288 



NA TURE 



[January 22, 1903 



Some hitherto unfigured Victorian land shells are also illustrated. 

 Finally, the species of Triforis dwelling on the coast of New 

 South Wales are reviewed, the total being raised from four to 

 fourteen, including nine new species. — Notes on Prosobranchiata, 

 No. ii., Littorinacea, by Mr. H. Leightcm Kesteven. While 

 studying the affinities of Fossarina and Risellopsis, the writer 

 found that Risella differed in important anatomical characters 

 from Littorina, the type genus of the family to which, in the 

 past, it had been assigned. As a result of studying Risella, 

 Littorina and Tectarius and comparing their anatomy with that 

 of other Ta;nioglossa, he has found it advisable to reclassify the 

 littorine groups thereof.— Notes on Australian Rhopalocera : 

 Lycienidse, part ii., by Mr. G. A. VVaterhouse. One species of 

 Pseudonotis and two of Philiris are described as new. — 

 Ngarrabul and other Australian tribe.', part i., medical and 

 surgical practice, by Mr. John MacPherson. Before the advent 

 of the white settler, the Blacks affirm that there was but little 

 sickness or disease of any kind. Tumours or neoplasms were 

 unknown. The work of the doctors was mainly surgical, and 

 consisted of the treatment of wounds or injuries — the result of 

 accident or sustained in warfare. Sorcery and witchcraft, how- 

 ever, occupied a prominent place in the practice of medicine. 

 Knocking out the incisor teeth, circumcision and subincision 

 were not in vogue among the Ngarrabul Blacks, and no instances 

 of perforation of the septum nasi were met with. Particulars 

 relating to the materia medica are recorded. — On the occurrence 

 of Monograptus in New South Wales, by Mr. T. S. Hall. The 

 occurrence of Graptolites in the Silurian rocks of Bowning and 

 Yass has already been recorded by Mr. John Mitchell in the 

 Society's Proceedings (18S6, p. 577; 1880, 150). A careful 

 study of the specimens on which these records were based shows 

 that they are undoubted examples of Monograptus. The im- 

 perfection of the specimens in the sicular region prevents 

 absolute identification, but, so far as can be made out, they 

 apparently belong to the group typified by M. dubius, which 

 ranges through almost the whole of the Lower Ludlow and 

 Wenlock in Britain. — On a new species of S)mplocos from New 

 South Wales, by Mr. R. T. Baker. This new Symplocos is a 

 small, glabrous shrub of about 6 to 9 feet high, and differs con- 

 siderably in general facies from the three species S. spicata, 

 Roxb., S. Stawelli, F.v.M., .S. paucistaminea, F.v.M., already 

 described from Australia. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, January 22. 



Royal Society, at 4.30. — Preliminary Note on the Relationships 

 between Sun-spots and Terrestrial Magnetism : Dr. C. Chree, F.R.S. 

 — Characteristics of Electric Earth-Current Disturbances, and their 

 •Origin : J. E. Taylor. — Solar Eclipse of 1900, May 28. General 

 Discussion of Spectroscopic Results : J. Evetshed. — Some Dielectric 

 Properties of Solid Glycerine : Prof. E. Wilson. — On the Electrodynamic 

 and Thermal Relations of Energy of Magnetisation : Dr. J. Larmor, 

 Sec. R.S. 



Society of Arts, at 4.30. — Indian Domestic Life : J. D. Rees. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — Pre-Phcenician Writing in Crete and its 

 Bearings on the History of the Alphabet : Dr. A. J. Evans, F.R.S. 



Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Discussion on the 

 Metric System. Opened by Mr. Alexander Siemens, in favour of the 

 Metric System, and by Sir Frederick liramwell, Hart., in favour of the 

 British System. 



FRIDAY, January 23. 



Royal Institution, at 9. — Recent Volcanic Eruptions: Dr. Tempest 

 Anderson. 



Physical Society, at 5.— On ihe Oscillating Table for determining 

 Moments of Inertia: W. H. Derriman. — Note on an Elementary 

 Treatment of Conducting Network: Prof. L. R. Wilberforce. — On the 

 Theory o( the Quadrant Electrometer : G. W. Walker. 



