322 



NATURE 



[January 31, 1895 



year, when full indices, both to the subjects and the 

 names of authors, will be added. At present the Pro- 

 ceedings contain approximately fifty pages of original 

 matter, and fift>' pages of abstracts from foreign and 

 American sources. 



It is an open secret that it is intended to enlarge the 

 abstracts later, so as to include English work. They 

 will then be an epitome of the work done in physics 

 throughout the world. The preparation of a large 

 number of abstracts on all sorts of subjects involves a 

 great deal of work and some organisation, and it is thus 

 better to be content with abstracts of half the extent of 

 those of the Chemical Society or the Beibldtter at first, at 

 any rate. The financial risk is also very heavy for a 

 society which is not rich, however energetic it may be. 

 The British Association has come forward with a helping 

 hand, and is aiding the Physical Society with a very 

 considerable money grant. 



Mr. Swinburne has undertaken the office of editor. 

 He is assisted by a strong body of abstractors, many of 

 whom are recognised authorities on their own subjects, 

 and authors of well-known books on physics. In the 

 January number there are abstracts of 114. papers, of 

 which 25 are on General Physics, 22 on Light, 12 on 

 Heat, I on -Sound, 3+ on Electricity and Magnetism, 

 and 19 on Chemical Physics. The price to non-members 

 of the Society is two shillings and sixpence ; but as the 

 cost for a year at this rate exceeds the subscription to 

 the .Society, it is probable that the number of members 

 will increase for this, if for no other reason. It is hoped 

 that this will be so. Many branches of physics, unlike 

 chemistry and electricity, have no great industry be- 

 hind them. It is therefore necessary that all who care 

 for the study of pure physics should rally to the support 

 of the Physical Society in its new undertaking. The 

 meetings of the Society are now held in Burlington 

 House, in rooms hospitably put at its disposal by the 

 Chemical Society. They are held at five o'clock on 

 Fridays, so that persons who may come to town to 

 attend them, can afterwards go on to the Royal Insti- 

 tution. If an author so desires, the publication of his 

 paper will not be delayed for reading. Copies of the 

 paper are circulated before the meeting, so that the 

 discussion can begin early and with adequate know- 

 ledge. As soon as a paper has been read, an abstract 

 and a short account of the discussion is published in 

 Nature, in the Electrician, and other journals. The 

 paper itself is also communicated to the I'hilosopliical 

 Magazine, and is published with an abstract of the 

 discussion in the Societj-'s Proceedings. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 

 SOL IV A v. 



THE 



A LMOST all comers of the British Islands have been 

 •**• so thoroughly investigated by naturalists and col- 

 lertors, that I may be excused for directing attention to 

 one which seems to have been somewhat overlooked 

 the southern shore of Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtown- 

 shire. I, at least, do not know of any work which has 

 been done there of late years. The Solway itself, so far 

 as I know, has received no attention at all— its shallow, 

 sandy character not offering much attraction to the 

 student of marine zoology. 



Yet the surrounding district is, in other respects than 

 its natural history, an extremely interesting one -very 

 varied and beautiful in its scenery, secluded and quiet, 

 and out of the usual track of tourists; with many pic- 

 turesque and ruinous relics of a bygone age, abounding 

 in stream! and lochs suited both to naturalist and 

 angler, and associated incfTaceably with two, at least, of 

 Sir Walter Scott's finest works, "Guy Mannering" and 

 " Redgauntlet," to say nothing of the " Kiiders" of a 



NO. 1318, VOL. 51] 



more recent author, Mr. Crockett. It is, moreover, 

 easily accessible, and I suppose it is probably due to the 

 lack of hotels and other tourist accommodation that it is 

 so little known except to residents in the immediate 

 neighbourhood. 



The bit of the district best known to me extends from 

 the estuary of the Nith — separating Dumfriesshire (rom 

 Kirkcudbrightshire — on the east, to the Water of Fleet, 

 which empties itself into Wigtown Bay, on the west. 

 This coast-line is of very diversified character, flat and 

 sandy eastward, where it has behind it a large tract of 

 marsh-land, the haunt of innumerable wild fowl, but 

 rising eastward into precipitous clilTs of sandstone and 

 limestone, which form in some places isolated pillars of 

 considerable height, and in others are hollowed out into 

 caverns, some of which are locally associated with the 

 name of Scott's piratical hero. Dirk Hatteraick. Some 

 of the streams notably the Water of Urr — come down 

 through a background of granitic hills, bringing with 

 them a vast amount of fine detritus which is deposited 

 on the sides of their estuaries and in the Solway itself, 

 round about their mouths. In such cases the natural 

 result is a very flat shore, composed of soft muddy sand, 

 stretching out very far seaward, and at low water un- 

 covered for stretches of many miles — a state of things 

 not unlike that which is found in the more familiar 

 Morecambe Bay at Grange-over-Sands. These muddy 

 expanses, when left by the tide, arc seen to be covered 

 with the contorted mounds thrown up by mnumerable 

 lug-worms, and so closely packed are these that there is 

 rarely a space of more than a few inches untenanted 

 by its worm. They form, in fact, quite a conspicuous 

 feature in photographs taken under these conditions, and 

 I do not doubt that the worms themselves, passing 

 through their bodies so much mud laden with de- 

 composing organic matter, which they thus absorb 

 and assimilate, contribute materi.illy to the sanitary 

 purification of what would otherwise become a 

 reeking, pestiferous swamp. Beyond these lug-worms, 

 1 am unable to say anything about the larger mud- 

 inhabiting fauna of the district. I thought it very 

 likely that Echinocardium cordatuiii and, perhaps, 

 Syiuipta might be found, as they are in some similar 

 localities in the Firth of Clyde, but the little time which 

 I spent in digging for them did not suflice to disclose 

 any specimens ; nor have I had any opportunity of 

 dredging in the Solway Firth. The water is shallow, 

 and the bottom uniformly sandy. 1 think it wouM be 

 sure to yield interesting micro/.oa belonging to such 

 groups as Copepoda and Ostracoda ; perhaps also 

 Cumacea and Slysid;i', but the absence of cast-up dt-l)ris 

 on the shore, either of the larger Crustacea or Moliusca, 

 seems to indicate a dearth of those creatures outside. 

 The littoral zone being chiefly of the flat sandy or muddy 

 character already described, there is not, except in 

 certain restricted areas, much opportunity for shore- 

 hunting of the ordinary kind. But, away from the" sphere 

 of influence' of the estuarine mud, there occur occa- 

 sional patches of inter-tidal rock with promising-looking 

 pools ; these are, however, fearfully storm-swept, and 

 incapable of alTording sufficiently secure attachment for 

 minyadherent animals. Afew common Hydrozoa,such as 

 SestiilitritrTinA Otm/>tiiiii/ari<r, a few patches of " Hydra- 

 tuba" and Ascidians were, 1 think, 'x\\\\ Alcyonidium 

 gclatini'suiii, 3.ho\\\. all that I noticed. Among swimming 

 things were, however, many Amphipoda and Copepoda, 

 and I took also several specimens of Afysis f.aiiiornce. 

 But my most interesting captures were made by washing 

 the muddy deposit found on the bottoms of some rock- 

 pools, and by netting amongst the weeds of pools situated 

 above ordinary high water-mark, though still subject 

 to occasional tidal influx. The Copepoda found in such 

 pools will be described elsewhere, but it may be noted 

 here that in some of the inland peaty pools and ditches 



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