3S4 



y\V7 TURE 



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169: 



variation of habit, ami its ways of life consequently tended to 

 become stereot)-ped ujwn its mental system, and so transmitted 

 from generation to generation. As the mental nature of the 

 animal grew more complex, instincts became more rare, because 

 the animal exercised more choice in its actions. The fact that 

 the ner^•ous system of the Invertebrata was materially different 

 from that of the \ertcbrata, H-as full of significance in this con- 

 nection. Amongst true instincts he would class such acts of 

 protective mimicry as those iierformed by the l'hasmid;v ; al- 

 though their alleged practice of shamming death might possibly be 

 constitutional letharg)', which had misled observers. The fear 

 which young animals, including children, usually manifested 

 towards what was really dangerous to them, might also be classed 

 amongst true instincts ; although recent experiments by Prof. 

 Lloyd Morgan proved that the fear was not universal. Mr. 

 Pumell next discussed S|«lding's ex|)eriments with newly-lxirn 

 chickens, ducks, pigs, A:c. , « hich went to show that the young 

 of these anim.als were capable of |>crforming many acts, ap- 

 parently intelligent, without instruction. It must be borne in 

 mind that the young fowl, duck, or pig came into the world 

 with its intelligence pretty fully develo|)ed, although it grew 

 wiser as it grew older, and all the acts mentioned by Siialding 

 were intelligent acts, not acts performed in an unvarying fashion, 

 but acts varying with surrounding circumstances, lie therefore 

 concluded th.it these acts could not he attributed to instinct, but 

 were directed by intelligence. What he had denominale<l " tnie 

 instinc's" suggested an analogy with reflex actions, but the 

 analogy was fallacious. Singleness was of the very essence of a 

 reflex action. The action might Ik' complex in its manifest.ition, 

 but it was essentially one act. of which active consciousness and 

 reflex action were contradictory terms. A true instinct com- 

 monly involved a sequence of acts, directed towards a definite 

 end, while the acts were consciously |x;rformed. 



Xew SofTit Wales. 



Linnean Society, June 26.— Prof. T. W. K. Uavid, Vice- 

 President, in the chair. — (a) Notes on the Omeo Blacks : [h) on 

 the Monaro Blacks, with a description of some of their stone 

 implements : (<■) a native burial-place, near Cobbin, Monaro, by 

 k. Helms. — Descriptions of some new Araneidi! of New South 

 Wales (No. 5), l>y W. f. Rainbow. Three new species of orb- 

 weavers of the genus Xephila from Xew |-".ngland ami Sydney 

 were descriljcd. The fact w.is recorded of a )oung bird 

 (prolalily EilrilJa tniiporaiis) having been caught in a web 

 of X. Tfiilricosa m the vicinity of Sydney; also that Mr. A. 

 J. Thorpe, of the Australian Museum, had seen an emu 

 wren [Slipiliinis iiia/iuhiinis) entangled in the web of 

 one of the AV/>/;/7.r at Madden's, near Belle Plains (N..S.W.); 

 ilso at Cape \'ork, several of the blue warblers, notably 

 Ma/iinu hrncnii (\ig. et Mors.) and .1/. aiimhilis l(!ould). 

 It was pointed out that it is only young birds and those 

 if weak wing-|xjwer that are arrested by such webs ; and 

 doubt was expressed as to the correctness of the assertion of 

 some writers that birds so caught are devoured by the spiders. 

 The author also |x>inted out that each web is placed in p<isition 

 by the unerring instincts of the spider, simply because the 

 situation is such a.s will a.ssure abundance of food in the shape 

 "f in>ccts, and that it is merely an .accident when a bird liecomes 

 entangled in the tr>il. The paiier concluded with a description 

 iif the mode of coition in the ^Vc/////..-, and a list of the previously 

 de»crilx;d Australian .s|>ecics of the genus. — On the methods of 

 fertilisation in the Goateiiiaceic (part ii.), by Alex. (1. Hamilton. 

 ICIeven s[)ecies of Daiiif'ifra were treated. (Jf these four are 

 usually cross-ferlilLsed by the aid of insects, but in the remaining 

 seven while crossfertilsation is pos.sible by insect aid, yet self- 

 fertilisation must occur more commonly. On a new fossil 

 mammal allie<l to llypsifiryiiiniis, but resembling ill some |X>inls 

 the Pia^iaiiiiUi'diff by Koljert Bro<jni. The remains described 

 under the name of Hiitraniys pan'iis arc those of a small 

 .[•ial not larger than an ordinary mouse. The form is 

 :iy interesting in having but three true molars in each jaw ; 



-•■ ' ■■' ■ <-'\ premolar with serrate edge \'ery similar 



! ' L'lie genus Niopla^^iaiita.x. lis aOinities 

 ■ length, anil an endeavour was iiiiide to 

 trace its reialionship phylogcnetically. -On some new or hitherto 

 little-known land shells from New Guinea or adj.icent islands, 

 by C K. .\nccy. Three new Papuan s|x;clcs, viz. Hiiiiiplfila 

 xratn'iyrat Papitina tiiomeitsis^ and Ptipina ttetithinei^ were 

 dcscrilied, and rither known land shells from (Icrman New 

 4iuinea were discussed. -Plants of N,;w South Wales illustrated. 



