June 22, 1893J 



NATURE 



191 



two tubes of which fit rather closely, gives the greatest yield of 

 ozone ; for the same potential difference an induclion coil 

 ozonises a larger proportion of oxygen than either a Wimshurst 

 or a Voss machine. The authors conclude from their experi- 

 ments that the silent discharge acts by decomposing oxygen 

 molecules into their atoms, which subsequently re-coml)ine, to a 

 greater or less extent, according to the conditions, to form the 

 triatomic ozone molecules ; it would hence seem that ozone is 

 not formed by the direct action of the discharge. — The relative 

 strengths or "avidities" of some compounds of weak acid 

 character, by J. Shields. The author has calculated the relative 

 strengths of a number of compounds of weak acid character, 

 such as biboric and carbonic acids, hydrogen cyanide and 

 phenol, from the rates at which salt solutions hydrolyse ethyl 

 acetate. — The boiling points of homologous compounds. Part I. : 

 Simple and mixed ethers, by J. Walker. The author finds that 

 the boiling points of members of many homologous series may 

 be very closely expressed by the relation T = «M*, where T 

 is the absolute boiling point, M the molecular weight, and a 

 and t are constants peculiar to each series. The formula may 

 be stated in the following form : — The logarithm of the ratio of 

 the absolute boiling points of any two members of a homologous 

 series, divided by the logarithm of the ratio of their molecular 

 weights, is constant. — The conditions determinative of chemical 

 change, by H. E. Armstrong. — The nature of depolarisers, by 

 the same author. 



Geological Society, June 7. — W. H. Hudleston, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. — Dr. Johnston-Lavis, in referring to 

 specimens and microscopic slides showing eozoonal structure in 

 the ejected blocks of Monte Somma, exhibited by him, said 

 that all the criticisms of Eozoon have so far been destructive, 

 no analogous structure having been found in other localities 

 under conditions that could explain the origin of so curious an 

 arrangement of different minerals. These altered limestones 

 Irom Monte Somma correspond in all details with those of the 

 original Canadian specimens, and in many cases, on account of 

 their freshness, exhibit some of the pseudo-organic structural 

 details, such as the stolon-tubes, in far greater perfection than 

 does the true so-called Eozoon canadeuse. He had been work- 

 ing at the subject in conjunction with Mr. J. W. Gregory. The 

 following communications were read : — The bajocian of the 

 Sherborne district : its relations to subjacent and superjacent 

 deposits, by S. S. Buckman. This paper is partly the result 

 of excavations made by Mr. Hudleston, F.R.S., and the author 

 at Sherborne, to determine the position of the so-called " Sow- 

 eriiyi-zone." The author used the term " bajocian " to denote 

 the lower beds of what has been called " upper part of the in- 

 ferior oolite." He introduced a term emar (^/fop) as a chrono- 

 logical subdivision of an "age, "and considered that the bedsdealt 

 with in the paperweredepositedduring I2emata, which he called, 

 in descending order,y«.f(:«w-/^-dEo', Trtiellii^ Garantianttmy iiior- 

 tense, Humphriesiantim, Sauzei, Witchellia sp., discites, con- 

 cavum^ bradfordensCy and Murchisoftiv. A line from Stoford, 

 Somerset, through North Dorset to Milborne Wick, Somerset, 

 is the base-line of the district reviewed. Seventeen sections of 

 places close to this line were given to show the relations of the 

 beds, with the different amounts of strata deposited during suc- 

 cessive emata, and during the same emar at different places. 

 By means of tables it was shown that the area of maximum 

 accumulation receded eastwards in the earlier emata, and then 

 proceeded westwards during the later emata. A similar and 

 corresponding faunal recession and progression was pointed out, 

 though the faunal headquarters always remain west of the great 

 accumulation of deposit. Adding the various maximum deposits 

 together, the author found as much as 130 feet of strata deposited 

 during the twelve emata = (practically) the " Inferior Ooliie of 

 Dorset." This is a far greater thickness than had hitherto been 

 allowed to beds of this age in the district, but the fault lay 

 partly in incorrect correlation. The Dorset strata are corre- 

 lated with strata in other districts — namely, with those of 

 Dnndry and Leckhampton Hills in this country. Of these 

 the author gave sections, and pointed out the emata during 

 which the strata of those localities were deposited, and made 

 some alterations in their correlation. Passing to WUrttemberg, 

 the author showed that the equivalent of Waagen's Sowerdyi- zone 

 is exactly represented at Sherborne. Returning to Norman<ly, 



1 the results were compared with the recent work done by Muniei- 

 Chalmas, who in some respects has madt an even more detailed 



I subdivision of the strata. The corrrespnndence between the 

 divisions for Dorset and those of Munier-Chalmas in Normandy 



NO. 1234, VOL. 48] 



and Haug in Southern France was shown in a table. The 

 President, Prof. Blake, the Rev. H. H. Winwood, and Mr. 

