March 28, i 



NA TURE 



527 



suitable length held at some distance from the spheres. Dr. 

 Lodge remarked that sparks could be obtained from almost any 

 scrap of wire or metal in close proximity to an induction-coil 

 and oscillator ; but, to produce the effects at considerable dis- 

 tances, careful timing of the receiving circuit was necessary. 

 The author also mentioned the results of some experiments on the 

 velocity with which electric waves travel along wires, and con- 

 cluded (contrary to Hertz) that this was not greatly different 

 from the velocity of light. — Owing to the late hour, the other 

 papers announced to be read were postponed. 



Entomological Society, March 6. — The Right Hon. Lord 

 Walsingham, F. R.S., President, in the chair. — Mr. F. P. Pascoe 

 exhibited several specimens of the Saiiba Ant (Q'lcodoma cepha- 

 lotes) from Para, carrying portions of dried leaves. It seemed 

 questionable whether the leaves were collected by the ants for 

 the purpose of making their nests, or for the sake of some 

 Fungus which might be growing on them. — Mr. Jenner-Weir 

 exhibited, and read notes on, specimens of a Butterfly {Tirtimala 

 petiverana) from Mombaza, Eastern Africa. — Mr. J. H. Durrant 

 exhibited a living larva of Cossus ligniperda, which had entirely 

 lost its ordinary colour, and had become first pink and then 

 white. He attributed the change, and subsequent loss, of colour 

 to the fact that it had been deprived of its natural food, and fed 

 for eighteen months on pink paper, with which the box in which 

 it was kept was lined, and subsequently on white cardboard. 

 Mr. McLachlan remarked that the most extraordinary peculiarity 

 about this larva, in addition to the loss of colour, was the ab- 

 sence of the usual odour of Cossus. Lord Walsingham observed 

 that it was questionable whether the colours of larvae were de- 

 pendent on the colours of their surroundings, or whether they 

 were affected by the contents of the intestinal canal. Prof. 

 Meldola, F.K. S.,said that the caterpillar exhibited, having eaten 

 the pink paper, had most probably become dyed by the colour- 

 ing matter, and he did not think the observation had much 

 bearing on the question of the protective colouring of caterpil- 

 lars. It was well known to physiologists that certain dye-stufls 

 could be introduced into the tissues of animals by mixing the 

 colouring-matters with the food, and paper was frequently stained 

 with coal-tar dyes, such as eosin, magenta, &c. , so that it was 

 simply a case of direct dyeing of the larva.— Mr. B. A. Bower 

 exhibited a specimen of Parasia nettroptereUa, bred from heads 

 of Centaurca scabiosa, and said he believed the species had not 

 been previously bred. He also exhibited series of Coleophora 

 oltTaceella, C. solitariella, and Lavcrna subbistrigella. — Mr. 

 White exhibited a series of male and female specimens of Orgyia 

 thyaliria, obtained by the late Mr. II. ]. Pryer in Japan. Some 

 of the females had their wings fully developed, and some of 

 them were semi-apterous, as is usual with the females of this 

 genus. Mr. White remarked that he knew of no other species 

 of the genus in which the females had fully-developed wings. 

 Lord Walsingham, Prof. Meldola, and Mr. R. South took part 

 in the discussion which ensued. — Lord Walsingham exhibited 

 specimens of preserved larvse of Enpithccia extensaria, from 

 King's Lynn ; also a preserved larva of Smeriulhus ocdiatiis 

 and one of Sphinx ligustri. The larva of the last-named species 

 was a variety, and the President remarked that it was the only 

 one of this species he had ever seen. — The Secretary read a 

 communication from the Rev. Dr. Walker, announcing his 

 intention of making an expedition to Iceland this year, from 

 June 23 to July 29, and asking that any entomologists who 

 might wish to accompany him would send him their names. — 

 Mr. Distant suggested that the meeting should pass a resolution 

 expressing regret at the death of the Rev. J. G. Wood. — Mr. 

 Gervase F. Mathew, R.N., communicated a paper entitled •' De- 

 scriptions and Life-histories of New Species of Rhopalocera 

 from the Western Pacific." 



Zoological Society, March 5.— Prof. Flower, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. — The Secretary read a report on the 

 additions that had been made to the Society's Menagerie 

 during the month of February 1889, and called attention to four 

 Marbled Polecats {Putorius sarmaticus), presented by Colonel 

 Sir Oliver B. C. St. John, new to the collection ; and to a fine 

 specimen of Owen's Apteryx {Apteryx cnveni) from the South 

 Island of New Zealand, presented by Prof T. Jeffrey Parker. — 

 Mr. A. Thomson exhibited a series of insects reared in the 

 Insect House in the Society's Gardens during the past year, and 

 read a report on the subject. — Prof G. B. Howes exhibited 

 and made remarks on some specimens of the embryo ol Myrvte- 

 cobius fasciatus. — 'M.r. O. Thomas exhibited a specimen of a 



new Muntjac from Tenasserim, lately discovered by M. J"ea, and 

 proposed to be called Cervulus fea. — A communication was read 

 from Mr. Joseph S. Baly, containing descriptions of some new 

 South American Coleoptera of the genus Diabrotica. — A com- 

 munication was read from the Rev. H. S. Gorham, containing, 

 descriptions of some new species and a new genus of the Coleo- 

 pterous family Telephoridae, from Eastern Asia. Thirty-nine 

 new species and one new genus (for which the name Lycocerus 

 was proposed) were described. Of these new forms, the greater' 

