340- 



NATURE 



[June 21, 191 7 



•of the Franl^lin-Adams charts, was erroneous, and that 

 the older estimate of Mr. Cooke was nearer the truth. 

 The author concluded that the g^alactic condensation 

 obtained by Chapman and Melotte does not in the 

 least represent the actual distribution in the Perth 

 zone, —32^^. In one section of a recent paper Dr. 

 Halm had dealt with the corrections to the scale of 

 the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung, and Prof. 

 Sampson's paper concludecl with a discussion of Dr. 

 Halm's methods and results. 



Edinburgh. 



Royal Society, May 7. — Dr. J. Home, president, in 

 the chair. — Prof. L. Backer : The arithmetical mean and 

 the "middle" value of certain meteorological observa- 

 tions. This was a discussion of a large number of tem- 

 perature observations in Glasgow, in which it was shown 

 that the " middle " value did not agree, with the arith-. 

 metical mean. — Dr. D. Ellis : Phycornycetous fungi from 

 the Lower Coal Measures. Three organisms had been 

 found which could be placed in the Phycornycetes. The 

 first was identical with the organism found by Renault, 

 in the French Carboniferous rocks, and named by him 

 Palaeomy cites gracilis. But there was evidence that the 

 genus was the same as Peronosporites, and it Avas pro- 

 posed to re-name the org^amsm. Peronosporites gracilis,^- 

 Tiie second was identified as Peronosporites anti- 

 quarius, previously discovered by earlier investigators. 

 The new material obtained from the Lancashire rocks, 

 taken along with the rock sections in the British 

 Museum, enabled Dr. Ellis to sketch the probable life- 

 history of this fungus. The third organism was new, 

 and was named Saprolegnites hacilloides. A full 

 account was given of the characteristic structuife of' 

 this fungus. — Dr. J. Tait : Experiments and observa- 

 tions on Crustacea. Parts iv. and v. In part iv. the 

 author dealt with the structure of Glyptonotus, a large 

 Antarctic isopod taken by the Scotia Expedition under 

 Dr. W. S. Bruce. The exceptional size of the animal 

 made it possible to settle certain disputed problems 

 relating to isopod anatomy. The paper also brpught 

 out a number of relations between structure cob forma- 

 tion and functional use. In part v. it was experi- 

 mentally shown that the joints in the tail of a lobster 

 or other similar crustacean are so arranged as to 

 obviate. cl^ange- of internal volume during the flapping 

 of the tail. 



Calcutta. 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, May 2. — Dr. A. Oka: 

 Zoological results of a tour in the Far East. Hiru- 

 dinea. Fourteen species of leeches are represented in 

 the collection made by Dr. Annandale in Japan, China, 

 and Siam. Of these, three are described as new. 

 Two of the new species are. forms of general interest 

 and have been made the types of new genera. One, 

 which was obtained from considerable depths in Lake 

 Biwa, belongs to the family Glossisiphonidae, and is 

 remarkable for the curious processes on its proboscis, 

 while the other, which was collected in a small stream 

 on the Peak at Hong-Kong, belongs to the family 

 Hirudinidae, and is distinguished by the unique char- 

 acter that the furrows separating the somites are 

 deeper and more conspicuous than those separating the 

 annuli. — Dr. N. Annandale : Weighing apparatus from 

 the Shan States. The collection described was made 

 in February and March. 1917, in the markets of vil- 

 lages round the Inl^ Lake, in ' the southern Shan 

 States. The weighing apparatus used _ in these 

 markets is remarkably diverse in construction and at 

 the same time generally primitive in character. The 

 three types to which most simole weighing apparatus 

 conforms are all represented, viz. the scales, the steel- 

 yard, and the bismer, or weiphtless beam. 

 NO. 2486, VOL. 99] 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Reform in Scottish Education. Pp. 158. (Edin- 

 burgh : Scottish Education Reform Committee.) u. 

 net. 



Bailli^re's Popular Atlas of the Anatomy and physio- 

 logy of the Female Human Body. With descriptive 

 text by H. E. J. Biss. • Third edition. Plates by Dr. 

 G. M. Dupuy. (London : Bailli^re, Tindall and Cox.), 

 4s. net. 



Friendly Intercourse with the Arch Fiend Pp. 72. 

 (Letchworth : The Cloisters.) 6d, 



British Insects and How, to Know Them. By I^. 

 Bastin. Pp. ix+129 + 12 plates. (London: Meth'uen 

 and Co., Ltd.) is. 6d. net. 



Food Gardening for Beginners and Experte. By 

 H. V. Davis. Pp. vii+44. (London: G. Bell and. 

 Sons, Ltd.) 6d. net. 



W. and A. K, Johnston's War Map of Palestine,.. 

 (Edinburgh: W. and A, K, Johnston, Ltd. ; London : 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd-) 6d. net, 



Shell Shock and. its Lessors. Bv. Prof, G. El.U^tj 

 Smith and T. H, jPear, Pp. xi+i3.c;. (Manchester,: 

 University Press ; London : Longmans and Co.) 

 2s. 6d. net, 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, ]WK :i\. 

 RovAL SociETV, at 4.30. — Revolving Fluid in the Almasphere : Sir Napier 

 Shaw. — Absorption Bands of Atmospheric Ozone in the Spectra of Sun , 

 and Stars : Prof. A. Fowler and Hon. R. J. Strutt. 



FRIDAY, June 22. 

 Physical Socfety, at 5. — The Determination of Coma from a Central Ray : ■ 

 T. Smith. — Chromatic Parallax- and its Influence on Optical Measure-, 

 ments : J. Guild. 



MONDA Y, July 2. 

 Arlstotelian Society, at 8. — Relation and Coherence : Miss L. S. 

 Stebbing. 



CONTENTS. PACK, 



History and Manufacture of Explosives 321 



"Thought-Subjects." By W. J. G 322 



Our Bookshelf ' 323 



Letters to the Editor; — 



The Origin of Flint. — Prof. Benja^min Moore, 

 F.R.S. ; Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole, F.R.S. ; 



S. C. Bradford . . 324 



Electric Discharge from Scythe.— J. R. Pannell . . 324 



The RamSay Memorial- Fund ......... 325 



The Caterpillar Attack on Fruit Trees. By Prof. 



Fred. V. Theobald . . 326 



Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, F.R.S. By Dr. J. E. 



Marr, F.R.S. ..;.... 326 



Notes ............... ...;... 327, 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Covnet 191.6^ (Wolf) 33?. 



Solar Prominences in Relation tp Sun-spots .... 332 



The Eclipsing Variable SS Camelopardalis 332 



Hind's Variable Nebula . . 332 



The National Physical Laboratory 332 



Peat and its Uses. By E. S. Hodgson .... 333 

 Science and Industry. By Sir Richard Glazebrook, 



C.B., F.R.S 



University and Educational Intelligencp 

 Societies and Academies ...... 



Books Received 



Diary of Societies 



333 

 333 

 339 

 340 

 340 



ST. 



Editorial and Publishing Ojjices-: 

 MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd!, 

 MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters to be addressed to the 

 Publishers. 



Editorial Communications to the Editor. 

 Telegraphic Address : Phijsis, London. 

 Telephone Number : GfeRRARD 8830. 



