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NA TV RE 



Royal Meteorological Socitty, Dece)nl)er 19— Dr. W. 

 Marcct, F. R.S., I'lcbident, in the chair. — The fol owin^ papers 

 were read : — Un ihc piolong'-d spell of cold weather from 

 September 1887 lo UCtobcr 1&88. hy Mr. C. Ilaidiiiij. During 

 ihe fifiynine wetk- cndinjr the lliird week in()ctol»er, there were 

 Imt four warm weeks in the nonh-we^t of Kni;land. and only 

 five warm weeks in the >omh-west of England, whilst in the 

 latter district there was not a single warm week in t*een March 

 12 and Octobev 22. The mean temijerauire (or liie whole 

 |>eriod was dealt with for the twelve districts into which the 

 •Meteorological Office divides the whole area of the United 

 Kingdom, and with the single exception of the north o( Scotland 

 the weather for the period ending in October this year was the 

 coldest of any dunng the past ten years. At (Jreenwich the 

 lemperatute during the fourteen months was below the average 

 un 312 days out of 427, or 73 per cent., and in July there was 

 not a single warm da), the lenipcraiure being continuously below 

 the average from June 27 to August 6. The means for July 1 1 

 and 12 were colder by several degrees than tho e for ^iarch 9 

 and 10.— Report on the phenological observations for 1888, by 

 the Kev. T. A. Preston. Vegetation was generally backward 

 throughout the season. In the south west of England and south 

 of Ireland plants were earlier than usual, but not elsewhere. 

 In February they were from one to four weeks later, and grad- 

 ually gained ground till June. In the south of Ireland ihey were 

 slightly in advance of the average in June ami July ; in the south- 

 west of England they just reached the average in July ; whilst 

 in (iuernsey they were a for. night later. Fruits generally were 

 ;i failure ; very few really ripened, and from want of sun were 

 deficient in flavour. Haymaking was unusually late (as much 

 .-IS five weeks) ; it began in July or August, and was not entirely 

 linished till late in September ; much of it was spoilt or secured 

 in bad condition. Straw was plentiful, and though the corn 

 was not an average crop, the fine October enabled farmers to 

 -ecure a better one than could have been expected. Roots were 

 • .ften a failure, and potatoes were much diseased. — A winter's 

 weather in Massowah, by Captain D. Wilson- Barker. This paper 

 gives the results of four-hourly observations during December 

 1 887 to February 1888, The hi^est shade tenaiperaturewas 95*, 

 and the lowe-.i 68°. 



Zoological Society, December 18, 1888.— Mr. Howard 

 Saunders in the chair. — The Secretary read a leport on the 

 additions that had been made to the Society's Menagerie during 

 the month of November 1888, and called attention to a specimen 

 <.f the Small-clawed Otter {Lutra Uptcnyx), presented by Mr. \V. 

 L. Sclaier, Deputy Superintendent, Indian Museum, Calcutta, 

 new to the Sjciety's Collection, and to a Monkey of the genus 

 Cercopi hcus, from South Africa, apparently referable to the 

 Samango Monkey {Cercopil/iecus sawai/ao), also new to the 

 .-society's Collection. —Mr. G. B. Sowerby read descriptions of 

 lourteen new species of Shells from China, lapan, and the 

 .Andaman Islands, chiefly collected by Deputy Surgeon-General 

 R. Hungerford. — A communication was read from Mr. Herbert 

 Druce, in which he gave an account of the Lepidoptera- 

 lleterocera collected by Mr. C. M. Woodford in Guadalcanar 

 Island, Solomon Islands. The collection was stated to contain 

 o»aniples of 53 species, 18 of which were described as new 

 lo science.— Mr. J. H. Leech read the second portion of a paper 

 .■n the Lepidoptera of Japan and Corea, comprising an account 

 of the Sphingida:, Bombycida;, Notodontidce, and Cymaio- 

 phoridae. in all 352 species. Of th^se, 38 species were now 

 .escribed as new to science. — Dr. Hans Gadow read a paper on 

 1 he riumbers and on the phylogenetic development of the remiges 

 of Birds. Tne a uthor showtd that the number of primaries is of 

 \eiy limited laxonomic value, as was ])roved by the numerous 

 exceptions mentioned in the lists contained in the paper. A 

 comparison of the remiges of the Penguins with those of other 

 Carinatae seemed to indicate an extremely low stage in the 

 Penguins, which, however, was not borne out by other ana- 

 tomical features. The Ratitae were most probably descendants of 

 birds which formerly p -ssessed the )X)wer of flight and had lost 

 It. This view was strengthened by an examination of the 

 structure of the wings and of the feathers of their nestlings. The 

 ]>aper concluded with general remarks upon the probable gradual 

 development of the organism of flight in birds. 



Pakis.' 

 Academy of Sciences, Deceitiber 17, 1888.— M. Janssen 

 in the chair.— On the analytical theory of heat, by M. H. 

