i68 



NATURE 



[December 14, 1893 



or even entirely suppressed, leaving only the stage of hy- 

 percytosis. 



November 24. — Dr. Katzenstein gave an account of experi- 

 ments on the median pharyngeal nerve. In the rabbit this 

 nerve gives off branches to ihe cricothyroid muscle, whereas 

 in the monkey, dog and cat no such connection can be made out, 

 either anatomically or physiologically. Prof. Munk made some 

 remarks, in connection with these experiments, on Prof. Exner's 

 belief in the existence of a median pharyngeal nerve, which 

 '"ould at most only be admitted in the case of the rabbit. Prof. 

 Zuni^ described a new method of measuring the amount of the 

 circalating blood and the work done by the heart. It depends 

 on the fact that as long as the peripheral resistance is constant, 

 blood-pressure is dependent on the volume of blood driven into 

 the aorta by the left ventricle. When the heart is inhibited by 

 stimulation of the vagus the blood-pressure falls, and if now a 

 volume oi' blood is injected into the aorta sufficient to raise the 

 pressure again to the normal, then this volume must be equal to 

 thai which the heart ordinarily drives into the arterial system. 

 The method had shown itself to be reliable in experiments made 

 on dogs, and had already yielded some interesting results relating 

 to the circulation, which will be further investigated. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, October 25.— Prof. David, President, 

 in the chair. — The following papers were read : — On 

 Polycercus : a proliferating Cysticercoid parasitic in certain 

 earthworms, by Prof. Ilaswell and J. P. Hill.— Some points in 

 the anatomy of the monotreme scapula, by Prof. Wilson and 

 W. J. Stewart McKay.— Notes on the family Brachyscelidse, 

 with descriptions of new species, Part III., by W. W. Froggatt. 

 —On some new genera of nematoie worms found in Port Jack- 

 son, by Dr. N. A. Cobb. — On recently observed evidences of 

 extensive glacier action at Mount Kosciusko Plateau, by R. 

 Helms. — Contributions to a revision of the Tasmanian land 

 mollusca, by H. Suter. — Notes on the occurrence of a species 

 of Plecofrema and other species of mollusca in Port Jackson, by 

 Dr. J. C. Cox. — On the distribution of little-known mollusca 

 from Polynesia and Australia, with their synonyms, by |ohn 

 Brazier. — Dr. Cox exhibited a fine specimen of the herring Elops 

 saurus, Linn., purchased in a Sydney fishmonger's shop, and 

 believed to have been captured off Broken Bay ; the species is 

 occasionally taken in Port Jackson, though it is more properly 

 an inhabitant of tropical seas. He also showed a piece of 

 timber in an excellent slate of preservation supposed to be red 

 gum, a portion of a tree encountered in sinking a shaft in the 

 bed of the river during the building of the bridge at Echuca ; 

 the specimen was forwarded to him by Mr. A. P. Stewart, of 

 Hay, N.S. W. Dr. Cox also showed specimens of the shells 

 referred to in his paper, and a very fine example of Vohita 

 vmnilla from Tasmania. — Mr. Froggatt exhibited a fine series 

 of mounted galls and coccids in illustration of his paper, includ- 

 ing a new Brachyscelid collected by Mr. A, Roxburgh at Cobar, 

 and representatives of several new species of Opislhoscelis. — 

 Mr. North exhibited a set of eggs consisting of three eggs of 

 Collyriocicnla hufmonica and an egg of Cacomantis pallida col- 

 lected on the Woolli Cteek on the 19th inst. The cuckoo's egg 

 was deposited on the lyih inst., when the nest contained but 

 two eggs of the Collyriocincla. This is the only occasion he 

 had known the egg of any cuckoo to be found in the nest of the 

 Harmonious Thrush. Mr. North also communicated a note in 

 which he pointed out that the blue wren {Malurus cyaneus) is 

 developing a protective habit against the cuckoos which intrude 

 their eggs upon it, as he had found in several instances that the 

 intruder's eggs wtre covered with a layer of nest material ; a 

 parallel instance has been recorded by Messrs. Sclater and 

 Hudson in their "Argentine Ornithology." — Mr. Mitchell, of 

 Narellan, contributed a note on the occurrence of a fossil at 

 Stockyard Mountain, Jamberoo, bearing a strong resemblance 

 toLepidoslrobusand Halonia ; and of certain scales atGlenlee, 

 referable, in his opinion, to one or other of the genera Lepido- 

 robus or Sigillariostrobus ; also of a species of Pterophyl- 

 lum, at Kenny Hill, near Campbelltown. — Mr. A. M. Lea 

 showed a small collection of insects which inhabit ant and ter- 

 mite nests, including a dipterous insect {Microdot! vaiiegala), 

 one of the Micro-lepidopteraat present undetermined, both from 

 Sydney ; and of coleoptera, two species of Pselaphida; from 

 Tamworth and Inverell, Anthienus sp., from Sydney, Lagria 

 n.sp., from Cootamundra and Queanbeyan, and a fifth species 

 (g. et sp. indet.).— Mr. Brazier exhibited for Mr. T. Steel three 



NO. 1259, VOL. 49] 



aboriginal stone axes, one with a groove for hafting, from the 

 Herbert River, said to have been found at a depth of thirty feet in 

 sinking a well ; a second from the Tweed River, being a simple 

 adaptation of a flat water-worn stone by grinding the thinner 

 end ; the third from Harrow, Victoria. — -Mr. Fletcher exhibited 

 for Mr. G. L. Pilcher, of Rockhampton, an undescribed longi- 

 corn, and two of the mud nests of one of the solitary wasps 

 [Etimeiies Latreillei, Sauss. ), together with specimens of the 

 wasp and of a species of Chrysix which, like members of the 

 same family elsewhere, plays the part of cuckoo ; .ind he com- 

 municated a note giving particulars of the mode of construction 

 of the nests exhibited, and of the habits of the maker and of the 

 attendant intruder. 



