492 



NATURE 



[September 15, 1898 



years' researches and collections, as also upon the collections 

 of Profs. Zarudnyi and Kareeff. The author distinguishes 

 between the fauna of two great lakes, the fields (very poor), 

 and the forest region. Full lists of birds in these three regions 

 are given. — On the wandering cells of the bowels of the Sea- 

 urchins, by Prof, C. Saint-Hilaire. A detailed work of 170 

 pages, with 2 coloured plates (136 figures). Its important con- 

 clu^ons, especially as regards the clear distinction between the 

 granular cells and the phagocyte cells, and the functions of the 

 former, are fully summed up by the author, in German. 



Bulletin de FAcadhnie des Sciences de St. Pitersbourg, Sep- 

 tember 1897, tome vii. No. 2. — On Auerbachite and the rock 

 which contains it, by P. Erem^eff (Russian). A closer study 

 of this mineral shows that it cannot be considered as a separate 

 species, or even as a variety or a pseudomorph of well-known 

 minerals. — The Gasteropods of the Baltic Lower Silurian, by 

 Ernst Koken (German). A detailed monograph, with forty-three 

 woodcuts ; it is, however, only a preliminary report on the 

 author's larger work upon which he was engaged for the last 

 ten years. Over 200 species are mentioned, and more than one- 

 half of them are new. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 5.— M, Wolf in the 

 chair. — Observations on the planet Witt (1898, August 14), made 

 at the Observatory of Algiers, by M. F. Sy. Positions of the 

 planet are given for August 16, 17 and 18. — Observations 

 on the same planet made at the Observatory of Besan^on, by 

 M. Gruey. Measurements of the planet's position on the 

 nights of August 17 to 20, and 25 to 27 are given. The 

 planet is about the eleventh magnitude.— On a silicide of tung- 

 sten, by M. E. Vigouroux. A mixture of silicon and oxide of 

 tungsten on heating in the electric furnace gives a crystalline 

 mass containing the new silicide, metallic tungsten, silica, and 

 carbon silicide. The tungsten is first removed by making the 

 ingot the positive pole in a 10 per cent, solution of hydrochloric 

 acid, and passing an electric current. The crystalline residue, 

 after_ treating successively with aqtia regia, ammonia, hydro- 

 fluoric acid, and methylene iodide is the pure silicide WjSig. 

 The crystals are steel-grey in colour, very heavy (density 10-9), 

 and are attacked by chlorine at adull red heat. — On Arhinolemur, 

 a genus found in the Parana tertiaries, representing a new type 

 of mammifer, by M. Ameghino. An examination of the skull 

 of a small tertiary mammal, found by M. Scalabrini in the 

 neighbourhood of Parana, leads to the conclusion that the form 

 does not correspond with that of any known living or fossil 

 mammal. The shape of the incisors, the separation of the 

 mandibular branches, the widened form of the cranium, the 

 arrangement of the orbits suggest a form allied to the Lemurida ; 

 but the oblique curve of the intermaxillaries, as well as the general 

 fades, appears to show affinities with the bats. Other features, 

 amongst which may be mentioned the complete obliteration of 

 the nasal opening, have not been met with either in mammals 

 or reptiles.— On the anatomical structure of the stem of the 

 beet-root, by M. Georges Fron. The thickening of the stem 

 is produced, not by the formation of generating layers as in the 

 root, but by the displacement of one single generating layer 

 towards the exterior. This layer, at first of normal "origin, 

 becomes partly normal and partly pericyclic, and finally com- 

 pletely pencyclic— On the toxicity of copper salts with regard 

 to the higher vegetables, by M. Henri Coupin. Experiments 

 were made with solutions of various salts of copper (bromide, 

 chloride, sulphate, acetate, and nitrate) upon young wheat plants. 

 All the salts studied had very nearly the same toxic power : a 

 solution of copper sulphate containing only -0055 per cent, of 

 the salt is sufficient to prevent the germination of wheat, and 

 hence the proposed application of this salt to kill noxious weeds 

 is of very doubtful advantage.— The tufa of the Gaubert 

 (Dordogne), by M. Emile Riviere. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, July 28. — Mr. Henry Deane, Vice- 

 President, in the chair. — Revision of the Australian 

 Curculionida belonging to the subfamily Cryptorhynchides. 

 Part u. By Arthur M. Lea. Four new genera are proposed, 

 oi which three are founded on species referred by Mr. Pascoe to 

 ^ropterus ; and four genera allied to Poropterus are re-described. 

 These comprehend a total of thirty-one species which receive 

 attention, fifteen of them being described as new.— Descrip- 



tions of new Mollusca from Victoria. By J. Brazier. Four 

 species referable to the genera Comis, Columbetla {Mitrelld), 

 Lucina (Codakia), and Tellina (Strigella) are described as new. 

