March 



o» 



1 910] 



NATURE 



29 



af the genus Anthobosca (fam. Scoliidie), now almost 

 entirely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, was also 

 liscussed. — H. H. Druce : Descriptions of new Lycaenidae 

 ind Hesperiidae from tropical South Africa. The paper 

 :ontained an account of the numerous new forms collected 

 by Mr. G. L. Bates on the J a River, Cameroons, and by 

 Herr Landbeck in the Upper Kasi district of the Congo. — 

 C. L. Boulenger : Certain subcutaneous fat-bodies in 

 toads of the genus Bufo. In Bujo viridis, of which the 

 juthor had examined fresh material, these fat-bodies were 

 irery well developed, and on reflecting the skin from the 

 irentral surface, one noticed a pair of gland-like fatty 

 structures at the junction of the hind limbs with the trunk, 

 rhey were present in both sexes, and varied considerably 

 n size and colour in different individuals, but were quite 

 ronstant in position. 



Linnean Society, February 17. — Dr. D. H. Scott, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair, succeeded by Mr. H. W. 

 Monckton, treasurer and vice-president. — W. T. Saxton : 

 Recent investigations upon the anatomy of the genera 

 IViddringtonia, Endl., and Callitris, Vent. Evidence is 

 brought forward to show (i) that Widdringtonia and 

 "allitris do not conform to the " Cupressineae " type ; 

 2) that Widdringtonia cannot be merged in the genus 

 [lallltris, but must rank as a distinct genus. Callitrineae 

 is suggested as a tribal name to include these two genera 

 'possibly also Actinostrobus and Tetraclinis). Both 

 norphological and anatomical differences are pointed out 

 jetween Callitris and Widdringtonia, which seem more 

 than sufficient to warrant the retention of Widdringtonia 

 js a separate genus. — G. Massee : Evolution of parasitism 

 n fungi. To understand clearly the evolution of parasitism 

 t is important to grasp a fundamental point in the evolu- 

 Jon of fungi generally. The most primitive forms were 

 iquatic, and reproduced by zoospores, which necessitated 

 the presence of water to secure their dispersion. As the 

 fungi gradually took possession of dry land, a second 

 isexual or conidia form of reproduction, suitable for dis- 

 jersion by wind, &c., was gradually evolved. This sup- 

 jlementar}' conidial condition is always the form that has 

 issumed a parasitic condition, the older sexual phase re- 

 maining as a saproph>-te, and developing when the host is 

 ;xhausted. Parasitism is mainly the outcome of oppor- 

 tunity-, and the fact that fungi present all stages of 

 jarasitism, and that a saprophytic fungus can be educated 

 :o become a parasite, proves that parasitism is an acquired 

 labit. Incipient or imperfectly evolved parasites promptly 

 kill the host, and consequently curtail the period of their 

 >wn existence, as Pythium De Baryanum. A higher stage 

 jf parasitism is reached by many of the rusts and smuts, 

 Ustilago avenae, &c., where the host is attacked as a 

 seedling, and is stimulated to an unusual condition of 

 »rowth throughout its normal period of growth. More 

 idvanced parasites show a tendency to arrest the produc- 

 tion of spores and conidia, and to perpetuate themselves 

 by perennial mycelium located in some perennial vegetative 

 portion of the host (root, tubers, &c.) or in the s^. In 

 the most highly evolved parasites reproductive bodies are 

 jntirely arrested, and the parasite is perpetuated by hiber- 

 nating mycelium only. — ^T. B. Fletcher : The Orneodidae 

 ind Pterophoridae of the Seychelles Expedition. — Dr. G. 

 Enderlein : Die von Herm Hugh Scott auf den Sey- 

 ;hellen gesammelten Embiidinen, Coniopterygiden, und 

 Hemerobiiden. — Dr. N. F. Holmgrren : Die Termiten der 

 Seychellen-Region. — L. A. Borradaile : The land and 

 imphibious Decapoda of Aldabra. 



Royal Anthropological Institute, Fehruarv 22. — Sir 

 Richard Martin, vice-president, in the chair. — Miss M. E. 

 Durham : Notes on High Albania. High Albania is the 

 "^ri ■ spot in Europe in which the tribal system exists 

 The tribes occupy the mountain land which forms 

 orth-west corner of Turkey in Europe. They are 

 sxogamous, but male blood only counts. Each tribe is 

 ruled by a council of elders, by ancient laws handed down 

 by oral tradition, which are strictly enforced. Roughly, 

 tfie tribes may be divided into three groups, one of which 

 tells a tale of origin from Bosnia, the second of partial 

 origin from Rashia. and the third, which declares that it 

 has "been there all the time." The tale of origin from 

 Bosnia is confirmed by the fact that the same tattoo 

 patterns used by these tribes are used in certain districts 



NO. 2105, VOL. 83] 



of Bosnia. They consist of various arrangements of the 

 cross, the sun, and the moon. Among other very ancient 

 customs, the Levirate is still practised, even by many of 

 the Roman Catholic tribes. Blood vengeance is extremely 

 prevalent throughout both Christian and Moslem tribes. 

