33 



NA TURE 



[February 5, 190; 



The table shows that the " very good " and " good " nights, 

 taken together, included little more than one-fourth of the 

 aggregate number of observations during which the state of 

 definition was recorded. 



Though frequently marred by bad atmospheric conditions, 

 a number of very interesting formations were visible on the 

 planet in 1902. Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the 

 opposition was the very marked acceleration which occurred in 

 the rate of motion of the great red spot. The longitude of this 

 marking in April, 1902, was 46°, but early in January, 1903, it 

 had declined to 37°, and the resulting mean rotation period 

 during about eight months was 9h. 55m. 395., or 3 seconds 

 less than the period in 1S99, when it was nearly 9h. 55m. 42s. 

 The following diagram will exhibit the changes in the longitude 

 of the spot during the last five years : — 



The equatorial region of Jupiter was very brilliant during 

 the past opposition, and the interval separating the dark belts on 

 either side of it seemed filled with glowing material. The 

 usual dark and white spots were distributed along the north 

 side of the south equatorial belt, and the mean rotation period 

 of these was found to be 9I1. 50m. 26s. 7, or about 2i seconds less 

 than last year. The observations indicate that this equatorial 

 current became rather suddenly accelerated towards the close 

 of the opposition. It will therefore be rather important to 

 determine its rate as early as possible in the ensuing spring, 

 when Jupiter reappears in the morning sky. It will also be 

 interesting to observe the position of the red spot in order to 

 find whether the recent marked increase in its motion has been 

 maintained. W. F. Denning. 



SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH. 



CIR OLIVER LODGE, in the course of his address before 

 *-* the Society for Psychical Research on Friday last, said that 

 a few friends who desired to remiin anonymous had started an 

 endowment fund, amounting at present to 2000/., in order to 

 set the Society upon a sound and permanent basis, and in order 

 to provide the material means of attacking the problems which 

 the future might bring before them. As soon as a capital sum 

 of Sooo/. had been attained, it was proposed to offer a research 

 scholarship in psychical science, to which a holder, irrespective 

 of sex or nationality, might be appointed for one year and from 

 year to year as might seem good, his or her time to be devoted 

 to the work of psychical investigation. When practical benefits 

 could be definitely foreseen, people felt justified in spending money 

 even on science, though as a rule that and education were things 

 on which they were specially economical. 



And why should not psychical investigation lead to practical 

 results ? Were we satisfied with our treatment of criminals ? 

 Were we, as civilised people, content to grow a perennial class 

 of habitual criminals and to keep them in check only by methods 

 appropriate to savages — hunting them, flogging them, locking 

 them up and exterminating them ? Any savage race in the 

 history of the world could do as much as that, and if they knew 

 no better, they were bound to do it for their own protection. 

 Society could not let its malefactors run wild any more than it 

 could release its lunatics. Until it understood these things, it 

 must lock them up ; but the sooner it understood them the 

 better. Force was no remedy ; intelligent treatment was. 

 Who could doubt but that a study of obscure mental facts would 



NO. 1736, VOL. 67] 



lead to a theory of the habitual criminal, to the tracing of his 

 malady as surely as malaria had been traced to the mosquito? 

 And, once we understood the evil, the remedy would follow. 

 It was unwise and unscientific to leave prisoners merely to the 

 discipline of warders and to the preaching of chaplains. That 

 was not the way to attack a disease of the body politic. He 

 had no full-blown treatment to suggest, but he foresaw that 

 there would be one in the future. Society would not be con- 

 tent always to go on with these methods of barbarism ; the 

 resources of civilisation were not really exhausted, though for 

 centuries they had appeared to be. The thing demanded care- 

 ful study on the psjchical side, and it would be a direct outcome 

 of one aspect of their researches. The influence of the un- 

 conscious or subliminal self, the power of suggestion, the influence 

 of one mind over another — these were not academic or scientific 

 facts alone ; they had a deep practical bearing, and sooner or 

 later it must be put to the proof. 



They sought to unravel the nature and hidden powers of 

 man ; and a fuller understanding of the attributes of humanity 

 could not but have some influence on our theory of divinity it- 

 self. If any scientific society was worthy of encouragement and 

 support, it should surely be that. If there was any object worthy 

 the patient attention of humanity, it was surely these great and 

 pressing problems of whence, what and whither that had occu- 

 pied the attention of prophet and philosopher since time was. 

 The discovery of a new star, or a marking in Mars, or of a new 

 element, or a new extinct animal or plant was interesting. 

 Surely the discovery of a new human faculty was interesting 

 too? Already the discovery of telepathy constituted the first 

 fruits of that society's work, and it had laid open the way to the 

 discovery of much more. Their aim was nothing less than the 

 investigation and better comprehension of human faculty, human 

 personality and human destiny. 



THE MEXICAN AXOLOTE 



\X7"HEN I was in Mexico during the last summer, I naturally 

 paid attention to the Axolotl question, a problem which in 

 spite of, or perhaps because of, the various articles written on this 

 subject has remained in a state of confusion. I am now able to 

 make statements which will afford a solution. 



In the normal course of events, Amblystoma spawns in the 

 water and the larv.e metamorphose into the entirely lung- 

 breathing, terrestrial creature which alone is sexually ripe. 



A. tigrinum, the image of the Axolotl, has a wide distribution, 

 ranging from New York to Colorado and to the valley of 

 Mexico. Velasco, 1 received metamorphosing larvae of the typical 

 .-). tigrinum Irom the little lake Santa Isabel, near Guadeloupe, 

 about five miles north of the capital. There is no reasonable 

 doubt that this species occurs in the perfect form in various other 

 parts of the valley of Mexico, for instance, around Lake 

 Zumpango. A sure sign of the approaching metamorphosis is 

 the appearance of large yellow, irregular patches on the surface, 

 which is at first uniformly dark. By some individuals, this adult 

 coloration is assumed early, when the larvce are less than half 

 grown ; in others it is delayed. 



There are various places in Mexico and in the United States 

 where not all the larvx metamorphose. Some remain more or 

 less uniformly dark, retain their gills and fins, but become 

 sexually ripe. Such typical Axolotl occur side by side with meta- 

 morphosing and with metamorposed specimens. Examples : — 

 The Natural History Museum at South Kensington possesses a 

 gravid female, a big typical Axolotl from Anclan, Jalisco ; from 

 the same locality are four half-grown larv* which have assumed 

 the tiger spots, a sure sign of approaching metamorphosis. 

 There are further, from St. Mary's Lake, Estes Park, Colorado, 

 7400 feet altitude, two full-grown perennibranchiate males in 

 breeding condition and one big female. Lastly, from the 

 Cumbre de los Arrastrados, Jalisco, S500 feet, there are several 

 young larvje of the unmistakable spotted type, and one large 

 male larva which is dark and spotless and with all the appear- 

 ance of not going to change. 



In a few favoured localities, none of the larv;e change into the 

 complete Amblystoma, but propagate as permanent Axolotl. 

 This applies to that clan of Amblystoma tigrinum which 

 inhabits some of the lakes near Mexico City. It is well known 



1 La Natural '. vol. iv. (1879), pp. 209-^33, pis. vii.-ix. \cf. also Spengel, 

 who gives a much con ■' with remarks upon Velasco's paper, 



Siolog. CentralAlatt, vol. ii. (1882), pp. 80-S3. 



