March 31, 19 10] 



NATURE 



149 



so that the exact amount of heat generated within the 

 calorimeter could be estimated. — Dr. T. Muir : The theory 

 of persymmetric determinants in the historic order of 

 development up to i860, and the theory of bigradients in 

 the historical order of development up to i860. 



February 21. — Dr. Traquair, F.R.S., vice-president, in 

 the chair. — ^J. Murray : Scientific work of the British 

 Antarctic Expedition of 1907-9. Moraines were traced on 

 the sides of Mount Erebus to a height of iioo feet. At 

 the same time, there are abundant evidences of recent 

 elevation of the land to the extent of several hundred feet, 

 so that it cannot be said that glaciers ever stood so high 

 as the moraines now stand. The tabular Antarctic ice- 

 bergs appear to consist of compressed snow, not ice. They 

 float very high, the depth of the substance below water 

 being just about equal to the height above. By the 

 fortunate re-discovery of a dep6t laid down by Captain 

 Scott on known bearings six years previously, the average 

 rate of travel of the Great Ice Barrier at its western edge 

 was found to be, on the average, about 500 vards per 

 annum. The accumulation of drift on the Barrier surface 

 was measured at the same place, and averaged just above 

 I foot per annum of compressed snow. With these some- 

 what rough data as basis, it was estimated that the snow 

 cliff, which to a height of 200 feet forms the face of the 

 stratum at sea-level, must have originated some fiftv' miles 

 to the south some 200 years ago. Yet under this long- 

 continued weight of accumulated snow the material is not 

 transformed into ice. The original glacier ice depressed 

 beneath the accumulating snow seems to have been 

 corroded away below sea-level, as the whole barrier moved 

 outwards from the land valleys. Some important con- 

 clusions may be expected to result from a study of the 

 rocks collected, especially if the discovery- of coal and fossil 

 wood should lead to the determination of their geological 

 horizon. Of the optical phenomena observed, one of the 

 most interesting was the projection, as long tapering dark 

 bars through the air. of the shadows of mountain peaks. 

 Under certain conditions the observer saw the shadow of 

 Erebus cast on to Mount Lister, appearing as a circular 

 arc reaching a height of 30° or more above the horizon. 

 The observer was looking transversely to the direction of 

 the shadow. Aurora displays were very frequent. Thev 

 seemed to be dominated bv the mass of Ross Island, and 

 frequently circled Mount Erebus. The chief fact of bio- 

 logical interest was the abundant development of micro- 

 scopic fauna and flora in the shallow lakes. The micro- 

 fauna survives from year to year frozen in the ice without 

 suffering injury. The lakes attain a temperature as high 

 as 60° F. in summer, and in winter may go down to 

 — 40°. In some deeper lakes, which do not thaw in 

 ordinary- summers, many live animals were found at the 

 bottom under 15 feet of ice. These must have been frozen 

 for years._ It was shown by experiments that thev can 

 endure_ being heated when in the drv condition almost to 

 the boiling point and cooled to —108° F., a range of 300°. 

 As^ regards the vital phenomena exhibited, there was a 

 striking contrast between the fresh-water animals and those 

 living in the sea not many yards awav. These perform 

 all their vital functions several decrees below the freezing 

 point of fresh water, and are killed if the temperature 

 either rises or falls one or two degrees. The rotifer fauna 

 of the Antarctic lakes, which alone has been fully worked 

 "P' js y^rj limited in numbers, and presents distinct 

 peculiarities. Of the sixteen species recognised, five are 

 at present unknown elsewhere, and manv of the others 

 differ from the usual tvpes. These facts point to long 

 isolation and difficultv- of access to the region. 



Dublin. 

