192 



NATURE 



[December 20, 1894 



electrode was immersed in the water, and a telephone inserted 

 into the connectiin. When the current from the accumulators 

 on the bank was broken, this produced in effect on the telephone 

 audible at a distance of 4 '5 kilometres. Small islands lying 

 between the shore and the boats had no influence on the trans- 

 mission of the sienals. 



Meteorological Society, November 6. — Prof. Hellniann, 

 President, in the chair. — Dr. Meinardus spoke on sheeiliftht- 

 ning and the various theories in explanation of this phenome- 

 non. He sided with the view that it is due to a thunderstorm 

 of which the lightning is visible, whereas the thunder does not 

 reach the observer owing to total reflection brought about by 

 refraction in the several superimposed Layers of air. — Prof, von 

 Danckelman spoke on the climate of Jalu, on the basis of ob- 

 servations made by Dr. Steinbach since the beginning of 1893 

 with accuiaie sel(-regisieringinsiiuments. Among the peculiari- 

 ties of the climate, which is continuously and uniformly warm 

 and moist, it is more especially remarkable that thunderstorms 

 and heavy rainstorms occur most usually between 9 and 10 

 o'clock in the morning. This phenomenon has not as yet been 

 observed anywhere else. 



Physiological Society, November 9. — Prof, du Bois Rey- 

 mond. President, in the chair. — Dr. Levy.Dorn spoke on the 

 effect of various temperatures on the secretion of sweat, and 

 communicated the re.-ults o( his own experiments on cats, deal- 

 ing with the secretion of sweat al low temperatures. The sweat 

 glands themselves were kept at the temperature (ig'-So" C.) 

 most favourable (or the secretion, while the animal's body 

 was cooled by wati r at 6° C, and secretion was obtained as a 

 result of dyspnoea, notwithstanding the coolmg of the body. 

 The 5.ime speaker further gave an account of experiments made 

 with a view to testing Prof. Grutzner's assertion that heat acts 

 only on centripetal and vasomotor nerves, but does not affect 

 motor or ceniiifugal nerves. Carefully observing all the ex- 

 perimental conditions described by Griiizner, he had found that 

 the action ol heat on the sciatic nerve leads to a copious secre- 

 tion of sweat on the cat's paws, that is to say, stimulates centri- 

 fugal nerves. — Prof. Zuniz criticised the objections raised by 

 Bohr and Ileniiquez against his experiments on the measure- 

 ment of the woik done by the heart, and showed up the errors 

 which had ctept into their observatiins. He next demonstrated 

 the apparatus he had employed for measuring the amount of 

 blood forced out by the heart. 



New South Wales, 



Linnean Society, October 31. — Prof. Haswell, Vice-Pre- 

 sident, m the chair. — Notes of a visit to the island of Erro- 

 manga. New Hebrides, in May 1894, by Sutherland Sinclair. 

 — Preliminary communications on the cerebral comuiissurts of 

 the mammalia, with special reference to Monotremaia and 

 Marsupialia, by G. Elliott Smith. From an examination of 

 the brain in paiypus, Echiiiria, Peramcles, kangaroo, wallaby, 

 kangaroo ral, Daiyums and phalangisia, (lie superior commis- 

 suieol the ctrcbrum was shown by ihe author to be homol guus 

 with the p^allciium o( Placentalia, and not with the corpus cal- 

 losum. 1 here appears to be no true corpus callosum (as distinct 

 from a psalierium) in any monoircmc or marsupial. The hook- 

 like appearance of the hippocampal commissure in sagittal sec- 

 lion ill marsupials, which led Flower to regard it as corpus cal- 

 losum, was said to correspond to the shape of the hippocampus, 

 which IS coextensive with the laieral ventricle. In platypus 

 only the dor-al limb ol the hook is piesent, because there is 

 only a rudimentary descending horn ul the ventricle and hippo- 

 caiupiu. In Euilicria only the ventral limb persists, beciusc 

 the upper and anterior part of the hippocampus disappears to 

 allow a corpus callosum to appear in the situation occupied by 

 the dorsal limb of the hippocampal commissure in Mcialhciia, 

 i.e. ventral tu Ihe aicu.> uiarginalis. The fascia deniata, as a 

 consequence of this, is cscniially mf-racollosal. A doubt was 

 expressed as to ihe presence ol any structure in the subniain- 

 malia slricily homologous to the Kuihcrian Corpus callosum. 

