April ii, 1895] 



NA TURE 



575 



Fresh evidence is also given of the presence of viscosity. 

 Thus while the condenser here experimented upon exhibits 

 marked viscous effects, yet the authors could detect no hysteresis. 



Entomological Society, April 3. — Prof. R. Meldola, 

 F.R.S., President, in ihe chair. — Mr. C. J. Gahan exhibited 

 two examples, male and female, of a rare Prioned beetle, 

 Chariea cyanca, .Serville, which had been kindly sent to him 

 for examination by M. Rene Olierthiir ; and stated that 

 Lacordaire was mistaken with regard to the sex of the specimen 

 which he described in the " Genera des Coleoptcres." He 

 pointed out that the elytra of the male were relatively much 

 shorter than those of the female; and that the joints of the 

 antennce from the third to the tenth were biramose. Mr. 

 Gahan aho exhibited two species of the genus Decarthria, 

 Hope, and said he believed these were the two smallest species 

 of Longicorns known. — Dr. Sharp, F. R. S., exhibited the 

 soldiers and workers of a species of Termites found by Dr. 

 Haviland in South Africa. He stated that these insects 

 possessed eyes and worked in daylight like Hymenopterous 

 ants, and that in habits they resembled harvesting ants by 

 cutting grass and carrying it into holes in the ground. Dr. 

 Sharp said that although these holes were probably the 

 entrance to the nests. Dr. Haviland was unable to find the 

 actual nest, even by prolonged digging, so that the winged 

 forms were still unknown. He thought this species was 

 probably allied to Vermes viamm of Smeathman, in which the 

 soldiers and workers possessed eyes, and hail been observed by 

 Smeaihman to issue from holes in the ground, but whose nests 

 could not be discovered. Mr. McLachlan observed that it was 

 possible there might be species of Termites without any winged 

 form whatever. — Mr. r<ye called attention to the action of one 

 of the Conservators of Wimbledon Common, who, he stated, 

 had been destroying all the aspens on the Common. He 

 inquired whether it was possible for the Entomological Society 

 to protest against the destruction of the trees. Mr. Goss said 

 he would mention the matter to the Commons' Preservation 

 Society. — Mr. Francis Gallon, F.R.S., read a paper entitled 

 "Entomological Queries bearing on the Question of Specific 

 Stability." (Seep. 570.) — Mr. Merrifield stated that he received 

 some years ago, from Sheffield, ova of Stienia illuslraria, the 

 brood from which produced, in addition to typical specimens, 

 four of a dark bronze colour, and from these he bred ^ number 

 of specimens of a similar colour. — Dr. F. .\. Dixey referred to 

 a variety of the larva of Saturtiia carpini with pink tubercles. 

 He said the imago bred from this larva produced larvae of 

 which 10 per cent, had pink tubercles. Prof. Poulton, F.R.S., 

 said he had lound larvx of Smerinthus ocellalus with red spots, 

 and that this peculiarity had been perpetuated in their 

 descendants. Mr. McLachlan, Canon Fowler, and Prof. 

 Meldola made some further remarks on the subject.- -.Mr. 

 G. F. Ilampson read a paper by Mr. C. \V. Barker, entitled 

 " Notes on Seasonal Dimorphism in certain species of Rhopalo- 

 cera in Naial." Mr. Merrifield said he was of opinion that a 

 record of the temperature at dilTcrent seasons would be a very 

 desirable addition to observations of seasonal dimorphism. 

 Mr. Hampson srid he believed that temperature had very little 

 to do with the alteration of forms. At any rate, according to 

 his experience, in India the wet season form succeedeil the dry 

 season form without any apparent difference in the temperature. 

 Prof. Poulton remarked that the apparent temperature as felt 

 must not be relied upon without observations taken by the 

 thermometer. Dr. Dixey, Mr. Barrett, Dr. Sharp, and Prof. 

 Meldola continued the discussion. 



Zoological Society, .Vpril 2.— W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., 

 Vice-President, in the Chair. — Mr. Boulenger exhibited the 

 type specimens ol two new chameleons from Usambara, German 

 East Africa. Special interest attached to them from the fact 

 that they appeared to be more nearly related to the Madagascar 

 species than to any of the numerous forms now known from 

 Continental Africa. — Mr. Waller E. Collinge read a paper on 

 the .sensory canal system of fishes, treating of the morphology 

 and innervation ol the system in the Physostomous Telcostei. — 

 Dr. Mivart, F. R. S. , re.ad a paper descriptive of the skeleton in 

 Lorius llavopalliatus, comparing it with that of Psittacus 

 erilhaais, and pointed out a number of differences in detail. — 

 Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., made remarks on some cranial 

 characters of the salmonoid fishes, and expressed the opinion 

 that there was no justification for separating Coregonus and 

 Thymallus from the Salmonidx, as had been proposed by Cope 



NO. I 328, VOL. 5 1] 



and Gill. — Prof. T. W. Bridge read a paper in which he pointed 

 out certain features in the skull of Osteoolossum. The author 

 directed attention to the existence of a peculiar oral masticatory 

 mechanism in Osteoglossiim formosum, distinct fro u that fur- 

 nished by the upper and lower jaws and their teeth. The 

 existence of an essentially similar mechanism in the Ganoid 

 Lepidosteus osseus was also described, and the conclusion sug- 

 gested that the two genera offer in this respect an interetrting 

 example of parallelism in evolution. 



