April 12, 1900] 



NATURE 



577 



horn, with one angle directed forwards. At the upper side of 

 the base of the beak is a bright red band of soft tissue, like an 

 attempt at a "comb," such as is possessed by an ordinary 

 rooster, only transversely placed; The whole is a handsome 

 bird of heavy gait, absolutely unable to use its wings for their 

 natural purpose of flying. Indeed, one of the interests of the 

 bird zDologically is that, like several nati\-e birds of New 

 Zealand, it is flightless, though its congeners in other countries 

 are able to fly. The Takahe is closely allied to the Pukeko, 

 and not far removed from the Brown Woodhen ; all these be- 

 long the family of Rails, which usually frequent more or less 

 marshy ground, and in countries other than New Zealand are 

 able to fly as well as other birds. On the other hand, the 

 Takahe can run very actively, and its powerful beak must be 

 a formidable weapon, which it could use with effect on enemies 

 when at close quarters. 



The specimen captured in 1898 is a young female, of practi- 

 cally the same size as the bird examined by Sir W. Buller 

 twenty years earlier. The first specimen of the bird ever cap- 

 tured was taken in 1849, and its skin is now in the British 

 Museum (Natural History). The second was caught in 1 851, 

 and is also in the British Museum collection. The third was 

 captured in 1879— nearly thirty years after the second had been 

 taken — and its remains were purchased by the Dresden Museum 

 for one hundred guineas. The specimen caugh^ in 1898 appears 

 to be much the best yet obtained, and as much as 300/. was 

 offered for it. The rarity of the Notornis and other members 

 of the New Zealand fauna makes it essential, as Sir W. Buller 

 points out in his paper, for naturalists to do everything in 

 their power to possess, if not a few living representatives, at 

 any rate a full life-history of the expiring forms. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



A COURSE of six free public lectures on " Prehistoric 

 Chronology " will be delivered by Prof. Montelius at University 

 College, London, on Tuesdays and Fridays at 4 p.m., beginning 

 on Friday, May 4. 



Mr. J. F. Hudson has been appointed mathematical 

 lecturer at University College, Bristol, in succession to Mr. 

 J. F. McKean, who has been appointed a mathematical lecturer 

 at the Royal Naval Engineering College, Devonport, Mr. 

 Hudson has for the past three years been assistant lecturer in 

 Jesus College, Oxford, and assistant demonstrator of physics in 

 the Oxford University Laboratory. 



Mr. W. Tucker, C.B., a principal assistant secretary to the 

 Board of Education, has retired from the service on reaching 

 the age of sixty-five. The following promotions have been 

 made in the office of the Board of Education : — Mr. J. White 

 (assistant secretary) to be a principal assistant secretary; Mr. 

 F. R. Fowke (assistant director for science), Mr. H. W. Hoare, 

 Mr. W. L Ritchie, and Mr. H. M. Lindsell to be assistant 

 secretaries. 



The following appointments have been made by the Irish 

 Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction : — To be 

 superintendent of statistics and intelligence branch, Mr. W. P. 

 Coyne, professor of political economy and jurisprudence, 

 University College, Dublin. To be inspector in agriculture, 

 Mr. J. S. Gordon, Department of Agriculture, Edinburgh 

 University, principal of the Cheshire County Council Agricul- 

 tural and Horticultural School. 



In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation 

 of the North London Collegiate School for Girls, and in honour 

 of the late Miss Francis Mary Buss, a jubilee number of the 

 school magazine was published on April 4. Mrs. Sophie Bryant, 

 D.Sc, describes the foundation and growth of the school, and 

 shows that it has been a very important factor in the develop- 

 ment of secondary education for women. During the past 

 twenty years 59 old students have passed Part I. of the Tripos 

 examinations of the University of Cambridge, and 7 have 

 passed Part II., while 10 have qualified for the ordinary degree. 

