584 



NATURE 



[October 13, 1898 



the instruments which Struve designed sixty years ago still do 

 the finest work of any in the world, he tells us that the air there 

 " is remarkably clear ; the entrance to St. Petersburg, ten or 

 twelve miles north, is distinctly visible ; and Struve told me that 

 during the Crimean war he could see, through the great tele- 

 scope, %the men ou the decks of the British ships besieging 

 Kronstradt, thirty miles away." Towards the latter part of 

 these reminiscences. Prof. Newcomb mentions his meeting with 

 Hansen, " who was at odds with him on a scientific question," 

 the question being that Hansen was the author of a theory that 

 the further side of the moon is composed of denser materials 

 than the side turned towards us. We must, however, 

 leave our readers here to study this article for themselves for 

 further details, as we have already extended this note beyond the 

 usual limit. 



The Cape Observatory Report.— Dr. Gill's report to 

 the Secretary of the Admiralty of the work done at the Cape 

 Observatory during the year 1897, shows the great state of 

 activity which has pervaded the whole atmosphere of the 

 observatory during the past twelve months. It will be remem- 

 bered that Mr. McClean last year made a stay at the Cape to 

 complete his spectroscopic survey of all stars down to 3-5 mag- 

 nitude, his 20-degree prism being fitted on to the 12-inch 

 astrophotographic telescope. Unfortunately Mr. McClean's 

 magnificent gift to the observatory did not arrive from Dublin 

 during his stay, as was expected, so that he was deprived of the 

 pleasure of witnessing its erection. The observatory for this 

 instrument is completed as far as possible, and is only now 

 waiting for the arrival of the heavy portions of the telescope. 

 The rising floor and its hydraulic machinery have been set up, 

 and, as Dr. Gill says, "the whole has been admirably designed 

 by Mr. McCIean and Mr. Osbert Chadwick, ... it was 

 erected here under my personal supervision by Cape workmen, 

 and acts to perfection." The plans for the new transit circle 

 and observatory have been settled in complete detail, and both 

 will be executed with as little delay as possible. The transit 

 circle has been employed chiefly for observations of standard 

 stars required for the reduction of measures of the Ca,talogue 

 photographic plates. A system of double watches with this 

 instrument was organised so that the observers would be ready 

 to take up the fundamental meridian work with the new transit 

 circle in 1900. Both the equatorials have been employed, 

 and the 7-inch was chiefly used by Mr. Innes for observing the 

 stars in four lists forwarded by Prof. J. C. Kapteyn. In this 

 work a star of the eighth magnitude was discovered "having an 

 annual proper motion amounting to nearly 9" of arc on the 

 great circle, the largest proper motion yet known." Besides 

 several uncatalogued nebulse, Mr. Innes has found no less than 

 128 new double stars. Many of our readers may not be aware 

 that Mr. Innes is secretary, librarian, and accountant to the 

 establishment, but "has applied himself to the revision of the 

 Durchmusterung and other extra-meridian work (which he has 

 performed as a labour of love), in addition to the thorough dis- 

 charge of his official clerical duties." To refer to the work 

 accomplished and proposed for the heliometer, the observations 

 of the zenith telescope, the state of current reductions, publi- 

 cations, time service, would make this note too long, so we will 

 only confine ourselves, in conclusion, to the fact that proposals 

 have been sent forward for erecting a suitable building for a 

 physical laboratory and accommodation for records and astro- 

 graphic work. 



ZOOLOGY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 A LTHOUGH the foreign zoologists who had attended the 

 ■'^ International Congress at Cambridge a week before did 

 not stay on for the British Association meeting, as had been 

 expected, still the attendance at Section D was good, and many 

 of the papers were of an interesting character. The number of 

 papers was not large, so the Section did not meet on Saturday 

 and Wednesday. 



Prof. Weldon's presidential address gave a useful popular dis- 

 cussion of some of the principal objections which are urged 

 against the theory of Natural Selection, and showed (i) that the 

 law of chance enables one to express easily the frequency of 

 variations among animals ; (2) that the action of Natural 

 Selection upon such fortuitous variations can be experimentally 

 measured ; and (3) that the process of evolution is sometimes so 

 rapid that it can be observed in the space of a few years. 



NO. 



511, VOL. 58] 



The Section did not sit in the afternoon, but a Biologica' 

 Exhibition at the Clifton Zoological Gardens was opened at 

 three o'clock by Sir John Lubbock. 