Linnean Society, March 21. — Mr. C. B. Clarke, President, 

 in the chair. — Prof. Stewart exhibited an! made remarks upon 

 a series of corals, divelling upon certain characteristic features 

 which illustrated their structure. — Mr. S. Pace brought forward 

 a collection of shells belonging to the genus Columbclla, and 

 made some observations concerning the peculiarities and the 

 geographical distribution of some of the species exhibited. .\ 

 paper was then read by the President, "On the terminal flower 

 in the Cyperace<e." .-Vfter remarking that theorder Cyperaceish?iA 

 been newly arranged by Dr. Pax in Engler's " Jahrbiicher " 

 (1886), and in Engler and Prantl's " Pllanzenfamilien," the 

 character taken for primary division of the order being the 

 inflorescence, he pointed out that in the first sub. order 

 Scirpoidea; wih an axillary flower were placed Cyperus, 

 Scirpua, Psilocarya, Dichromcna, and Hypolytrum ; in the 

 second sub-order Caricoideae with a terminal flower were placed 

 Schoenus Rytichospora, Alapania and also Carex, Scleria^ and 

 their allies. The disrupion of Hypolytrum from Mapania, ol 

 Dichromeiia and Psilocarya from Kynchospora, he thought, 

 proved either that the modern method pursued by Dr. Pax was 

 of limited systematic value, or that he had grievously erred in 

 his ascertainment of the fact whether in such genus the flower 

 is terminal or not. Mr. Clarke exhibited his own analyses of 

 the spikelet in the larger genera in dispute. He held that in 

 Carcx, Scleria, and their allies, the flower, male and female, 

 was strictly axillary; that in Rynchospora it was axillary — • 

 exactly as in Dichroinena and Psilocarya — while in Hypolytrum 

 the flower is terminal exactly as in Alapania. He further main- 

 tained that these facts could be sufficiently shown by the aid of 

 a penknife and pocket-lens, and that no results which might be 

 hereafter obtained by studies in development could affect either 

 the weight to be attributed to the character of " terminal 

 flower," or to the real affinities of the genera. The paper was 

 illustrated by lantern slides illustrating dissections, and, in the 

 discussion which followed, criticism was offered by Sir D. 

 Brandis, Mr. A. B. Renile, Dr. Prain, and Dr. D. H. Scott. 

 — On the conclusion of this paper. Dr. II. Field, of Brooklyn, 

 New York, made some remarks on the proposed establishment 

 of a central inteinational bureau for zoological bioliography, 

 and the annual publication of an international Zoological 

 Record. 



Mathematical Society, April 4. — Major MacMahon, 

 R..\., F.R.S., President, in the chair. — The Rev. T. C. 

 .Simmons read a paper on a new theorem in Probability. The 

 author replied to numerous questions put to him by Messrs. 

 G. H. Bryan, Burton, Cunningham, and the President. — The 

 President (-Mr. Kempe, F.R S., in the chair) communicated a 

 note on the linear equations that present themselves in the 

 method of least squares. — The following paper was taken as 

 read : On the Abelian system of differential equations and their 

 rational and integral algebraic integrals, with a discussion of 

 the periodicity of .\belian functions, by the Rev. W. R. W. 

 Roberts. 



Geological Society, March 20.— Dr. Henry Woodward, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — On fluvio-glacial and inter- 

 glacial deposits in Switzerland, by Dr. C. S. Du Riche Preller. 

 This paper is the outcome of one published in the Geological 

 Magazine of January 1894, on the "Three Glaciations in 

 Switzerland," in which the author described various glacial 

 deposits near the lake of Zurich. He now describes a series of 

 fluvio-glacial conglomerates and in.erglacial lignite-deposits 

 near the lakes of Ziiricb, Constance, Zug, and Thun, which, 

 together with analogous deposits at the base of the Eastern, 

 Western, and Southern Alps, constitute further evidence of two 

 interglacial periods, and theref )re of three general glaciations, 

 the oldest of these being of Upper Pliocene, and the others of 

 Middle and Upper Pleistocene age respectively. As regards 

 the origin, age, and the time required for the formation of 

 several of the Swiss deposits referred to in the paper, the author 

 arrives in several respects at conclusions differing from those 