 Hab. — San Remo. — Notes on some Port Jackson plants. By 

 J. H. Maiden and J. H. Camfield. (a) A well-marked variety 

 \brevistylis) of Sprengelia incarnata, Sm., is described, {h) The 

 authors propose to restore Batiksia paludosa, R.Br, (which had 

 been reduced by Bentham to a variety of B. integrifolia) to the 

 rank of a species. — Revision of the genus Paropsis. Part iii. 

 By Rev. T. Blackburn. In this paper the author takes in hand 

 the species forming Group vi. of the classification propounded 

 in an earlier paper ; and three subgroups are dealt with. In 

 addition to critical remarks and tabulations, descriptions of 

 thirteen new species are given. 



NO. 1507, VOL. 58] 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Machine Drawing : T. and T. G. Jones, Book 2, Part 1 (J. 

 Heywood). — Durham College of Science, Calendar 1898-99 (A' Reid). — 

 Mathematical Examination Papers : Rev. J. L. Robinson (Rivingtons). — 

 Skertchly's Geology : Dr. J. Monckton, 9th edition (Murby).— The Flora 

 of Donegal : H. C. Hart (Dublin, Sealy).— Photography Annual, iSgS 

 (Iliffe). — Northward over the '"Great Ice": R. E. Peary, 2 Vols. 

 (Methuen).— Outlines of the Earth's History : Prof. N. S. Shaler (Heine- 

 mann). 



Pamphlets.— Bourne's Handy Assurance Manual, 1898 : W. Schooling 

 (E. Wilson).— Chloroform : Dr. R. Bell (Glasgow, Holmes).— Die Beden- 

 tung der Reize, &c. : Dr. A. Goldscheider (Leipzig, Barth). — Studien iiber 

 die Protoplasmastromung bei den Characeen : Dr. G. Hormann (Jena, 

 Fischer). — The Secret of the Poles : H. Campion (Birmingham, White). 



Serials.— Knowledge, September (Holborn). — Homanitarian, Septem- 

 ber (Hutchinson). — Fortnightly Review, September (Chapman). — National 

 Review, September (Arnold). — Scribner's Magazine, September (Low). — 

 Physical Review, July (Macmillan).— Bulletin de I'Acad^mie Royale des 

 Sciences, &c , de Belgique, 1898, No. 7 (Bruxelles). — Geographical Journal, 

 September (Stanford). — Journal of Botany, September (West). — Astro- 

 physical Journal. August (Chicago). — Monthly Weather Review, May 

 (Washington). — Records of the Botanical Survey of India, Vol. t, Nos. 9 

 and 10 (Calcutta).— Observatory, September (Taylor).— Transactions and 

 Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, Vol. xxx. (Wellington).— Journal 

 of the Chemical Society, September (Gurney). — Zeitscbrift fiir Wissen- 

 schaftliche Zoologie, Ixiv. Band, 3 Heft, Register fiber Band 46-60 (Leipzig, 

 Engelmann). — Physical Society of London, Proceedings, August (Taylor). 

 — Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. xl. (Washington). — En- 

 gineering Magazine, September (222 Strand).— Journal of the Franklin 

 Institute, September (Philadelphia).— American Journal of Science, Sept- 

 ember (New Haven). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Orchids of the Sikkim Himalaya 465 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Schaffers : " Essai sur la Theorie des Machines elec- 



triques a Influence " 466 



Ashworth : "An Introductory Course of Practical 



Magnetism and Electricity " 466 



" Photography Annual : a Compendium of Photo- 

 graphic Information, with a Record of Progress in 



Photography for the past Year " 466 



Bley : " Botanisches Bilderbuch fur Jung und Alt . . 466 

 Letters to the Editor :— 



Flow of Water Shown by Colour Bands. — Prof. 

 Osborne Reynolds, F.R.S. ; Prof. H. S. Hele- 



Shaw 467 



Magnetic Storm.— Dr. Charles Chree, F.R.S. . . 46^ 

 Lilienfeld's Synthesis.— Dr. John W. Pickering . . 468- 

 Larvae in Antelope Horns. — Dr. Henry Strachan ; 



W. H. McCorquodale 46S 



The Future of Vaccination 469- 



The British Association 471 



International Conference on Terrestrial Magnetism 

 and Atmospheric Electricity. — Opening Address by 



Prof. A. W. Rucker, F.R.S 473 



Section C— Geology.— Opening Address by W. H. 

 Hudlestone, F.R.S., President of the Section . . 476 

 The Triennial International Congress of Physi- 

 ologists 481 



Notes 486 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Comet Tempel 1866 ? 490 



The Variation of Latitude at Tokyo 490 



Motion of Stars in the Line of Sight 490- 



The August Meteors 490 



Drawings of the Milky Way 490 



The Aurora of September 9 49<> 



University and Educational Intelligence 491 



Scientific Serials 491 



Societies and Academies 492: 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received , , . , . 492. 



