4o6 



NATURE 



[February 27, 1896 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London, 



Royal Society, December 12, 1895. — " Impact with a Liquid 

 Surface, studied by means of Instantaneous Photography." By 

 Prof. A. M. Worthington, F R.S., and Mr. R. S. Cole. 



This communication was the first instalment of a review by 

 the aid of instantaneous photography of the ground covered by 

 three previous papers (A'<y/. Soc. Proc, vol. xxv. pp. 261 and 

 498, 1877, and ibid., vol. xxxiv. p. 217, 1882), in which the 

 phenomena that accompany various kinds of splashes are de- 

 scribed. The advance made lies in the unquestionable accuracy 

 and fullness of detail of the information now afforded. 



Chemical Society, February 6.— Mr. A. G. Vernon 

 Harcourt, President, in the chair. — The following papers were 

 read : — The molecular weight and formula of phosphoric anhy- 

 dride and of metaphosphoric acid, by W. A. Tilden and R. E. 

 Barnet. Vapour density determinations of phosphoric anhydride 

 show that it has the molecular composition P4O10 ; metaphos- 

 phoric acid, which partially dissociates into water and the 

 anhydride on heating, is similarly shown to have the formula 

 HgPjOg.— Lead tetracetate and the plumbic salts, by A. 

 Hutchinson and W. Pollard. Lead tetracetate, prepared by 

 dissolving red lead in acetic acid, crystallises in monosym- 

 metric needles. Lead tetraphosphate and tetrapropionate have 

 also been prepared. — An improved method of determining urea 

 by the hypobromite process, by A. H. Allen. The incomplete 

 evolution of nitrogen occurring when hypobromite is added to 

 urea may be avoided by mixing potassium cyanate with the urea 

 solution ; it is also preferable to run the urea and cyanate solu- 

 tion into the hypobromite instead of vice 7'ersd. — Preliminary 

 note on the absorption of moisture by deliquescent 

 salts, by H. W. Hake. The author has determined 

 the amount of water absorbed by exposing deliquescent 

 salts to the air, and finds that in many cases the 

 amount of water taken up points to the formation of a 

 definite hydrate. — Some derivatives of 7-phenoxyethylmalonic 

 acid and of 7-phenoxyethylacetic acid, by W. H. Bentley, E. 

 Ha worth, and W. H. Perkin, jun. — Note on the preparation of 

 glycol, by E. Haworth and W. H. Perkin, jun.— Luteolin, by 

 A. G. Perkin. Luteolin, the yellow colouring matter of Weld 

 {Reseda luteola), has the composition CigHj^Og, combines with 

 mineral acids, and yields tetracidic derivatives ; it seems to be 

 allied to its isomeride fisetin. — An examination of the products 

 obtained by the dry distillation of bran with lime, by W. F. 

 Laycock. On distilling bran with quicklime an aqueous and 

 oily distillate is obtained, which contains ammonia, ketones, 

 ethylic alcohol, pyridines, pyrrolines, furfuranes, hydrocarbons, 

 and an indole. — Constitution of glycocine, by Joji Sakurai. 



Entomological Society, February 5. — Prof. Raphael 

 Meldola, F.R.S., President, in the chair. — The President 

 announced that he had nominated Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., Mr. 

 Roland Trimen, F.R.S., and Mr. Walter F. H. Blandford, 

 Vice-Presidents for the Session 1896-97. — Mr. Waterhouse 

 exhibited pupae and portions of pupae of a silk moth, Anthenia 

 mylitta, selected from some scores of specimens, which he had 

 opened to .see if they showed stages of development agreeing 

 with the examples given by Dr. Spuler. The results appeared 

 to confirm Dr. Spuler's researches ; some specimens showed the 

 tracheae, the median vein having two branches, very rarely 

 emitting a third branch in the direction of the radial. Other 

 specimens had faint indications of the veins and of the discoidal 

 spot of the imago. Even at this very early stage the vein 

 branching from the subcostal vein to unite with the upper radial, 

 and the .short branch uniting the second median vein with the 

 third median were distinctly traceable, no tracheae being yet 

 visible in these branches. Mr. Merrifield, Mr. Hampson, and 

 Dr. Sharp took part in the discussion which ensued. — Mr. E. E. 

 Green remarked that in the Trans. Ent. Soc, 1881, p. 601, 

 there was a short paper by the late Prof. J. O. Westwood, 

 describing a curious little insect from Ceylon under the name of 

 Dyscritina longisetosa. Prof. Westwood believed his typical 

 specimens to be immature. Mr. Green exhibited what he 

 supposed to be a later stage of the same species. He said his 

 example differed in some particulars from Westwood's description 

 and figure — notably in the proportions of the caudal appendages. 

 Prof. Westwood pointed out the affinities of Dyscritina to the 

 Forficulidae. This was very apparent in the specimen under 

 consideration. Putting aside the nature of the caudal appendages 

 the insect was in all particulars an earwig. The present 



NO. 1374, VOL. 53] 



specimen was taken in the Punduloya district of Ceylon, at an 

 elevation of about 4000 feet. Mr. Green said he had more than 

 once seen this insect under loose pieces of bark and in crevices 

 j of rocks, and had always been struck by its likeness to an earwig 

 both in appearance and habits. Mr. McLachlan, F.R.S., Dr. 

