June i8, 1891] 



NATURE 



165 



mainly with the explorations which have been carried on in 

 various parts of the world. 



"The year," he said, "of which I am about, with your permis- 

 sion, to give some account, has not been, so far as geographical 

 discoveries are concerned, a very brilliant or sensational one. 

 Brilliant and sensational years are, alas ! likely to grov fewer 

 and fewer as the globe we inhabit becomes ever bitter known 

 to us. If, however, the year has not been made mem>rable by 

 much extensive exploration it has put to its credit no small 

 amount of intensive exploration. A good many gaps in our 

 knowledge have been filled up, and a great deal of solid useful 

 work accoaiplished. All this healthy activity has been repre- 

 sented in our Proceedings and much of it has found its way to 

 our Fellows through the papers which have been read in this 

 theatre. Many of these have been extremely interesting. I 

 may mention particularly the account of Messrs. Jackson and 

 Gedge's journey to Uganda, Colonel Tanner's observations on 

 the Himalayan Range, and Mr. Pratt's journey to Szechuen. 

 These last were illustrated, as it will be remembered, by draw- 

 ings and by photographs of exceptional merit, which were 

 examined carefully by large numbers after our meetings closed. 

 As you will have learnt from the report of the auditors, the 

 total assets of the Society have considerably increased, and we 

 are in a position to give most efficient assistance to any tho- 

 roughly well considered schemes which are laid before us. I 

 am very sure, however, that the Fellows will consider that, 

 although we are rich, it is none the less our duty to scrutinize 

 carefully all proposals which are made to us, and to see that 

 the money which they give so generously is applied only 

 to really promising objects. Such we considered to be 

 Mr. Ramsay's explorations in Asia Minor, and Mr. Theodore 

 Bent's examination of the remarkable ruins at Zimbabye 

 in South Africa. Instruments to the value of over £(iOO 

 have been lent during the past year to intending travellers, 

 and thirty-six gentlemen have received instruction from 

 Mr. Coles, partly at the expense of the Sjciety, for 

 the purpose of making them more efficient as explorers. 

 Our duties dividing themselves into two great classes— the 

 acquisition of knowledge ani the diflfasion of knowledge— I 

 think the Society will hail with pleasure a considerable increase 

 of our expenditure under the head of 'Scientific Purposes,' 

 which amounted for last year to nearly ^600. That sum in- 

 cluded /178 for the purpose just alluded to, ;^I20 for the pro- 

 motion of jTeographical education in connection with the Training 

 College^ the University Local E<aminations, and the Oxford 

 University Extension Movement, and a contribution of ;i^i50 

 towards the salaries of each of the Geographical Lecturers at the 

 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. I am happy to be 

 able to report that our efforts to promote geographical 

 elucation in the first of these great national institutions 

 are being crowned with success, thanks to the enlightened- 

 views now prevailing there, to the powerful assistance of 

 the Warden of Merton and other friends in high place, and to 

 the zeal and high intelligence of Mr. Mackinder, who is rapidly 

 winning not only golden opinions for himself, but an excellent 

 place for his science on the banks of the Isis. Negotiations are 

 now in progress which will, I hope, result in the establishment 

 of a Travelling Scholarship at the joint expense of our Society 

 and of the University of Oxford. Our Fellows will, no doabt, 

 have observed that efforts are being made to have the Ordnance 

 Survey pusheJ on more rapidly than hitherto, as well as to 

 make more generally accessible to the public the results of so 

 much well-directed labour. They will approve, I feel sure, of 

 the Society's assisting these efforts in all legitimate and reason- 

 able ways." 



The President then proceeded to review the exploring work 

 of the year, most of which has already been dealt with in 

 Nature. 



