May 17, 1900] 



NATURE 



63 



weight which the horizontal pendulums carry from 25 to 60 kg., 

 this defect almost disappears. Dr. Agamennone therefore pro- 

 poses to erect an additional pair of horizontal pendulums at 

 Rocca di Papa in which the masses shall be at least 500 kg., the 

 period of oscillation 10 to 15 seconds, and the magnifying ratio 

 of the writing stiles 150, and possibly 100. He also suggests a 

 double system of registration ; the stiles at one end are to write 

 in ink on white paper moving with a velocity of about 50 cm. 

 per hour, and at the other end on an endless strip of smoked 

 paper, which, on the occurrence of a shock, will be made to 

 travel still more rapidly. The former record will enable the 

 initial and final epochs to be determined, and the latter the 

 period of the individual oscillations. 



We have received the Transactions and Report of the Man- 

 chester Microscopical Society for 1899, which contains a good 

 account of the late Zoological Congress, and also some well illus- 

 trated papers on various biological subjects of current interest. 



Dr. C. S. Minot has favoured us with a copy of a paper 

 from vol. xxix. of the Proc. Boston Sac. Nat. Hist., entitled " On 

 a hitherto unrecognised form of blood circulation without capil- 

 laries in the organs of V'ertebrata." " Sinusoids" is the name 

 proposed for the newly-discovered vessels, which are said to 

 •differ in man y respects from true capillaries. 



The " Descriptive Guide " to the collection of corals now on 

 view at the South London Art Gallery, Peckham Road, Cam- 

 berwell, may be described as a wonderful " pennyworth." Not 

 only does it contain two excellent photographic plates of corals, 

 but the text is an excellent popular introduction to the study of 

 these beautiful structures. The collection in question is the 

 property of Mr. J, Morgan, of St. Leonards, who has kindly 

 ' aned them for public exhibition. 



From its last Report we are glad to notice that the Felsted 

 School Scientific Society appears in a flourishing condition. 

 Physics and chemistry receive a larger share of attention than 

 is usually the case in school societies, owing, doubtless, to 

 the fact that the president, Mr. A. E. Munby, teaches these 

 subjects in the school. Dr. Charles Hose has kindly offered to 

 present a selection from his Bornean treasures if proper accom- 

 modation can be obtained for their display. 



" CODIUM " is the title of the fourth issue of the Liverpool 

 Marine Biological Committee's memoirs. The remarkable 

 branching alga originally described as Fucus tornetitosus, but 

 now designated CoJiuin to/nentositm, is one of three British 

 representatives of the group Codiaceae, but the only one found 

 within the area treated of in this series of memoirs. Although 

 widely distributed, it occurs within the district only in shallow 

 rock-pools at the south end of the Isle of Man. The plants 

 are perennial, and fruit in winter ; the season of fructification 

 apparently extending from November till February. The 

 authors of the memoir have worked out the life-history of the 

 organism so far as their materials admitted of this being done ; 

 but there are certain problems connected with the reproduction 

 which require further investigation. 



Dr. R. W. Shufei.dt contributes a paper on the psychology 

 of fishes to the April number of the American Naturalist. In 

 general it may be said that fishes possess excellent visual power, 

 even to the exact discrimination between objects ; and there is 

 also reason to believe that they are extremely sensitive to any 

 disturbance of their native element, when such disturbance is 

 within the range of appreciation of their nervous organs. 

 Whether, however, any fish has the extreme sensibility of the 

 leech Clcpsine, which, when the experiment is conducted with 

 NO. 1594, VOL. 62] 



proper precautions, will be conscious of the touch of a needle- 

 point on the surface of the water of the dish in which it is 

 placed, is more than doubtful. The peculiar sensitiveness to 

 teasing exhibited by the fish known as the snowy grouper 

 {Epinephelus nivealus) is instanced by the author as a pheno- 

 menon requiring special explanation. When much disturbed, 

 this fish displays a spasm, or fit, much resembling the contor- 

 tions of death, eventually floating belly-upwards, and at the 

 same time changing colour. The author suggests that these 

 movements are for the purpose of warning off predatory fish, 

 which prefer to take their prey in a healthy condition after an 

 exciting chase. 



A Preliminary Retort on the Klondike Goldfields, Yukon 

 District, Canada, has been published by Mr. R. G. McConnell. 

 (Printed in advance from the Summary Report, Geol. Surv. 

 Canada for 1899, 1900). The rocks consist of stratified and 

 foliated rocks, mostly Palseozoic, and of granites and other erup- 

 tive rocks of Tertiary age. Of the older rocks, the Klondike 

 series constitutes the country rock along the productive portions 

 of all the richer creeks. It mainly comprises micaceous schists, 

 greatly crushed and altered, which pass in places into a granitoid 

 rock. Quartz veins are very abundant, and these occasionally 

 contain free gold. The placer deposits have derived their gold 

 from the quartz veins and silicified schists of the district ; and it 

 is considered probable that productive veins, or zones of^country 

 rock, will eventually be discovered. A fairly full account is 

 given of the placer deposits, so far as they are known, but the 

 author remarks that the work of the prospector will not be 

 completed for many years. The valleys known to be productive 

 in gold are shown on a map. 



" Notes on the Fossil Flora of South Gippsland," by Mr. 

 James Stirling, Government geologist, have been published by 

 the Department of Mines, Victoria (1900). The plants, which 

 include ferns, cycads and conifers, were obtained from Jurassic 

 strata. They are illustrated in six plates, which accompany the 

 notes, and which were prepared under the direction of the late 

 Sir Frederick McCoy. 



Messrs. Archibald Constable and Co. will publish in a 

 few weeks Mr. W. Worby Beaumont's new and comprehensive 

 work, " Motor Vehicles and Motors : Their Design, Construc- 

 tion and Working by Steam, Oil and Electricity." 



Prof. J. A. Ewing's standard work on " Magnetic Induction 

 in Iron and Other Metals " (The Electrician Printing and 

 Publishing Co.) has reached a third edition. A chapter has 

 been added on practical magnetic testing, and important advances 

 made since the book was originally published have been taken 

 into consideration. 



Messrs. Newman and Guardia, Limited, have just 

 placed a new quarter-plate pocket camera — the " Nydia " — upon 

 the market. The camera is fitted with a special S^-inch lens, 

 either Zeiss, Wray or Ross make ; it carries twelve films or 

 eight plates ; when folded it measures only 7i x 4J x ij inches, 

 and it only weighs, when loaded, 1% lbs. Photographers re- 

 quiring a portable and efficient hand camera at a moderate 

 price should see the " Nydia." 



The fourth edition of " Psycho-therapeutics," by Dr. C. 

 Lloyd Tuckey, has been issued by Messrs. Balliere, Tindall and 

 Cox. The third edition was published nearly ten years ago 

 and since that time hypnotism and suggestion have become 

 recognised forms of medical treatment. Dr. Tuckey's work is 

 a useful statement of the development of the system of psycho- 