Friday, September g. — The following papers were taken : — 

 Prof. E. B. Poulton, on the proof obtained by Marshall that 

 Precis octavia-natalensis and P. sesamus are seasonal forms of 

 the same species. The specimens were exhibited. 



Mr. F. Galton, on photographic records of pedigree stock. This 

 was for the purpose of urging the systematic collection of photo- 

 graphs and information as to pedigree stock. Galton's ancestral 

 law proves the importance of a much more comprehensive 

 system of records than now exists. A breeder ought to be in a 

 position to compare the records of all the near ancestry of the 

 animals he proposes to mate together in respect to the qualities 

 in which he is interested. More especially he ought to have 

 access to photographs, which indicate form and general attitude 

 far more vividly than verbal descriptions. Mr. Galton considers 

 that every iniportant stallion or bull should have a pamphlet all 

 to himself, with photographs of his ancestry and with appropriate 

 particulars about each of them. Mr. Galton, finally, proposes a 

 scheme for the consideration of societies which publish stud 

 books. 



Mr. W. Garstang, on the races and migrations of the 

 mackerel. From the examination of a large number of mackerel 

 Mr. Garstang is able to distinguish the following three races : — 

 (i) American, (2) Irish or Atlantic, and {3) North Sea and 

 Channel. Each of these races, he considers, does not wander 

 far from its own coast in winter, and does not mix with the 

 other races, but merely moves out into deeper water. Mr. 

 Garstang also gave, along with Mr. H. N. Dickson, an account 

 of the connection between the appearance of mackerel and the 

 changes of sea temperature in spring and autumn. Whether 

 the movements of the mackerel are determined directly by the 

 temperature or indirectly through food was left unsettled ; but 

 the authors proposed a more detailed biological and physical 

 investigation of the English Channel. 



Prof. A. B. Macallum gave a short paper calling attention to 

 points in the microchemistry of cells. A report was presented 

 by the Committee on Zoological Bibliography and Publication, 

 and also one by the Index Animalium Committee, giving an 

 account of Mr. Sherborn's work at the Natural History Museum. 

 The Canadian Biological Station Committee, appointed last 

 year at Toronto, reported in favour of a floating station to be 

 established in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for five years. Their 

 application to the Dominion Government for an appropriation 

 for construction and maintenance has been granted. 



The report from the Plymouth Marine Biological Laboratory 

 contained an account by Mr. G. Brebner of his algological work, 

 by Mr. F. W. Gamble on his investigation of the nerves of 

 Arenicola, Nereis, and other Polychaets by the methylene blue 

 method ; and by Prof. Hickson on the embryos of Alcyonium 

 collected by Mr. Wadsworth. 



The Committee on the Zoology of the Sandwich Islands stated 

 that work was in progress, and that they hope to be able soon, 

 with the aid of the Royal Society and the Bishop Museum in 

 Honolulu, to publish a volume of investigations. 



Dr. Arthur Willey's paper "On the phylogeny of the Arthro- 

 pod amnion " stated that the importance of the problem 

 lies in the fact that the principle which will account for 

 the amnion of insect embryos is the same as that which has 

 been applied by Prof. Hubrecht to the mammalian amnion. 

 The insect amnion is not cenogenetic and is not due to 

 mechanical causes, as is the prevailing impression, but it is of 

 palingenetic significance. The material which supplied the 

 necessary data for coping with this problem consisted of the 

 embryos of a species of Peripatus (P. novce britannia:) which 

 Dr. Willey found in New Britain last year. These embryos 

 possess a remarkable trophic organ, the epidermal layer of which 

 is called the trophoblast, and the latter is the forerunner of the 

 serosa of insect embryos— the serosa being the essential structure 

 in connection with the embryonic membranes of insects, the 

 amnion being accessory or incidental to the serosa. 



The report from the Naples Zoological Station, in addition to 

 the usual statistical information as to the progress of the station, 

 contained accounts by the three naturalists who have occupied 

 the British Association table during the year as to their specia 

 work. Mr. J. F. Gemmill investigated the pseudobranch and 

 the intestinal canal of Teleosteans. Mr. H. M. Vernon writes on 

 the relations between marine animal and vegetable life in 

 aquaria ; and on the relations between the hybrid and parent 



