May 17, 1894] 



NATURE 



71 



measure:, by Herbsrt B jiton. S jwerby in h'n " Mineral C >n- 

 cholo^v" fi^iire^ two fosiiU under ths nim; of GmiaHtes 

 Liiltri, of which ihe left-hand fi,»are U clearly G. LiUiri, whilst 

 the ri;;hi-han 1 on* diflTers co i-iideiably frotn it. The aathir 

 gave diagnoses of Gxiia'ites Lisleri and of a ne* speciei, which 

 agrees with the form represented in S )*erby's right-hand fi^jure. 

 This species is limited to the shales forminsj the roof of the 

 "Bullion" or upp^r foot seam of the lower cjal m;aiure?, 

 whilst G. LisUri xnagti from the lower limestone shales to the 

 " Uitllion" seam. 



Chemical Society, April 19. — Dr. Armstron<j, President, 

 in the chair, — The I'ollowin^ papers were read : — The ma;^netic 

 rotations of fatty acid* containing haloj^ens ; of acetic an<l pro- 

 pionic acid=, phosgene and elhylic carbonate, by \V. II. I'erkin. 

 The molecular association investigated by Ramsay and Shields 

 is apparently without influence on the magnetic rotations of 

 acetic and propionic acids. In a number of cases where two 

 similar atoms or groups of atoms enter a compound by sub- 

 stitution, the change in magnetic rotation cau-ed by the 

 entrance of the first group is different to that caused by the 

 second ; as the President pointed out, Thomson has observed 

 an analogous phenomenon in his thermochemical investigations. 

 —The action of concentrated acids on certain metals when in 

 contact with each other, by G. J. Burch and J. W. Dodgson. 

 The authors are investigating the chemical antl electrical be- 

 haviour of different pairs of metals in contact when placed in 

 the strong mineral acids. Very slow action occurs when apiece 

 of sodium impaled on a strip of platinum, iron, or carbon, is 

 placed in concentrated sulphuric acid ; the sodium of a sodium- 

 carbon couple requires more than eight hours for its solution in 

 sulphuric acid- — The action of light on oxalic acid, by A. 

 Richardson. O.falic acid, exposed to light, is slowly decomposed 

 with formation of hjdrogen peroxide and carbonic anhydride. — 

 English jute fibre, by A. Pears, jun. — Natural oxycelluloses. 

 1. Celluloses of the Graminea, by C. Smith. — Preliminary note 

 on the volatilisation of salts during evaporation, by G. II. 

 Bailey. During the evaporation of salt solutions a considerable 

 amount of the salt is volatilised, although every precaution be 

 taken to guard against mechanical loss. Ciesium chloride solu- 

 tion containing 2S6 grams to the litre lost 18S6 milligrams of 

 salt per litre during evaporation. — Constitution of glycocine and 

 its derivatives, by Joji Sakurai. The author considers that 

 glycocine must be regarded as an internal ammonium salt of the 

 constitution 



CH„— NH3 

 I " I . 



CO — o 



Similar views of the constitutions of hippuric acid, aspartic acid, 

 and asparagine are also expressed. — Note on the constitution of 

 glycocine, by J. Walker. Reasoning by analogy, the evidence 

 afforded b/ the electrical conductivity goes to show that glyco- 

 cine has the ordinarily accepted constitution 



NH„ . CIL . COOH. 



— On the oxidation of the alkali metals, by W. Holt and \V. E. 

 Sims. Potassium, sodium, and probably lithium may be 

 distilled in perfectly dry oxygen without undergoin.; oxidation ; 

 potassium monoxide, K^O, is not formed by the oxidation of 

 the metal in any of the oxides of nitrogen, as is generally sup- 

 posed, and there is no evidence of its existence in the pure 

 state. — The action of iodine and of methyl ijdide on aconitine, 

 by W. R. Dunstan and II. A. D. Jowett. 



Zoological Society, May I. — Dr. A. Giinther, F. R.S., 

 Vice-President, in the chair. — The Secretary read a report on 

 the .additions that had been made to the Society's menagerie 

 during the month of April 1S94, and called special attention to 

 a valuable collection of mammals presented to the S )ciety by 

 Dr. J. Anderson, F.R.S., being part of the proceeds of his 

 recent expedition to Egypt. — Dr. Giinther, K. R.S., exhibited 

 and made remarks on specimens of a South African llornbill 

 (liuceros melanoUiictii) and of a portion of the tree in which the 

 nest was placed, and spoke of its mode of nesting and of its extra- 

 ordinary habits during that season. The specimens had been 

 transmitted to the British Museum by Dr. Scho.iland of 

 Grahamslown. — Dr. II. E. Sauvage exhibited a vertebra of the 

 earliest known Snake from the gault of Portugal. — -Mr. \V. 