 part were from India and China. — Colonel R. H. Beddome 

 read a paper on new land-shells from the Island of Koror (Pelew 

 Group), based on specimens collected for Dr. Hungerford by a 

 resident in that island. The series comprised examples of eight 

 new species of the genus Diploinmatina, of two new and very 

 curious species of Endodonta (a section of Helix), and of a re- 

 markable new genus, allied to Diplommatina, proposed to be 

 called Hungerfordia. — Mr. W. E. Iloyle read a paper on the 

 anatomy of a rare Cephalopod {Gonatus fabricii), originally dis- 

 covered by Fabricius in the last century, but little known in 

 recent times. The author gave a general description of the 

 anatomy of the species, and recorded the existence of several 

 tracts of cartilage hitherto unobserved in the Cephalopoda. 

 Some details were given regarding the structure of the pen-sac 

 and the development of the pen, as well as some new facts re- 

 regarding the structure of the funnel-organ, and a suggestion 

 regarding its function. The genus was regarded a> beintj some- 

 what more nearly related to Onychoteuthis than to Enoploteuthis, 

 but as much further removed from them both than they are from 

 each other. The creation of the sub-family Gonatidaj was thus 

 held to be justified. 



Mathematical Society, March 14.— Mr. J. J. Walker, 

 F.R. S., President, in the chair. — The following papers were 

 read : — ^Notes on plane curves : iv., involution-condition of a 

 cubic and its hessian ; v., figureof a certain cubic and its hessian, 

 by the President (Mr. E. B. Elliott in the chair). — The problem 

 of duration of play, by Major MacMahon, R. A. — Some results in 

 the elementary theory of numbers, by Mr. C. Leudesdorf. — The 

 characteristics of an asymmetric optical instrument, by Dr.J. 

 Larmor. — A new angular and trigonometircal notation, with 

 applications, by Mr. H. MacColl. 



Edinburgh. 



Royal Society, March 4. — Sir W. Thomson, President, in 

 the chair. — A paper, by Dr. J. Oliver, on deductive evidence 

 of a uterine nerve-centre and of its location in the medulla 

 oblongata, was communicated. — The President exhibited a 

 gyrostatic model of a medium capable of transmitting waves of 

 transverse vibration. The model was two-dimensional, but a 

 three-dimensional model could readily be constructed on the 

 same principle. — Dr. Thomas Muir read a paper on the relation 

 between the mutual distances of five points in space. He has 

 reduced Cayley's determinant to one of the fourth order. — Dr. 

 Muir also communicated a note, by Prof. Tait, on the relation 

 among four vectors. In this note Prof. Tait gave an investiga- 

 tion of the same problem by means of quaternions. His rcsu't can 

 be interpreted in two ways ; one interpretation leads to Dr. 

 Muir's result, while the other gives the well-known relation 

 among the sides and diagonals of a spherical quadrilateral. — Dr. 

 Muir exhibited a diagram illustrating the history of determinants. 

 -Dr. Noel Paton and Dr. Ralph Stockman communicated a 

 paper on the metabolism of man during starvation. 



March 18. — Dr. John Murray, Vice-President, in the chair. 

 —Prof Haycraft read a contribution, written by Dr. Harold 

 Scofield and himself, to the chromatology of the bile. — A 

 paper by Prof. Tait on a relation between two groups of four 

 vectors was read. When the two groups are identical, the result 

 reduces to that obtained by him in his paper read at last meet- 

 ing. When one spherical quadrilateral is the polar of the other, 

 the relation reduces to cos A^ cos Bt cos Qd cos Da = cos Ac 

 cos B</ cos Crt cos D/'. Cayley's determinant can at once be 

 obtained from the identity 2jr(o - &f ~ "Ixar - 2Sfl2(xo) + e'2(jr),. 

 where there are five vectors aj . . . 05, and 5(jr) = o, 2(.ra) = o, 

 by replacing by the various vectors o in turn and eliminating the 

 x% from the resulting equations by aid of the equation 2(a) — o. 

 —A paper by Mr. John Aitken, describing a portable apparatus 

 for counting the dust particles in the atmosphere, was read. This 

 apparatus is constructed on the same principle as his former one, 

 but various improvements have been made. The paper also in- 

 cluded an account of some of Mr. Aitken's observations w ith the 

 large apparatus. It is pointed out that whea much dust is pre- 



