ii8 



NA TURE 



[June 4, 1903 



argument of the Deckenschotter and overlying gravel-ex- 

 posure in the Lorze Valley, apart from the difficulty of 

 differentiating the second and third glaciation materials in 

 that locality, it is hazardous to deduce from a local 

 phenomenon, and more especially from any dip of loose 

 gravel, the date of the zonal bending extending over mora 

 than 200 miles along the edge of the Alps. The author 

 suggests that the deep-level Limmat gravel beds were de- 

 posited by a river during the second inter-Glacial period ; 

 that the lowering of the valley floor was initiated in the 

 course of the third glaciation ; that the zonal subsidence con- 

 tinued throughout the retreat of the ice ; and that the simul- 

 taneous formation of the lake-basin should be assigned to 

 the end of the Glacial period. The same arguments aonly 

 also to the origin and age of the other principal zonal lake- 

 basins. In his view, the position and depth of these 

 basins, as well as the intervening ground, point to the 

 probability that the bending took place not only along one 

 line, but along several, that the bending was by no means 

 of uniform depth, and that therefore the Alps did not sub- 

 side as a rigid mass, but that the zonal bending along their 

 edge merely extended locally for some distance from the 

 deepest points of the lake-basins along the floors of the 

 principal Alpine river valleys. — On a shelly Boulder-clay 

 in the so-called palagonite formation of Iceland, by Helgi 

 Pjetursson. There is no equivalent in the Tertiary 

 basalt plateaux of Britain of the great palagonite form- 

 ation of Iceland. The basement layer of the breccia form- 

 ation, resting directly upon the basalts, contains glaciated 

 blocks of all sizes. These ground moraines are followed by 

 tufaceous sandstones, conglomerate, columnar basalts, other 

 ground moraines, and volcanic tuffs and breccias. At 

 Birlandshofdi a shelly Boulder-clay, 70 to 80 feet thick, 

 rests upon the fundamental basalt, which here shows a 

 glaciated surface. Unbroken shells are very rare. Astarte 

 borealis is the most common shell, and Saxicava arctica 

 and Mya truncata are less common, indicating that some 

 of the older moraines are of Pleistocene age. The author 

 concludes that volcanic activity did not pause in Iceland 

 during the Glacial period, but that it' was especially active 

 at the beginning and the close of glaciation. 



An'hropological Institute, May 5. — Mr. H. Balfour, 



the president, exhibited a stone celt, worn as an amulet, 

 from Benin ; some silver ex voto offerings from Malabar, and 

 a dagger from Siam, on the sheath of which were natural' 

 markings, interpreted by the natives to represent the name 

 of Allah.— Mr. A. L. Lewis read a paper on some stone 

 circles in Derbyshire. Mr. Lewis first dealt with the Arbor- 

 low circle, which has recently been excavated by Mr. Gray 

 under the auspices of the British Association. Like the 

 Avebury circle, Arborlow is surrounded by an embankment 

 outside a ditch, the latter, therefore, obviously not intended 

 for defensive purposes. All the stones are now flat, with 

 the exception of one which is leaning, and in consequence 

 of this it is extremely difficult to fix the circumferential 

 line or diameter. The general plan, however, is oval. Mr. 

 Lewis was of opinion that in the centre there was a group 

 of three upright stones opening to a point somewhat north 

 of east, and facing probably to the Beltane sunrise. A 

 skeleton — apparently a late interment — was found in the 

 centre, but part of the embankment on the south-east has 

 been formed into a tumulus, which was found to contain 

 an interment of the Bronze age. Mr. Lewis was of opinion 

 that sepulture was no part of the original purpose of the 

 monument. Mr. Lewis also referred to other Derbyshire 

 circles, including the " Wet Withins " and the " Nine 

 Ladies." With regard to the latter, he was of opinion that 

 the term " nine " as applied to standing stones simply meant 

 " holy," and in support of this view he cited several in- 

 stances of the sacred or mystic significance of the number. 

 — Mr. Lewris also read a paper on some notes on orientation. 

 He began by referring to the association — pointed out by 

 Dr. Rivers — between south and right in Welsh and other 

 languages, and considered that the reason was that, when 

 the connection first arose, the people, for some ceremonial 

 purpose, were accustomed to turn to the east on certain 

 occasions, when their right sides would become their south 

 sides, and he incidentally referred to the almost universal 

 practice of church-goers of turning to the east at the recita- 

 tion of the Creeds. He felt, therefore, that it was possible 



that the connection went no further back than the origin 

 of this present-day custom, but still it might have origin- 

 ated in far remoter periods. The Greeks looked upon the 

 right side as prosperous, while the Romans looked upon it 

 as unlucky ; but this was due to the fact that, while both 

 peoples looked upon the north-east. as the favourable quarter, 

 the Greeks in their auguries turned to the north, while the 

 Romans turned to the south. Mr. Lewis mentioned many 

 instances showing how the north was looked upon as un- 

 lucky and the south as lucky, but this belief is by no means 

 universal, and on the whole the north-east seems to be con- 

 sidered the most favourable quarter, and then the east. 

