OCTOHEK 17, 1895] 



NA TURE 



60= 



i'rol, Hcnsuil (Kiel) i;;t\e a ilcllmri>ll;ttl'Jii im an ai:uustic 



apparatus, ihu result of which was to show that the view of 

 Helniholtz, llial the vowels owe their special quality to over- 

 tones produced in the mouth and adjoining cavities, requires 

 modification ; this, in the author's opinion, is impossible. 



Friday Afternoon. — Presidents, I'rofs. Richet and Cybulsky. 

 Dr. Sherrington (London) gave a demonstration on eye 

 movements. 



Dr. Lanz (Hern) read a paper on the effect of removal of 

 the thyroid, and of thyroid-feeding in normal animals, .^mong 

 many interesting results, the author found that thyroidectomised 

 hens either lost their power of laying eggs, or laid very small 

 and ill-formed ones. On the other hand, hens fed with thyroids 

 (30 grnis. per diem) had their egg-laying power greatly in- 

 creased. In some animals the author found that the adminis- 

 tration of large quantities of thyroid gland caused an arrest of 

 growth. 



Dr. I'hisalix (Paris) showed that the blood of the salamander 

 rendered animals immune to curare. This immunity in the case 

 •of the frog and pigeon lasts several days. 



Prof Mosso (Turin) read a paper on the effect of rarefied air 

 upon man and a[)es. The author's researches on man were made 

 on .Mount Rosa, at a height of 5600 metres. The author showed 

 Ihat at this altitude the respiratory exchange is diminished ; his 

 observations were made under conditions of absolute rest, mostly 

 tluring sleep. In the explanation of these phenomena the author 

 thinks more attention should be paid to the diminution of CO^. 

 He describes them under the name (jf Akaj^nia [Kairvos — smoke). 

 Mosso further described an experiment which he made upon a 

 3iionkey. lie subjected this animal to an atmosphere of pure () 

 at a low pressure ; he observed under these conditions the 

 phenomena of mountain-sickness (/>'tv'^/v'^///*//t7V) even when the 

 pressure of the t) exceeded the partial pressure of this gas in 

 the atmosphere under ordinary circumstances. The author con- 

 cluded that the two main factors which come into play at high 

 altitudes are (i) the diminution of CO, in arterial blood; (2) 

 the physical effect of low pressure on the nervous system. 



1". \V. rr.\.\ICl.IKKE. 



CORKESl'ONUING SOCIETIES OF 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



THE 



1' 



"I IK first meeting of the Conference took place on Thursday, 

 September 12, tlie second on Tuesday, September 17, at 

 the Co-operative Hall, at 3.30 p.m. 



.\t the first meeting, the Corresp(jntling .Societies Committee 

 was represented by .Mr. (',. J. Symons (Chairman), Prof. R. 

 Melilola, Mr. J. lIopkin.son and Mr. T. V. Holmes (Secretary). 

 The Chairman opened the proceedings with an address. 



I )n the conclusion of the address, Mr. T. \'. Holmes made a 

 few remarks with regard to the list of papers read before the 

 various Corres])onding Societies, and appended to the Report of 

 the Corresponding .Societies Committee. He hoped that the 

 Secretaries of the Corresponding Societies, in preparing their 

 lists, would be careful to group papers, which from their titles 

 might belimg lo either of two Sections, with that to which they 

 had most affinity. It was also most desirable that the names of 

 papers sent in should not turn out to be inere ])optdar lectures, 

 but should contain something original. It had s< .netimes 

 hajipened that im wishing lo refer to some paper on the li.st sent 

 in liy some Society, in order to ascertain its true character, it 

 could not be found on their shelves at Burlington llou.se. In 

 fiiture no paper could be placed on the list published by the 

 British .Association unless it w.as on their book-shelves. 



Captain Klwes (Dorset) laid upon the table a paper on the 

 rainfall in the county of Dorset, which had been compiled by a 

 member of the Dorset Natural History and .\ntiquarian Field 

 Club, Mr. Katon. It w-as a most careful piece of work, 

 and was illustrated l>y maps and diagrams. 



Mr. Hoi)kinson .said that about twenty years ago he began to 

 note the rainfall of Hertfordshire with about twenty observers. 

 Last year the record he published contained the monthly returns 

 Irom forty observers. He trusted that delegates would preserve 

 .my early meteorological records they might find. 



