428 



NA TURE 



[September i, 1898 



establishment of a close time over the whole country, and the 

 protection of the eggs, and concluded by an account of the efforts 

 of the Wild Birds Protection Society. 



In Section B, Prof. Hubrecht gave an account of his researches 

 on the origin of red blood corpuscles in the placenta of Tarsius, 

 and explained that the corpuscles are the liberated nucleoli of 

 proliferating syncytia of the embryonic epiblast. The genesis 

 of red corpuscles in the placenta had previously been described 

 in the rabbit and bat ; but the discovery had not been confirmed, 

 and the fact was not credited. The figures already published 

 by the opponents to the view now advocated show that the 

 appearances presented in Prof. Hubrecht's slides had previously 

 been seen. But while these observers regarded the imperfect 

 corpuscles visible as undergoing disintegration, Prof. Hubrecht 

 considers them as in process of formation. In the discussion 

 which followed, Mr. A. Sedgwick pointed out the important 

 bearing upon the phenomenon of telegony of this introduction 

 into the maternal blood of corpuscles derived from embryonic 

 tissue. Prof. Hubrecht, in replying to a question by Dr. 

 Gadow, said that he still upheld the view that Tarsius should, 

 on account of the peculiarity of its placenta, be separated from 

 the lemurs and included among the monkeys. Prof. Osborn 

 exhibited photographs of a fossil Hyracoid from the Lower 

 Pliocene of Samos. The specimen consists of a fairly well pre- 

 served skull contained in the Stuttgart Museum, and Prof. 

 Osborn proposes to name it PHohyrax fraasii, after Prof. Fraas, 

 who handed over the specimen to him for description. The 

 skull is of large size, and is twice as long as that of Dendro- 

 hyrax, the largest living hyrax. The dental formula is com- 

 plete, viz. ?■ 3, c 1, pvi 4, tn 3. The large median incisors are 

 separated by a diastema from the other two, vvhich are small 

 and in continuous series with the canine and pre-molars. The 

 first tooth in the maxilla, identified by Prof. Osborn as the 

 canine, closely resembles in shape the anterior pre-molar 

 immediately behind it. It has two roots and two cusps. The 

 zygoma appears to have been extremely short, and the infra- 

 orbital foramen is as far back as the fourth pre-molar. 



Prof. Vaillant then described the minute structure of the 

 dermal spines of the Apogonini and some other acanthopterygian 

 fishes. 



Prof. Salensky read a paper on the development of the 

 " Ichthyopterygium." After criticising the " Archipterygium " 

 theory of Gegenbaur and the views of Balfour and Dohrn, he 

 explained that his own researches on the cartilages and muscles 

 of larval specimens of the Sterlet [A. ru(henus) brought him in 

 accord with the views of Mollier, and concluded that the serial 

 rays of the fin could be correlated with certain of the primitive 

 body-segments. 



In Section C, a paper on the tapeworms of the Monotremes 

 and Marsupials was communicated by Dr. Zschokke (Basel), 

 who proposed to create a new genus Linstoivia for the reception 

 of the parasites of Echidna and Perarneles. MM. Mesnil and 

 Caullery described the discoveries made by them on the poly- 

 morphism of the sedentary Polychaete Dodecaceria conchanini, 

 and concluded with a discussion of the phenomenon of " epi- 

 toquie " in Annelid worms generally. Six other short papers 

 were also read. 



On Saturday morning, at a general meeting convened at the 

 Guildhall, it was decided that the fifth Congress, in 1901, 

 should be held in Germany ; the selection of the town and the 

 president to be left to the German Zoological Society, acting in 

 conjunction with the Permanent Committee of the Zoological 

 Congress at Paris. 



The following speeches were delivered by the Public Orator, 

 Dr. Sandys, Fellow and Tutor of St. John's College, in 

 presenting to the Vice-Chancellor the several representatives of 

 the International Congresses of Zoology and Physiology, on 

 whom honorary degrees were conferred on August 25. 



(i ) In ipso limine laudis nostrae nihil auspicatius arbitramur, 

 quam tot viros, de zoologiae et physiologiae studiis bene meritos, 

 a tot orbis terrarum partibus ad nos advectos, Academiae 

 nomine iubere salvere. Dum omnibus Collegia nostra, omnibus 

 etiam corda nostra pandimus, unum certe animo prope fraterno 

 contemplamur, qui a fratribus nostris transmarinis ad nos 

 transmissus, cordis praesertim de motu reciproco et olim et 

 nuper plurima protulit. Idem in musculorum et "nervorum" 

 (ut aiunt) physiologiam multum inquisivit, neque psychologiae 

 provinciam vicinam inexploratam reliquit. Huius imprimis 

 exemplo et auctorilate factum est, ut etiam trans aequor 



NO. 1505, VOL. 58] 



Atlanticum physiologiae studia nunc maxime floreant, utque 

 matris almae Cantabrigiensis filia transmarina, nomine eodem 

 nuncupata, studiorum illorum sedes iampridem constituta sit. 

 Duco ad vos Henricum Pickering Bowditch. 