NO. I 28 I, VOL. 50] 



Bate.'^on exhibited a large number of specimens of GoniocUm 

 variabilis, a Phytophagous Beetle from Spain, in illustration of 

 discontinuous variation in colour. — Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell gave 

 an account of the Echinoderms collected during the voyage of 

 H.M.S. Penguin and by H.M.S. E^eria, when surveying 

 Macclesfield IJank. The collection, which had been made by 

 Mr. P. \V. Bissett Smith, with the co-operation of Mr. J. J. 

 Walker, was very extensive, and contained examples of many 

 new species, some of which were of a very remarkable character. 

 — Mr. Ernest W. Holt gave an account of some of the results of 

 his recent studies in teleostean morphology made at the Marine 

 Laboratory at Cleethorpe. Mr. Holt spoke first of some speci- 

 mens of the M\\\ie\!M^e(A/jlvaabyssorum, Nilsson). The regular 

 occurrence of this fish oft" ihe Faroe Islands and its occasional 

 capture on the coast of Iceland were now recorded for the first 

 time, the species hwing been previously observed only on the 

 Scandinavian coasts. The specimens, six in number, all of 

 considerable size, were described in detail, and the species was 

 carefully compared with theallied form M. vulgaris (theCommon 

 Ling). Mr. Holt next proceeded to describe the " ncessus 

 orbitalis," an accessory vi-ual organ of the Pleuronectid Fishes. 

 The organ in question was slated to be a highly elastic saccular 

 process of the membranous wall of the orbital cavity. It had 

 been found to occur in all the flat-fishes examined, viz., the 

 Halibut, Long Rough Dab, BrjU, Plaice, Flounler, Lemon- 

 Sole, Dab, and Common Sole, and was believed "o ocur in all 

 flatfishes with well-developed eyes. Finally, .Mr. Hjlt spoke 

 of an adult specimen of the Common Sole with symuetrical 

 eyes, and discussed the bearing of this specimen on ambicolor- 

 atioD. The specimen in question, about fifteen inches long, 

 was perfectly normal in external configuration, except that 

 the left eye had retained its position on the left side of the head, 

 and was neaily opposite to the right eye. Anteroventrally it 

 had been somewhat overgrown by the skin. The coloration was 

 normal, the right side being brown and the left side white. — .V 

 communication was read fro 11 Mr. St. George Littledale, con- 

 taining field-notes on the Wild Camel of Lob Nor, as observed 

 during his recent journey across Central .-Vsia.^Mr. Oldfield 

 Thomas gave an account ofacoUeciionof mammils from Oman, 

 S.E. Arabia, which had been transmitted tothe British Museum 

 by Dr. A. .S. G. Jayakar, among which were examples of a new 

 Hare (Lepus onianensis) and of a new Goat of the genus 

 Ihmitragus, proposed to be called yj/j/iaW, after its discoverer. 

 Altogether seventeen species were represented in this collection, 

 from a locality of which very little was previously known. 



Linnean Society, May 3. — Prof. Stewart, President, in the 

 chair. — Dr. Johann Mueller, of Aargan, and Prof. K. Mitsickuri, 

 of the University of Tokio, were elected foreign members of 

 the Society. — Prof. Poulton exhibited the larva; of certain 

 Lepidoptera to illustrate the results of experiments which he 

 had made in regard to the influence of environment up^n their 

 colours. Variously coloured twigs and shoots, such as occur in 

 nature, were shown to influence the appearance of many twig- 

 Uke larv;e in such a manner as to aid their concealment. — Prof. 

 G. B. Howes exhibited and made remarks upon the eggs and 

 young of Ceraloiius Fosteri, received from Prof. Semon, of Jena, 

 who is engaged in working out the development of this fish. — 

 Mr. James Saunders, of Luton, with the aid of the oxyhydrogen 

 lantern, exhibited plasmodium in the act of forming sporangia; 

 the species, which had been foand on birch, was Di.lymitiin 

 squamulosum. — On behalf of Dr. II. B. Guppy, the Secretary 

 read a paper on the habits of three species ol Ltinna. In this 

 paper, the author detailed the results of experiments made by 

 him during a period ol twenty months, and showed that Ltmna 

 gibba can pass the winter cither in the gibbous form or with 

 Ironds which in appearance resemble those of Lemna 

 minor. The flowering of Lemna gibba was observed in July, 

 when it was found that the gibbous plants were producing their 

 flat fronds, which were also in flower, and floating deiached. 

 In both cases the flowers were hermaphrodite, but they h.ad the 

 appearance of being unisexual, on account of the flowers of the 

 gibbous plants protruding only the pistil, while those of the flat 

 fronds only evolved the stamen«. After describing the habits 

 of the winter fronds of Lemna potyrhiza, and alluvlingto Lemna 

 minor, the paper concluded with a lableof temperatures relating 

 to the germinating, budding, and lljwering of these plants. — 

 A paper was then read on the fertilisation of certain .Malayan 

 orchids, by Mr. H. N. Ridley. 



