June 30, 1887] 



NA TURE 



215 



south central portion of the island, equidistant from its east, 

 west, and southern shores. The south-west and north-east 

 monsoons in Ceylon may be said respectively to blow steadily 

 from May to August inclusive, and from November to February 

 inclusive. In March and April, and in September and October, 

 the weather is more or less unsettled, and no regular monsoon 

 or direction of the air current is usually experienced. After 

 giving details of the rainfall at twenty-five stations, the author 

 concludes by remarking upon (i) the effect of the mountain zone 

 in determining the amount and distribution of the rainfall ; {2) 

 the apparent gradual veering of the rain-bearing currents of air 

 as each monsjon progresses; (3) the relative insignificance of 

 the south-west monsoon as compared with the north-east mon- 

 soon in inducing rainfall ; (4) the cause of the large general 

 rainfall of the northeast monsoon throughout the island generally 

 as compared with that of the south-west monsoon ; and (5) the 

 influence of the gaps in the external ring of the mountain zone, 

 and of the central as well as the other ridges in it, in determining 

 the amount of rainfall within the zone and in the neighbouring 

 districts outside it. — Note on a display of globular lig:htning at 

 Ringstead Bay, Dorset, on August 17, 1876, by Mr. H. S. 

 Eaton. Between 4 and 5 p.m. two ladies who were out on the 

 cliff saw surrounding them on all sides, and extending from a 

 few inches above the surface to 2 or 3 feet overhead, 

 numerous globes of light, the size of billiard-balls, which were 

 moving independently and vertically up and down, sometimes 

 within a few inches of the observers, but always eluding 

 the grasp ; now gliding slowly upwards 2 or 3 feet, and as 

 slowly falling again, resembling in their movements soap- 

 bubbles floating in the air. The balls were all aglow, but not 

 dazzling, with a soft superb iridescence, rich and warni of hue, 

 and each of variable tints, their charming colours heightening 

 the extreme beauty of the scene. The subdued magnificence of 

 this fascinating spectacle is described as baffling description. 

 Their numbers were continually fluctuating ; at one time 

 thousands of them enveloped the observers, and a few 

 minutes afterwards the numbers would dwindle to perhaps as 

 few as twenty, but soon they would be swarming again as 

 numerous as ever. Not the slightest noise accompanied this 

 display. — Ball lightning seen during a thunderstorm on July 11, 

 1874, by Dr. J. W. Tripe. During this thunderstorm the 

 author saw a ball of fire, of a pale yellow colour, rise from 

 behind some houses, at first slowly, apparently about as fast as 

 .1 cricket-ball thrown into the air, then rapidly increasing its rate 

 motion until it reached an elevation of about 30°, when it started 

 • so rapidly as to form a continuous line of light, proceeding 

 . i st east, then west, rising all the time. After describing several 

 i^^'/ags, it disappeared in a large black cloud to the west, from 

 which flashes of lightning had come. In about three minutes 

 another ball ascended, and in about five minutes afterwards a 

 hird, both behaving as the first, and disappearing in the same 

 "ud. — Appearance of air-bubbles at Remenham, Berkshire, 

 iimary 1871, by the Rev. A. Bjnney. Between II and 12 

 urn. a group of air-bubbles, of the shape and apparent size of 

 the coloured india-rubber balls that ar? carried about the streets, 

 were seen to rise from the centre of a level space of snow within 

 view of the house. The bubbles rose to a considerable height, 

 >!id then began to move up and down within a limited area, and 

 equal distances from each other, some ascending, others de- 

 nding. These lasted about two minutes, at the end of which 

 I'v were borne away by a current of air towards the east, and 

 -appeared. Another group rose from the same spot, to the 

 me height, with precisely the same movements, and disap- 

 ared in the same direction, after the same manner. — Mr. H. 

 . Russell, F. R. S., of Sydney, described a fall of red rain 

 hich occurred in New South Wales, and exhibited, under 

 e microscope, specimens of the deposit collected in the rain- 

 luges. 



Entomological Society, June i. — Dr. David Sharp, Presi- 



•nt, in the chair. — Mr. Meyrick read two papers, on Pyralidian 



)m Australia and the South Pacific, and descriptions of some 



■ otic Micro-Lepidoptera. In these papers about sixty new 



ecies were described. A discussion ensued, in which Dr. 



Miarp, Mr. Stainton, Mr. McLachlan, and others took part. 



