26o 



NATURE 



[November 29, 19 17 



terior coxal cavities in the families Carabidae and 

 Cicindelidae (Coleoptera). 



August 29. — Dr. H. G. Chapman, president, in the 

 chair.— E. F. Hallmann : The genera Echinaxia and 

 Rhabdosigma (Porifera). The genera were proiX)sed in 

 a recent pai>er, without definitions, for two species 

 wrongly referred to Axinella and Sigmaxinella respec- 

 tively. The definitions are now given, with remarks 

 on the probable relationships of the two genera, and re- 

 descriptions of the type-species. ^ — T. G. Sloane : Cara- 

 bidae from tropical Australia. Twenty-one species be- 

 longing to the tribes Scaritini, Harpalini, Odacanthini. 

 Lebiini, and Helluonini are described as new. The 

 Australian genera of the tribe Odacanthini, including 

 four proposed as new, are tabulated.- — Dr. A. J. 

 Turner : Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. Part vi. 

 (second instalment), Eighteen genera, and eighty-two 

 species of the sub-family Boarmianae, are discussed. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, September 5. — J. H. 

 Maiden: Notes on the genus x'\cacia. No. iii (extra- 

 trqpical Western Australia). Several species are pro- 

 posed as new to science (one on behalf of Mr. W. V. 

 Fitzgerald), and also a new variety of A. pyrifolia. 

 Several imperfectly known species are more fully de- 

 scribed, and A. chisholmi, hitherto known only from 

 Queensland, is shown to belong to Western Australia. 

 The synonymy of certain species is elucidated, and 

 additional information is given as to distribution and 

 other points. 



Cape Town. 



Royal Society of South Africa, September 26.— Dr. L. 

 Peringuey, president, in the chair. — ^W. von Bonde : 

 ■ Note on the abnormal development of the genital 

 organs of Jasus lalandii. — G. H. Malan : The colour- 

 octahedron as a complexity : being suggestions to- 

 wards a mathematics of colour. Developing certain 

 ideas of Meinong, who contends that the possibility 

 of representing certain well-known facts in connection 

 with colour-psychology by a diagram in the form of 

 an octahedron rests on the presence of certain a priori 

 relations incidental to the very nature of colour itself, 

 the writer is led to examine Meinong^s contention 

 critically in the light of modern mathematical logic 

 (as expounded by B. Russell). The result of this 

 examination is (i) to show that Meinong 's theory, 

 though true in its intention, is at fault in its practical 

 conception of an a priori science of colour, and (2) to 

 necessitate a more exact discrimination between the 

 viewpoints of empirical psychology and mathematical 

 science. — Miss A. M. Bo'ttomley : A list of South 

 African fungi. This paper is a systematic 

 compilation, with indexes of all the South 

 African fungi in the Government Mycological Herb- 

 arium. It records some 276 genera and 800 named 

 species, some of the more important or more interest- 

 ing of which are illustrated by photographs of actual 

 specimens. Considerable space is occupied by the 

 rusts, the perisporiales, and the pore fungi, "three 

 groups which are receiving particular attention in the 

 mvcoIoQical deoartment. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



British Rainfall, 1916. By Dr. H. R. Mill and C. 

 Salter. Pp. 256. (London: E. Stanford, Ltd.) 105. 



How to Collect and Drv Flowering Plants and Ferns. 

 By H. S. Thompson. Pp. 56. (London : G. Rout- 

 ledge and Sons, Ltd.) yd. net. 



Lord Lister. Bv Sir R. Godlee, Bart. Pp. xix + 676. 

 (London : Macmillan and Co.. Ltd.) 185. net. 



Vegetable Forcing. Bv R. L. Watts. Pp. xx + 431. 

 (New York : Orange Judd Co.) 2 dollars net. 



NO. 2509, VOL. 100] 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, Novemiier 29. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 5. — (i) Intensity and Direction of Light as Factors in 



Phototropism ; (2) Spore-coloration in AgaricAceae : Dr. Harold Wager. 



FRIDAY, November 30. 



Institution of Mechanical Engineers, at 6. — "Thom.-is Hawksley" 

 Lecture ; Heat Engines : Captain H. Riall Sankey. 

 SATURDAY, December i. 



Geologists' Association, at 3. — The Gold Coast : A. E. Kitson. 

 MONDAY, December 3. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30.— Progress in the Metallurgy of Copper : 

 Prof. H. C. H. Carpenter. 



Aristotelian Society, at 8. — The TDevelopment of Criticism : F. C. 

 Bartlett. 



Victoria Institute, at 4.30.— Prehistoric Man: hi« Antiquity and 

 Characteristics : W. Dale. 



TUESDAY, December 4. 



Society of Chemical Industry, at 8. — Presidential Address : The Eco- 

 nomics of Coal Production : Prof. H. Louis. 



Institution op Civil Engineers, at 5.30.— Recent Developments in 

 By-product Coking : (i. B. Walker. 



WEDNESDAY, December 5. 



Geological Society, at 5.30. 



Entomological Society, at 8. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30. — Inaugural Trueman Wood Lecture : 

 Discovery and Invention : Sir Dugald Clerk, K.B.E. 



Society of Public Analysts, at 5. — The Valenta Number as a Dis- 

 criminative Test for Oils and Fats : P. J. Fryer and F. E. Weston. — The 

 Composition of Sharps and Bran : H. E. Cox.— Notes on Porcelain : 

 W. T. Burgess. — Note on the Colorimetric Estimation of Iron : E. R. 

 Dovey. 



THURSDAY, December 6. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Probable Papers : The Series of Legendre : Prof. 

 W. H. Young. — I'he Discharge of Gases under High Pressures : L. 

 Hartshorn. — The Electrostatic Problem of a Conducting Sphere as a 

 Spherical Cavity: Dr. Alexander Russell. — Ihe Zeroes of Bessel Func- 

 tions : Prof. G. N. Waison. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 6. — Electrical Cooking as 

 applied to Large Kitchens : W. A. Gillotr. 



Chemical Society, at 8.— The Relation between Chemical Constitution 

 and Physiological Action : Dr. F. L. Pyman. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Organism and Environment. By E. H. S 241 



The Perennial Problem of Dyes. By G. T. M, . . 242 



The New Regionalism. By Benchara Branford . . 242 



Our Bookshelf 243 



Letters to the Editor:— 



" Fascination " of Birds by a Snake. — Prof. 



Edward B. Poulton, F.R.S 244 



Pyrometers and Pyrometry. — Chas. E. Foster . . 244 

 Iron-ore Deposits in Relation to the War. By 



Prof. H. Louis ... 244 



Science, Industry, and Commerce in India . . . 245 

 Pitfalls of Meteorological Periodicities. By 



W. W. B • 246 



Notes . 247 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Total Eclipse of the Sun, June 8, 1918 ... 252 



Reports of French Observatories 252 



Structure of Planetary Nebulae . . . . 252 



The Education Bill 253 



Marine Biology 253 



Research Papers from the University of Sydney . 254 



The Survey of India .... 254 



Modern Developments of the Gas Industry ... 255 



University and Educational Intelligence 256 



Societies and Academies 257 



Books Received 260 



Diary of Societies 260 



Edito'ial and Publishing Offices : 



MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd., 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

 , Publishers. 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address : Phusis, London. 

 Telephone Number : Gerrard 8830. 



