June 7, 1.S94J 



NA TURE 



1 29 



referred by systematists to the Fiw^r/Vte, but Sir William 

 Flower's account of its anatomy, published in 1S69 

 (P.Z.S. 1869, p. 31), has placed its correct systematic 

 position among the Procyonidai beyond question. 



(3) The Grey Coly-strike {Hypocoliits amfielinus). — 

 For their living specimens of this rare and beautiful 

 passerine bird, which will be found lodged in one of the 

 large cages in the parrot-house, the Society are indebted 

 to their excellent correspondent Mr. W. D. Gumming, of 

 Fao, on the Persian Gulf. The coly-strike has obtained 

 itsname, together with its scientific appellation //j'/or^^/zV/j-, 

 from some fancied resemblance to the African colies 

 (Colius), with which, however, it has really nothing to do, 

 though the tints of its plumage exhibit some slight simi- 

 larity to the above-mentioned form. But Hypocolius is a 

 true passerine bird, probably belonging to the caterpillar- 

 hunters (Caiiipophagidic), though this is by no means 

 certain. It was first discovered by the French collector 

 Botta, on the coast of Abyssinia, and described from his 

 specimens by Bonaparte. The German naturalist 

 Heuglin obtained examples of it in 1S50 froin Massowah, 



Fic. 4 — T.csiieiir's Water-'iz.ird. 



in the same district. It wa.; rather a surprise to 

 naturalists when the bird was found to extend far into 

 Central Asia. In March 1875, Mr. Blanford obtained 

 specimens of Hypocolius in Upper Sind which were ascer- 

 tained not to differ from .'\frican examples, and since then 

 Mr. Gumming has, as already mentioned, found it not un- 

 common in the vicinity of Fao, on the Persian Gulf. Our 

 figure, which has been kindly lent to us by the authori- 

 ties of the Zoological Society of London, represents both 

 sexes of this bird during their attempts at nest-making in 

 the Zoological Society's aviary. 



(4) Lesueur's Water-lizard {Physignafhus lesueuri).— 

 Some very strange forms of Agamoid lizards are found 

 in Australia, such as Clilainydosaurtts kingi with its con- 

 spicuous frill, and Moloch liorridiis with its coat of spikes, 

 pronounced by an American writer to be " one of the 

 most repulsive creatures in nature " ! The lizard which 

 we now figure, though belonging to the same family, is, 

 however, rather elegant in shape, and bright in colour. 



NO. 1284, VOL. 50] 



It is a member of the Agamoid genus Physignathus, of 

 which seven species are recognised by Mr. Boulenger in 

 his " Catalogue of Lizards." Of these four are inhabi- 

 tants of Australia, whilst one comes from Timor Lant, 

 and the remaining two are found in Cochin China and 

 Siam. The name is taken from the bladder-like ex- 

 pansion of the lower angle of the jaw, which is very 

 striking in these lizards. 



In habits the /"/y'jv^wrt//^' are said to be aquatic, in- 

 habiting the trees on the margins of rivers, and swimming 

 well with the aid furnished by the wide expansion of 

 the horizontal fringes of scales on the sides of their long 

 stout toes. 



The Zoological Society's specimen of this lizard — so 

 far as is known the first that has reached Europe alive — 

 was received, along with other Australian reptiles, in 

 exchange from the Australian Museum, Sydney. 



NOTES. 



Prof. Roberts Austen has been awarded, by the Societe 

 d'encouragement pour I'indiHlrie Nationale of Paris, a prize of 

 2000 frs. for his recent researches on alloys, and more particu- 

 larly for those which relate to the behaviour of metals and 

 alloys at high temperatures and to iheir mechanical properties 

 as influenced by small quantities of added elements. 



At the last general meeting of the Zoological Society, it was 

 announced by the Council that they had resolved to bestow 

 the silver medal of the Society on Mr. Henry Il.-imilton 

 Johnson, C.P., H.B.M. Commissioner and Consul-General for 

 British Central Af.ica, in acknowledgment of the efforts he had 

 made to increase our knowledge of the zoology of British 

 Central Africa. 



We regret to learn that the -•Vnierican journal Science has 

 been discontinued owing to insufficiency of support. The first 

 number appeared on February 9, 18S3, and though the circula- 

 tion, after fluctuating, has steadily increased during the last two 

 years, the paper has never paid expenses. 



The Salters' Company hav.- recently established in 

 connection with the medical school of Sr. Thomas's 

 Hospital a Research Fellowship in Experimental Phar- 

 macology of the annual value of ^(00. The Fellow 

 elected, who may hold the office for three years, will be 

 required to devote himself to the study of the physiological 

 action of drugs. The Salters' Company have also endowed a 

 similar Research Fellowship in Chemistry in connection with 

 the research laboratory of the Pharmaceutical Society, in order 

 to provide for investigations on the chemical side of 

 pharmacology. 



The Prince Jablonowski Society of Leipzig has just issued 

 the subject for the mathematical competition of 1S97. It is 

 well known that the methods of integrating partial differential 

 equations of the second and higher orders, due to Monge, 

 Ampere, and Darboux, can only be applied to equations which 

 have solutions in common with other equations, which 

 solutions are not entirely dependent upon arbitrary constants. 

 On the other hand, it follows from Lie's investigations of in- 

 finite groups that equations admitting of an infinite group of 

 contact transformations have in general this relation of invo- 

 lution to other equations. The problem proposedby the Sjciety 

 is that of developing the methods of integration indicated, and 

 to illustrate them by the most instructive and completely worked- 

 out examples. The prize offered consists of looa marks (about 

 ;f 50). Full particulars are given in the annual report of the 

 Society, 1894. 



