2l6 



NATURE 



[June 26, 1890 



connected therewith, ought to be considered as normal ramifica- 

 tions." — On the influence exercised by the time of cutting upon 

 the production and development of shoots from the stocks in 

 underwood, by M. E. Bartet, — Influence of the peritoneal trans- 

 fusion of the blood of the dog upon the evolution of tubercu- 

 losis in the rabbit, by MM. J. Hericourt and Ch. Richet. — On 

 the antiseptic and antipeptic doses of various substances, by M'. 

 Andrea Ferranini. 



Berlin. 

 Physiological Society, June 6. — Prof, du Bois-Reymond, 

 President, in the chair. — Dr. Hagemann gave an account of his 

 experiments on proteid metabolism during pregnancy and lacta- 

 tion ; they were conducted upon two dogs supplied with a con- 

 stant nitrogenous diet. During the first half of the period of 

 pregnancy more nitrogen was excreted than was taken with the 

 food, so that the nitrogen requisite for the growth of the foetus 

 must have been derived from the tissue-proteids of the mother. 

 After this period the nitrogenous excretion sank to a condition 

 of equilibrium in the middle of pregnancy, and then fell further 

 until the birth of the offspring. Immediately after parturition 

 there was a very marked increase in the excretion of nitrogen, 

 followed by a sudden fall which led to the output being, during 

 four weeks' lactation, less than the in- take. — Prof. Zuntz made 

 a further communication respecting the intestinal fistulse which 

 he described at the previous meeting of the Society. As regards 

 the absorption of fats and fatty acids, he found that even the 

 finest and most uniform emulsions were not absorbed either 

 alone or with the addition of bile. When saponified, a marked 

 absorption of the soaps took place, but to a much less extent 

 than in normal animals ; neither was it increased by the addition 

 of glycerine. The results obtained were, on the whole, nega- 

 tive. The speaker put forward the view that the absorption of 

 fat in the intestine is dependent upon some at present unknown 

 function of the pancreas. 



Amsterdam. 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, May 31. — Mr. Max Weber 

 pointed out the characters of a true adult hermaphroditic finch 

 {Fringilla ccelebs), caught in the neighbourhood of Amsterdam. 

 The right side of the bird has the plumage of the adult male, 

 the left that of the adult female. The striking difference in the 

 ■colouring of the plumage on the two sides corresponds to an 

 internal co-existence of ovary and testis : the latter is, on the 

 male-coloured (right), the former on the female-coloured (left) 

 side. Both sexual glands, compared, also microscopically, with 

 the testis and ovary of normal finches, are anatomically wholly 

 normal, and able to produce male and female sexual elements. 

 The case seems to be an illustration of the dependence of sexual 

 colouring upon the nature of the sexual gland. — Mr. van Bemme- 

 len stated that Mr. Molengraaff had sent him a white substance 

 found in the high moor of Drenthe (Netherlands), denominated 

 by the moor-diggers as White Klien. It consists of 87 per cent, 

 carbonate of oxydulated iron, 6 per cent, carbonate of lime, and 

 8 per cent, vegetable matter. — Prof. Hubrecht gave a descrip- 

 tion of the early developmental stages in the shrew. In the 

 two-layered blastocyst the mesoblast makes its appearance : {a) 

 from the hypoblast under the anterior portion of the epiblastic 

 shield ; {b) from the primitive streak and its anterior prolonga- 

 tion ; if) from an annular zone of hypoblast below, but just out- 

 side the border of the epiblastic shield. The mesoblast from 

 these three sources very soon fuses into one continuous plate. 

 There appears to be considerable agreement between the facts 

 as presented by the shrew and those which Bonnet has described 

 for the sheep. The gastrulation process in the Mammalia was 

 then comparatively considered, and a theoretical interpretation 

 put forward, differing considerably from E. van Beneden's latest 

 hypothesis. 



Stockholm. 



