November 29, 19 17] 



NATURE 



259 



> smoothing values from a long series of observations. 

 io applies this method to the maximum air tempera- 

 ires at Greenwich for the period 1841 to 1916, using 

 iie first sixty-five yetirs as a standard. The limit thus 

 ilculated varies at different times of vear from 8° to 



\^ F., so that a fixed limit of 



would not be 



ipplicable. In the analysis it appears that one day 



in ten is abnormal, the proportion being higher in the 



months from May to October, and much lower in 



December and January. Additional tables deal with 



-^Dclls or alternations of heat and cold, and generally 



ith the distribution of abnormal days. The principle 



also extended to monthly and annual values, and the 



tect of a higher limit, three or four times the mean 



sidual, is considered. The relatively hottest month 



. the period was June, 1846, and the coldest Decem- 



r, 1890, the hottest year 1868 and the coldest 1879. 



. Cambridge. 

 Philosophical Society, October 29.— Prof. Marr, presi- 

 nt, in the chair. — G. H. Hardy: The convergence 

 j; certain multiple series. — G. N. Watson : Bessel func- 

 tions of large order. — H. Todd : A particular case 

 of a theorem of Dirichlet. — L. J. Mordell : Mr. 

 Ramanujan's empirical expansions of modular func- 

 tions. — Dr. A. Kienast : Extensions of Abel's theorem 

 and its converses. 



Ma.vchester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, November 13. — Mr. 

 \V. Thomson, president, in the chair.- — ^Miss Constance 

 Lightbown : The Siphonozooids of the sea-pens. The 

 author made an investigation of the Siphonozooids of 

 a large number of sea-pens to determine the presence 

 or absence of the mesenteric filaments. It was found 

 that these filaments are usually present in the fleshy 

 forms, but absent in the slender ones. In species of 

 Pennatula and Pteroeides which possess Mesozooids 

 the mesenteric filaments are usually absent.- — Dr. J. H. 

 .Salter : Regional distribution of the native flora of 

 Teneriffe. Particular attention is directed to the ever- 

 greea character of the vegetation and the large pro- 

 portion of shrubby or arborescent forms. The large 

 number of endemic forms is due to the long isolation 

 of the island from the African continent, and to the 

 climatic conditions, which differ considerablv from 

 those of the adjacent continent. Among the Com- 

 positse nearly 50 per cent, are endemic to the island, 

 while in such genera as Senecio, Euphorbia, .Semper- 

 vivum, and others the proportion is still higher. In 

 the coastal region there is a flefinite foreshore vegeta- 

 tion of cosmopolitan character, including many Cheno- 

 podiaceae (goosefoot family), with onlv two' endemic 

 forms belonging to the genus Beta. On the barren 

 slopes above the foreshore is a desert-like vegetation, 

 in some places ten kilometres in breadth, largely given 

 up to Opuntia (prickly pear), formerly cultivated in 

 connection with the cochineal industry, and now a 

 serious pest in the island. The upper portion of the 

 coastal region comprises all the more fertile portions 

 of the island, and is mainly under cultivation with 

 the aid of a system of water channels. Of the native 

 plants. .Sempervivum. Euphorbia, and Dracaena 

 (dragon tree) are the most characteristic of this region, 

 while certain xerophytic ferns, such as Notochlaena, 

 Ceterach, and Cheilanthes, are also in evidence. The 

 "cloud region," commencing at about 2.;oo ft., runs 

 up to :;ooo ft., the lower portion forming the char- 

 acteristic " Monte Verde." while the last 1000 ft. con- 

 stitute the "Pinar'- (pine woods). The former con- 

 sists of a transition from scrub to woodland, compris- 

 ing several species of Cistus (rock-rose), Er\ca arhorea 

 (tree heath). Ilex canariensis (the native hollv'). Mvrica 

 Faya (the candleberrv myrtle), and several forms of 

 Inurel. The higher-lyin*^ pine forests consist mainlv 

 ot Pinus canariensis. Above the cloud belt vegetation 



NO. 2509, VOL. 100] 



is very scanty and mainly characterised by scattered 

 bushes of the broom-like "retama" (Spartocytisus 

 nubigentts). There is no true alpine vegetation, but, 

 protected by the retama, several grasses and other 

 plants of small stature are found to occur. 



