August 13, 1891] 



NATURE 



;59 



Harnack (4730), and nearly nine times as high as that given in 

 Lieberkiihn's formula (161 2). The molecule contains nine 

 atoms of sulphur, of which two are easily separated. Sub- 

 mitted to a temperature of 40°, the solution of albumen changes 

 its properties, and its temperature of freezing is lowered. — On 

 the measurement of density of sea-water, by ViceAdmiral 

 MakarofT. This elaborate work gives the results of measure- 

 ments made on board the corvette Vityaz. The value of 

 various instruments used during the cruise is discussed in de- 

 tail, and the following formula: are given as expressing the 

 results of the observations between the temperatures of 0° and 

 30°. For distilled water, the density is — 



s -0-9998795 



- S/(i -o 00006 1 398/ 4- o 000008c 02 1/'- - o 03000004586/^), 



maximum density at 3°'972. For sea- water, the density of which 

 at 15"^ compared with that of distilled water at 4° is = 1019, 

 the formula is — 



S ^ I '0207769 



-S;(l -(- 0-000022268/ -f- 00000069801/2 - 0-0000000476 !/•'), 



nl^ximum density at- i°-570. For sea- water, the density of which, 

 also at 15', is — I 026, the formula is — 



S^= I -0280936 



= SXl + 0-000050453/ -f 0-0000062833/- - 0-00000003852/^), 



maximum density at -3^-876. The last two formulae gave 

 excellent results for temperatures down to - 5°. A comparison 

 between the figures obtained by the Vityaz and those obtained 

 by the Cliallciigcr proved very satisfactory. Finally, the author 

 gives six most valuable tables of corrections. Tables I. and 



II. contain the corrections to be applied to S for obtaining 



4 



S-. and vice vcrsA, from - 5^ to + 36°, for both distilled 



4 

 and sea- water. Detailed interpolation tables are also given. 

 Table III. contains the corrections due to the coefficient of 

 dilatation of glass of the areometer being not equal to the 

 normal coefficient 0-000028. The three other tables are for 



transferring densities S-^ into densities S— . 

 17-5 4 



Bulletin de la Societe des Naltiralistes de Afoseott, 1890, 

 No. 3. — On the Protopirata centrodon, Trd., by H. Trautschold 

 (in German). The two Ichthyodornlithes from the Carboniferous 

 of North America, described in J. S. Newberry's capital work 

 upon the " PaljEozoic Fishes of North America," Table xxxix. , 

 are very much like ihe Moscow fossils described by the author in 

 the above periodical (1884 and 1886) under the names of 

 Edeclus protopirata, and later on, of Protopirata centrodon. — 

 Geo-botanical notes about the flora of European Russia, by D. 

 I. Litvinoff (in Russian). The common Scotch fir {fimis 

 sylvestris) grows, as known, chiefly on a sandy soil. However, 

 it also appears in the hilly tracts of Europe and Asia, and there 

 it grows upon a rocky soil, chiefly limestone. In the lowlands 

 of Germany and Russia, the appearance of fir upon a rocky 

 ground is extremely rare ; but there are some exceptions to this 

 rule— namely, on the chaliv hills of the Donet*, the Volga 

 mountains, the Middle Russian plateau, and the Silurian lime- 

 stones of the Baltic provinces ; in all those places the fir appears 

 in company with a number of sub-Alpine and Alpine plants 

 which are not met with elsewhere in Ihe Russian plains, and 

 w ith a number of endemic plants very rare in Russia as a whole. 

 The author considers these rocky islands of fir-growths as 

 survivals from the pre-Glacial period. The paper is full of most 

 interesting botanical data and valuable remarks upon the con- 

 nection of the glaciation of Russia with its present flora. — The 

 influence of friction upon the rotatory motion of celestial bodies, 

 by Th. Sloudsky (in French). The auxiliary theorems, upon 

 which the principal theorem relative to the effects of friction is 

 based, are demonstrated, the sun being taken as an illustration. 

 — On the origin of endosperm in the embryo-pouch of certain 

 Gymnosperms, by Miss C. Sokolowa (in French, with three 

 plates). Strassburger's researches have proved the similarity 

 between the formation of endosperm and of multicellular albu- 

 men, and the partition of cells, especially as regards the Angio- 

 sperms. Thasame researches are pursued by Miss Sokolowa as 

 regards the Gymnosperms, attention being paid to the part 

 played by the nucleus in the formation of partition walls. — 



NO. II 37, VOL. 44] 



Contribution to the morphology and classification of the 

 Chlamydomonads, by Prof. Goroschankin (in German, wi tb 

 two plates). — Preliminary note upon inter-glacial layers about 

 Mojcow, by N. Krichtafovitch. 