 Summarising, Mr. Lewis was of opinion that on the whole 

 the quarter from which the sunlight came was considered 

 most favourable, and that the question of the favourableness 

 of the right or left sides depended on the position taken up 

 at the ceremonies. In conclusion, Mr. Lewis referred to a 

 sort of symbolism of three and one which he had noticed 

 in several stone circles. In a small circle in the Isle of 

 Man there was a combination of one and three stones, but 

 in many instances natural objects — especially the peaks of 

 hills — have been used to suggest the symbolism. This is 

 particularly noticeable at the circle at Penmaenmawr, where 

 the Great Orme and two other hills make a trinity to the 

 north-east, and at the circle on Bodmin Moor, where the 

 three tips of Brown Willy are visible, due east of the circle, 

 over a low intervening ridge. 



Entomological Society, May 6.— Prof. E. B. Poulton,. 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Mr. Willoughby Gardner 

 exhibited nest cells of Osmia xanthomelana from Conway, 

 North Wales. He said the species, one of our rarer mason 

 bees, places its beautifully constructed pitcher-shaped cells 

 at the roots of grass, usually four or five together. There 

 is no previous record of the nest having been found since 

 Mr. Waterhouse discovered and described it from Liverpool 

 about sixty-five years ago. — Mr. M. Jacoby exhibited 

 Arsoa longimana, Fairm., and A. aranea, from Madagascar, 

 the only other specimens of these species he knew of being 

 in the British Museum collection. He also exhibited Mega- 

 lopus melipona, Bates, and M. pilipes from the Amazon, 

 which bore a remarkable resemblance to a bee. — Mr. A. J. 

 Chitty exhibited Hydroporus bilineatus, Sturm., a water- 

 beetle new to Britain, discovered by Mr. Edward Water- 

 house among some specimens of Hydroporus from Deal, 

 given by Mr. Chitty to him as H. granularis. He also ex- 

 hibited a specimen of the rare Ttechus rivularis (incilis of 

 Dawson), taken at Wicken Fen in August, 1900. — Mr. O. E. 

 Janson exhibited specimens of Neophaedimus melaleitcus, 

 Fairm., a goliath beetle from Upper Tonkin, and remarked 

 that the white colouring was derived from a dense clothing 

 of peculiar semi-transparent coarse scales which were 

 apparently easily removed by abrasion, and seemed to par- 

 take of the nature of the " fugitive " scales found upon 

 freshly-emerged specimens of Hemaris and other Lepi- 

 doptera. — The president read a communication from Mr. 

 G. F. Leigh on protective resemblance and other modes 

 of defence adopted by the larvae and pupee of Natal Lepi- 

 doptera. He also exhibited the cocoons of Eublemmistis 

 ■ chlorozonea to illustrate the paper. Prof. Poulton also 

 showed a specimen of Polygonia C-album in the attitude of 

 prolonged repose, together with specimens of Anaea moeris 

 set in different ways to illustrate its probable resting posi- 

 tion. He said that probably the " C " or " comma " on 

 the under surface of the hind-wings in butterflies belonging 

 to the genus Polygonia (Grapta) represented in bright, 

 strongly-reflecting " body-colour " the light shining through 

 a semi-circular rent in a fragment of dead leaf.— Mr. 

 G. A. J. Rothney communicated descriptions of twelve new 

 genera and species of Ichneumonidae, and three new species 

 of Ampulex from India, by Peter Cameron. 



Linnean Society, May 7.— Prof. S. H. Vines, F.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — The Ingolfiellidae, fam. n. ; a new 

 type of Amphipoda, by Dr. H. J. Hansen. The greatest 

 depth explored by the Danish Ingolf expedition in the 

 summers of 1895 and 1896 was that of 1870 fathoms, a little 

 south of the entrance to Davis Strait. A small quantity of 

 bottom material showed several forms new to science, 

 amongst which was a single specimen, having a likeness 

 to the Caprellidae, but with pleopods markedly differing 

 from those of any known Amphipod. Some years later the 



^O- i753> VOL. 68] 



