ii8 



NATURE 



[December i, 1892 



above. Dr. Hicks congratulated Prof. Wadsworth on his 

 important communication ; but he strongly objected to the 

 application of the term Silurian, instead of Cambrian, to the 

 lower palaeozoic rocks of America. Dr. Hicks did not think 

 that the author had proved his ca^e with regard to the Keween- 

 awan rocks, and he was still inclined to believe that they would 

 prove to be, as suggested by other American geologists, of pre- 

 Cambrian age — the apparent superposition being due to over- 

 thrust faults. The term eozoic, now that worm-tracks have 

 been discovered in the pre- Cambrian rocks, is more correct than 

 azoic for the sedimentary rocks of that age. Moreover, other 

 organic remains will certainly be found, for it is inconceivable 

 that ancesto'-s of the forms comprising the rich fauna at the base 

 of the Cambrian should not have been entombed in earlier 

 rocks. Mr. H. Bauerman, considering the three hypotheses as 

 to the origin of the iron ores — namelv, dehydration of limonites 

 in sandy beds, transformation from siderite, and the breaking- 

 Tip of highly ferriferous igneous masses into quartz and haematite 

 —thought that the first was the most likely, although there were 

 certainly difficulties in connexion with it which made it desirable 

 tha' the newer views upon the subject should be presented. He 

 was therefore glad that they were likely to have a detailed 

 exposition of the author's views in the journal. As regards the 

 origin of the copper deposits, he believed that Dr. Wadsworth 

 agreed with the views brought before the society several years 

 since. In conclusion, he called attention to the gold deposits, 

 which were of comparatively recent di-covery, and interesting 

 from the large number of minerals associated with the auriferous 

 quartz veinstuflf. Sir Lowthian Bell and Mr. Marr also spoke. 

 — The pold quartz deposits of Pahang (Malay Peninsula), by 

 H. M. Becher. — The Pambula gold-deposits, by F. D. Power, 



Zoological Society, November 15. — Dr. A. Giinther, 

 F. U.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — The Secretaiy read a 

 report on the additions that had been made to the Society's 

 Menagerie during the month of October 1892, and called special 

 attention to a very fine male Ostrich (Strutkio camelus) pre- 

 sented by Her Majesty the Queen, and to a specimen of what 

 appeared to be a new and undescribed Monkey of the genus 

 Cercopithecus, obtained by Dr. Moloney at Chindi, on the 

 Lower Zambesi, for which the name Cercopithecus stairsi was 

 proi osed. Attention was also called to the receipt of a series 

 of spt-cimens of mammals, birds, and reptiles, brought by Mr. 

 Frank Finn, on bis recent return from a zoological expedhion 

 to Zanzibar, and received from several correspondents of the 

 Society at Zanzibar and Mombasa. — The St-cretary exhibited (on 

 behalf of Mr T. Ground) a ^prcimf-n of the Siberian Pectoral 

 Sandpiper (7r?«^a; acuminata) killed in Norfolk. — Mr. G. A. 

 Boulenger read a paper describing the remains of an extinct 

 gigantic tortoise from Madagascar {Testudo grandidieri, Vaiil.), 

 ba>ed on specimens obtained in caves in South-west Madagascar 

 by Mr. Last, and transmitted to the British Musf^um. The 

 species was stated to be most nearly allied to Testudo gigantea 

 of the Aldabra Islands. — Mr. W. Bateson and Mr, H. H. 

 Brindley read a paper giving the statistical results of measure- 

 ments of the h >rns of certain beetles and of the forcipes of the 

 male earwig. It appeared that in some of these cases the males 

 form two groups, "high" and "low"; the moderately high 

 and the moderately low being more frequent than the mean 

 form in the same locality. It was pointed out that this result 

 was not conMsient with the hypothesis of fortuitous variation 

 about one mean form. — A communication was read from Mr. 

 O. Thomas containing the description of a new monkey of the 

 genu- Semnopithecus from Northern Borneo, which he proposed 

 to call .S*. everetti after Mr. A. Everett, its discoverer. — Mr. G. 

 A. B -ulenger read a description of a Blennioid fish from 

 Kamtscha'ka belonging to a new generic form, and proposed to 

 be called filenniophidium petropauli. The specimen had been 

 obtained in ihe harbour of Peiropaulovski by Sir George Baden 

 Powell, M. P , in September 1891. 



Royal Meteorological Society, November 16. — Mr. A. 

 Br-win, Vice-President, in the chair. — An interesting naper by 

 Mr. J. Lovel was read on the thunderstorm, cloudburst, and 

 flood at Langtoft, East Yorkshire, July 3, 1892. The author 

 gives an account of the thunderstorm as experienced at Driffield 

 on the evening of this day ; the full force of the storm was, how- 

 ever, felt in the wold valleys, which lie to the north and north- 

 west of Driffield, where great quantities of soil and gravel were 

 removed from the hillsides and ca ried to the lower districts, 

 doing a large amount of damage. Many houses in the lower 

 parts of Driffield were flooded, and a bridge considerably 



NO- 1205, VOL. 47] 



injured. The storm was most severe in a basin of valleys close 

 to the village of Langtoft, where three trenches, sixty-eight 

 yards in length and of great width and depth, were scooped out 

 of the solid rock by the force of the water from the cloudburst. 