 Sharp, Mr. Gahan, Mr. Blandford, and Mr. Hampson made 

 some remarks on the .subject. — Mr. O. E. Janson exhibited a 

 Goliath beetle, from the Upper Congo, which he believed to be 

 the male of Goliathus rtistis, Kolbe, described from a unique 

 female example in the Berlin Museum. — Mr. Blandford called 

 attention to the case of the eye of a boy affected with inflamma- 

 tion caused by the hairs of the larvae of Lasiocampa rubi. The 

 attack recurred after an interval of nineteen weeks, and in 

 several continental cases this recurrence of the attack had been 

 found to take place, and in some cases permanent injury to the 

 eye had followed. Mr. Blandford discussed the various kinds 

 of hairs on several caterpillars, certain species having hairs of 

 t\W5 kinds, one kind being barbed, and thus having the power 

 to work into the skin. He said that the urticating property of 

 the hairs appeared to be mechanical : there was no evidence of 

 any poison glands. Mr. Lawford said he had had some difficulty 

 in discovering hairs in the lid, and he thought that the symptoms 

 in the case in question were not to be explained by mechanical 

 irritation due to the presence of hairs in the tissues. The 

 subject was a new one to him, and he had looked up all the 

 medical literature bearing on it. Lord Walsingham, F. R. S., 

 Mr. Tutt, Prof. Poulton, F.R.S., Canon Fowler, and Mr. 

 J acoby made some remarks on the subject. — Dr. Y. A. Dixey 

 read a paper entitled " On the Relation of Mimetic Patterns to 

 the Original Form." The paper was illustrated by a number ot 

 coloured diagrams. Prof. Poulton expressed his gratification 

 with the paper, and that the Hope Collection under his charge 

 had afforded material for the work. He thought the result of 

 the paper was to give support to the theories of Fritz Miiller 

 rather than to those of Bates. Mr. Blandford, Mr. Tutt, and Prof. 

 Meldola continued the discussion. — Dr. Sharp contributed a 

 paper entitled "The Rhynchophorous Coleoptera of Japan. 

 Part iv." 



Linnean Society, February 6.— Mr. C. B. Clarke, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. — Sir W. H. Flower, K.C.B.,F.R.S., pre- 

 sented to the Society, on behalf of the subscribers, a portrait of Mr. 

 William Carruthers, F.K.S., a former President of the Linnean 

 Society, painted by Mr. J. Hay. At the motion of Mr. J. G. 

 Baker, F.R.S., it was resolved that the portrait be accepted, and 

 that a cordial vote of thanks to the donors be recorded. — Prof 

 C. Stewart exhibited a series of dissections of skulls, illustrating 

 the development of air cavities. The skull of a herring, care- 

 fully dissected to show the relations of the ampullae of the pneu- 

 matocyst to the cranial bones ; of a crocodile, to show those of 

 the extra tympanic cavity and siphonium ; of a rook, to show the 

 limitations and relationships of the vesicular and other strata of 

 the cranial roof ; and of a chinchilla and a Phascolarctus, to 

 illustrate the variations and development of the "bulla" and 

 of its associated structures, were the chief objects shown. Prof. 

 Stewart expressed himself favourable to the belief that the parts 

 mentioned in the herring are functional for acoustic purposes. 

 In this he was supported by Prof. Howes, who referred in 

 detail to the arrangements occurring in Hyodon and Myonoinyrns 

 as substantiating this conclusion. — On behalf of Mr. B. Ci. 

 Cormack, Dr. D. H. Scott gave the substance of a paper on 

 polystelic roots of certain palms. He remarked that with 

 scarcely any exception roots show one normal vascular bundle or 

 stele. The author, utilising material from Ceylon, found that in 

 Areca Ca'echu, Linn., Cocos nucifera, Linn., and a species of 

 Verschaffeltia, the young roots agree with this condition, but on 

 examining older and thicker portions of the same roots, he 

 found many steles present. After discussing the origin of this, 

 the author considered the change to be primary, not secondary, 

 and suggested that these roots might serve as props to the stem. 

 The paper was criticised by Mr. George Murray and Prof 

 Trail, Dr. Scott replying to objections. Mr. R. Morton 

 Middleton then read a paper on a remarkable use of ants in 

 Asia Minor, communicated by Mr. Miltiades Issigonis, of 

 Smyrna. It was stated that the Greek barber-surgeons of the 

 Levant employed a large species of ant for the purpose of hold- 

 ing together the edges of an incised wound. The ant, held with 

 a forceps, opens its mandibles wide, and being then permitted to 

 seize the edges of the cut, which are held together lor the 

 purpose, as soon as a firm grip is obtained the head is severed 

 from the body. Mr. Issigonis had seen natives with wounds in 