 The hypothesis was advanced that the latter slrucmre appears 

 (just as the hippocampal comiiiis>ure ilocs .somewhat e-iriicr) to 

 supply the dcinand for a shorter connecting path (or the great 

 pallial development — c»» niially a mammalian feature. — Dc- 

 sctipiiuiis of some new spcci » of Australian Colcopiern, by 

 A. M. Lea. Desciiplions were given of lori) -nine species rom 

 New Souih W.des, m >stly belonging 10 the Aiilhiciilit. A re- 

 markable I'toiofialui trim the Tweed River was described, and 



NO. 1312, VOL. 51] 



a species of /,<j;'r/ij living in ants' nests. — Description of a new 

 hopogoH from New South Wales, by R. T. Baker. The 

 Isopo^on described was obtained on the Murrunibo Ranges, 

 Goulliurn River. It differs from the N.S. W. /. aiiemonifjliiis 

 in having deeply-divided leaves on long petioles and a silky 

 hairy perianth ; from the West .■\uslrali:in /. lons^foliiis in its 

 longer and pinn.itely divided leaves, smaller cones and longer 

 perianth. — Synonymy of some Australian an'H Tasmanian niol- 

 lusca, by John Brazier. The synonymy of twelve species were 

 given with references and habiials. — Further observations upon 

 the anatomy of the integumentary structures in the muzzle of 

 Ornithorhynchiis, by Prof. J. T. Wilson and C. J. Martin. The 

 authors specially dealt with the details of structure of the 

 "push-rods" in the skin of the snout of the platypus, and offered 

 further confirmation of their views in opposition to a recent 

 criiicism of some of these by Prof. E. B. Poulton. — Description 

 of the external characters of a very young specimen of Ornith' 

 rhynchus, by Prof. J. T. Wilson. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, andSERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — University Tutorial Series. Vol. i ; \ Tcxr-book of Sound : E. 

 Citcnpool (Clive). — Manual of Practical Morbid Anaiomy : Drs. Rolleston 

 and Kanihack (Camtirtd^e University Press>. -The liook of the Rose; 

 Rev. A. Foster-Melliar (Macmillan) — Aa lilemcntary Treatise on Theo- 

 retirai Mectianics, Part 3 ; Kinetics . Prof. A. Ziwet (Macm Ilan). — Natural 

 RiRhts: Prof. D. G. Rilchic (Sonnenschein) — Elcmcniary Qualitative 

 Chemical Analysis : Dr. F. (.lowes and J. B. C "leman (Churchill) — Pubbli- 

 cazioni delta Specola Vaticana, Vol. iv. (Torino. Artifiianclli). — A Few 

 Chapters in Astronomy : C. Kennedy (Tajrlor and Francis). 



Pami'MLETs.— I In the Natural Immunity against Cholera, &c. : C. G. 

 t:umpcl(Wdliains and Noriiate).— t'-lliptical Orbits; H. Larkin (Unwin). — 

 Royal Gardens, Kcw, Hand-list of Trees and Shrubs gr.iwn in Arboretum, 

 Pan I : Polypctal.x- (Eyre and Spottiswoode). 



Skrials.— Engineering Maca/ine. December (Tucker).— American 

 Journal of Science, December (New Haven). — Strand Macazine. Decem- 

 ber (Newnes). — Natural Hislory Transactions of Northumberland, &c., 

 Vol. xi. Part 2 (Williams and Norgaie) — Verhandlungcn des- Nalurhis- 

 torischen Vereins der Preussischen Rheinlande, &■■., Einundfunfligster 

 Jahrgang, Sechste Folge. L. Jahrgang. Erstc H'ilfte (Bonn. Cohen).— 

 Medical Magazine, December (Strand).- ie Mon.le Mnderne, January 

 (Pans)— American Natura ist, December (Wesley).— Strand Musical 

 Magazine, No. i (Newnes).— Royal Natural History, Part 14 (Warne). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Sir Richard Owen 169 



Electromagnetic Theory. By J. Swinburne . ... 171 



Recent Psychology '73 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Giberne : " Radiant Suns " 174 



Mt-yer and I'aikinson : " Album von Papi'ia-Typen " 174 

 " Farm \'erniin, 1 kipful and Harmful " 174 



Letters to the Editor:— 



The New Cypress of Nyasaland. — W. T. Thisclton- 



Dyer, CM. G., F.R.S i75 



The Kinetic Theory of Gases.— S. H. Burbury, 



F.R.S. ; G H. Bryan , 175 



Science and History.— Alfred H. Huth 176 



Geometry in Schools.— Edward M. Langley . . . ' 



Lilienthal's Experiments in Flying. (/Iluslraled.) . 



Peters — Denza-Ranyard 



Notes 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Secular Variations of the Interior Planets 183 



Irregularities in Variable Slats '83 



The Radchffe Catalogue '83 



V Aslionomic '°3 



On the Ubc of the Globe in the Study of Crystal, 

 lography. By J. Y. Buchanan, F R.S 1S4 



The Uhc of Safety Explosives in Mines 1S4 



The Upsala Meeting ol the International Meteoro- 

 logical Committee '83 



Endowment for Scientific Research and Publics 

 tion. U. . . . 



Scientific Serials 



Societies and Academies ''i° 



I Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 'n 



176 

 '77 

 ■79 



"79 



186 

 190 



