o •»' 



NA TURE 



[February i, 1894 



motonometer. Laws of ocular tension. A note by M. W. 

 Nicati. — Some observations on snake poisons, by M. S. Jour- 

 dain. Remarks supplementary to MM. Bertrand and Phisalix s 

 recent paper, — On the ichthyological fauna of the fresh waters 

 of Borneo, by M, Leon Vaillant. — A method of assuring and 

 promoting the germination of vines, by M. Gustave Chauveaud. 

 — On the structure of the French Alps, by M. Marcel Bertrand. 

 — On the laws of the contortions of the shell of the earth, by 

 i\I. Ziircher. — The temperature of the upper atmosphere, by M. 

 Gu-.tave Hermite. The author shows from the results of two 

 balloon ascents in 1S93 ^^at the decrease of temperature with the 

 height is much more rapid than is indicated by temperatures 

 recorded at mountain observatories. 



Sydney. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, September 6, 

 1S93. — H. C. Russell, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — 

 The following papers were read by Prof. Liversidge, F.R.S. ; 

 {a) On the origin of moss gold ; (/') on the condition of gold in 

 quartz and calcite veins ; (c) on the origin of gold nuggets ; i^d) 

 on the crystallisation of gold in hexagonal forms ; {e) gold 

 moire-melallique. Results of observations of Comet VI. (Brooks), 

 1892, at Windsor, New South Wales, by John Tebbutt. — 

 Treatment of manufactured iron and steel for constructional 

 purposes, by W. F. How. 



October 4. — Prof. T. P. Anderson Stuart, President, in the 

 chair. — On rock paintings by ihe Aborigines in caves on Eulgar 

 Creek, near Singleton, by R. H. Mathews. — Notes on artesian 

 water in Australia, by Prof. T. W. E. David. 



November i.— Prof. T. P. Anderson Stuart, President, in 

 the chair.— Artesian bores on Bundabunda Station in Queens- 

 land, by Hon. W. H. Suttor. — On the probability (A extra- 

 ordinarily high spring tides about the December solstice of 1893, 

 by John Tebbutt— (a) On meteorite No. 2 from Gilgoin Station; 

 {b) On different pictorial methods of showing rainfi^ll, by H. 

 C. Russell, F.R.S. — On the occurrence of a new mineral 

 " Will)amite" from Broken Hill, by E. F. Pittman. 



December 6.— Prof. T. P. Anderson Stuart, President, in the 

 chair. — On the occurrence of Triassic plant remains in a shale 

 bed near Manly, by B. Dunstan.— The orbit of the double star 

 h 5014, by R. P. Sellors. — Occurrence of " Evansite " in 

 Tasnnania, by H. G. Smith. — On the separation of gold, silver, 

 and iodine from sea-water by Muntz metal sheathing, by Prof. 

 Liversidge, F.R.S. — Notes on the Cremorne bore, by Prof. T. 

 W. E. David and E. F. Pittman.— The progress and position of 

 irrigation in New South Wales, by H. G. McKinney. 



Netherlands. 



Entomological Society, January 21.— P. C. T. Snellen, 

 President, in the chair. — The President exhibited several 

 specimens of Vanessa carditi from different regions, showing 

 that it is a very common species, being disttibuted over 

 nearly the whole world; he also showed specimens of 

 Papilio cpiits and Papilio ajitimachus, both from Java. — Dr. J. 

 Th. Oudemans announced that he was preparing a revision 

 of Snellen van Vollenhoven'.s list of indigenous Tenthredins ; 

 he also stated that on the pupse of Lepidoptera the sex can be 

 recognised, and showed a remarkable nest of Vespa media. — 

 Mr. A. B ants read an interesting paper on the caterpillar of 

 Notodonta ziczac. — Mr. P. J. M. Schuyt proposed the preparing 

 of lists lor exchange of indigenous Lepidoptera. — Mr. J. de Vries 

 exhibited a variety of Xanthia gilvago. Dr. F, W. O. Kallen- 

 bach, a specimen of the raie Cidaria unifasciata, and Dr. A. J. 

 van Rossum, a peculiar variety of Deikphila euphorbia. — Mr. 

 J. R. H. Neervoort van de Poll exhibited a rare variety of 

 Ornithoptera Priamus, and a very fine and rich collection of 

 the colepterous genus Haplosonyx. — Dr. Ed. Everts called 

 attention to a third supplement of his enumeration of indigenous 

 Coleoptera, and showed several species not yet found in the 

 Nethtrlands, but collected in Belgium in the neighbourhood of 

 the limits. — Dr. F. A. Jentink asked if any of ihe members 

 present had observed cats hunting after butterflies, a fact which 

 he had found meniioned in a British periodical, and which he 

 could confirm with his own experience. Dr. H. J. Veth said he 

 had noticed a similar behaviour of cats against Tineidse in a 

 house where the latter were very abundant.— Dr. A. F. A. 