No. 4. — Traces of an inter-glacial period in Central Russia, by 

 N. Krichtafovitch (in German ; already analyzed in Nature). 

 — Remarks upon the function of the nucleus in cells, by J, Ger- 

 assimoff (in German), being observations upon cells without a 

 nucleus in Spirogyra anA Sirogoniiim. — On the molecular weight 

 of the albumen of the egg, by N. Alexandroff (Russian). — Why 

 the relative masses of the brain decrease in proportion to the in- 

 crease of the weight of the body, in the same type of Verte- 

 brata, by Fernand Lataste (in French). — Tarentiila (Lycosa) 

 opiphex, new species, by W. A. Wagner (French, with a plate). 

 This trap-spider inhabits Middle Russia, and is especially 

 numerous in the fields of Orel. Its thin trap, made of one 

 sheet of web with some mould, is even more ingenious, for 

 its shape, than that of the Ctemiza. 



The Nhovo Giornak Botanico Italiano for July contains two 

 articles of interest to lichenologists : an account of the lichens 

 of Brisbane gathered by Mr. F. M. Bailey, by HerrJ. Mueller ; 

 and contributions to the lichen-flora of Tuscany, by Signor E. 

 Baroni. Signor E. Tanfani has an important paper on the mor- 

 phology and histology of the fruit of the Apiacea; (Umbellifera;), 

 and Prof. C. Massalongo an account of the galls made by Acari 

 on 45 species of tree?, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, as well as 

 of the insects which produce them. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Entomological Society, August 5. — Mr. Frederick Du 

 Cane Godman, F. R. S., President, in the chair. — The President 

 announced the death of Mr. Ferdinand Grut, the Hon. Librarian 

 of the Society, and commented on the valuable services which 

 the deceased gentleman had rendered the Society for many years 

 past. — Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., &\\i\\A\.&dLjapyxsolifugus, from the 

 Eastern Pyrenees, and stated that in his opinion it was a connecting 

 link between the Thysanura and Dermciptera. He also exhibited 

 pupae oi Dytiscus marginalis ; one of these was perfectly deve- 

 loped, wUh the exception that it retained the larval head : this 

 was owing to the larva having received a slight injury to the 

 head. Dr. Sharp also exhibited specimens of Ophoniis piincti- 

 collis and allied species, and said that Thomson's characters of 

 the three Swedish specie.'^, O. ptincticollis, O. hrevicollis, and 

 O. rcctangulns, applied well to our British examples, and separ- 

 ated them in a satisfactory manner. Thomson's nomenclature, 

 however, would, he thought, prove untenable, as the distinguished 

 Swede described our common puncticollis as a new species under 

 the name of rectangulus. — Mr. F. W. Frohawk exhibited a 

 bleached specimen of ^////t7^/^^/f/'a«?>a, having the right fore-wing 

 of a creamy white, blending into pale smoky brown at the base ; 

 also a long and varied series of E. /lyperant/nis, from the New 

 Forest and Dorking. The specimens from the former locality 

 were considerably darker and more strongly marked than those 

 from the chalk. Amongst the specimens was a variety of the 

 female with large lanceolate markings on the under side, taken 

 in the New Forest, and a female from Dorking with large, clearly 

 defined white-pupilled spots on the upper side. Mr. Frohawk 

 further exhibited drawings of varieties of the pupa; o{ E. hypcr- 

 anthus, and also a large specimen of a variety of the female of 

 Euchloc cardaniines, bred from ova obtained in South Cork, 

 with the hind wings of an cchreous-yellow colour. Coloured 

 drawings illustrating the life-history of the specimen in all its 

 stages were also exhibited. — M. Serge Alpheraky communicated 

 a paper entitled " On some cases of Dimorphism and Poly- 

 morphism among Palaarctic Lepidoptera." 



Edinburgh. 



Royal Society, July 15. — Sir Douglas Maclagan, President, 

 in the chair. — The Prince of Monaco gave an account of the 

 new yacht which he has had fitted out for the study of the sea. 

 He also described the investigations which he has conducted 

 since 1886, first in the Bay of Gascony, and then around the 

 Azores and off Newfoundland. The latter investigations ex- 

 tended over three years, and had as their object the investigation 

 of the direction and speed of the surface currents in the Ncrtb 



