66 



NA TURE 



[November 15, 1900 



the " Thetys," or great Trias sea, named by Ed. Suess, which 

 extended from the Mediterranean eastwards through Central 

 Asia, and included the Germanic shallow sea. Some remarks 

 are also made on the Arctic-Pacific Trias Province. 



• The geology of Bad Nauheim and its thermal salt-springs 

 form the subject of an interesting article by Mr. A. Vaughan 

 Jennings {Geological Magazine). He notes the fact that, sixteen 

 centuries ago, Bad Nauheim was a Roman sanatorium, its fame 

 arising from the small natural springs of thermal water. During 

 the present century several borings have been made to largely 

 increase the supply of water; the last one, made in 1855, was 

 carried to a depth of 180 metres. The water appears to be pent 

 up in a basin of Devonian rocks covered by Tertiary strata. The 

 author discusses the source of the water, its temperature and 

 saline ingredients. 



The Essex Field Club has issued, as No. 4 of its museum 

 hand-books (price 2d.), a sketch of the crag formation of East 

 AngUa, by Mr. W. H. Dalton. 



We have received Nos. 21 and 22 of Spelmica, or Bulletin de 

 la Soci^td de Speliologie, which contains a variety of information 

 about caves and water-channels, with notices of recent publica- 

 tions. 



The growth and retreat of Norwegian glaciers is dealt with 

 by Mr. J. Rekstad {Norges Geol. Undersogelse, No. 4). He 

 draws attention to the evidence of great fluctuations in the 

 amount of ice extending over periods of at least two hundred 

 years, and remarks that these periods of general increase or 

 decrease are accompanied by minor oscillations in the glaciers. 



Mr. R. Bullen Newton has described some marine mollusca 

 from the Upper Trias in the Malay Peninsula. These include the 

 well-known and widely distributed CJilamys (Pecte7i)valoniensis 

 as well as species of Pleurophorus, Myophoria, &c., which in- 

 dicate the horizon of the Rhaetic beds {Proceedings, Malaco- 

 logical Soc, Oct. 1900). 



The newly-appointed Government Geologist of Queensland, 

 Mr. W. H. Rands, has forwarded a copy of the annual progress 

 report of the Geological Survey for 1899. He takes occasion to 

 express the general feeling of regret at the resignation of his 

 predecessor, Mr. R. L. Jack. The report, which deals mainly 

 with copper, gold, and coal properties, includes contributions by 

 Mr. B. Dunstan on the occurrence of oriental ruby in northern 

 Queensland, and on fire-clay. 



Canon Scobell contributes to the Proceedings of the Cottes- 

 wold Club (vol. xiii. part iii.) some interesting notes on the 

 common fields at Upton St. Leonard's, and these are accom- 

 panied by a view of lynches, which indicate the ancient system 

 of ploughing in strips and terraces. In some excursion notes 

 Mr. S. S. Buckman deals with river features in the phraseology 

 used by Prof W. M. Davis. He refers also to the tunnel near 

 Chipping Sodbury on the South Wales direct railway, to the 

 water therein encountered, and to the probable effects consequent 

 on its diversion by pumping. 



To the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, vol. 

 xxxii., 1900, Mr. R. L. Barrett contributes an interesting 

 account of the Sundal drainage system in central Norway. The 

 author explains the curious "reversal of drainage" which has 

 occurred in this region, and deals with the question of the 

 " hanging valleys " and erosion by overflowing glaciers. 



In a paper brought before the Academy of Sciences of 



Cracow, Mr. L. Marchlewski has described a new derivative of 



chlorophyll. This substance, which its discoverer has named 



phyllorubine, differs considerably from the previously known 



NO. 1620, VOL. 63] 



phylloporphyrine, another chlorophyll derivative. While the 

 spectrum of the latter is distinguished from that of other 

 chlorophyll derivatives by having no band in the red region, 

 phyllorubine forms no such exception. The new substance has 

 not yet been obtained in the crystalline state. 



The action of chemical solutions on the lower forms of life is 

 the subject of two papers in German in the Journal cf the Col- 

 lege of Science, Imperial University of Tokio — one, by N. Ono, 

 dealing with their effect on the growth of algae- and fungi, 

 while the other, by Prof. Atsushi Yasuda, treats of the adapt- 

 ability of iiifusoria to concentrated solutions. The former author 

 finds that certain poisons in a highly diluted state favour the 

 growth of the lower algse, that smaller "doses" are required 

 with algae than with fungi, that mercury chloride and copper 

 sulphate in certain degrees of dilution favour the growth of 

 fungi (a remarkable result, seeing that corrosive sublimate in 

 stronger concentration is used as a preventive of mildew), and 

 that spore-formation is retarded by certain chemicals. Prof. 

 Yasuda, on the other hand, finds that infusoria are affected by 

 a much lower degree of concentration than algae and fungi, even 

 the most resistive species, Euglena viridis, being unable to 

 exist on any but relatively weak solutions. An account is given 

 of the physiological changes which take place in the organisms 

 as the degree of concentration is varied. 



A PRELIMINARY note on the fungi collected in the Belgian 

 Antarctic Expedition is contributed to the Bulletin de la Classe 

 des Sciences of the Belgian Academy by Mesdames Bommer and 

 Rousseau. Almost all of these come from Tierra del Fuego. 

 One species alone was found in Dango Land, i.e. the Antarctic 

 region proper ; but this species has not been classified, as it is 

 represented only by a sclerotium, without carpophore. Among 

 the fungi of Tierra del Fuego, out of fifteen species collected 

 ten were new. 



Dr. George Newman's book on " Bacteria," published a 

 year ago in Mr. John Murray's Progressive Science Series, and 

 reviewed in these columns (vol. Ix. p. 434, September 7, 1899), 

 has met with the success which its excellence deserves. A new 

 edition has been issued, with additional matter, including new 

 chapters on tropical diseases and on the bacterial treatment of 

 sewage. 



The second volume of the new edition of the well-known 

 " Gardener's Assistant," which has been revised and entirely re- 

 modelled under the direction and general editorship of Mr. William 

 Watson, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, has just been issued by the 

 Gresham Publishing Company. The work, so far as it has gone, 

 is thoroughly in touch with the spirit of modern gardening, and 

 should be in the hands of every practical horticulturist. 



Messrs. Williams and Norgate's Book Circular is known 

 to many men of science as a useful guide to foreign scientific 

 works, containing not only the titles and other publisher's par- 

 liculars, but also notes describing the scope and character of the 

 contents. Eight of these circulars, referring to works publi.shed 

 during last year and this, have now been issued in volume form, 

 and the book thus produced is a handy catalogue of important 

 scientific publications which have lately appeared. 



Another part of Engler's " Monographieen Afrikanischer 

 Pflanzen-familien und-Gattungen " has been received ; and in it 

 Dr. K. Schumann deals with the African Sterculiaceae. The 

 work is being prepared, regardless of expense, under the auspices 

 of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and is published by W. 

 Englemann, Leipzig. The trustees of the British Museum 

 (Natural History) have just published a new part of the " Cata- 

 logue of the African Plants collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch 

 in 1853-61." This is the fourth (and concluding) part of Mr. 



