1 66 



NA TURE 



[June 13, 1895 



C. Horsfall, Mr. J. E. FUmcr (Secrelan- Recreative Evening 

 Schools Association), and other s|x;akers. Excursions will he 

 made to a number of places in the district, and Profs. \V. Ridge- 

 way and T. McKenny Hughes, Mr. J. i;. Marr, Mr. .Scott Elliot, 

 and others, will accomirany the excursions for the purpose of ex- 

 plaining the archaeolog)', geology, and botany of the places 

 visited. 



Mr. C.J- Forth, Mathematical .Master at Bolton Grammar 

 .School, has been appointed Lecturer in Mathematics at the 

 Plymouth Technical ScIkxiIs. 



The textile de|)artment of the Yorkshire College at Leeds h.as 

 just been added to by the o|iening of a nuiscum which is to con- 

 tain a complete collection of woven samples and models of 

 weaving machinerj'. The building has cost the Clothworkers' 

 Comiany £yxa, and they will, to the extent of £\200, 

 defray the cost of equipping the museum. The opening cere- 

 mony was performed by Mr. Sidney Wilson, Master of the 

 Clothworkers, assisted by .Mr. J. E. Home, his senior warden, 

 anil other members and officials. Twenty years ago the Cloth- 

 workers established the textile department of the college at 

 the cost of ;f34,ooo, and they make an annual grant to it 

 of /■2500. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



LONliON. 



Chemical Society, May i6.— Mr. \. G. Vernon Harcourt, 

 President, in the chair. — The following |)a|)ers were read: — 

 Kjeldahl's method for the determination of nitrogen, by U. 

 Dyer. The author describes an exhaustive .series of experiments 

 made with the various modifications of Kjeldahl's ])roccss in 

 order to ascertain their appliculiilily to organic nitrogen com- 

 jxiunds of different ty|>es. — Note on liquation in cry.stalline 

 standard gold, by T. K. Rose. — Preparation of the active lactic 

 acids, and the rotation of their metallic salts in solution, by T. 

 Purdie and J. \V. Walker. The optical activity of the metallic 

 lactates in aqueous solution is in the opposite sense to that of 

 the active acid from which the) are derived ; cryoscopic deter- 

 minations made with the lithium and strontium lactates show 

 that the racemic form is resolved into the two active ones in 

 aqueous solution. — Derivatives of succinyl and phlhalyl dithio- 

 carbimides, by A. E. Dixon and R. l-'.. Doran. On heating suc- 

 cinyl or phthalyl chlorides with lead Ihiocyanate and dry benzene, 

 succinyl or phlhalyl dilhiocarbimide, respectively, is formed ; a 

 number of derivatives of these Iwd substances are described. — 

 The action of nitrous acid on dibromaniiinc, dHjBrlir.NH., = 

 I : 4 : 2, by R. Meldola and E. K. .\ndrews. The authors were 

 unsuccessful in preparing a diazoxide from dibromaniline under 

 the conditions which yield these conqxjunds in the naphthalene 

 series ; in the jiresent case a diMoamido derivative, C„l l3Br.,.N,. 

 N'H.C,ll:,lirj, was obLiined. - .-K new modification of benzilosa- 

 zone, by M. Ingle and II. II. Mann. The unstable o-l)enzilosa7.one, 

 corrcs|)onding to the known fl-iscmieride, is obtained, together 

 with dil)en7.aldiphenylhydrotetrazone by iheactiim t>f iodine on a 

 mixture of benzalphenylhydrazone and stxlium ethoxide. — 

 Affinity of weak liases, by J. Walker and E. A.ston. — .Substitu- 

 tion derivatives of urea and thiourea, by \. E. Dixon. The 

 pro|)erties of a number of subsliluled ureas are described. — Note 

 on some reactions of ammonium salts, by W. R. E. Ilodgkinson 

 and N. E. Hellairs. I'"used ammonium nitrate and sulphate are 

 readily attacked by many metaU with evolution of ammonia ; 

 •ither prfKlucts, such as hydrogen and sulphites, also result in 

 ■certain cases. 



Zoological Society, .May 21.— Lieut. -Colonel H. II. 

 (iinlwin-.Vuslen, K.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — Dr. K. 

 Bowiller .Shar|ie gave an account of the ornithological collection 

 made by Dr. l)onalils<m Smith <hiring his recent ex|)edilion into 

 -Somaliland and (iailaland. The present series contained about 

 500 s|K'cimcns, which were referred to 182 s|H:cies. Of these 

 twelve were cimsidered to lie new to science. — Mr. G. A. 

 Buulenger, K.R..S. , read a .syno|>sis of the genera and species of 

 ajxKlal Uilrarhians, and gave a description of a new genus and 

 species projH«;(l to Ix- called /itif/li>p/iis t'illalus. -\JiK\ii.-Cii\imc\ 

 II. II. (ioflwin-Auslen, l-.K.S., reiil a li.st of the land-niollu.scs 

 of the Andaman and Nicoliar groups of islanils in the Bay i>f 

 Bengal, and gave <lescriptlons of some new species, together 

 with a complete account of the distribution of all the species in 

 the various islands of these two grou|)s, — A communication was 



read from Dr. J. .Anderson, K.R.S., containing the descrijition 

 of a new sjwcies of hedgehog from Somaliland, which he pro- 

 posed to name Eritiaceus silalcri. — .\ communication from Mr. 