 Marr took part in the discussion that followed. — On raised 

 beaches and rolled stones at high levels in Jersey, by Dr. 

 Andrew Dunlop. An account was given of the higher raised 

 beaches examined by the author on the south-eastern and 

 eastern coast, but probably found in other parts of the island 

 also, as indicated by the existence of rolled stones, &c. These 

 beaches seem to prove submergence (in the case of that at 

 South Hill, to a depth of at least 130 feet below the present 

 level) at the end of the " first glacier period.'" The brick 

 clay often lying on raised beach, and containing pebbles, was 

 compared to loess by the author. He believed that Prof. 

 Prestwich's theory of sudden and rapid upheaval, with a 

 resulting tumultuous sweep of water, may be applied to Jersey ; 

 but also, if the sinking took place at the end of the Glacial 

 Period, the peculiar conditions produced by melting ice may 

 have played their part in producing the brick-clays. Subse- 

 quent upheaval above the present sea-level is indicated by sub- 

 merged forests, sometimes lying on the brick clay. No fossils 

 have hitherto been found in the raised beaches ; but a bone of 

 Bos primigenius (?) has been extracted from the brick-clay. 

 The President, the Rev. H. H. Winwood, and Mr. Monckton 

 spoke on the subject of the paper. 



Entomological Society, June 7. — Mr. H. J. Elwes, Pre- 

 sident, in the chair. — Mr. A. Cowper Field exhibited varieties 

 olSinerinthus tilia:, bred between 1890 and 1S93, under varying 

 conditions of temperature, those which had been exposed to a 

 lower temperature being much darker than those which had been 

 exposed to a higher. Mr. Merrifield made some observations on 

 the subject, and remarked that, as far as his experience went, 

 no hard and fast rule could be laid down with regard to the 

 production of the lighter or darker colourings, as a high tem- 

 perature sometimes produced dark forms. — Mr. W. M. Christy 

 exhibited a series Zygana i7'ifolii, including very many yellow 

 forms, all, with one exception taken at one spot during the 

 latter half of May, 1893, and belonging to one colony. Some 

 of the specimens were more or less incomplete, both in structure 

 and colour, and Mr. Barrett stated as his opinion that this was 

 due to their having been forced by the unusually fine weather. 

 Lord Walsingham, Mr. Merrifield, and others took part in the 

 discussion which followed. — The President remarked on the great 

 abundance of Coleophora laricella in Gloucestershire, and stated 

 that they were committing great ravages among young larches. 

 Lord Walsingham stated that he had seen young larches at 

 Carlsbad completely bleached by this moth. — It was suggested 

 by several Fellows of the Society that care should be taken to 

 observe the occurrence of second broods of insects during the 

 year. — Mons. Wailly exhibited cocoons of various silk-producing 

 Lcpidoptera, and stated that the larva o! Aliacus peniyi, whose 

 food-plant is oak, had been reared in Trinidad on Tcrminalia 

 latifolia. 



Linnean Society, June 15. — Prof. Stewart, President, in 

 the chair. — Mr. A. W. Bennett exhibited some curious examples 

 of revivification in plants, and made some remarks on the tentacles 

 of Droiera rotundifolia and longifolia, specimens of which were 

 exhibited under the microscope. — Dr. Stapf read a paper on 

 the botany of Mount Kiua Balu, North Borneo, and exhibited 

 some of the most characteristic plants. His remarks were 

 criticised by Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, who regarded the paper 

 as a valuable contribution to geographical botany. — Prof. W. 

 A. Herdman, in continuation of a former paper printed in the 

 Society's journal, gave an interesting account of several species 

 of British 7'tinicala, some of which were previously undescribed, 

 his remarks being illustrated by figures projected on the screen by 

 means of the oxy- hydrogen lantern. — On behalf of Miss A. L. 

 Smith, Mr. George Murray gave an abstract of a paper on the 

 anatomy of a plant brought from .Senegambia by Mr. G. F. 

 Scott Elliot, the affmiiies of which had not been precisely 

 determined, but which was referred either to the Mdastomaccs 

 or Genlianacece. The author's views, which were illustrated by 

 means of the oxy-hydrogen lantern, were criticised by Dr. D. 

 H. .Scott. — In the absence of Mr. Scott Elliott, a paper was 

 read 011 his behalf by the secretary, on the African species of the 

 genus Incus. — Prof. F. W. Oliver, on behalf of Miss M. Benson, 

 gave an abstract of a paper entitled contributions to the em- 

 bryology of the .Imcntiferic, illustrated by diagrams of .sections 

 made by the author. — With this meeting the session of 1892-93 

 was brought to a close. 