 It is noteworthy that 33 of the 59 who passed Part I. took 

 mathematics and natural science as their subjects, and 5 of tho5e 

 who went on to Part II. At Oxford University 9 old students have 



NO. 1589. VOL. 61] 



passed the Honours Moderations (8 taking mathematics), and 8 

 have passed Final Honours. The ^ollege has 1 16 old students 

 who are graduates of London University, 22 being Bachelors of 

 Science, 4 Bachelors of Medicine, 2 Poctors of Science, and I 

 Doctor of Medicine. Since the opening of the degrees of 

 London University to women, 1220 women have graduated, and 

 the North London Collegiate School claims 10 per cent, of this 

 number as old students. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, March. — 

 Prof. Pierpont, in an article on mathematical instruction in 

 France, gives an account of the way in which France is edu- 

 cating students who wish to become mathematicians,and indicates 

 rapidly what positions a talented young man may hope to reach, 

 how he attains them, and what his duties are in the various 

 stages of his progress. He subsequently calls attention to the 

 advantages which Americans can enjoy in studying mathematics 

 in France, particularly in Paris. The article should be useful. 

 — Prof. Ernest W.Brown reviews M. Poincare's " Cinematiqueet 

 Mecanismes, Potentiel et Mecanique des Fluides," the Annuaire 

 of the Bureau des Longitudes for 1900, and the " Elements of 

 Precise Surveying and Geodesy," by Mansfield Merriman. — Prof. 

 F. Morley gives a sketch of E. Duporcq's " Premiers principes de 

 Geometrie Moderne," a work to give students, who have some 

 acquaintance with analytic geometry, a liking for the purely geo- 

 metric point of view. — Prof. F. Cajori briefly notices " Opinions 

 et curiosites touchant la Mathematique d'apres les ouvrages 

 Fran^ais des xvi*-', xvii'', et xviii^ siecles," by G. Maupin (a 

 work, apparently, which merits a place in a modern " Budget of 

 Paradoxes"), and " La Mathematique : Philosophie, Enseigne- 

 ment," by C. A. Laisant. — The number closes with the usual 

 items of "Notes" and " Publications." 



The March issue of the Bulletin de la SociM Astronomique 

 de France contains an interesting article on solar and lunar 

 halos, with particulars and illustrations furnished by several con- 

 tributors. Reproductions are given of two excellent photographs 

 obtained by M. Basile de Balasny, at Poltava in Russia, one 

 showing distinctly the halo, the other a definite column of 

 light»appearing as a prolongation of the sun above the horizon, 

 the time being just after sunset. The same journal contains 

 four photographs of the eclipse of the moon, December 16, 

 1899, by M. I'Abbe Moreux ; M. Flammarion also continues his 

 illustrated series of naked eye drawings of the moon. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, March 29.— " Certain Laws of Variation." 

 By H. M, Vernon, M.A., M.D., Fellow of Magdalen College, 

 Oxford. Communicated by Prof. Lankester, F.R.S. 



In a former paper {Phil. Trans., B, 1895, p. 577) it was 

 shown that the ova of the Echinoid Strongylocentrotus lividus 

 were extraordinarily sensitive to their environmental conditions 

 at the time of impregnation. For instance, by keeping the 

 mixed ova and sperm in water at about 26° or 8° C. for an hour, 

 the plutei obtained after eight days' development were some 

 5 per cent, smaller than those from ova kept at about 20° at the 

 time of impregnation. 



By splitting up into groups the 20,600 measurements which 

 have been made from time to time on Strongylocentrotus larvae, 

 according to the amount of effect which had been produced in 

 their size by varying degrees of favourable and unfavourable en- 

 vironment, and by determining the average variability of the 

 larvte in each group, it was sought to prove the existence of a 

 law of variability. This may be worded as follows :— " An 

 organism varies least when it is best adapted to its surroundings, 

 so that the less it is adapted the more variable does it 

 become." 



Entomological Society, March 21.— Mr. C. O. Water- 

 house, Vice-President, in the chair.— Mr. R. McLachlan 

 exhibited an extraordinary aberration oi Enallagma cyathigerum^ 

 Charp. The remarkable feature consisted in the predominance 

 of black over blue in the coloration of the abdomen.— Mr. 



