May i6, 1895] 



NA TURE 



ihat they have left, but which they never regain. The niijjratory 

 individuals proceed hopelessly on to a certain death." Sooner 

 or later all the wanderers meet their death — thousands are 

 drownecl in rivers or fjords, thousan<ls are attacked by HeasLs and 

 birds of prey, and thousands perish from the effects of cold and 

 dam]! ; but the greater number die from the ctTects of a peculiar 

 epidemic which attacks them in the lowlands. It is pointed out 

 by the writer that the wandering instinct developed during 

 migratory years is probably of distinct service to the species in 

 reducing the surplus population. 



THE AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION. 



Y'yKgave.afortnight ago, the presidential address delivered by 

 ' ' the Hon. \. C. Gregory to the Australasian Association for 

 the .Advancement of Science at this year's meeting in Brisbane. 

 Full reports of the proceedings in the different Sections have 

 reached us, from the General Secretary, .Mr. J. Shirley, but limits 

 of space prevents us from printing more than a brief summary of 

 them. 



The public proceedings of the meeting were opened by a 

 popular lecture on "Star Depths," by Mr. II. C. Russell. Mr. 

 Russell traced the growth of knowledge concerning tne distance 

 of the stars, and the .structure of the stell.ir universe, and illus- 

 trated his description by a selection from the excellent photo- 

 graphs of celestial scenery taken at .Sydney (Observatory. 



We give a synopsis of the work of the various sections. 



AsTRO.NOMY, Mathematics, and I'hysics. 



Mr. Alexander M'Aulay, as President of Section A, delivered 

 an address " On Some Popular Misconceptions on the Nature of 

 Mathematical Thought." 



Mr. P. Baracchi, contributed a paper on " the most probable 

 value and error of .\ustralian longitudes, including that of the 

 boundary lines of South Australia with Victoria and New South 

 Wales." Dr. Ralph Copeland sent " Some Notes on the New 

 Royal Observatory, Edinburgh," and Mr. H. C. Russell read a 

 paper "On a Photographic Transit Instrument." 



Chemistry. 



.Mr. [. It. Maiden delivered the presidential address in this 

 Section, entitled, "The Chemistry of the .Australian Indigenous 

 Vegetation." Mr. E. A. Weinberg contributed a paper on the 

 refractory gold ores of (Queensland : their sources and treatment. 

 Prof. .A. I.iversidge, F. K..S., read a paper on " N'anations in 

 amount <jf .Ammonia in Waaler on keeping." He also descriljed 

 the internal structure of some Austr.alian nuggets, of different 

 sizes, which had been closely examined and photographed. The 

 etching was conducted according to the following plan : — A 

 clean section was made and highly polished, and acted upon by 

 chlorine water or bromine water, tincture of iodine or ]30tassiuni 

 cyanide, or sodium chloride mixed with nitric acid. The cry.stals 

 less readily soluble stand up in relief and resemble the well- 

 known figures seen in metallic meteorites when etched. One 

 curious fact observed was that when the nuggets were subjected 

 to heat, bubbles or blebs were formed on the surface, which 

 burst with a sharp report, probably due to water included in the 

 nugget being converted into high-pressure steam. Several 

 beautiful |)holographs showing the crystalline nature of the 

 nuggets were exhibited. Other papers read were: "On the 

 Corrosion of .Aluminium," .and "Contributions to the Biblio- 

 graphy of Gold," by Prof. Liversidge ; " Pharmacy as a .Science 

 and its Future," by Dr. W. Finselbach : " Notes and .Analyses 

 of some of the .-Vrtesian Waters of New .South Wales," by John 

 C. II. Mingaye ; " On the F>onomic Treatment of Gold Ores," 

 bylJeo. II. Irvine: " l,)ueensl,and Native Astringent Medicines," 

 by Dr. Joseph l.auterer : " Portland Cement after Fifty Vears," 

 by W. M. Doherty : "Some Remarks on the Teaching of 

 Elementary Chemistry," by A. J. Sach : ".Analysis of 

 ICucalyptus Gums," by Dr. Wilton I.ove ; "The Ointments of 

 the British Pharmacopceia," by F". W. Simmonds ; " Notes on 

 the Poisonous Constituents of Stephania I lernandiiafolia," 

 by Prof. Edward H. Rennie ; "Preliminary Notes on the 

 Bark of Caris.sa Ovata, A'. Hr. v. Stolonifera, Bail," by H. (i. 

 Smith; "On ;i Method of Shortening certain Chemical 

 Calculations," by W. A. Ilargreaves. 



Geology and .Mi.neralogy. 

