July i6, 1891] 



NATURE 



263 



p. spiniger, and thus to set the ball of evolution rolling afresh ? 

 or is it that the present rough copy of spiniger's spines is found 

 sufficient to deceive? The bug has also been found in the 

 Nilgherries. Mr. Rothney remarks on the above species : — ' I 

 have not found the species mimicking Mutilla ; but in Calcutta 

 and Barrackpore, where P. spiniger is a tree ant, forming its 

 net by spinning together the twigs of a shrub, the mimicking 

 bug also assumes arboreal habits, and may be found on the 

 trunks of trees with the ants.'"^ — Mr. Porritt exhibited living 

 specimens of Eupithecia extensaria and Geometra smaragdaria : 

 the position assumed by the former proved conclusively that it 

 had rightly been placed in the genus Eupithecia. — Mr. Crowley 

 exhibited two specimens of a Papilio from the Khasia Hills, 

 belonging to an undescribed species allied to P. papone, sub- 

 generic section Chiladcs. Colonel Swinhoe remarked that he 

 possessed a specimen from Northern Burmah. Mr. Moore and 

 others took part in the discussion which followed. — Mr. Dallas 

 Beeching exhibited a specimen of Plusia nioneta, recently taken 

 by himself at High Woods, Tonbridge, and specimens of 

 Gonepteryx cleofatra, lent him for exhibition, which were alleged 

 to have come from the same locality. — Dr. Algernon Chapman 

 exhibited the larva of Mio-opteryx calthella, and read notes on 

 hem. — Colonel Swinhoe read a paper entitled " On New Species 

 of Heterocera from the Khasia Hills." — Mr. Crowley read a 

 paper entitled "On a New Species of Prothoe." — Mr. C. J. 

 Gahan read a paper entitled "On the South American species 

 of Diabrotica, Part 2," being a continuation of Dr. Baly's paper 

 on the same genus published in the Society's Transactions for 

 1S90, Part I. — Mr. W. F. Kirby communicated a paper entitled 

 " Notes on the Orthopterous family Mecopodida." — Prof. West- 

 wood communicated a paper entitled "Notes on Siphonophora 

 artocarpi." 



Edinburgh. 

 Royal Society, June 15. — Mr. T. B. Sprague in the chair. — 

 Dr. Johnson Symington and Dr. H. A. Thomson communicated 

 a paper on a case of defective endochondral ossification in a 

 human foetus. — Dr. J. Berry Haycraft read a paper on the 

 alkaline and acid salts of the blood and urine, and especially 

 those of phosphoric acid. — Dr. J. M. Macfarlane presented the 

 second part of a paper on the structure, division, and history 

 of vegetable and animal cells, in which he stated that as a 

 result of extended observation he still adhered to the view that 

 a typical cell consists of protoplasm, nucleus, nucleolus, and 

 endonucleolus, the whole usually surrounded by a cell wall ; 

 that the nucleolus is the important part equally in division and 

 in sexual union of cells; that after division had ceased, successive 

 fragmentation of endonucleolus, nucleolus, and nucleus occurred, 

 though to a varying degree in different cells ; that thus a multi- 

 endonucleolar was followed by a multinucleolar, and this by a 

 multinuclear state. He regarded the nucleolus of every cell as 

 the sexual centre directly derived from union of the chromatic 

 substance of the male and female pronuclei of the ovum, and 

 that from the nucleolus extremely fine radiating threads of 

 chromatic substance passed out along the achromatic fibrils, 

 which last he viewed as a finely differentiated reticulum of the 

 ground protoplasm. By union of the radiating chromatic 

 threads, the author considered that the nuclear membrane 

 was formed, while continuations radiated outwards from this 

 through the cell-protoplasm to convey stimuli to and from the 

 sex-centre or nucleolus. He further stated that many facts and 

 direct observations made tended to show that the radiating 

 threads from the nucleus, and ultimately therefore from the 

 nucleolus, of one cell are connected with corresponding 

 ones from other cells, and this, if fully verified, would 

 cause us to regard an organism as a sexual whole, and the male 

 and female reproductive cells as being specially set aside to hand 

 down hereditary and acquired conditions. He showed that this 

 had a special bearing on the next communication submitted — a 

 comparison of the minute structure of plant hybrids with that 

 of their parents, and its bearing on biological problems. At a 

 previous meeting of the Society (May 4) he directly demon- 

 strated, by three parallel lantern exhibitions of micro-photo- 

 graphs, that the tissues of root, stem, leaf, and flower parts in 

 the hybrid named by Dr. Masters Philageria Veitchii, are exactly 

 intermediate, when of corresponding age, between those of the 

 parents ; and further, that when a structure is developed in one 

 parent, but is absent in the other — e.g. the sepal honey gland 

 of Lapageria — the hybrid shows it of half the size. He now 

 referred to eleven other hybrids whose tissues he had worked 

 over in detail, and selected points from about sixty others, 



NO. I 133, VOL. 44] 



examined more or less minutely. By triplets of micro-photo- 

 graphs the author not only demonstrated that a hybrid is, to its 

 minutest details, a blended reproduction of both parents, but 

 that where the parents show diverse morphological details, 

 these may be handed down to the hybrid of half the size, or one 

 only may be inherited. He advanced a theory to explain this, 

 and then compared the tissues of Cytisus Adami (see also Gard. 

