488 



NATURE 



[September 17, 1891 



ofElb«af-sur-Seine, entitled " Des Troubles dii Cote des agents 

 de la Respiration chez les Fileurs, et de leur Consequences. ' 



After a speech by the President, complimenting the Secre- 

 taries on their work, and a vote of thanks to the President, the 

 meetings of the Section terminated. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Entomological Society, September 2. — Mr. Frederick 

 DuCane-Godman, F.R.S., President, in the chair. — Mr. G. F. 

 Scott-Elliot exhibited a series of various species of Diptera 

 collected on Ranunculacece, Papaveracea, and CrticifercB. He 

 said that during the past summer he had studied about forty 

 species of plants belonging to the orders named, and that they 

 had all been visited by insects which were probably necessary 

 for nectariferous flowers. The majority of the Diptera caught 

 were not confined to one species or even genus, but, in view of 

 the unmodified character of the flower in the orders named, this 

 was only to be expected. Mr. Verrall observed that certain 

 insects affected certain plants, but that the GeraniacecB were 

 seldom visited. The discussion was continued by Mr. McLach- 

 lan, Mr. Kirby, and others. — Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited a 

 specimen of the orthopterous insect Hemisaga hastata, De 

 Sauss., which, in the Transvaal, he observed to attack and feed 

 on Da7iais chiysippus, a butterfly well known from its protective 

 character and distasteful qualities to have a complete immunity 

 from the usual Lepidopteral enemies. The Hemisaga lurked 

 amongst the tops of tall flowering grasses, being consequently 

 disguised by its protective resemblance to the same, and seized 

 the Danais as it settled on the bloom. From close watching 

 and observation, Mr. Distant could discover no other danger to 

 the life of this well-known and highly protected butterfly. — Mr. 

 T. R. Billups exhibited four species of Diptera, which he 

 believed to be respectively Oxycera terniinata, Pipezella 

 annulata, Clidogastra puncticeps, and Oxyphora arnica:, 

 taken at Oxshott, Surrey, on July 11 last. He men- 

 tioned that all of them were recorded in Mr. Verrall's list only 

 as "reputed British." He also exhibited a specimen of 

 Hypoderma bovis, Deg., taken at Plumstead on July 29 last. — 

 Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., exhibitedseveralspeciesof/^3r;fc«/?'c/£?,and 

 called attention to the diverse conditions of the parts representing 

 the wings in the apterous forms. — Mr. H. Goss exhibited living 

 larvae of Scoria dealbata, reared from ova. They were feeding 

 on Polygonum aviculare, but not very freely ; Brachypodium 

 sylvaticum had been named as a food-plant for this species, but 

 he did not find that the larvae would eat this or any other grass. 

 — The Rev. Dr. Walker exhibited, and read notes on, a collec- 

 tion of Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera, 

 and Diptera, which he had recently made in Norway. 



Paris, 



Academy of Sciences, September 7.— M. Duchartre in the 

 chair. — Remarks on the influence that the aberration of light 

 may exercise on spectroscopic observations of solar prominences, 

 by M. Fizeau. Several observers have recently measured re- 

 markably high velocities in solar prominences by the application 

 of the Doppler-Fizeau principle. It is evident that if the matter 

 of which the eruption consists be ejected in the neighbourhood 

 of the ecliptic with a velocity equal to that of the earth in its 

 orbit, the prominence will suffer an apparent displacement of 

 20" '445, in the same manner that a star is displaced by 20" "445 

 owing to the motion of the earth combined with the velocity of 

 light. Aberration should therefore be taken into account in 

 determining the positions and heights attained by the phenomena 

 in question. — On the nuinber of roots common to several simul- 

 taneous equations, by M. Emile Picard.— On the blending of sepa- 

 rate chromatic sensations perceived by each of the two eyes, by 

 M, A. Chauveau. If two colours are simultaneously and separ- 

 ately received on the corresponding points of the two retinas and 

 transmitted respectively to the nervous centres, do they blend 

 together at these centres and give rise to the sensation of the 

 resultant colour? This is the question investigated by the 

 author. And he finds that there is a real blending of the colour 

 perceptions resulting from the independent excitation of each of 

 the two retinas. — On the influence of the products of the culture 



of naphyloccque dori on the vaso-motor nervous system and on 

 the formation of pus, by M. S. Arloing. — Observations of the 

 asteroid discovered by Dr. Palisa on August 30, made at 

 Toulouse Observatory, by M. E. Cosserat. Three observations 

 for position were made on September i and one on September 2. 