. Edinburgh. 



Royal Society, November 5.— Dr. John Home, presi- 

 dent, in the chair.— Dr. J. Home : Opening address : 

 Science applied to industry. The president reviewed 

 the work of the Committee of the Privy Council for 

 Scientific and Industrial Research and of the Advisory 

 Council during the past year. Reference was made to 

 the appointment of a Fuel Research Board ; and other 

 administrative changes, such as have been proposed in 

 reference to the Geological Survey, the fisheries, 

 oceanography, geodesy, etc., were also noted among 

 the signs of the times. A special appeal was made on 

 behalf of Dr. Bruce's Oceanographical Laboratory, 

 established for a number of years in Edinburgh, and 

 now suffering lamentably from want of funds. — 

 R. K. S. Lira : Period of survival of the shore-crab 

 {Carcinus maenas) in distilled water. Shore-crabs sur- 

 vive a short time in fresh water, and the duration of 

 survival is closely connected with the moult cycle. 

 The harder the shell, the longer the period of survival. 

 Examination of the immersed fluid showed the pre- 

 sence of salts which must have been derived from the 

 animal before its death. Thus the survival depends 

 upon the rate of loss of salts and the rate of intake 

 of water, and these factors vary with the condition 

 of the membranes, and therefore with the moult age. 

 Sydney. 



Linnean Society of New South Wales, June. — Dr. 

 H. G. Chapman, president, in the chair.— Dr. W. N. 

 Benson : The geology and petrology of the Great Ser- 

 pentine Belt of New South Wales. Part vi.. General 

 account of the geology and physiography of the wes- 

 tern slopes of New England (concluded). — R. J. Till- 

 yard : Studies in Australian Mecoptera. No. i. The 

 new family, Nannochoristidas, with descriptions of a 

 new genus and four new species ; and an appendix 

 descriptive of a new genus and species from New 

 Zealand. With the exception of a single specimen 

 from Ebor, N.S.W. (5000 ft.), al! the representatives 

 of this family were discovered in Tasmania, where they 

 are to be obtained by sweeping the vegetation border- 

 ing lakes and small mountain-streams. The insects 

 are of small size, and quite unlike other scorpion-flies 

 in appearance ; indeed, they might almost be described 

 as "four-winged Diptera." The venation is much re- 

 duced for Mecoptera, and resembles that of the 

 Diptera Brachvcera in having Rj^sj a straight, un- 

 branched vein. The head is gldbular, without a pro- 

 minent beak ; the mouth-parts are in a very interesting 

 stage of evolution, the mandibles being absent or vesti- 

 gial, the labium beginning to form a proboscis, with 

 labellum, but no pseudotrachea*. Wishing to put the 

 "Antarctic theorv," as advocated by Hedley, to the 

 test, co-tvpes of the Tasmanian ty(>e-species were sent 

 to correspondents in New Zealand, with a suggestion 

 that similar insects should occur there. In reply, Mr. 

 A. Philpott, of Invercargill, sent the pair of specimens 

 herein described, which had been taken in 19 13, and 

 put bv as "anomalous lacewings." 



Tuly. — Dr. H. G. Chapman, president, in the chair. 

 — Dr. A. J. Turner : Revision of -Australian Lepido- 

 ptera. Part vi. (first instalment). Nineteen genera of 

 Australian Lepidoptera. Nineteen genera and forty- 

 six species of the subfamily Boarmianae, family 

 Geometridae. are reviewed. — T. G. Sloane : De- 

 scription of a new tiger-beetle from the North- 

 ern Territorv. — ^T. G. Sloane : The endo-skeleton 

 of the head, the anterior coxae, and the an- 