Mr. Meyrick stated that, as far as the Pyralidina were concerned, 



\ustralia could not be regarded as a separate region, for a large 



number were not endemic, but appeared to have been introduced 



from the Malay Archipelago. The method of this immigration 



seemed doubtful. Mr. Meyrick was of opinion that the insects 



tlew very long distances, and effected a settlement through their 



food-plants being widely distributed and common. He instanced 

 the undoubted immigration of certain Australian species into 

 New Zealand, a distance of 1200 miles. Mr. Stainton adduced 

 the instance of Margarodes uuionalis, which is a South European 

 insect, feeding on the olive, yet is occasionally found in Britain. 

 — Mr. Meyrick also made some observations on the distribution 

 of the insect fauna in the various regions of Australia : he said 

 that it appeared to be more or less different in certain defined 

 portions of the continent, which might be roughly regarded as 

 oases in the midst of desert districts : all his observations, how- 

 ever, had tended to upset Mr. Wallace's theory that Eastern and 

 W'estern Australia were originally separated, as the gradations 

 in the insect fauna from east to west were quite gradual ; in 

 Western Australia the Tineina were the only group well repre- 

 sented by peculiar endemic forms. — Mr. Pascoe read a paper on 

 the genus Byrsops, a genus of Curculionida;. — The President 

 announced that Lord Walsingham's collection of Lepidopteraand 

 larvse, recently presented to the nation, would be exhibited in 

 the Hall at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, 

 until the end of June. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, June 20. — M. Janssen in the chair. 

 — On the analytic theory of heat, by M. H. Poincare. An 

 attempt is here made to determine more rigorously than has 

 hitherto been possible the principles from which are deduced the 

 general laws of the analytical theory of heat in the case of any 

 solid body whatever. — On the employment of crushers (" mano- 

 mih-es a ecrasement ") in measuring the pressures developed by 

 explosive substances, by MM. Sarrau and Vieille. Continuing 

 their studies on this subject, the authors here propose by means 

 of the crusher to determine more especially the maximum pres- 

 sure produced by an explosive under given conditions. — Fresh 

 materials bearing on the relations which exist between the 

 chemical and mechanical work of the muscular tissue, by M. A. 

 Chauveau, with the assistance of M. Kaufmann. In continua- 

 tion of previous papers, the author here deals with the nutritive 

 and respiratory activity of the muscles which act physiologically 

 without producing any mechanical work. — On collisions at sea, 

 by M. Jurien de la Graviere. In connexion with the increasing 

 number of disasters caused by preventable collisions, attention 

 is directed to the practical measures recently proposed at various 

 conferences by M. Riondel. Of these the most important are : 

 (l) that all steamers be required to follow one outward and 

 another homeward route, in order to divide the present single 

 stream of traffic into two parallel streams ; (2) that a maximum 

 velocity be determined for vessels navigating narrow straits in 

 foggy weather ; (3) that the lighting of the high seas be 

 rendered more powerful, and brought more into harmony with 

 present rates of speed ; (4) that international maritime tribunals 

 be established in order to adjudicate between vessels of different 

 nationalities. The latter proposition has already been approved 

 by the United States, and several Governments have consented 

 to take part in the future International Conference to wliich the 

 whole question must be referred. — Observations on the Grazac 

 meteorite, by M.M. Daubree and Stanislas Meunier. This 

 meteorite, which fell two years ago, and to which M. Caravin- 

 Cachin first drew attention, is of a new carbon type, somewhat 

 analogous to those of Orgueil and of the Cape, but distinguished 

 from them by its general appearance and chemical properties. 

 Its breakage is granular, and in many respects it resembles 

 certain varieties of the oxides of manganese and copper, and 

 the bituminous cinnabar of Idria ; density 4'i6. This new 

 specimen is all the more remarkable that it belongs to the class 

 of rare and interesting meteorites which in their resemblance to 

 our combustible minerals have suggested indications of biological 

 phenomena beyond the globe. — On the molecular specific heats 

 of gaseous bodies, by M. H, Le Chatelier. Since Dulong and 

 Petit's discovery of the law of specific heats for solid bodies, 

 numerous attempts have been made to generalize this law, and 

 to extend it to the gases ; but the experimental researches of 

 Regnault have shown that at the ordinary temperature there 

 exists no equivalence either between the molecular heats or the 

 atomic heats of the gases. The experiments here described, on 

 the combustion of gaseous mixtures, lead to the same conclusion 

 for high temperatures. — On the calorific conductibility of 

 bismuth in a magnetic field, and on the deviation of the 

 isothermal lines, by M. Leduc. The discovery of the great 

 increase in the electric resistance of bismuth, when intro- 

 duced into a powerful magnetic field, has led the author to 

 suppose that this field produces in the structure of the metal a 



