On 
e) 
NATURE 
| MarcH 12, 1914 
that the contractile vascular system of vertebrates and 
its regulators, the chromaffine system and the sym- 
pathetic system, originally arose together in the annelid 
group. 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, February 19.— 
Mr. Bedford McNeill, president, in the chair.—H. W. 
Hutchin: The assay of tin ores. The work recorded 
in this paper is the result of a prolonged use and 
study by the author of the well-known Beringer assay 
of tin ores, and the essential modification introduced 
consists in the use of lime as a diluent in place of zinc 
oxide, thus forming calcium stannate, which is more 
readily soluble in warm hydrochloric acid than is 
zinc stannate. Temperature influences the speed of 
the reaction, and the author’s detailed experiments 
showed that the lime modification method was appre- 
ciably quicker than the zinc oxide method at ‘tin 
furnace’? temperatures. Experiments made with 
diluents other than those already mentioned, as, for 
instance, barium carbonate and magnesia, showed the 
general superiority of lime, except in cases where only 
a small proportion of siliceous mineral is present, in 
which event zinc oxide shows a superiority to lime. 
The tests made were varied by differentiating between 
“tin furnace’? and Bunsen burner temperatures, and 
the author’s final opinion is in favour of a large 
Techlu burner used in conjunction with an asbestos 
boss, as giving the best conditions for ignition.—E. A. 
Wraight and P. Litherland Teed: The assay of tin 
ores and concentrates : the Pearce Low method. The 
authors have carried out an exhaustive series of tests 
with regard to the accuracy of this particular method 
of assaying tin, the results of which are embodied in 
their joint paper. As a result they arrived at the 
following conclusions. The degree of fineness of the 
ore must be at least 100 mesh, otherwise a representa- 
tive sample cannot be obtained; nickel crucibles are 
superior to iron ones, and for tailings fusion in an iron 
crucible should be avoided; the amount of hydrochloric 
acid should be about 125 c.c.; the bulk of the solution 
before reduction should be about 400 c.c.; the tem- 
perature of the tin solution at titration should not be 
more than 70° F.; the strength of the standard solu- 
tion should not generally be more than 11 grams of 
iodine and 20 grams of potassium iodide per litre, or 
less than one-third of that strength; before titration 
the calcite should have entirely dissolved; titanium, 
tungsten, and bismuth must be removed; and copper 
and iron should in special circumstances also be 
removed before titration; and nickel should always be 
used for reduction. With the observance of these pre- 
cautions, the authors are of the opinion that the error 
should not exceed 2 Ib. of black tin a ton with rich 
ores, and less with poor ores.—W. P.  Dreaper : 
Formation of mineral deposits: precipitation and 
stratification in the absence of gels. This paper is a 
record of experiments made to determine whether the 
presence of gels is necessary to induce stratification, 
and for this purpose precipitation was conducted in 
capillary tubes, thereby avoiding certain disturbing 
influences. | Under these conditions the author has 
been able to obtain stratification effects in the absence 
of secondary gels added to one of the reacting solu- 
tions. The substances experimented with comprised 
lead chloride, lead ferrocyanide, lead sulphate, barium 
sulphate, barium carbonate, and lead sulphide, and 
the results seem to show that stratification may be 
independent of the presence of gels.—T. R. Archbold : 
A device for filling ore sacks. This is a description 
of a simple device introduced in an out-of-the-way 
district for filling sacks with ore. A drum is divided 
into six compartments, and used in conjunction with 
a hopper, in such a manner that the revolutions of 
NOW 23055 Vor. /93 | 
the drum serve to fill the compartments with a fixed 
amount of ore and deliver it into the sacks, six sacks 
being dealt with in each complete revolution.—E. O. 
Marks: A mining model. A description of a model 
constructed of iron, copper, and brass wire to show 
the direction and the extent of the workings of a 
mine. For convenience the block of ground is divided 
into unit sections of tooo ft. cube, reduced in the 
model to a scale of 100 ft. to the inch, and the skeleton 
cubes representing these units are successively fitted 
with brass and copper wires showing the direction and 
length of shafts, levels, crosscuts, etc. The advan- 
tage of a model of this type, apart from its graphic 
character, lies in the ease of extension as the mine 
undergoes development. 
Zoological Society, March 3.—Prof. E. W. MacBride, 
vice-president, in the chair.—C. Tate Regan: Fresh- 
water fishes from Dutch New Guinea collected by the 
British Ornithologists’ Union and Wollaston Expedi- 
tions. Symbranchus bengalensis was obtained for the 
first time in New Guinea. The collections included 
examples of two species of Melanotaniine Atherinids. 
—H. Wallis Kew: The nests of Pseudoscorpiones : 
with historical notes on the spinning-organs and 
observations on the building and spinning of the nests. 
The paper described the nests in which these animals 
enclose themselves for moulting, for brood purposes, 
and in some cases for hibernation. They are closed 
cells of spun tissue, with or without a covering of 
earthy or vegetable matters. The tissue is of innu- 
merable threads crossed and coalesced irregularly, 
without interspaces, and almost like silk-paper. With 
regard to the spinning-apparatus, confusion has 
existed; but the author’s observations on living animals 
place it beyond doubt that the cephalothoracic glands 
are the organs concerned. Contrary to previous state- 
ments, the ‘‘combs”’ of the chelicerae have nothing to 
do with the silk. The manner in which the nests are 
built and spun was described in detail—H. R. Hogg: 
A collection of spiders. The collection was made by 
Mr. P. D. Montague, supplemented by a few speci- 
mens sent by Mr. T. H. Haynes from the Montebello 
Islands off Onslow, on the north-west coast of Aus- 
tralia. These islands, from geological evidence, were 
part of the old coast-lines, though now about ninety 
miles away. Although the larger specimens are mostly 
widely spread and possibly more or less recent importa- 
tions, the smaller are nearly all new species, showing 
evidence of a much longer separation from their con- 
| generic relations on the mainland. Out of seventeen 
species ten are new, as well as a new genus and two 
new varieties.—D. M. S. Watson : The skull of a Paria- 
saurian reptile and the relationships of that type. The 
skull of Pariasaurus is completely described, with the 
exception of the bony labyrinth of the ear. It is com- 
pared with all the members of the order Cotylosauria, 
which are well enough known to make a comparison 
of any value, and shown to differ in the very impor- 
tant characters of the brain-case from all of them, 
representing an entirely distinct branch.—F. J. 
Meggitt: A tapeworm parasitic in the stickleback 
(Gasterosteus aculeatus).—Dr. W. Nicoll: Trematode 
parasites obtained from animals that died in the 
society’s gardens during 1911-12. ; 
Paris. 
Academy ef Sciences, March 2.—M. P. Appell in the 
chair.—F. Wallerant: The polymorphism of camphor. 
Crystals of camphor deposited at the ordinary tem- 
perature from an alcoholic solution are rhombohedral. 
Fused camphor may take three crystalline forms, so 
| that camphor is at least quadrimorphous.—C. Moureu 
and A. Lepape: The helium from fire-damp and the 
