288 



NA TURE 



[July 19, 1894 



faToarable state of the arrangements for an expedition to one of 

 the South Sea atolls, to realise the suggestion of Darwin to bore 

 and bring up a core, and thus probably settle the question of 

 the origin of the atoll, he announced that, acting on behalf of 

 the Committee of the British Association, he hal secured the 

 loan of a diamond drill from the Government of New South 

 Wales. He also spoke of the artesian water supply of the 

 colony in reference to the probable limits of its supply, and 

 favoured the naming after Darwin of some olace in the Blue 

 Mountains associated with Darwin's visit. He then reviewed 

 certain questions of present importance in the colony, such as 

 the disposal of sewage, the characters of sewer-air, and the back- 

 ward condition of sanitary legi<lation in the colony, &c. The 

 Society is maintaining its position very well, in spite of the 

 present extremely adverse' circumstances of the colonies. The 

 officers and council were elected for the ensuing year, Prof. R. 

 Threlfall being President. 



Linnean Society, May 30. — Prof. David, President, in 

 the chair. — Notes on the methods of fertilisation of the Goode- 

 niact.T, by Alex. G. Hamilton. Three species of Sctrvo/a. one 

 o{ Selliera, and one of Brunonia were dealt with. The writer 

 concluded that although there is an elaborate contrivance in the 

 lirst four for securing cross-fertilisation by the aid of insects — 

 which was described in detail — yet, if that fails, self-fertili<ation 

 occurs. Brunonia was said to be anomalous in its methods. 

 The process of fertilisation in the three allied orders — Lobe- 

 liacttz, GoodeniacetT, and CampanulacuT — was contrasted, and 

 it was shown that the same end is secured by widely diflferent 

 adaptations of the same organs. — On three highly ornate 

 boomerangs from the Bulloo River, N.S. W., by R. Eiheridge, 

 junr. — Note on the tertiary fossils from Hall Sound, New 

 Guinea, by Prof. Ralph Tate. The author's observations were 

 based on an examination of the specimens in the Macleay 

 Museum, obtained during the voyage of the Chcvcrt. These 

 were reported on by the late Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods 

 (P.L.S., N.S.W. 1878, ii. (2), pp. 125 and 267), who referred 

 them "to a very recent tertiary formation, much newer than 

 any of the Murray River or Western Victorian beds." The 

 author concurred in this view, but pressed for a more recent 

 origin than that implied by Tenison- Woods — even Pleistocene. 

 Some critical observations on the specific determination of the 

 specimens were given — a matter of some difficulty in most cases 

 by reason of their imperfect condition. — On the morpholouv of 

 the muscles of the shoulder-girdle in monotremes, l>y W. J. 

 Stewart McKay. The author has found a clavicular deltoid 

 present in both Echidna and Ornithorhynchns ; also a pectoralis 

 quartus, teres minor and subclavius. The teres major is single 

 in both forms ; the sub-scapularis of great extent. Much 

 attention has been given to the nervous system, and elaborate 

 dissections have been made to trace out " the latent cutaneous 

 nerve of the thorax " (Patterson) and its communication with 

 the intercostal nerves. — Description of anew Australian snake 

 by I. Douglas f)gilby. The habitat of the new species (Hoflo- 

 ctphalus tvaitii), which differs mainly from //. pillidiceps, 

 Giinth., in having 21 scries of scales round the body instead of 

 only 15, appears to be the central district of N. S.W., whereas 

 //. paltidiceps is a North Queensland form.— Fishes new or rare 

 on the Australian coasts. By Edgar R. Waite. The fishes 

 dealt with were from Maronhra, N..S.W., and arc either new 

 to Australia or of exceedingly rare occurrence, and with two 

 exceptions obtained for the first time on the coasts of this 

 colony. The species mentioned are : — Diites argenUus, Ben- 

 nett, Afanlhuriit trioslcgm, Linn., Pienis •vhilelfggii, sp. nov., 

 Nomttii gronovii, Gmel., SchtJophilu! maciilalus, Giinth., 

 Glyphidodon br<nvnrii;gii, Bennett, SoUnopiathui hardwiikii. 

