February 7, 1895J 



NA TURE 



357 



1 



the intensity of the solar niaj;netic fieM frnni mer'Hian to meri- 

 dian of iht- sun ; (3) the disc .xe-y < f the inveision (tf the so'ar 

 magreii-m in tt-riHin pfT'Oii-. The aiillior ex|irtsse^ iKei>|'ininn 

 that the convecii*nal hvi'othesis of c)cl'»nes is uittena'tle, ami 

 endeavours to sh 'W, fi-itn nn fxam-narion of the Anifiican 

 meteorological curves lor thr years 1878-93. that the tliree S)S- 

 tems — the one at the sun, thatif t'le mayneiic field in the 

 northern heoii-pliere, and 'hat o( tl.e Ami-rtcan mrleorolo^ical 

 field — vary toj;eiher in lilock f oni ye ir 10 year. — Variations in 

 the cliarac er ol the ••ei^ois, I'y 11. G-iwItirr^p The divisioir 

 of the year into four sea-on-- is iraHiiioual, hui when measmcl 

 as phases ol wea'her, it is n'l' possible to fix these periods 

 within definite liiniis. The author's investigation leads htm to 

 conclude that thepiimal cause for ihe vaiiations in thecharacier 

 of the seasons must lie traced h.ick' thioiinh all ihe tfTecis of 

 diurnal and seasonal iiiso aiion, and of the cjtlonic stoims m 

 the lower atmosphere. 



Wiedemann s Annnlen der Physik und Chemie, No. r, 1895. 

 — Electromagnetic pull ng foice, 1)) Max Wiber. An iron 

 wire whose length i* very l real in i oifjiari-on with its thickness, 

 experiences a puning fircr piiporlional to the he'd intensity, 

 its magnetisation, and its stcinn at arei, wh'n its end lits in a 

 magnetic field, and iis axis is pa'allcl to the lines of foice. 

 If the lines if (orce are perpendicular to the axis of the wire, 

 it al-o cxiemnces a puling foice alont; its axi-, which is, 

 however, sinali-r in iron than the loinur lorce. 'J'he ratio of 

 the pull along 'he lines of lorce to that across it is abi ut roo 

 in moderate fields (uch as II = 100), but with in-reasing 

 strength ol field ii (|uicUly decreases, and appears to apf^r lach 

 unity. — Differi nl fitriii^ 01 n ulnple res inante, by V. Hjciknes. 

 The conclusion usuall) drawn Irom Sarasm and de la Rive's 

 experiments with eleittic waves pri pagated along wires, that 

 there are as many stationary wave >)s tms as nodal systems are 

 exhibited by the nsonalor, is erroneous. The.^e jieriods are 

 due to the resonator, which resounds to a simple sine 

 oscillation at dtftercni pidnis. The on'y reliable method is to 

 study the wave sy-ienis with " inoifTermt " indicators, such as 

 spark micrometers, electrometers, bolometers, and small 

 thermo-couples. The difYerence between electric waves and 

 light waves is that the l.ilter are continually maintained, while 

 the former are dampe t. — Total reficclion of light in dense 

 crystalline substances, by K. Camerer. The measurement of 

 the index of refraction of substances of a ciyslalline structure 

 by total reflection is at em ed with various difficulties. In 

 some cases, ihere i no well-rtcfine I limit of total reflection, as 

 in the case of parafhn or bce>wax planed or cast on mercury. 

 When the same sul'Stances aietast or pressed on ihe surface of 

 the prism, two limits, pjlarieil at right aigles to each other, 

 are observed. The author explains this by supposing that in 

 the latter case the substances crystalli-e in a uniaxial form, 

 with their optical axes perpendicular to the surface, while in 

 the former case they aie biaxial. — Elastic behaviour of zmc at 

 different leni] eratures, by Kiuh Zimarsky. It appears that 

 the suddenness or otherwise of the cooling of cast zinc has no 

 very decided ii lluence upon its biitlltness. It is not hardened 

 l>y rapid cooling to anything like the extent that iron is. 



UtilUlin de la Sociele dcs NaltiralhUi de A/oscoii, 1894, No. 

 2. — On the Mastodons ol Russia, and their relations to the 

 Mastodons of other regions, by Mme. Marie I'avlova, being 

 a summing up of her larger woik, now ready for print. Its 

 conclusitns ate : (l) It is the gioup Mmiodon Zysoiof/icdoii, 

 represented liy A/. Borsovi^ A!, ohiotietts^ and their varieties, 

 which had a ver) gieat spreading in south-west Russia during 

 the Miocene and the Pliocene ptnods. (2) None of these forms 



-pecific to Ru>sia, all having been widely spread in West 

 l.urope and North America. (3) The group of y)/. Jiuiiolophodon 

 IS only known till now ihrougli a veiy limited nuuiber ol speci- 

 mens ol M. aiveitiemis, while this group is widely represented 

 in West Euiope, Asia, and America. (4) The close resemblance 

 between the INlastrdons of Eurasia and America confirms once 

 more the connection whith existrd between the two crnlinenis 

 duiing the Tertiary peiiod. — The Post-pliocene mammals of 

 East Russia, by Piof. S'ucktnbcrg (in Fiench). They are : 

 Rhincceios, lic/wi:/ii>itis, Fischer, and /\h. A/miii, Jaeger ; 

 Elasmol/itiiiim J-ischeri, De niaitst, which has never btcii 

 found in Perm, Ufa, V)aika, Kazan, Nizhni Novgorod, and 

 Simbirsk, but only luiihir south, i.e. in Samara, Penza, and 

 SaralciV ; £ijuiisial alius, very common — the fossil horses having 

 already been made the subject of special studies by Mme. 