 R. Lydekker contained notes on the structure and haliits of the 

 sea-otter [Lala.x liilris). — .\ connnunication was read from Dr. 

 B. C. A. Wintlle containing remarks on .some double malform- 

 ations observed amongst fishes. — Mr. K. E. Beddard, K.R.S., 

 read a paper on the visceral and muscular anatomy of Crypto- 

 proita, dealing chiefly with the brain, alimentary canal, and 

 muscles of this carnivore. 



Geological Society, May 22. — Dr. Henry Woodward, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — On a human skull and limb- 

 bones found in the pahvolithic terrace-gravels at Galley Hill, 

 Kent, by E. T. Newton, K. R. S. .-V human skull with lower 

 jaw and parts of the limb-bones were obtained by Mr. R. 

 Elliott from the high-terrace gravels at Galley Hill, in which 

 numerous pahvolithic implements have been found. The skull 

 is extremely long and narrow, its l»rea<lth-index being about 64, 

 it is hyperdolichocephalic ; it is likewise much depressed, having 

 a height-index of about 67. The small extent of the cranium in 

 both height and width shows that it has undergone little or no 

 post-mortem compression, although it has become somewhat 

 twisted in <lrying. The supraciliar)' ridges are large, the fore- 

 head somewhat receding, the probole prominent, and the occiput 

 flattened bel.iw. .Ml the chief sutures are oliliterate<l. Three 

 lower molars and two premolars are in place and are well worn, 

 the three molars being iis neatly as possible equal in size. The 

 limb-bones indicate an individual about 5 ft. I in. in height. 

 These remains were compared with the fossil human relics which 

 have been found in Britain and on the continent of Europe, as 

 well as with the dolichocephalic races now living, and their 

 relations to the "Spy,"' "River-bed," "Long-barrow," 

 " Eskimo," and other types were pointed out. The gravels, in 

 which these human bones were found, overlie the chalk at a 

 height of about 90 feet al«)ve the Thames, and are about 10 feet 

 thick. They form part of the high-terrace gravels extending 

 from Dartford 1 le.ath to Norlhfleet, and their pahvolithic age is 

 shown by the numerous implements whicli have been foimd in 

 them, as well as by the mammalian remains which have been met 

 with in similar beds near by, although not at Galley Hill. The 

 human bones were seen /;/ situ by Mr. R. Elliott and Mr. 

 Matthew Heys, both of whom speak positively as to the undis- 

 turbed condition of the 8 feet of gravel which overlay the bones 

 when discovered. — Gen ogical notes of a journey rounil the coast 

 of Norw.ay and into Northern Russia, by G. S. Boulger. The 

 author accomiianied the Jacksim-IIarmsworlh Polar Expedition 

 as far as .-Vrchangel, and returned by way of the River Dvina. 

 His observations relate n\ainly to four points : the origin of the 

 foliation of the Norwegian gnei.ss ; the question of raised 

 beaches on the north-western coast of Norway ; the boulders 

 and boulder-formation of Northern Russia ; and the I'ria'- 

 of the Dvina valley. Between Chrisliansund and Tromsii the 

 .^uthor was struck with Ihe wide-sweeping folds of the lolialion- 

 pl.anes of the gneissose rocks, which appeared lohini more reailily 

 explicable on a theory of dynamo-metaniorphism of rocks origin- 

 ally in part igneous, than by any prt)cess of diagenesis. He 

 noted that Ihe terr.aces observed in the transverse fjords would be 

 perfectly explained by the formation of ice-dammed lakes, 

 though the terraces of the Gulf of Onega seemed less dubiou-, 

 raised beaches than those of the north west of Norway. He 

 confirmed the views of previous w rilers that many of Ihe boulders 

 of the boulder-formalion of Norlhiri Rus^ia were of .Scandi- 

 navian origin. The beils on ihe Dvina consist of siinds and 

 loams, often coloured red, with bands of alabaster and aidiydrile. 

 The strata are horizontal or inclined at a low angle. Norlh of 

 Ustyug Veliki the strata are markc 1 .as Permian on the Russian 

 maps, and those to the south as Trias, but Ihe author saw no 

 perceptible break in the .succession. — On some I'oraniinifera of 

 Rh;ttic Age, from Wedmore in .Somerset, by Frederick Chap- 

 man. The author hfs examined six samples of clays and lime- 

 st<mcs collected from a quarry soulh-e.a.sl of the village of 

 Wedmore, which has yielded Megalos:iurian remains. The 

 microscopical details of the various cl.iy-washings were given, 

 and Ihe great abundance of some forms of Ihe acervuline fora- 

 minifer S/di/iria w.as noticed. In a comparison made with Ihe 

 foraminiferal faun.e of the older and younger rocks respectively, 

 the l<ha.lic fauna shows marked aflinilies with bolli the Upper 

 Pal.x-ozoic and the Liassic facies. Twnly-six species of fora- 

 minifera, chiefly of arenaceous t}-]x-s, were described, nine of 

 which are new Itirms. 



NO- J 337. VOL. 52] 



