5S4 



NATURE 



[October 14, 1897 



Jahnke.— On the differential linear congruences, by M. Alf. 

 Guldberg.— A new method of testing metals, by M. Ch. Fre- 

 mont. The size of the test pieces employed is much reduced 

 (20 mm. X 10 mm. X 8 mm.), and the resulting deformations 

 enlarged ten times by photography. Methods are given for 

 measuring the tenacity, ductibility, fragility, and homogeneity 

 of the sample with sufficient accuracy for practical purposes. 

 — Study of the normal variation of the earth's electric field with 

 height, in the upper regions of the atmosphere, by M. G. Le 

 Cadet. The results obtained show that the intensity of the 

 electric field of the atmosphere diminishes when the height 

 above the surface of the earth is increased.— On the fogging of 

 the negative in radiography, by M. V. Chabaud.— On the 

 solubility of liquids, by MM. A. Aignan and E. Dugas. A 

 criticism of the work of Alexejew on the same subject. — Action 

 of gravity on the growth of the lower fungi, by M. Julien Ray. 

 The action of gravity is to retard the growth. The experiments 

 were carried out upon cultures o{ Sterigniatocystis alba, some of 

 which were at rest, and others moving uniformly in a vertical 

 plane. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, August 25. —Prof. J. T. Wilson, President, 

 in the chair. — Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera ; 

 Part xvii. , Elachistida, by E. Meyrick. The number of species 

 recorded in this .paper was 254, referable to thirty-seven genera. 

 Nearly the whole of the species are new to science. — Note on 

 the occurrence of sponge remains in the Lower Silurian of 

 New South Wales, by W. S. Dun. Until last year fossiliferous 

 rocks of Ordovician age were not known to occur within the 

 •geographical boundaries of New South Wales. A species of 

 Protospongia, associated with graptolites in a bluish slate, is 

 recorded from Stockyard Creek, County of Wellesley, N.S.W. 

 The specimens, which are pyritised and show no great amount 

 of detail, were collected by Mr. J. E. Came, of the Department 

 of Mines. The Wellesley beds are probably of the same age 

 as those of the Castlemaine and Bendigo districts of Victoria, 

 certain fossils from which have been reported upon by Mr. T. 

 S. Hall. — Descriptions of two new species of PuUencea, by R. 

 T. Baker. Mr. Baker exhibited, on behalf of Mr. C. E. Finckh, 

 of the Technological Museum, a specimen of a comparatively 

 .rare fish, Monceniris japoniciis, Iloutt., caught by a fisherman 

 at Newcastle. In regard to this fi.sh, Mr. Ogilby pointed out 

 the presence of luminous discs, which he believed were of use 

 as traps ; he also remarked that no articulation of the scales so 

 as to form " a coat of mail" existed in Australian specimens, 

 such as is attributed to Monocentris japotiiciis. The presence of 

 two separate dorsal fins removes this genus from the Berycidcc, 

 and its nearest ally is the rare deep-sea Anomalops, with which 

 it agrees also in the presence of luminous glands and of mem- 

 branous interspaces between the bones of the cranium. — Mr. 

 Brazier sent for exhibition six specimens of Helix verrniculata, 

 Miiller, obtained alive by him on July 13, 1897, on the buffalo- 

 grass in the Waverley Cemetery. This is the first Australian 

 record of this introduced European species, whose home is 

 France, Spain, Italy, &c. — Mr. Hedley exhibited, by permission 

 ■of the Curator of the Australian Museum, a specimen of Can- 

 cellaria granosa, Sowerby, taken from the stomach of a schnapper 

 hooked nine miles east of WoUongong, N.S.W. , in 30-40 

 'fathoms. An interest attached to this specimen is that though 

 the species is well known in Tasmania, Victoria, and South 

 Australia, it has not apparently been recorded previously from 

 the coast of N.S.W. Mr. Hedley remarked that an exploration 

 of the deep, cold-water current that lay off the coast would 

 i result in adding many other southern forms to our known fauna. 

 A previous instance of such is the record [P.L.S.N.S.W. (2) 

 iv. p. 749] of Crassatella kingicola, Lamk. , a characteristically 

 Tasmanian species trawled in 17 fathoms offMerimbula, N.S.W. 

 If fishermen could be induced to search the stomachs of fishes, 

 a mass of valuable data would soon accumulate. — Mr. Norman 

 Hardy read a note on, and exhibited specimens of, feathered 

 arrows from the island of Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. It 

 has long been held as an ethnological axiom that no arrow from 

 any Pacific island was feathered. This rule is now shown to 

 have its exception, and for the first time the locality whence 

 these feathered arrows come is now published. 



GOTTINGEN. 



Royal Society of Sciences. — The Nachrichten (mathe- 

 matico-physical section) part 2, 1897, contains the following 

 memoirs communicated to the Society : — 



NO. 1459. VOL. 56] 



May 15.— George Landsberg : The algebra of the Riemann- 

 Roch theorem. O. Mligge : Translations and other related 

 phenomena in crystals. J. R. Schlitz : The principle of the 

 absolute conservation of energy. 