 Rovallrish Academy. Fphrtiar},- 28.— Dr. F. A. Tarleton, 

 president, in the civair. — J. J. Simpson : A revision of the 

 Juncellid group of the Gorgonellidae. According to the 

 author, the Juncellid group of the family of flexible corals 

 (Gorgonellidae) comprises the genera juncella, Ellisella, 

 Scirpearia, Scirpearella, Ctenocella. and Nicella. Having 

 had special facilities for studying these forms in the living 

 condition when taking part in some of the cruises of the 

 Indian Government steamer Investigator, the author has 

 been able to add a good deal to the knowledge of their 

 NO. 2100. VOL. &»jl 



mode of life, structure, and distribution of which in some 

 cases our information was very deficient. He directs special 

 attention to the great taxonomic importance of the canal 

 system and the character and varietj' in type of the minute 

 spicules. A full description of the family Gorgonellidae 

 and its genera, with new diagnoses, conclude this con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of the flexible corals. — 

 J. Adams and G. H. Pethybridg^e : A census catalogue 

 of Irish fungi. This paper contains an historical account 

 of the previous work which has been done on the Irish 

 fungi and Myxomycetes from the first published records in 

 1726 up to the present day, together with a complete 

 bibliography of the subject. It also contains a complete 

 list of all the fungi hitherto recorded as occurring in 

 Ireland, together with a few hitherto unrecorded species. 

 I The arrangement follows that adopted in Engler and 

 I Prantl's " Pfianzenfamilien " in the main, and the distri- 

 i bution of each species in the four main provinces and in 

 1 twelve sub-provinces is indicated. The total number of 

 I species, including Mraomycetes, recorded is 1464, which 

 ] probabh* represents far from the actual number of species 

 I occurring in Ireland, seeing that the province of Connaught 

 j is at present almost virgin ground so far as these plants 

 I are concerned. — J. Adams : A list of synonyms of Irish 

 I algae, with some additional records and observations. 

 The greater part of the paper consists of a list of the 

 names under which Irish species of algae were originally 

 published, and of the modern names of the species to 

 which they are considered to be equivalent either in whole 

 or in part. Some additional records have been brought 

 together, numbering rather more than a hundred species. 

 There is a revised census of species, a list of errata occur- 

 ring in the " Synopsis of Irish Algae " published in 1908, 

 and some additional bibliographical records. 



Paris. 



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

 the chair. — M. MetchnikofT : Experiments in typhoid 

 fever. Hitherto it has been impossible to make satisfac- 

 tory experiments with this disease on animals owing to 

 the invariable fatality-, but by making the attempt of in- 

 oculating a chimpanzee with tj-phoid matter from infected 

 excreta, many interesting obser\'ations have been obtained, 

 which are described. — J. Guillaume : Observations made 

 on the sun at the Lyons Observatory during 1909. — ^A. 

 Chatelet : A transformation of continuous arithmetic 

 fractions. — A. Cotton and H. Mouton : The magnetic 

 and electric bi-refractivit\' of aromatic liquids and the 

 theory of molecular orientation. — Ch. Maurain : Variation 

 with temperature of the magnetic properties of iron in a 

 weak magnetic field. — M. Robin : The phenomenon of the 

 extinction of sound in iron. — ^Jean Meunier : The laws 

 of combustion. — ^J. Villo and W. Mestrezat : The hydro- 

 fluoric hydrolysis of cellulose. — L. Blaring^hem : An un- 

 stable variety of Nigella, Xigella damascena cristata, 

 obtained after a mutilation. — L. Moreau and E. Vinet : 

 The use of lead arsenate in vine culture. Among other 

 observations, it was definitely shown that the lead arsenate 

 did not make its appearance subsequently in the wine. — 

 Maurice Holderer : The filtration of diastases. — M. 

 Doyon : The normal secretion in the liver of a substance 

 preventing coagulation of the blood. — Jean Giaja : The 

 isolation of a biose sugar derived from amygdalin. — MM. 

 LaKrifTone and Roarer : Malta fever in France. — L. 

 Lindet : The raising of flour in baking. — Ph. Glangeaud : 

 The architecture of the central part of the Monts du Forez. 

 — Marcellin Boule : Some vertebral fossils from the dis- 

 trict south of Tunis. — M. Nouailhac-Pioch and Edmond 

 Maiilet : The rise of the Seine in Januar>-Februar>-, iqio. 

 — B. Galitzine : The determination of the epicentre of an 

 earth tremor, from the data provided by one seismic 

 station. 



C.*LCL'TTA. 



Asiatic Society of Bengal. March 2. — I. H. Burkill : 



Notes on the pollination of flowers in India, note 

 No. 7. A few observations made in the Central 

 Provinces and Berar. The notes were made in the 

 Central Provinces and Berar, chiefly in the Melghat. 

 In the Melghat at the end of the rains, flower-visiting 