 Its rules are complicated. It is undertaken rather to 

 cleanse the honour of the slayer than to inflict punishment 

 on the slain. Up country the houses are all stone kulas 

 (towers), built for defence, and having no windows, but 

 only loop-holes for rifles. Communal families of as many 

 as forty members live together in one room, ruled by the 

 house lord, who has often power of life and death over 

 his subjects. Marriage is always by purchase, save for 

 an occasional forcible capture. Children are betrothed in 

 infancy. Thirteen to fifteen is a common age for a girl's 

 marriage, and fifteen to eighteen for a boy. Hospitality 

 is the universal law of the mountain. The tribesman, if 

 he receives a traveller at all, gives him of his best. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 21. — M. Emile Picard in 

 the chair. — G. Humbert : The minima of the classes of 

 binary and positive quadratic forms. — .\rmand Gautier : 

 The differential characters of waters arising from springs 

 of superficial or meteoric origin and of waters of central 

 or igneous origin. In opposition to the accepted views of 

 Daubrte, the author regards many mineral waters as virgin 

 springs, not arising from infilfa-ated water, but issuing 

 for the first time from the earth. Somewhat similar views 

 have been advanced by Suess. These virgin waters are 

 characterised by their issuing from eruptive faults or in 

 relation with metallic lodes, by being independent of the 

 seasons and meteorological phenomena, by the constancy 

 of their composition and temperature throughout the year, 

 and by the presence of certain elements such as fluorine, 

 boron,' arsenic, iodine, &c., and by the absence of the 

 carbonates of the alkaline earths. — Gabriel Koenig^s : The 

 conjugated curves in the most general relative movement 

 of two solid bodies. — H. C. Saint-Ren« : A solution of a 

 problem of vision at a distance. — Percival Lowell : New 

 canals on the planet Mars. Two large canals east of 

 Syrtis Major were observed at the Flagstaff Observatory 

 on September 30, and reasons are given for supposing that 

 these canals are really new on Mars. They have the 

 character of the other canals — a uniform line of geometrical 

 appearance.-^harles Nordmann : The intrinsic brightness 

 of the sun. The effective temperature of the solar photo- 

 sphere is estimated at 6450° C. absolute. The intrinsic 

 brightness of the sun is calculated to be 319,000 decimal 

 candles per square centimetre. — M. Cogrsria : Observations 

 of the comet 1910a, made at the Observatory of Marseilles 

 with the Eichens equatorial of 26-cm. aperture. Positions 

 are given for February 4, 5, 7. 8, 9, 10, and 11. — ^W. 

 Steklofr : A general theorem of existence of fundamental 

 functions corresponding to a linear differential equation of 

 the second order. — D. Pompeiu : The singularities of 

 uniform analytical functions.— Jean Chazy : Differential 

 equations the general integral of which possesses an 

 essentially mobile break. — G. Cotty : The transformation 

 of .Abelian functions. — Marcel Brillouin : Concerning func- 

 tions determined by their value on a part of the boundary 

 and that of their differential coefficient normal to the re- 

 mainder of the boundary.— A. C. Vournasos : The reaction 

 of nascent hydrogen in the dry state. By heating sodium 

 formate, with or without the addition of sodium hydroxide, 

 hydrogen is evolved. If phosphorus, sulphur, or arsenic 

 is added to this mixture, and the whole heated to about 

 400° C. the corresponding hydrogen compounds of these 

 substances are obtained. With sulphur, the pure dry 

 sulphuretted hydrogen prepared in this way is suitable for 

 use in analvsis. — H. Baublgrny : The separation and purifi- 

 cation of the dithionates produced in the decomposition of 

 silver sulphite or its double salts. — H. Caudechon : The 

 bromine derivatives of dimercurammonium. — V. Augrer : 

 The alkaline mangani-manganates. These compounds 

 arise from the action of permanganates upon moist caustic 

 soda, slowlv in the cold, rapidly on warming, with loss of 

 oxvgen. The sodium salt has the composition 



Mn,0,.5Na,0.8H,0. 

 — L60 Vigrnon : Textiles and insoluble colouring matters. 



H. Copaux : The inequality of the properties of the two 



forms (right and left) of potassium silicotungstate, and, in 