 Gray, S. ipinosissimm, Giinth., Afonatanthui fiticauda, Giinth., 

 M. nitent, Mollard, and Lepixephaliis. The author expressed 

 the opinion that Sa/enoQnat/iui fascialus, Giinth., is not 

 •pecifically distinct from S. spitio:issimni. — Description of a 

 new mile belonging to the genus Heleropiia found in wasps' 

 nents, by W. W. Froggatl. The name Heteropm nlastori 

 was proposed for a mite which has liecn found in great 

 numbers in the clay nests of the solitary wasp, Alailor 

 ernirgui, SauM. , in the neighbouthood of .Sydney. The 

 gravifl female has an immense globular abdomen eight 

 limc» the length of the head and thorax combined. — On 

 the mode of attachment of the leaves or fronds to the 

 candex in Gloisopieris, with remarks on the relation of the 

 genui to ill allies, by K. Eihcridgc, jun., with note on the 



NO. 1290, vol. 50] 



stratigraphical distribution of Glossopteris in Australasia, by 

 Prof. T. W. Edgeworth David. The fossil plant Glossopteris, 

 which formed the predominant type of swamp vegetation in 

 Eastern .Australia during the Permo-Carboniferous Period, when 

 the productive co.il-measures were being formed, has left records 

 of its former presence almost invariably in the form of leaves 

 only. Only two authentic cases h.ave been recorded of Glossop- 

 t/ris leaves having ever been found attached to any kind of 

 stem, previous to the discovery of the specimen found near 

 Mudgee by Mr. J. C. McTaggart, which makes the third speci- 

 men ever discovered, and which was described by the authors. 

 The specimen shows that some variety, at all events, of Glossop- 

 teris in Australia had somewhat the form of a dw.-irf tree-fern, 

 with a caudex, or stem, at least six inches in length, and sur- 

 mounted by a clump of closely packed fronds to the number of 

 about eight. The fronds, as proved by the scars on the caudex, 

 were not placed on a verticil, but spirally on the caudex. They 

 are sessile, not petiolate as in the case of the specimen described 

 by Prof. D.ina from Illawarra. — Mr. Hedley read the following 

 note: — "From the throat of a Ralltis pietoralis Mr. J. A. 

 Thorpe of the Australian Museum extracted the snail I now 

 exhibit. This is a specimen of Chloritis jert'isensis, Quoy and 

 Gaimard, a species common in this neighbourhood, whose 

 almo-t adult and uninjured shell measures iS mm. in diameter, 

 and which weighed, shell and animal together, I 26 grammes. 

 When found by Mr. Thorpe, to whom I am indebted for both 

 facts and specimen, the snail was quite dead ; as a test I 

 immersed the animal in strong spirits without inducing contrac- 

 tion ; since, however, its consumer had been killed forty hours 

 earlier, the suflocation of the mollusc was to be expected. The 

 bird was shot at Randwick, near Sydney, on May 19, 1S94, by 

 Mr. Newcombe, Deputy Registrar-General. In enumerating 

 'Means of Dispersal,' Darwin observes ('Origin of Species,' 

 6ih ed. p. 372) : ' A bird in this interval [eighteen hours] might 

 easily be blown to the distance of 500 miles, and hawks are 

 known to look out for tired birds, and the contents of their torn 

 crops might thus readily get scattered.' In view of the above 

 incident, this suggests a means whereby the geographical range 

 oi jervisensis might be considerably extended." 



CONTENTS. PACK 



Ancient Astronomy. By W. T. L 265 



Scottish Land-Names 266 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Schultz and Julius: " Systeinatic Survey of the 



Organic Colouring M.atters." — R. M 267 



Lydekker : "A Handbook to the Marsupialia and 



Monolremata" 267 



Haskett Smith: "Climbing in. the British Isles — 



England" 267 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Tiiiuhcrculy and Polybuny. — E. S. Goodrich . . 268 ' 

 A Revi-w Reviewed.— Prof. Ralph S. Tarr ; The 



Reviewer 268 ' 



Halo of 90" with Parhelia.— Samuel Barber ... 269' 

 Rate of the I'lighl of Birds.— F. W. Headley . . 269 

 The University of London and the Report of the 

 Gresham Commissioners. By Dr. W. Palmer 



Wynne 269 



The Oxford Meeting of the British Association . . 270 

 The Biological Institution in Bergen, Norway. 



{/lluilralcd.) 271 



Professor Dr. Fischer 272 



Notes . 272 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



V.Trlatinns of Laiiunle -7 



Photographs of the .Moon 2; 



Further concerning the New Iodine Bases. By 



A. E. Tutton .... 27^ 



Women and Science. By Mrs. Percy Frankland 27" 

 The Electrification of Air. (Illustrated.) By Lord 



Kelvin, P. R S - 



University and Educational Intelligence . .2^ 



Scientific Serials '*" 



Societies and Academies ^ii.. 



I 



