Upper Wianamatta rocks. Chief 

 among petrographical features are the occurrences of 

 two mineral intergrowths, a granophyric one of 

 pleonaste and diopside and a graphic intergrowth of 

 augite and picotite.— R. H. Cambage : .Acacia seed- 

 lings, nart vi. The seedlings of seven Acacia species 

 are described. The author stated that one ,seed-pod 

 of Acacia farnesiana had floated in sea-water for more 

 than eleven weeks and another for more than twelve 

 weeks, and as he had previously demonstrated that 

 a seed of that .snecies would germinate after having 

 been immersed in sea-water for three and three-quarter 

 years, he considered the likelihood of the distribution 

 of this .species beind sometimes effected bv ocean 

 currents was strengthened. The twinning of seed- 

 lings of Acacia asparaeoidcs was recorded, several 

 seeds having produced twin r>Iants.~-J. H. Maiden: 

 \ box-tree from New South Wales and Queensland. 

 This tree, which is described as a new species, seems 

 to deserve the name of " narrow-leaved box " better 

 than all the boxes, its juvenile leaves being narrow- 

 lanceolate and its mature foliajre almost as narrow. 

 The fruits are small and the timber nale brown. Tt 

 is one of the trees known as " mallee box." It differs 

 from Eucalvplw: hicolor. which has narrow juvende 

 foliage, in the red timber and thick bark of the 

 lattpr. and is widelv different from E. WonUs\ana. 

 R T Biker, which has broad iuvenile foliafe. It has 

 been collected froin Gilgandra. New South Wales to 

 Southern Oucensland. and is nartirularlv abundarit 

 in the Pilliga scrub. The type comes from Narrabn, 

 New South Wales. 



Books Received. 



A Naturalist in Himalaya. By Capt. R. W. G. 

 Kingston. Pp. xii + 300+plates. (London: II. F. 

 and G. Witherby.) i8s. net. 



Orographical, Regional, Economic Atlas. Part 2. 

 Europe. Pp. v- (Edinburgh : W. and .\. K. John- 

 ston. I-td. ; London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 

 IS. ftd. net. „. . _ . 



Wild Friends at Home. By E. Chivers Davies. 

 Pp. 64. (London: G. G. Harrap and Co., Ltd.) 6s. 



A First Trigonometry. Rv Winifred Waddell and 

 Prof. D. K. Picken. Pn. vii + 78. (Melbourne: Mil- 

 ville and Mullen Ptv., Ltd.) 



\ Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus. By 

 I. H. Maiden. Vol. iv., parts 31-40. (Index.) 

 Vol. v., part 2. Pp. 23-70+4 plates. (Sydney: \\ . 

 Gullick.) 2s. 6d. „ , „ »,. ,. 



Lehrbuch der Mineralogie. Bv Prof. P. Niggli. 

 Pp. xii + 604. (Berlin : Gcbriider Borntraeger.) 

 80 marks. 



L'Ether nur, I'Ether matWel et I"s trois formes 

 fondamentales d** I'Energie. Bv Paul Elm.nssian. 

 Pp. 304. (Gen^ve : Imnr. Atnr.) 



Mathematics for Technical Student I '^ \ 



Forrest. Innior Course. Po. viiifitKi. (With 

 Answers.) '(Lon<lon : F. Arnold.) 7s. M. net. 



Tljo Exnerimental Basis of Chemisfrv. By Ida 

 Freund. Po. xvi + 40R. (Cambridge: At the Uni- 

 versity Press.) 30.5. net. 