Nu. viii. A<a^ ia iaiiigera, A. Cunn. , by R. T. Baker. This is by no 

 means a rare plant in New South Wales, and yet of the several 

 descriptions that have been published from time to time, not one 

 is sufficient in detail to accurately determine the species ; in the 

 specimens described in the I'lora Australiensis the pod was 

 incorrectly matched. The author gave the results of an 

 examination of perfect material from many localities, and his 

 jKiijer should prove of assistance in the future in the elucida- 

 tion of cognate species which at present are not ea.sy of deter- 

 mination. — Description of a new sjwcies of Acacia from New 

 South Wales, by J. H. Maiden and R. T. Baker. 



(uiTTINCEN. 



Royal Society of Sciences. — The Nachrichleii , Part 2 for 

 1S95, contains the following memoirs of scientific interest : — • 



Feliruary 9. — W. \ oigt : Some applications of the thermo- 

 dynamic potential. I'ranz Meyer: On the structure of dis- 

 criminants and resultants of binary forms (second note). 



February 23. — Ii. Ritter : On the representation of groups of 

 functions by means of one base. 



March 9. — J. Orth : On mucous tissue and my.xomata, with 

 special reference to the hydatidiform mole. 



March 23. — .\. von Koenen : On the relation of river-\-alley< 

 to erosion and to the depisit of diluvial and alluvial formations. 

 O. Mii.;ge: On the plasticity of ice crystals. 



May ri. — O. Wallach : Researches from the University La- 

 boratory of Giittingen. (i) On a method of preparing ketones ; 

 (2) on deri\'atives of piperonal (heliotropin) : (3) the oxidation- 

 products of terpinol : (4) the reduction-products of carbon. 

 R. Dedekind : On an extension of the symbol (it, b) in the 

 theory of moduli. K. Netto : ( )n the structure of the resultants 

 of binary forms. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLET, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Bi'i>K>.- Traill de Mccaniniii; Clt^iK^ralc : H. Rcsal. I>cu\. Kdtii. Tome i 

 and 2 (Paris, (lauihier-Vill.-irs). — I.'Arithni<ititiue Amusante : K. Luca^ 

 (Pari>, llaii(hier-\'i!lars).— Traiid DAriilmi^tiquc : C. A. I^isant ei K. 

 Lemoine (Paris, Gauthicr-Villars).— Philip's Handy- Votiimc Atlas of the 

 World : E. G. Ravetiritein (Philip). — Philip"?i Sysiemaiic Ailxs, School 

 Edition: E. G. Ravenstcin (Philip).--A Glossary of Greek Birds: Prof. 

 H. VV. Thompson (.Oxford, Clarendon Press). — Dcscrirtlve CataloKuc of the 

 Spiders of Burma preserved in the British Museum : T. Thorcll (London). 

 Pami-hlet.— Bahy Buds: E. Eihelmer (ConKleton, Mrs. W. Elmy). ■ 

 Serials. — Engineering Maga2ine, August (Tucker). —Journal of the 

 .\iuhropological Institute, .Xugust (K. Paul).— Strand Magazine, August 

 (Newncs). — Himmcl und Erde, August (Berlin, P.-\cicl). — Sitzungsherichte 

 der Physikalisch-Medicintschen Societia In Erlangcn, 36 Heft. 1894 

 (ErlangenV— Journal of the Franklin Institute. August (Philadelphia).— 

 American Journal of Science, August (New Haven).— American Natutalisi, 

 August (Philadelphia). 



CONTENTS. PAGK 



The History of Evolution. By E. B. P 361 



The Elements of Architecture . 363 



'•Parturiunt Monies" 364 



Our Book Shelf:— 



" Low's Chemical Lecture Charts." G. S. N. . . . 3(15 



Mollcr: " Brasilische Pil/blumen." D. H. S. . . . 365 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



TIk- I'liivcrsilvnf L.m.loii. W.T. Thiselton-Dyer, 



C.M.G., F.R.S 360 



Note on (Quaternions. -Shunkichi Kimura .... 366 

 To Kind the I'ocal Length of a Convex Mirror.-- 



Edwin Budden 366 



Oceanic- Man.U. F. W. Headley 366 



Micrographic Analysis, y/llinlralcj.) I'.v Prof W. C. 



Roberts-Austen, C.B., F.R.S. . ' . . 367 

 The Scientific Results of the Annual Meeting of 



the British Medical Association ..... 369 



The Ipswich Meeting of the British Association . . 370 



Baillon, Babington, Eaton. By W. B. H 371 



Notes 37* 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Tlic Kuuiiicin cif Xlmus 374 



riu- ( llisrrvalciry o( \ale 1 niversity 375 



Th<- Nrlml.i N.O C. 2438 375 



The Voyage of the Aiilarclic to Victoria Land. By 



C. E. Borchgrevink 375 



Weather Fallacies. By Richard Inwards 377 



University and Educational Intelligence 3S1 



Scientific Serials 3**^ 



Societies and Academies .582 



Books, Pamphlet, and Serials Received 384 



.VO. 1346. VOL. 52] 