 — On the distribution in latitude of the solar phenomena observed 

 at the Royal Observatory of the Roman College during the first 

 half of this year, by M. P. Tacchini. Prominences have been 

 most frequent in the southern solar hemisphere, as was also the 

 case in 1889 and 1890, and the maximum of frequency in tl e 

 zones ± 40°-5o°. The spots and facula; have preserved their 

 preponderance north of the equator, with maxima of frequency 

 in latitudes slightly lower than the prominences. All the 

 phenomena have been rare near the solar equator. — Direct 

 synthesis of primary alcohols, by M. Paul Henry. — On some 

 attempts to reproduce acid rocks, by M. H. Le Chatelier.- On 

 the quantity of starch contained in the tubercles of the radi-h, 

 by M. P. Lesage. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Livinestone and the Exploration of Central Africa : H. H. Johnston (Philip). 

 —My Water Cure : S. Kneipp, translated (Blackwo id).— Monthly Weather 

 Reports of the Meteorological Office, May to December 1887 (Eyre and Spottis- 

 woode).— Hourly Means, 1887 (Eyre and Spottiswoode).— Meteorological 

 Observations at Stations of the Second Order, 1887 (Eyre and Spottiswoode). 

 —Quarterly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, July to December 

 1880, and October to December 1880 (Eyre and Spottiswoode).— Cyclone 

 Tracks in the South Indian Ocean (Eyre and Spottiswoode).--Manufacture 

 of Sulphuric Acid and Alkali ; vol. i. Sulphuric Acid, 2nd edition : Dr. G. 

 Lunge (Gurney and Jackson).— A Hand-book of the Destructive Insects of 

 Victoria, Part i : C. French (Melbourne, Brain).— Notes on Elementary 

 Physiography : H. C. Martin (J. Heywood).— Pel iponnesische Bergfahrten : 

 Dr. A. Philippson (Wien).— An Account of British Flies, Part i : M. C. E. 

 Leigh and F. V. Theobald (E. Stock). —Studies from the Kindergarten, 

 vol. iv., No. I (Laurie) —Carta delle Strade Ferrate Italiane al i° Aprile, 

 i8gi (Roma).— Jahrbuch der k. k. geologischen Reichsanstalt. Jahrg. 1890, xl. 

 Band, 3 and 4 Heft (Williams and Norgate)— Himmel und Erde, .-ept- 

 ember (Berlin, Paetel). — L' Anthropologic, 1891, Tome ii., No. 4 (Paris, 

 Masson). — Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, vol. xiii. Part 2 

 (117 Victoria Street). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Animal Chlorophyll. By Prof, E. Ray Lankester, 



F.R.S 465 



Streatfeild's Practical Organic Chemistry 466 



Telescopic Work 467 



Our Book Shelf:— 



*' Abbildungen zur Deutschen Flora H. Karsten's " . 467 



Aitkin : " Elementary Text-book of Botany " . . . . 467 

 Letters to the Editor :— 



A New Mammal from Sumatra. — Prof. A. A. W, 



Hubrecht 468 



An Oviparous Species of Peripatus.— Arthur Dendy 468 



The Sun's Radiation of Heat.— W. G off 468 



Morley Memorial College. — Miss Emma Cons 



(Hon, Sec.) 469 



American Association for the Advancement of 



Science : Washington Meeting 469 



Rain-making in Texas. By H. F. B 473 



Notes 475 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Linear Arrangement of Stars 478 



Wolf's Periodic Comet 478 



Geology at the British Association 479 



Biology at the British Association 481 



The Congress of Hygiene 484 



Societies and Academies ... 488 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 488 



NO. I 142, VOL. 44] 