SATURDAY, January 24. 

 Mathematical Association, at 2.— On son e Class Diagrams for Intui- 

 tional Geometry : E. M. I angley. — On the Representation of Imaginary 

 Points on a Plane by Real Points : Prof. A. Lodge. — Incommensurables 

 by Means of Continuous Decimals : Edwin Budden. 



MONDA Y, January 26 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30.— Irrigation and Colonisation 

 n British East Africa : R. B. Buckley. 



Institute of Actuaries, at 5. — Temporary Assurances: W. P. 



Elderton. ■ 



TUESDA Y, January 27. 



Roval Institution, at 5.— The Physiology of Digestion : Prof. Allan 



Macfadyen. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8. — The Nile Reservoir, Assuan : 



M Fitzmaurice, C.M.G.— Sluices and Lock-Gates of the Nile Reservoir, 



Assuan : F. W. S. Stokes. 

 Anthropological Institute, at 8. — Presidential Address. The Position 



of Anthropslogy and its Needs : Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. 



IVEDNESDA Y, January 28. 



Society of Arts, at 8.— The Cost of Municipal Trading : Dixon H 

 Davies. 



THURSDAY, January 29. 



Royal Society, at ^.^o.—P>-obnble Papers:— Relation between Solar 

 Prominences and Terrestrial Magnetism: Sir Norman Lockyer, F.R.S., 

 and Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer. — On the Bending of Electric Waves round 

 a Conducting Obstacle : H. M. Macdonald, F.R.S.— On the Decline 

 of the Injury Current in Mammalian Nerve, and its Modification by 

 Changes of Temperaiure : Miss S. C. M Sowton and J. S. Macdonald. 



Royal Institution, at 5. — Pre-Phcenician Writing in Crete and its 

 Bearings on the History of the Alphabet : Dr. A. J. Evans. 



FRIDA Y, January 30. 



Royal Institution, at 9.— Vibration Problems in Engine* ring Science : 



Prof. W. E. Dal by. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8.— The Design of the Electrical 



Equipmen of a Light Railway : J. R. Macintosh. 



CONTENTS. page 



Radiation and Spectroscopy. By Prof. Arthur 



Schuster, F.R.S 265 



The Mammals of Egypt. By R. L 266 



The Terpenes. By Dr. F. Mollwo Perkin 267 



Experimental Phonetics. By Prof. John G. 



McKendrick, F.R.S 268 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Moureu : "Notions fondamentales de Chimie or- 



ganique."— R. M 269 



" Penrose's Pictorial Annual, 1902-3" 270 



" The Zoological Record for 1 901 " 270 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Biology in Universities. — Sir Oliver Lodge, 



F.R.S.; Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S. ... 270 

 Genius and the Struggle for Existence. — G. W. Bul- 



man ; Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S 270 



A Pot of Basil. — Prof. Percy Groom 271 



The Mismanagement of London University Library. 



—By F. H. Perry-Coste 271 



Recent Earthquakes in Guatemala. — Edwin Rock- 



stroh • 271 



Prof. Lorenz's Treatment of Congenital Disloca- 

 tion of the Hips 272 



The Egyptian Medical Congress ' 273 



The Vaccination Acts 274 



Rev. Dr. H. W. Watson, F.R.S. By Prof. G. H. 



Bryan, F.R. b 274 



Dr. H. E. Schunck, F.R.S. By A. G. P 275 



Notes. {Illustrated.) 275 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



New Comet 1903 <j (Giacobini) 280 



Comet 1902 d 280 



The Relation between Faculoe and Prominences . . 280 

 Spectrographic Determination of the Rotation Period 



of Jupiter 280 



The Photography of Stellar Regions 2S0 



The Formation of Pearls. {Illustrated.) By Dr. H. 



Lyster Jameson 280 



The Movements of Glaciers 282 



The Science of Astronomy. By Prof. Asaph Hall 282 

 The Association of Public School Science Masters. 



By Wilfred Mark Webb 2S4 



University and Educational Intelligence 285 



Scientific Serial 2S5 



Societies and Academies. {Illustrated.) 285 



Diary of Societies 288 



NO, 1734, VOL. 67] 