PARKA DECIPIENS.^ 



"PHIS very interesting fossil is derived from various localities 

 in Scotland, all of which are believed to be Lower De- 

 vonian. It was first described in 1831 by Dr. Fleming, an i 

 since then has been noticed on several occasions, and variously 



' " Notes on Specimens from the Collections of Messrs. Graham and Reid " 

 tyi>^c''r^^'".V°'*'*'*°",' ^^^■^- *'-RS.. and D. P. Penhallow, B.Sc'., 

 KR.b.C. Abstract of a paper read before the Royal Society of Canada, 

 Miy 1891. ' 



NO. II 29, VOL. 44] 



regarded as the spawn of Mollusca or Crustaceans, and as of 

 vegetable origin. 



The material upon which the present observations are based 

 was collected by Mr, James Reid 1 and Mr. Walter Graham, 

 both of whom have offered many valuable suggestions as to the 

 probable nature and affinities of the fossil. As found, the 

 Parka decipiens usually consists of oval masses bearing rounded 

 impressions or disk-like bodies of carbonaceous matter. Asso- 

 ciated with these are also stems and linear leave; of two dimen- 

 sions, and a third form having a general resemblance to Pachy- 

 theca, which is found in the same beds, and differing from it in 

 having a more discoid form, and being devoid of structural 

 markings. 



The authors show that the fossil is probably a rhizocarp allied 

 to Pilularia, and that there are at least three forms recognizable, 

 of which one is referred to the species, and the other two to 

 varieties. The views thus stated are based upon differences of 

 size and upon the fact that certain of the disk bodies show spores 

 of two kinds, and in some cases prothalli in various stages of 

 development, all derived from the same sporocarp. 



The paper is illustrated by a plate of figures. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCA TIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Cambridge. — In the list of the Mathematical Tripos (Part 

 II.) Mr. Bennett, of St. John's, the Senior Wrangler, Mr. 

 Crawford, of King's, the fifth Wrangler, and Miss Philippa G. 

 Fawcett, "above the Senior Wrangler," are placed in the first 

 division of the First Class. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



1'A'e. American Meteorological Journal for May contains the 

 following articles :— Cold waves, by Prof. T. Russell. In the 

 report of the Chief Signal Officer for 1889, he expressed the 

 view that the origin of cold waves was due to mixture of upper 

 and lower air causing cooling of the layer next to the ground. 

 On further examination of the subject, in connec;ion with the 

 observations at mountain stations he admits the incorrectness of 

 those views, and states that, while it is essential to connect the 

 low temperature and high pressure in some way, the cooling of 

 the ground by radiation, and of the air by contact and conduc- 

 tion, will not completely explain the cause of cold waves. — How 

 could the Weather Service best promote agriculture ?, by M. W\ 

 Harrington. The American Weather Service has hitherto de- 

 voted itself more particularly to the interests of commerce, while 

 the State Services have had the interests of farmers more dis- 

 tinctly in view. What the farmer wants to know is, where and 

 when a local shower will fall. While the complete solution of 

 this problem may be impossible, the approximate solution lies 

 in the multiplication of local forecasting stations, and in the 

 intelligent use of the indications of the Central Office, combined 

 with the indications which he can himself observe. The author 

 recommends more attention to climatology as distinct from 

 weather changes, and to the relations between plants, soil, and 

 meteorology. — Is the influenza spread by the wind ?, by H. H. 

 Hildebrandssou. This is a translation, by the author, from an 

 article in the Journal of the Medical Society at Upsala, and is, 

 practically, a reply to an article in NATUREof December 19, 1889, 

 where it is stated that the malady is probably spread by the 

 wind. The author shows, by a map and table, the places and 

 dates at which influenza occurred in Sweden, from inquiries of 

 medical men. The result of the research goes to show that the 

 influenza is propagated by infection, that it is conducted from 

 place to place through human circulation, and that the time of 

 incubation is two to three days. The state of the weather 

 seemed to have no influence on the spread of the malady ; in 

 fact, it raged with the same severity in countries possessing very 

 different climates, and during very different weather conditions. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Royal Society, June 4. — " On a Determination of the Mean 



Density of the Earth and the Gravitation Constant by means of 



' Mr. Reid acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. Langlands, the lessee 

 of Myreton quarries, whose kind permission to examine these quarries was 

 S3 freely granted. 