 Lee.-berg called attention to Aleloc aiitumnalis, of which several 

 specimens were captured at Mount St. Pieter, near Maastricht, 

 though this species is extremely rare elsewhere. — Mr. W. G. 

 Huet showed a peculiar nest of Vespa vulgaris and a web of 



spider, on which hung a long thread with a small stone at its 

 end. — Finally, Mr. F. M. van der Wulp exhibited several 

 indigenous and exotic species of Hippobosca, Olfersia, and 

 Ornithomyia,and described the principal characters to distinguish 

 these genera and their species. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books. — Alembic Club Reprint^;. No. 5 — Extracts from Micrographia ; 

 R. Hooke (Edinburgh, Clay). — EinfCihrung in das Studium der bakierio- 

 logie : Dr. Carl Giinther (Leipzig, Thieme) — London Matriculation 

 IJirectory, No. xv. January 1894 (University Correspondence C. liege). — 

 Cungres International d'Archeologie et d' Anthropologic Pr^hist riques, 

 ii-e lie Session, a Moscou, Tome 2 (Moscou). — Science and Christian 

 Tradition : T. H. Huxley (Macmillan). — Ein Geologischer Querschnitt 

 durch die Ost-Alpen : A. Rothpletz (Stuttgart, Schw izerbart). — Lectures 

 on Mathematics : F Klein, reported by A. Ziwet (Macmillan). — B^)tanical 

 Wall Diagrams (various) (S.P.C.K.). — Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 

 Clowes and Coleman, 2nd Edition (Churchill). 



Pamphlets — Questions and Answers on Meteorology : R. H. Scott 

 (Williams and Strahan). — Sulla DistribuzioneTipograficadei Terremoti : M. 

 Baratta (Roma). — Carsosaurus Marchesettii, &c. : Ur. A. Kornhuber 

 (Wien). — Ueber Partanosaurus Zitteli Skuphos und Microleptosaurus 

 Schlosseri nov. gen., nov. spec. : Dr. T. G. Skuphos (Wien). Die Mittel- 

 liasische Cephalopoden-Fauna des H inter- Schafberges in Oberosterreich : 

 G. Geyer (Wien). 



SEtJiALS. — The British Moss-Flora, Part xv. : Dr. R. Braithwaite (the 

 Author, Clapham Road). — Journal of the Chemical Society, Supplementary 

 Number, December (Gurney and Jackson). — Ditto, January (Cjurney and 

 Jackson). — NuovoGiornale Botanico Italiano, vol. xxv. No. 4 (Firenze). — 

 BuUetino della Societa Botanica Italiana, 1893, Nos 8, 9. 10 (Firenze).— 

 The Esse.v Review, January (Chelmsford, Currant). —Annalen des K. K. 

 Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums, Band viii. Nos. 2, 3. 4 Wien). — Studies 

 from the Yale Psychological Laboratory, 1892-93 (New Haven). —Jahrbuch 

 der K. K. Geologischen Reichsanstalt, xliii. Band, 2 Heft (Wien). — The 

 Geographical Journal, February (Stanford). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Chinese Central Asia. By W. F. Kirby 309 



Huxley's Collected Essays. By Prof. E. Ray Lan- 



kester, F.R.S 310 



The Psychology of To-day 311 



Railway Works. By N. J. Lockyer 312 



Essentials of Chemical Physiology 313 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Bent: " The Sacred City of the Ethiopians " . . . 314 



Modigliani : " Fra i Batacchi indipendenti " .... 314 



Badenoch : " Romance of the Insect World " . . . 314 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



The Postal Transmission of Natural History Speci- 

 mens. — Philip P. Calvert 314 



The Origin of Lake Basins.— John Aitken, F.R.S. ; 



R. S. Tarr 315 



Glacial Erosion in Alaska.— Prof. G. Frederick 



Wright 316 



On the Equilibrium of Vapour Pressure inside Foam. 



— Prof. G. F, Fitzgerald, F.R.S 316 



A Liquid Commutator for Sinusoidal Currents. — 



Prof. J. A. Ewing, F.R.S 317 



A Curiosity in Eggs. — E. Brown 317 



Richard Spruce, Ph.D., F.R.G.S. By A. R. W. . . 317 



Precious Stones. ( With Diagrams.) 319 



Notes 320 



Our Astronomical Column . — 



Jupiter's Satellites in 1664 323 



The U.S. Naval Observatory 324 



The Satellite of Neptune 324 



Geographical Notes 3^4 



The Large Fireball of January 25 324 



On a Meteorite from Gilgoin Station. {Illustrated.) 



By H. C. Russell, CM. G., F.R.S. . . ... 325 



Modern Mathematical Thought. By Prof. Simon 



Newcomb, F R. S 325 



University and Educational Intelligence 229 



Scientific Serials 329 



Societies and Academies .33° 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 332 



NO. 1266, VOL. 49] 



I 