Royal Academy of Sciences, June 11, — Spiders from the 

 Nicobar Islands and other parts of Southern Asia, mostly col- 

 lected during the voyage of the Danish war-ship Galatea in the 

 years 1845-47, described by Prof. T. Thorell. — On the remains 

 of a fish preserved since the year 1289 in the cathedral of 

 Wisby, and often mentioned in the old chronicles as a remark- 

 able curiosity, by Prof. F. A. Smitt. — Etude des conditions 

 meteorologiques a I'aide de cartes synoptiques representant la 

 densite de I'air, par Dr. N. Ekholm. — On an expedition which 

 has just started for Spitzbergen, by Baron A. E. Norden- 



NO. 1078, VOL. 42] 



skiold. This expedition consists of some young Swedish 

 naturalists who propose to make geological and zoological 

 researches. — On the fungi of Omberg and its neighbourhood in 

 Ostrogothia, by Herr L. Romell. — On the different kinds of 

 vegetation on the surface of the peat bogs of Southern Sweden, 

 by HerrG. Andersson. — Dendrological studies made in several 

 Swedish provinces, by Herr F. Laurell. — On the vegetation of 

 Norrbotten, by Dr. A. Lundstrom. — Botanical rambles in the 

 south-west of Jemtland in the summer of 1889, and description of 

 some Hieracia and Carices found, by Dr. M. Elfstrand. — On the 

 oxidation of the phenyl-methyl-triazol-carbon acid, i., by Dr. 

 J. A. Bladin. — On some ammoniacal platina combinations, by 

 Dr. O. Carlgren. — Critical remarks on the history of the vege- 

 tation of Greenland, by Prof. A. G. Nathorst.— Studies on the 

 Turbellaria and Nemertinse of the northern countries, by Dr. D. 

 Bergendal. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Catalogue of Stars observed at the U.S. Naval Observatory during the 

 Years 1845-77, 3rd edition : Prof. M. Yarnall and Prof E. Frisby (Wash- 

 ington).— Father Perry, F.R.S. : A. T-. Coriie (Catholic Truth Society).— 

 Travels in Africa during the Years 1875-78 : Dr. W. Junker, translated by 

 A. H. Keane (Chapman and Hall). — Nitrogen : its Uses and Sources in 

 Agriculture : C. M. Aikman (Glasgow, Wright). — A Handy Guide to the 

 Birds in the Bootle Museum : J. J. Ogle (Bootle). — Record of Experiments 

 in the Production of Sugar from Sorghum in 1889 : H. W. Wiley (Washing- 

 ton).— A Revised Account of the Experiments made with the Bashforth 

 Chronograph to find the Resistance of the Air to the Motion of Projectiles : 



F. Bashforih (Cambridge University Press). — Selected Subjects in Connec- 

 tion with the Surgery of Infancy and Childhood : E Owen (Bailliere). — The 

 Triumph of Philosophy : J. Gillespie (Dumfries).— A Hand-book of Descrip- 

 tive and Practical Astronomy; III. The Starry Heavens, ,jth edition: 



G. F. Chambers (Oxford, Clarendon Press). — Die Pflanzen und Thiere in 

 den Dunklen Raumen der Rotterdamer Wasserleitung ; H. de Vries (Jena, 

 Fischer).— Lehrbuch der EntwicklungsgescHichte des Menschen und der 

 Wirbelthiere : Dr. O. Hertwig (Jena, Fischer). — Oxford and Modern 

 Medicine : Sir H. W. Acland (Frowde). — The Quarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopical Science, June (Churchill). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Zoological Geography. By Dr. H. Gadow .... 193 



Jevons and Mill. By S. A 195 



The Washington Medical Library. By Dr. A. T. 



Myers 196 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Yeo : " Food in Health and Disease " 196 



" Fifth and Sixth Annual Reports of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian 



Institution" 197 



Draper : " Light, Heat, and Sound " 197 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Bourdon Gauge. —Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. . . 197 

 The Optics of the Lightning Flash.— Eric Stuart 



Bruce 197 



The Bagshot Beds of Essex.— Horace W. Monckton 198 



Electro-magnetic Repulsion. — W. B. Croft .... 198 



A Remarkable Appearance in the Sky. — M. E. . . 198 

 Problems in the Physics of an .Electric Lamp. L 



{Illustrated.) By Prof. J. A. Fleming 198 



Some Experiments on feeding Fishes with Nudi- 



branchs. By Prof. W. A. Herdman 201 



The Pulkova Refractor. By W. E. P 204 



Sir Warington W. Smyth, F.R.S 205 



Notes 205 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Objects for the Spectroscope. — A. Fowler 208 



Greenwich Spectroscopic Results 209 



The Rotation of Venus 209 



Geographical Notes 209 



The Ladies' Conversazione of the Royal Society . . 210 



The Sunday Society 211 



Scientific Serials 212 



Societies and Academies 213 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 216 