 From the appearance of the trenches it is probable that there 

 were three waterspouts moving abreast simultaneously. This 

 particular locality seems to be favourable for the formation of 

 cloudbursts, as there are records of great floods having pre- 

 viously occurred at Langtoft, notably on April 10, 1657, June, 

 1857, and June 9, 1888. The author gives, in an appendix, a 

 number of observations made on similar occurrences, together 

 with particulars and opinions as to the cause of such outbursts 

 by several eminent authorities. — Mr. W. H. Dines also read a 

 paper, remarks on the measurement of the maximum wind pres- 

 sure, and description of a new instrument for indicating and 

 recording the maximum. For some years the author has been 

 conducting a large number of experiments with various forms of 

 anemometer ; and in the early part of the present year recom- 

 mended the adoption of the tube anemometer for general use, as 

 it appeared to possess numerous advantages. The head is 

 simple in construction, and so strong that it is practically inde- 

 structible by the most violent hurricane. The recording 

 apparatus can be placed at any reasonable distance from the head, 

 and the connecting pipes may go round several sharp corners 

 without harua. The power is conveyed from the head without 

 loss by friction, and hence ihe ins'rument may be made sensi- 

 tive to very low velocities without impairing its ability to resist 

 the most severe gale. In the present paper the author describes 

 an arrangement of this form of anemometer which he has devised 

 for indicating very light winds as well as recording the maximum 

 wind pressure. 



Linnean Society, November 17. — Prof. Stewart, President, 

 in the chair.— The President having announced a proposal by 

 the council to present a congratulatory address to the Rev. 

 I Leonard Blomefield (formerly jenyns) on the occasion of the 

 ' seventieth anniversary of his election as a Fellow of the Society, 

 and in recognition of his continuous and useful labours as a 

 zoologist, it was moved by Sir Wm. Flower and seconded by 

 Dr. St. George Mivart, that the address he signed and forwarded 

 as proposed. This was carried unanimously. In moving the 

 resolution, Sir Wm. Flower took occasion to sketch the scientific 

 career of Mr. Blomefield, who is nowin his ninety-third year, and 

 to recapitulate the works of which he is the author under his 

 earlier and better known name of Jenyns. The address, which 

 was beautifully illuminated on vellum, was then signed by those 

 present. — Mr, George Murray exhibited and made remarks 

 upon a genus of Algae {Halicystis) new to hritain, the species 

 shown being H. ventricosa from the West Indies, zx^A H. 

 ovalis from the Clyde Sea area. — Mr. Buxton Shillitoe exhibited 

 an aitificial cluster of the fruit of Pyrus sorbus, a< put up for 

 ripening by culiivators in Sussex. — A paper was then read by 

 the Rev. Prof. Henslow on a theoretical origin of endogens 

 through an aquatic habit based on the structure of the vegetative 

 organs. The lecture, which was very fluently delivered, was 

 profusely illustrated, and drew forth some interesting criticism 

 from Prof. Boulger, Messrs. Henry Groves, H. Goss, and 

 Patrick Geddes, to which Prof. Henslow replied.— On behalf of 

 Mr. George Lewes, who was unable to be present, a paper was 

 read by Mr. W. Percy Sladen on the Bupreslida of Japan, upon 

 which some criticism was offered by Mr. W. F. Kirby. 



Royal Microscopical Society, November 16. — Dr. R. 

 Braithwaite in the chair. — Mr. T. F. Smiih read a note 

 on the character of markings on the Podura scale, — An 

 account of Mr. W. West's paper on the freshwater alga; 

 of the English lake district was given by Mr. A. W. 

 Bennett, who thought it was an excee^ ingly important con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of the algas of that district. - 

 Mr. F. Chapman gave a rhumi of Pt. 3 of his description of 

 the foraminifera of the Gault of Folkestone. — Mr. C. Haughton 

 Gill read a pap'-r on a fungus internal y para-iiic in certain 

 diatoms, illustrating his subject with specimens and photomicro- 

 graphs. Mr, Bennett said that he had obs rved structures which 

 might be of a similar character in desmids. He should like to 

 enquire if by the term "spores" Mr. Gill did not mean 

 zoo-pores? Had he observed them to he possessed of vibratile 

 cilia? And could he form any idea as to how they came to be 

 inside the diatoms? It was possible that they might be trans- 

 mitted in some way by inheritance, and if so that might account 

 for their great abundance in particular species. Mr. Gill said 