 Chron., July 1890, p. 94), which he regarded as a true graft 

 hybrid. He concluded by referring to the colour, flowering 

 period, and constitutional vigour of plant hybrids, and to the 

 light shed by these inquiries on the effects of environment, on 

 the influence of sex, and on heredity. — Prof. Tait communicated 

 paper, by Prof. Stokes, on an optical proof of the existence of 

 suspended matter in flames. The method consists in con- 

 densing sunlight on the flame. The light is scattered by the 

 solid particles in an extremely thin layer both where the beam 

 enters the flame and where it leaves it. It is polarized in the 

 plane of reflection. The effect is not found in some flames — 

 such as a Bunsen flame tinged with burning sodium. In the 

 latter case this seems to be due to the fact that the sodium is in 

 the form of vapour — not of solid particles. 



Sydney. 

 Royal Society of New South 'Wales, May 6. — Annua 

 Meeting. — Dr. A. Leibius, President, in the chair. — The Report 

 stated that 25 new members had been elected during the year, 

 and the total number on the roll on April 30 was 457. During 

 the year the Society held eight meetings, at which the following 

 papers were read :— Presidential address, by Prof. Liversidge, 

 P\R.S. — On a compressed-air flying machine, by L. Hargrave. 

 — On the treatment of slips on the Illawarra Railway at Stanwell 

 Park, by W. Shellshear. — On native names of some of the runs, 

 &c., in the Lachlan district, by F. B. W. Woolrych. — Remarks 

 on a new plant rich in tannin, by Charles Moore. — Record of 

 hitherto undescribed plants from Arnheim's Land, by Baron 

 Ferd. von Mueller, F.R.S. — The theory of the repetition of 

 angular measures with theodolites, by G. H. Knibbs. — On some 

 photographs of the Milky Way recently taken at Sydney Ob- 

 servatory, by H. C. Russell, F.R.S. — Australian aborigines : 

 varieties of food and methods of obtaining it, by W. T. Wyndham. 

 — On the application of the results of testing Australian timbers 

 to the design and construction of timber structures, by Prof. 

 Warren. — Geological notes on the Barrier Ranges silver-field, 

 by C. W. Marsh. — Some folk-songs and myths from Samoa, by 

 the Rev. T. Powell and Rev. G. Pratt, with an introduction and 

 notes by Dr. John Fraser. — The coal-fields of New South 

 Wales and their associated eruptive rocks, by T. W. E. David. 

 — Some remarks on the Australian languages, by Dr. John 

 Fraser. — On the 74-ounce compressed-air flying machine, by L, 

 Hargrave. — The Medical Section held seven meetings, at which 

 nine papers were read ; the Microscopical Section held seven 

 meetings, at which interesting exhibits were shown. — The Clarke 

 Medal for the year 1891 had been awarded to Prof F. W. 

 Hutton, Canterbury College, Christ Church, New Zealand. — The 

 Council had issued the following list of subjects with the offer of 

 the Society's bronze medal and a prize of £,2Z, for each of the 

 best researches if of sufficient merit :— (To be sent in not later 

 than May I, 1892) Oa the iron-ore deposits of New South 

 Wales ; on the effect which settlement in Australia has produced 

 upon indigenous vegetation, especially the depasturing of sheep 

 and cattle ; on the coals and coal measures of Australasia. (To 

 be sent in not later than May I, 1893) Upon the weapons, 

 utensils, and manufactures of the aborigines of Australia and 

 Tasmania ; on the effect of the Australian climate upon the 

 physical development of the Australian-born population ; on the 

 injuries occasioned by insect pests upon introduced trees. — A most 

 successful conversazione had been held in the Great Hall of the 

 University on December 10, at which 800 guests were present. 

 —The Chairman read the Presidential Address, and the officers 

 and Council were elected for the ensuing year, Mr. H. C. 

 Russell, F.R.S., Government Astronomer, being President. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, July 6. — M. Duchartre in the chair. 

 — On the lunar inequality of long period due to the action of 

 Venus, and depending upon the argument / -I- 16/' - 8/", by M. 

 F. Tisserand. According to Delaunay, in calculations of this 

 inequality it is possible to neglect powers of the inclination of 

 the orbit of Venus higher than the second. M. Tisserand shows, 

 however, that terms which contain the fourth power of the 