BOOKS and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Elementary 'trigonometry : H. S. Hall and S. R. Knight (Mac- 

 millan). — A 1 heory ■ f Devel ■pment and Heredity : H. B. Orr (Macmillan). 

 — Natural Value F. von Wieser, translated (Macmillan) — 1 he Vault of 

 Heaven: R. A. Gregory (Methuen). — A Journey through the 'i'emen : W. 

 B. Harris (Blackwood). — Chinese Central Asia, 2 Vo's. : Dr. H. I.ansdell 

 (Low).— The Dispersal of Shells : H. W. Kew (K. Paul) —A Text-book of 

 Physiological Chemistry : Prof. O. J. Hamraarsten. translated by J. A. 

 Mandel (K. Paul). — Die Hawaiischen Inseln : Dr. A. Marcuse (Berlin, Fried- 

 lander) — Fra 1 Batacchi Indipendenti : E. Modigliani (Roma, Sue Gecg . 

 Iialiani). — A Text-book on Electro-Magnetism and the Construction if 

 Dynamos, Vol. i : Prof D. C. Jackson (Macmillan)— Mining : A. Lupton 

 (Longmans). — Anwendung der Quaternionen auf die Geometr.e : Dr. P. 

 Molenbroek (Leiden, Brill). — Studies from the Physical and Chemical 

 Laboratories of the Owens College, Vol. i, Phys cs and Physical Che-nistry 

 (Manchester). — Schneekrystalle : Dr G. Hellmann (Berlin, P. Miicken- 

 berger). — Darwinianism : Dr. J. H. Stirling (Fdmburgh, T. and T. Clark). 

 — A Catalogue of the Egyptian Collect! jn in the Firzw.lliam Museum, Cam- 

 bridge : Dr. E. A. W. Kudge (Cambridge University Press ■. 



Serials. — .American Meteorological Journal, November (Boston, Ginn). — 

 Bulletin de I'.Acadiiinie Royale des Sciences de Belgique, 3rd Scrie-;, Tome 

 26, Nos. q and 10 (Briixelles). — Observatory. December (Taylor and 

 Francis), — Companion to ditto, 1894 (Taylor and Francis). — Mimoires de la 

 .Society d'Anthropol igie de Paris, Tome i, 3rd s^rie, i Fasc (Paris, Masson). 

 — L'Anthrop ilogie. Tome 4, No. 4 (Paris, Masson). — Himinel und lirde, 

 December (Berlin, Paetel). — Engineering Magazine, December (New York). 

 L'Elettricista, December (Roma). — Medical Magazine December (South- 

 wood). — Illustrated Archsoiogist, December (C. J. Clark). — Insect Life, 

 Vol. vi. No. I (Washington). — Z ,e, Vol. iv. No. 3 (San Francisco). — Bulletin 

 de la Soci6t6 Impiiriale des Naturalistes de Moscou, 1^93, N' s 2 and 3 

 (Moscou). — Bulletin du C' mit6 International Permanent pour rexecuiion 

 photographique de la Carte du Ciel, Tome 2, Deux Fasc (Paris, Gauthier- 

 Villars) 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



A Book of Practical Examples in Electricity. By 



Prof. A. Gray 145 



Besant's Dynamics. By A. B. Basset, F. R.S. . . . 146 



Insect Pests 147 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Wells: " Text-book of Biology."— W. N. P. . . , 148 

 " The New Technical Educator " . . . . 148 

 Draper : " Heat, and the Principles of Thermo- 

 dynamics " 148 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Systematic Nomenclature. — Prof. G. F. Fitz- 

 gerald, F.R.S. ; Fred. T. Trouton 148 



On the Nomenclature of Radiant Energy. — Prof. 



G. F. Fitzgerald, F.R.S . . 149 



Flame. — Prof. Arthur Smithells ........ 149 



The Second Law of Thermodynamics. — S. H. Bur- 

 bury, F.R.S 150 



The Loss of H.M.S. "Victoria." III. By Dr. 



Francis Elgar 151 



The New Laboratories of the Institute of 



Chemistry 154 



Science in the Magazines 155 



Experiments on Flying. {Illustrated.) By Prof. C, 



Runge 157 



Notes 158 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



New Notation for Lines in Spectrum of Hydrogen . 162 



The Spectrum of Nova Normse 162 



Prof. Rudolf Wolf, of Zurich i6j 



The Companion to the Observatory 163 



Solar Observations at R.ome 163 



Geographical Notes 163 



Unveiling of the Joule Memorial Statue 163 



The Ethnological Museum at Leyden. By Dr. H. 



ten Kate 165 



University and Educational Intelligence ■ 166 



Societies and Academies 166 



Books and Serials Received 168 