 I'oincare. In a previous note {Coinptes rcndus, civ. p. 1754) 



the author studiel the problem connected with the coaling of a 

 homogei eous and isotropous solid Ixidy ; here a more satisfac- 

 tory demonst'ation is given of the theorem growing out of that 

 problem. — On ihcr abruptly and slowly contracting muscles of the 

 hare, hv M. L. Ranvier. A recent experiment is described, 

 which has l)een cariied out for the purpose of studying in the 

 hare the two species of muscles, which in the rabbit differ in 

 colour, structure, and functions, but which in the hare are all 

 alike red. — On M. Ze.le's submarine boat, the Gyninotf, by 

 Admiral I'ari^. An account is given of the first trial of this 

 boat, recently lainched at Toulon, and constructed for the 

 ])urpose of realizing the sUj;ges,ions maile i)y M. Dupuy de 

 I ome <m the subject of submarine electric navigation. As this 

 is an engine of warfare, the details of its mechanism are sup- 

 pressed ; but it is stated that the trial more than realized the 

 exjjeclations of its inventor. It works by elecrriciiy, with per- 

 fect ease, on, and at any desired depth below, the surface, obeys 

 the helm in all p isiiions, fully attains the hoped-for velocity, 

 and its ventilation and lighting are all that cm be expected down 

 to a certain depth. By introducing sundry obvious modifications, 

 boats of this description may be turned to the best account for 

 the purpose of scientific n arine exploration. — Eocene Echinidae 

 in the province of Alicante, Spain, by M. Cotteau. The recent 

 explorations of the Eocene formations in this region have yielded 

 as many as 76 species of fossil Echinida:, grouped in 36 genera, 

 and representing nearly all exisiing groups of this family. Of 

 the species, 50 are new to science, and some of these are 

 specially interesting, as they belong to extremely rare genera, 

 well deserving the attention of palccontologists. and four of which 

 are quite new. A striking feature of this Eocene Echinidian 

 fauna is the enormous preponderance of irregular over regular 

 forms, the former comprising as many as 67 out of the 76 species 

 here described. — On the nutriment of castaways at sea. by Prince 

 Albert of Monaco. The researches made during the nir(mdelles 

 last expedition in the North Atlantic ten.l to show that the crew 

 of a vessel short of provisions might supjiort life indefinitely if 

 supplied with the proper appliances for capturing the small 

 marine fauna which is found to exist in great abundance in the 

 Atlantic, and probably in all temperate and warm marine waters. 

 — On the diui-nal variation of the barometer, by M. Alfred 

 Angot. It is shown that diurnal barometric variatio 1 results 

 from the interference of two distinct waves. One of these is ex- 

 clusively due to the diurnal variation of temperature in the given 

 region, and subject like it to local influences. J he oth r, of semi- 

 diurnal ]>eri<)dicity, is produced by a general cause independent 

 of all local influence ; its phase is constant, approximating to 

 63", and its amplitude for all regions and all seasons is determined 

 by an equation, whose terms show a certain analogy with those 

 corresponding to the theory of the tides. — On certain new pro- 

 perties and on the analy>is of the fluoride of ethyl, by M. H. 

 Moissan. In a previous communication the author showed that 

 ethylfluorhydric ether (ethyl fluoride) was a gaseous body capable 

 of being obtained in a very pure state, and causing ethyl iodide 

 to react on the anhydrous fluoride of silver. Here he describes 

 several other properties of the same sub-tance. Heated to a 

 dull red for several h )urs in a glass ball, the fluoride of ethyl 

 yields a complex mixture of carburets containing traces only of 

 the fluoride of silicium. Under the action of a weak induction spark 

 the volume increases greatly, yielding hydrofluoric acid, a small 

 quantity of .acetylene, and especially ethylene, without depositing 

 carbon. In the presence of a powerful spark, carbon is deposited 

 with formation of acetylene, ethylene, propylene, &c.— On the 

 employment of oxygenated water for the quantitative analysis 

 of the metals of the iron group (continued), by M. Ad. Carnot. 

 Here the author deals more especially with chromium and 

 manganese. — On the reproduction of zircon, by MM. P. Hante- 

 feuille and A. Perrey. Zircon, obtained at a very high tempera- 

 ture by Sainte-Claire Deville and Caron, by making the fluoride of 

 zirconium to act on silica or on silicium fluoride, is here repro- 

 duced at a temperature iK)t exceeding 700° C. l>y the action of 

 the bimolybdate of lithin on a mixture of zircon and silica. 

 This is the same process by means of which these chenists have 

 obtained the emerald and phenacite. — Papers are contributed by 

 M. Raoul Varet, on the action of the cyanide of mercury on 

 the salts of copper ; by M. Albert Colson, on a diquinolic Imse ; 

 by M, W. LoUjfuinine, on the heats of combustion of the camphors 

 and bomeols ; by M. Louis Crie, on the affinities of the Jurassic 

 and Triassic floras of Australia and New Zealand ; and by M. 

 Michel Hardy, on the discovery of a Quaternary burial-place 

 at Raymonden, in the commune of Chancelade, Dordogne. 



