FAPRILA 2, 1914 | 
has endeavoured to show that the tubes are dentinal 
tubes and not an enamel product, and that the pene- 
tration. of the dentinal fibril results from the late and 
imperfect calcification of the cement substance be- 
tween the prisms.—W. T. Lockett: Oxidation of thio- 
sulphate by certain bacteria in pure culture. In the 
course of investigations on the oxidation of thio- 
sulphate on bacterial sewage filters, it was found that 
the oxidation was due largely to the presence of living 
organisms. Experiments were undertaken with a 
view to the isolation of the organism or organisms 
capable of bringing about this oxidation.—A. E. 
Everest: The production of anthocyanins and antho- 
cyanidins. The question of the production of Antho- 
cyan pigments from the yellow pigments of the flavone 
and flavonol class is discussed. Evidence is brought 
forward to show that the Anthocyan pigments must 
be regarded as reduction products of flavone or flavonol 
derivatives, and that they are readily produced as 
glucosides from the glucosides of the yellow com- 
pounds without intermediate hydrolysis.—A. 
Walton : Variations in the growth of adult mammalian 
tissue in autogenous and homogeneous plasma. This 
paper considers the results of experiments performed 
to obtain information as to the presence in plasma of 
substances inhibitory to the growth of tissue. Several 
tissues were used and several plasmata were investi- 
gated.—E. C. Grey : (1) The decomposition of formates 
by B. coli communis; (2) the enzymes which are con- 
cerned in the decomposition of glucose and mannitol 
by B. coli communis.—Surg.-General Sir D. Bruce, 
Major A. E, Hamerton, Captain D. P. Watson, and 
Lady Bruce: (1) description of a strain of Trypano- 
soma brucei from Zululand. Part i.—Morphology. 
Part ii.—Susceptibility of animals. Part iii—Develop- 
ment in Glossina morsitans. (2) The Trypanosoma 
causing disease in man in Nyasaland. Part iii.— 
Development in Glossina morsitans. 
Linnean Society, March 19.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, 
president, in the chair.—Dr. E. F. Armstrong: The 
bearing of chemical facts on genetical constitution. 
The subjects dealt with were :—(1) The relation of 
enzymes to colour inheritance in plants; (2) the nature 
of oxydases; (3) the anthocyan pigments of plants and 
their mode of formation; (4) other plant pigments; 
(5) An hypothesis as to the relation between the 
several members of an epistatic series of pigments. 
DUBLIN. 
Royal Dublin Society, February 24.—Dr. J. H. Pollok 
in the chair.—Prof. G. H. Carpenter and T. R. Hewitt : 
The reproductive organs and first-stage larva of the 
warble-fly (Hypoderma). Descriptions with figures of 
the reproductive organs of both sexes of Hypoderma 
bovis are given, and comparative studies of the ovi- 
positor and external male genitalia in H. bovis and 
H. lineatum have been made, very definite specific 
characters being apparent. The male genitalia of 
Hypoderma are symmetrical, and apparently more 
primitive than the corresponding structures in the 
blow-fly or house-fly, three pairs of gonapophyses 
being well developed. There are evidently ten seg- 
ments in the abdomen of the male H. lineatum. The 
newly hatched larva of the warble-fly is exceedingly 
spiny, and provided with strong mouth-hooks and a 
sharp median piercer connected with the pharyngeal 
sclerites. In this stage the larva offers a marked con- 
trast to the almost smooth second instar which is 
found in the wall of the ox’s gullet.—J. E. Collin: 
Notes on the specimens of Borborida and some 
Ephydride in the Haliday collection in the National 
Museum, Dublin. The paper gives details of Hali- 
day’s type specimens, accompanied with systematic 
and synonymic notes. Many of the specimens are still 
in excellent condition after a lapse of eighty years. 
NOM 228s, VOL AO3 | 
NATURE 
127 
EDINBURGH. 
Royal Society, February 16.—Prof. J. Geilsie, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Dr. M’Whan: The axial inclina- 
tion of curves of thermoelectric force : a case from the 
thermoelectrics of strained wire. The author found 
that when the thermoelectric force, for a given tem- 
perature difference, between strained and unstrained 
nickel was compared with the load, the relation was 
represented by a parabola the axis of symmetry of 
which was inclined to the coordinate axes, thus obtain- 
ing for the relation between electromotive force and 
longitudinal stress a relation similar to that which 
Mr. Hamilton Dixon had established for electromotive 
force and temperature.—A. R. Fulton; Rupture strains 
in beams and crane hooks. A modified theory as to 
the strains in bending as the elastic limits were ap- 
proached was tested and verified by experiments on 
the rupture of beams and hooks.—Dr. H. A. Haig: 
A description of the systematic anatomy of a Feetal 
Sea leopard (Stenorhynchus leptonyx), with remarks 
upon the microscopic anatomy of some of the organs : 
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. The foetus 
investigated had attained about one-third of its intra- 
uterine development, and was 122 mm. in length. 
The flippers were well formed, as also the nostrils and 
eyelids. Points of special interest were described in 
connection with the cerebellum, the heart, the position 
of the cecal diverticulum, and the pituitary gland. 
The placentation of the seals resembled that of the cat 
or dog, the placenta being of the zonary type. A 
general survey of the developmental aspects indicated 
that certain organs of brain, internal ear, and pituitary 
were, comparatively speaking, more advanced than 
the same organs of the three-months human _ feetus. 
Further investigation, more especially of the earlier 
stages, would be of great interest in connection with 
the pituitary gland and the kidney. the latter organ 
being of the type in which separate renal pyramids 
are met. 
March 2.—Sir E. A. Schafer, -vice-president, in the 
chair._Sir Thomas Oliver and T. M. Clague : Electro- 
lytic method of treatment for blood poisoning.—Sir 
William Turner : The aborigines of Tasmania. Part iii. 
The hair of the head compared with that of other 
Ulotrichi, and with Australians and Polynesians. The 
paper consisted of a detailed examination of ulotrichous 
hair—that is, woolly or frizzly hair—as it is found in 
various African races, in the aborigines of Tasmania, 
New Guinea, and the Melanesian Islands, and in the 
Negritos of the Malay Peninsula, etc. The com- 
parison was based upon the author’s observations and 
measurements of the specimens which formed the col- 
lection in the anatomical museum of the University 
of Edinburgh, a collection which had been made over 
a number of years for the purposes of anthropological 
study. 
MANCHESTER. 
Literary and Philosophical Society, March 10.—Mr. 
Francis Nicholson, president, in the chair.—Prof. 
Edmund Knecht and Miss Eva Hibbert: /-Pimaric 
acid from French rosin. The authors described a 
method of obtaining lavo-pimaric acid from French 
rosin in a chemically pure state and in considerable 
bulk. Further, the composition, molecular weight, 
and the more important physical constants of the 
acid have been determined. The acid appears to be 
a derivative of the terpene or the camphene series. 
If treated for some time to the temperature of the 
boiling point of aniline (183° C.) the acid is converted 
into an anhydride resembling ordinary rosin in appear- 
ance. On dissolving this in alcohol or glacial acetic 
acid hydrolysis ensues, and an_ optically inactive 
(racemic) acid is obtained, possessing the remarkable 