Mr. De Ranee remarked that the increasing usefulness of 

 local societies was shown by the fad that two British .Associa- 

 tion Committees had ceased to exist, that on coast erosion, and 

 that on the circulation of undergroimd waters, on account of the 



NO. 1355, VOL. 52] 



admirable \v.i) m wunn uiuu woik ii;tii ucen taken up ijy the 

 local societies. 



His Honour Deemster Cill said that the subject of coast 

 erosion had been taken up by a Committee of the Legislature 

 of the Isle of Man, but their investigations were not yet 

 complete. They had foimd that for some twenty miles on the 

 west, the north-west and the north, there had been a destruction 

 of land of about twenty acres to the mile within the last fifty or 

 sixty years. The meteorology of the Isle of Man was also 

 being well looked after. 



Mr. Sowerbutts asked whether it was desirable that the 

 Manchester Geographical Society should collect the results of 

 observations at their local observatories, and forward them to the 

 -Meteorological Society ; and the Chairman replied in the 

 afiirmative. 



Capt. Llwes hoped that local societies might be induced to 

 co-operate for the discovery of flint implements, and the 

 formulation of the results attained. 



Mr. Osmund W. Jeffs, Secretary to the British Association 

 Committee for the collection and Preservation of geolc^ical 

 Photographs, said that the photographs collected would be 

 placed in the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn .Street, 

 London. The first part of the collection, 800 photographs, had 

 already been placed there. It was proposed to go on collecting, 

 as many parts of the British Isles were (juite unrepresented. 



-Mr. De Ranee thought that it would be a good thing if each 

 society would issue a circular and send it to other local societies, 

 so that it might be known what photographs had been taken in 

 each locality. 



Mr. I. B. Murdoch (Glasgow) thought that in too many of 

 their investigations Scotland was excluded. He mentionetl, as 

 an instance, the British .Association Committee for recording the 

 position, i\:c., of erratic blocks of England, Wales and Ireland. 



Some discussion arose '6n this point, in which Mr. De Ranee, 

 Mr. Sowerbutts and Mr. G. P. Hughes took part. Then the 

 Chairman said that he believed Scotland had been omitted in 

 that instance because the Royal Society of Edinburgh had been 

 working at the .subject before the formation of the British 

 Association Committee. 



Mr. Murdoch replied that it was true that a Boulder Committee 

 had existed in Scotland, but its director, Mr. Milne Holme, was 

 dead, and had been unable to get about the country for some 

 time before his death. The eight yearly reports issued by his 

 ("ommittee were very valuable, but for some time the work had 

 been practically at a standstill. 



The Chairman remarked that in that case it was most desirable 

 that Scotland should be included by the Erratic Blocks 

 Committee. 



Deemster (jill said that the boulders of the Isle of Man were 

 being noted by the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian 

 Society. 



Prof. Meldola moved, and Mr. Hopkinson seconded, a motion 

 in favour of an application to the General Committee for a 

 grant of ^30 to enable the Corresponding Societies Committee 

 to carry on its work. This was carried, and the meeting ended. 



At thesecond meeting, on Tuesday, September 17, the Corre- 

 sponding Societies Committee was represented by Dr. Carson 

 (in the chair). Mr. Hopkins.jn, Mr. Symons, and Mr. T. \'. 

 Holmes (Secretary). 



The Chairman said that it wa.s usual at their second meeting 

 to consiiler the recommendations froin the various Sections 

 respecting work in which it was thought the Corresponding 

 Societies might usefidly co-operate. 



Section A. 



Mr. White W'allis, representing .Section .-\, said that the Com- 

 mittees for investigating earth tremors and seismojogical 

 phenomena in Jaj>an had been merged into one, with the title of 

 " Committee for Seismological Observations." The Committee 

 for the application of photography to meteorology had been 

 reappointed, and so had the I'nderground Temperature Com- 

 mittee. The .Meteorological Photographs Committee was simply 

 desirous to obtain photographs of lightning, rainbows, halos, v\:c. 



The Rev. J. O. Bevan inquired whether the meteorological 

 work fornterly carried on at Stonyhurst by Father Perry was 

 still going on. Mr. Sowerbutts answered that it was, and Mr. 

 White Wallis said that he would note the suggestion that they 

 should communicate with Stonyhurst. He added, in answer lo 

 questions, that instruments for noting earth tremors wejre un- 

 affected by vibrations from passing waimons, trains, &c. 