May 29. — J. Orth : Researches carried out in the Pathological 

 Institute at Gottingen. 



June 19. — A. Hurwitz : Linear forms with integral variables. 

 L. Kriiger : A theorem in the combination of observations. 



July 3. — E. Ehlers : East African Polychaete worms. C. 

 Fromme : On magnetic hysteresis. P. Gordan : Ilermite's 

 reciprocity-theorem. 



July 17. — W. Voigt : Determination of relative thermal con- 

 ductivity by the isothermal method. 



July 31. — F. Klein : A new mannscript relating to Bernhard 

 Riemann. A. Wiman : Note on the symmetrical and alternating 

 interchange-groups of n things. H. Minkowski : General 

 theorems on convex polyhedra. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Books.— Memory and its Cultivation : Dr. F. W. Edridge-Green (K. 

 Paul).— Elements of Human Physiology : Dr. E. H. Starling, 3rd edition 

 (Churchill).— Electricity in the Service of Man : Dr. R. Wormell, revised 

 and enlarged by Dr A. M. Walmsley (Cassell). — Botanical Observations on 

 the Azores : W. Trelease. — Royal Gardens, Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneous 

 Information, 1806 (Eyre) — A Question of the Water and of the Land: 

 Dante Alighien, translated by C. H. Bromby (Nutt).— The Dwelling- 

 House : Dr. G. V. Poore (Longmans). — Lumen : C. Flammarion, translated 

 (Heinemann). — 15 Lezioni Sperimentali su la Luce : A. Garbasso (Milano). 

 — Year- Book of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, i8q6 (Washington).— 

 The Principles of Chemistry, 2 Vols. : D. Mendel^eflF, translated by G. 

 Kamensky, edited by T. A. Lawson (Longmans). — The Machinery of the 

 Universe: Prof. A. K. Dolbear (S.P.C.K.).— Sleep : its Physiology, Path- 

 ology, Hygiene, and Psychology (Scott). — A Memoir of Wm. Pengelly, 

 F.R.S. : edited by his daughter, Hester Pengelly (Murray). — Missouri 

 Botanical Garden, 8th Annual Report (St. Louis, Mo.), — CEuvres Completes 

 de Christian -Huygens, tome septieme (La Haye, NijhofF). — Elementary 

 Manual of Magnetism and Electricity : Prof. A. Jamieson, 4th edition 

 (GrifSn).— The Principles of Alternate-Current Working: A. Hay (Biggs) 

 — A Text-Book of Applied Mechanics : Prof. A. Jamieson, Vol. 2 (Griffin). 

 — The Works of Archimedes : edited in modern notation, with introductory 

 chapters, by Dr. T. L. Heath (Cambridge University Pre.ss).— Theory of 

 Groups of Finite Order : Prof. W. Burnside (Cambridge University Press) — 

 The Rontgen Rays in Medical Work : Dr. D. Walsh (Bailliere).— Darwin 

 and after Darwin : Dr. G- J. Romanes, I IL (Longmans). — John Hunter: 

 S. Paget (Unwin). — Les Fonds Electriques et leurs Applications : A. Minet 

 (Paris. Gauthier-Villars). — Die Meteoriten in Sammlungen und ihre Lite- 

 ratur : Dr. E. A. Wulfing (Tubingen, Laupp). — Luce e Raggi Rontgen : 

 Prof. R. Ferrini (Milano, Hoepli). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Hindu Castes and Sects. By Dr. M. Winternitz . 561 



Experimental Morphology 563 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Conn: " The Story of Germ Life. Bacteria." — Mrs. 



Percy Frankland 565 



Redway : " Natural Elementary Geography " .... 565 



"Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 1896" 565 



IngersoU : " Wild Neighbours." — L. C. M 565 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Edible Copepoda. — Prof. W. A. Herdman, 



F.R.S 565 



Brief Method of Dividing a Given Number by 9 or 



II. — Rev. Charles L. Dodgson 565 



Notes on Madagascar Insects.— E. L. J. Ridsdale . 566 



Protective Colouring. — Alfred O. Walker .... 566 



The Mechanism of the First Sound of the Heart . 567 



The Divining Rod 568 



Notes 569 



Our Astronomical Column -. — 



Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter 573 



The Level of Sunspots . . 573 



The Orbit of Comet 1822 IV 573 



The late Alvan G. Clark 574 



A Plea for a Bureau of Ethnology for the British 



Empire. By Prof. A. C. Haddon 574 



Insects and Yeasts. {Illustrated.) By Prof. Italo 



Giglioli 575 



Ten Years' Work of the Royal Gardens, Kevir . . . 577 



The Duke of Devonshire on Scientific Education . 580 



University and Educational Intelligence 582 



Scientific Serials 583 



Societies and Academies 583 



Books Received 584 