 Prof. T. W. Edgeworth David, in his addre.ss to this Section, 

 reviewed briefly some recent geological discoveries of special 

 interest. A paper by Mr. E. F. Pittman, Assoc. R..S.M., 

 "entitled " Notes on the Cretaceous Rocks in the North-western 

 Portion of New South Wales," gave the results of a recent 

 geological journey by him over 1 150 miles of country. The 

 geological examination was made chiefly with the object of 

 determining approximately the area and boundaries of the artesian 

 water formation. 



Among other papers read before this Section were : — ".Anti- 

 clines and Synclines and their Relation to .Mining," by Ernest 

 Lidgey ; "On the Nomenclature of Cry.stals," by Prof. .A. 

 Liversidge, F. R..S. ; "The Development and Progress of 

 Mining and Cieology in t^^'^t^nsland," by William FVyar ; " On 

 the Present State of our Knowledge of the Older Tertiaries of 

 .Southern Australia," by G. B. Pritchard ; "The Antiquity of 

 Man in Victoria," by W. H. Ferguson ; " The Glacial Deposits 

 of Victoria," by G. Ofiicer, L. Balfour, and E. G. Hogg ; 

 " Notes on Tin Mining at Herberton," by John Munday. 



BlOLOI-.Y. 



Prof A. Dendy took for the subject of his presidential address, 

 "The Cryptozoic Fauna of Australa.sia." Mr. F. M. Bailey 

 read a paper on peculiarities of the Phanerogamic Flora of 

 Queensland. The paper chiefly contained descriptions of in- 

 digenous fruits recommended for cultivation. Mr. D. Le Souef 

 furnished a paper on the Tree Kangaroo ( Datdrolagtis Bennet- 

 tiauiis), describing its mode of climbing, its food, and the way 

 it is captured bv the natives. In a pa])er on the eating of earth 

 by the larger Macropodidiv, by J. Douglas Ogilby, evidence was 

 given of the eating of earth by kangaroos in the Bourke district. 

 New .South Wales. This habit does not appear to have been 

 previously recorded, though in the district under notice it plays 

 no unimportant part in the econiJmy of the larger marsupials. 



Dr. M. C. Cook sent a j^aper entitled "Pestiferous Fungi and 

 their Modes of Attack." Dr. Charles Chilton gave a general 

 account of history, occurrence, distribution and habit.s of the 

 blind .\mphi])oda and Isopoda found in the underground waters 

 of the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand. Miss Lodder fur- 

 nished a revised list of the Marine Mollusca of Tasmania. Some 

 plants peculiarto the Burnett Basin were described by James Keys. 

 In a paper entitled " Notes and Observations on the Genus 

 Nephila," W.J. Rainbow dealt with — (I) the localities in which 

 spiders of the genus Nephila abound: (2) the .strength and ela.sticity 

 of their webs, in the sticky meshes of which certain birds of weak 

 wing-power are caught : (3) the question as to whether the Nephiht 

 eat birds thus captured ; (4) the mo<le by which silk may be ob- 

 tained from these spiders by artifical means, and the experiments 

 made by certain naturalists with a view to ascertaining the 

 amount that could be obtained from individuals of this genus in 

 a season, the object of which was to endeavour to ])rove that the 

 product might be used f )r economic purposes. 



Dr. J. Muller.of Geneva, .Switzerland, contributed a jiaper on 

 the Pyrenocarpeoe of the Lichen family. Mr. A. J. Campbell 

 described the nests and eggs of Au.stralian Hawks. Mr. .A. G. 

 Hamilton, in a paper entitled "The Fertilisation of some 

 Australian Plants," gave many of his own observations as to 

 the mode by which fertilisation is effected. Mr. W. M. .Maskell 

 gave a synoptical list <.if the C'occida- reported from .Vustralasia 

 and the Pacific Islands up to Decendier 1894. 



Mrs. W. Martin gave the life-history of the vegelalile growth 

 known as Native Bread (Mylitta Auslralis). .Australian mosses 

 were enumerated by Richard .A. Bitstow, and some notes on 

 the poisonous constituents of Stephania hcniandiufolia were 

 read by E. il. Rennie and \'.. V. Turner. Picrotoxine anil 

 an alkaloid possessing strongly poisonous properties and marked 

 chemical characteristics have Ijeen i.solated from an extract from 

 the plant. 



" I'xonomic Fmlomology " w.as the title of a paper by the 

 Rev. F;. H. Thonq)Son, who poiiiti;d out the great benefit re- 

 .sulting to a country from a properly conducted Government 

 Entomological Department, and urged, in order to increase its 

 usefulness: (i) the formation of a federal entomological de- 

 partment with a head staff and field observers in each of the 

 colonies ; (2) a federal ;igricuUural ami scientific journal for all 

 the colonies, subsidised by all : (3) elementary entomology to 

 be taught in the .State schools, special reference being given l<i 

 the insect pests peculiar lo each district or colony : and (4) the 



NO. 1333, VOL. 52] 