(2) E Germanis quidam oriundus, partris iucundi filius, 

 laudem ideo maximam est adeptus, quia, Italiae in litore hospi- 

 tali, orbis terrarum in sinu amoenissimo, vivarium Oceani 

 spoliis reservatum gentibus patefecit, quod quasi aquarum 

 castellum appellaverim, unde doctrinae rivuli in omnes terras 

 late diffluxerunt. Vivarii illius conditorem inter hospites nostros 

 diu numeravimus ; eidem alumnos nostros animo laeto com- 

 mendavimus ; ab eodem scientia varia instructos animo grato 

 rursus accepimus. Ipse animalium in partu praesertim ex- 

 plorando laboris immensi prodigus, neque minorem quam in 

 vivario illo condendo fortitudinem ostendit, neque fortunam 

 minus prosperam expertus est. Per totam certe vitam feliciter 

 confirmavit verba ab ipso Plinio, historiae naturalis auctore 

 locupletissimo, vitae suae in die novissimo prope Neapolim 

 pronuntiata : — " fortes fortuna iuvat." 



Duco ad vos Antonium Dohrn. 



(3) Gallorum e gente insigni, non vicinitatis tantum vinculis 

 nobiscum coniuncta, ad litora nostra advectum salutamus, patris 

 doctrina multiplici ornati filium, quem ipsum talium conventuum 

 non modo praesidem primum sed etiam auctorem principem 

 atque adeo patrem nominaverim. Avium in scientia diu versatus, 

 etiam ex ipsis saxis avium formas latentes quam sollerter elicuit ; 

 rerum naturae museo maximo inter Parisienses praepositus, 

 navium bene nominatarum auxilio, etiam Oceani ipsius e pro- 

 fundo rerum naturae veritatem quam feliciter extraxit. Quid 

 non potuit rerum naturae, — quid non potuit veritatis amor ? 



" Merses profundo, pulchrior evenit." 

 Duco ad vos Alphonsum Milne Edwards. 



(4) Italian!, olim scientiarum matrem, laetamur nunc quoque 

 filiis physiologiae de scientia praeclare meritis gloriari. Unum 

 ex eis hodie salutamus, in Academia Papiensi Ticini prope ripam 

 posita, pathologiae professorem insignem, virum etiam in eis 

 quae oculorum aciem fugiunt observandis perspicacissimum. 

 Idem duas praesertim ob causas in honore merito habetur : 

 primum, quod in corpore humane fila quaedam tenuissima 

 sensibus motibusque transferendis ministrantia, argenti auxilio 

 per ambages suas inextricablies exploranda et observationi 

 subtiliori praeparanda esse docuit ; deinde, quod in sanguine 

 humano parasitis quibusdam diligenter indagatis et inter sese 

 separatis, aeris pestilentiam propulsare, febrium cohortes pro- 

 fligare audacter aggressus est. Camilli mortem pestilentia 

 absumpti Camillus alter ultus est. 



Duplex certe honos viro in uno conspicitur, Camillo Golgi. 



(5) Germania ad nos misit non modo maris animalium 

 minutorum investigatorem indefessum, sed etiam operis 

 immensi conditorem audacem, in quo animalium omnium 

 ortum ab origine ultima indagare est conatus. Ergo Caroli 

 Darwinii, alumni nostri magni, praedicatorem inter Germanos 

 magnum salutamus. Salutamus etiam virum, qui in ipsa 

 rerum omnium origine recordatus omnia muta mansisse, " donee 

 verba, quibus voces sensusque notarent, nominaque invenere," 

 idem in ipsa animalium origine exploranda ob eam inter alias 

 causam laudatur, quod, ingenio vivido praeditus, tot nomina 

 nova invenerit,— quod totiens (ut Horati verbis denuo utar) 

 " sermonem patrium ditaverit et nova rerum nomina protulerit." 



Duco ad vos virum quem nominare satis est, Ernestum 

 Haeckel. 



(6) Vir Batavorum inter rura genio felicissimo natus, omnium 

 corda ad sese allexit, Europae gentium prope omnium linguas 

 sibi vindicavit, Oceani denique monstra (ut ita dicam) minu- 

 tissima et tenuissima, quae Nemertea nominantur, accuratissime 

 investiganda sibi sumpsit. Ilia vero monstra, si poetis Graecis 

 licet credere, satis antiqua et memoratu satis digna esse constat. 

 Scilicet ipse Nereus erat vnnepT'fjs re koI ^ttioj, Proteus autem 

 yepaiv d\ws vy)fiepr-i]s. Sed haec utcumque sunt, in laudando 

 viro, qui maris monstra ilia forma multiplici praedita veracissime 

 descripsit, nihil est facilius quam vera dicere, nihil iucundius 

 quam (ut Homeri verbis utar) j/jj/^eprea fivB^craaOai. 



Duco ad vos Ambrosium Arnoldum Willelmum 

 Hubrecht. 



(7) Institute Lipsiensi physiologiae studiosi quantum ubique 

 debeant, doctissimo cuique satis notum. Instituti illius praesidis 

 olim adiutor egregius, postea Borussiae, nuper Helvetiae in 

 capite physiologiam professus est ; physiologiae cpaifSfieva 

 physicis praesertim rationibus explicare conatus est ; adhibito 