NO. 1319, VOL. 51] 



Pavlova ; Ceiviis Ini annus, C. tiaphus, C. aJees {Aires faimata), 

 anrl C. me;^iiceros {A/igactros /tidirviius). Owen ; Auti ope saiga, 

 Palla- ; lioi pri'Cus, and b'os pritniyetiius, the latter very rare ; 

 Ovibos mofchahn, WnTiV'Wi: (O. Jjssilis, Ru im-jer) ; Sus, sp. ; 



E/fpli<is primigttiius, very c mmon ome molars off-ring great 



(livergtnces fiom the usual ly] e — and another yet undcte' mined 

 >pi cies of Eliphas, of which one molar is kept in the museum 

 of Kazan ; ttiough like as a whole lo a mammoth tooth, it 

 has well deiiiied peculiarities of structure ; Castor fiber ; Ursus 

 atctos ; and an undetermined species of Cants. All these 

 rtniains have rarely been found in situ, but chiefly in le- 

 modtllefl river deposits. — The second part and conclusions of 

 the Work of B. Lwolf, on the embryology of mammals. The 

 current ih- ory ol gastrulation is shown not to be sut'ported by 

 direct obstrvation, and a new theory is proposed. — On ihe use 

 of Houguer's formula in the study of gravitation anomalies, 

 by Plot. Th. Sloud-ky (in Fiench). — On some land shells 

 Collected by M. K' ishtafowitsch on the Vorobievy Ilill-, near 

 Moscow, by Ur. Zickendrath, They belong to species now 

 quite common in Middle Europe (Hyalinia, H^- ix, Citiella, 

 Pupa, Siiccinea, &c.}, and originate fiom the ptriod when the 

 Voioliievo plateau was covered with thick marshy forests; they 

 can by no means be considered as belonging to any ice period. — 

 EniomoIOi^ical and botanical notes from Sarcpia, by Alex. 

 Becker (in German). 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Geolcgical Society, January 0. — Dr. Henry Woodward, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — The formation of oolite, by 

 E. B. Wethered. In previous communications the author has 

 described pisolites formed by the growth of Cirvattel'a, and some 

 true oolitic granules having a like origin. He had previously 

 expressed the opinion that all oolitic granules are of organic 

 origin, and the facts described in the present paper give support 

 to this view. He described the form of the granules, which 

 frequently exhibit a series of concentric layers of calcium car- 

 bonate around a nucleus, and also dark slri^ and patches, the 

 former placed more or less at right-angles to the nucleus. The 

 concentric layers often exhibit an irregularity which the author 

 maintained to be incompatible with their chemical origin. 

 Again, granules are found made of calcium carbonate occurring 

 in two forms — a clear crystalline portion representing the organic 

 structural pait, and an amorphous portion consisting of oidinary 

 catbonate of lime, which is either infilling or secreted material, 

 possibly both. In discussing the origin of the crusts around the 

 nuclei the author treated of the radial structure which is so 

 maiked a feature in the crust of oolitic granules. This structure 

 has the appearance of light and dark stria: when seen by re- 

 flected light : the light are tubules which have grown at right- 

 angles to the nucleus, while the dark are secondary foima- 

 tions. He referred to Rolhpletz's description of the oolitic 

 granules of the great Salt Lake, \\hich are slated to have 

 originated from the growth of lime-secietiug algse, and thinks it 

 possible that the fossil forms are of like origin, though not 

 necessarily due to organisms allied to algse, and possibly even 

 lower in the scale of life. In his opinion Girvanella — the first 

 type of oolite-forming organism discoveied — is simply a tubule. 

 A long discussion followed the reading of the paper. "The Presi- 

 dent thought that the author had placed evidence before the 

 meeting sufficient to prove Ihe organic origin of many of his 

 oolitic gianulcs. Mr. G. F. Harris believed that while most 

 geologists would possibly agree as to the organic nature of the 

 tubules in the pisolites rtferied to, they would not be unanimous 

 in recognising the tubular stiuctureinmany of the oolitic granules 

 shown. Many of the features presented by oolitic granules, and 

 brought lorwardbylhe author as evidence of the organic origin 

 of oolite, could be explained by the alteration effected in them 

 since their original foimation. Mr. E. '1. Newton agreed with 

 the author that Ihe irregular tubules teinicd Ctrvanelia, and 

 seen sometimes within and sometimes on the outside of oolitic 

 granules, were of organic origin, but he thought that the 

 chaiaclerislic concentric and radiated structure of oolitic 

 granules was entirely different, and not due to concentric 

 lul ules. Dr. G. J. Hinde did not think thai the author was 

 right in his interpretation of the concentric layers so common 

 in oidinary oolitic grains as tubjilar forms ol growth. In his 

 (the speaker's) opinion these concentric lines might indicate 



