December 15, 1904] 



NA TURE 



16.5 



of Lancashire, and was found at Shore Littleborough, a 

 locality rich in petrified remains, now being opened up by 

 the enterprise of tfie owner, Mr. W. H. Sutcliffe. 



The close affinity of the strobilus with Sphenophyllum is 

 shown by the anatomy of the axis, which has the solid 

 triarch wood characteristic of that genus, and by the fact that 

 the whorled sporophylls are divided into dorsal and ventral 

 lobes, as in all other known fructifications of this class. 

 But whereas, in all the forms hitherto described, the lower 

 or dorsal lobes are sterile, forming a system of protective 

 bracts, while the ventral lobes alone bear the sporangia ; 

 in the new cone, dorsal and ventral lobes are alike fertile, 

 and no sterile bracts are differentiated. On this ground 

 the name Sphenophyllum fertile is proposed for the new 

 species. 



Each lobe of the sporophyll divided palmately into several 

 segments, the sporangiophores, each of which consisted of 

 a slender pedicel, terminating in a large peltate lamina, 

 on which two pendulous sporangia were borne. In the 

 bi-sporangite character of the sporangiophores, and in other 

 details of structure, Sphenophyllum fertile approaches the 

 Bowmanites Romeri of Count Solms-Laubach, while in the 

 form and segmentation of the sporophylls there is a con- 

 siderable resemblance to the Lower Carboniferous genus 

 Cheirostrobus. 



The wall of the sporangium has a rather complex struc- 

 ture, the most interesting feature in which is the well 

 defined small-celled stomium, marking the line of longi- 

 tudinal dehiscence. 



The spores, so far as observed, are all of one kind ; they 

 are ellipsoidal in form, with longitudinal crests or ridges ; 

 their dimensions are ')o-<)6ix in length by 65-70^ in width. 



The most characteristic point in the structure of the new 

 cone — the fertility of both dorsal and ventral lobes of the 

 sporophyll — is regarded as more probably due to special 

 modification than to the retention of a primitive condition. 



" On the Presence of Tyrosinases in the Skins of some 

 Pigmented Vertebrates. — Preliminary Note." By Florence 

 M. Durham. 



An extract can be made from the skins of certain pig- 

 mented animals (rabbits, rats, guinea-pigs and chickens) 

 which will act upon tyrosin and produce a pigmented sub- 

 stance. This action suggests the presence of a tyrosinase 

 in the skins of these animals. 



The action of the tyrosinase is destroyed by boiling, does 

 not take place in the cold, is delayed by time, requires a 

 temperature of about 37" C, and also the presence of an 

 activating substance such as ferrous sulphate to start it. 



The coloured substances produced are in accordance with 

 the colour of the animals used. Black substances are 

 obtained, when animals with black pigment in their skins 

 are used, and yellow substance, when the sliin contains the 

 orange pigment. The coloured substances are soluble in 

 alkalis, but insoluble in acids. 



Anthropological Institute, November22. — Mr. H. Balfour, 

 president, in the chair. — Dr. Ed. Westermarck read a 

 paper on the magic origin of Moorish designs. The designs 

 are largely derived from charms against the evil eye. .\ Moor 

 protects himself against the evil eye of another person by 

 stretching out the five fingers of his right hand, saying, 

 " five in your eye." The object of this gesture is to throw 

 back the evil power, l-bas, which has emanated from the 

 other person's eye. The number five by itself has thus come 

 to be regarded as a charm against the evil look. This was 

 illustrated by a number of lantern slides, showing charms, 

 and designs grown out of charms. Silver amulets contain- 

 ing a double five grouped in the form of a cross, with a 

 piece of blue glass as a common centre, are in frequent use. 

 Magic efficacy is attributed to the cross, not only because 

 it represents a five, but also, as it seems, because it is 

 regarded as a conductor for baneful energy, which is dis- 

 persed by it in all the quarters of the wind. The double 

 five is often represented as an eight-petalled rosette, or a 

 double cross, with or without a well marked centre. By 

 joining the extremities of the lines which form each of the 

 two crosses, two intersecting squares are produced ; they 

 are probably intended to represent a pair of eyes. By paint- 

 ing over all the lines which fall within the two intersecting 

 squares, or by hollowing the two squares, the artist pro- 

 duces an empty octagon. The two crosses may also be of 



NO. 18.33, '^'OL. 71] 



different lengths, and then the joining of the extremities 

 of each cross gives rise to two squares, of which the one 

 is inscribed in the other. The tendency to produce the 

 number five double as double five, an eight petalled rosette, 

 a double cross, or a double square seems to be due to the 

 fact that the protective gesture is sometimes performed 

 both with the right and left hand. By doubling each petal 

 in the eight-petalled rosette, the sixteen-petalled rosette has 

 been produced. The image of an eye or a pair of eyes is 

 also used to throw back the baneful energy emanating from 

 an evil eye. The eye is sometimes represented as round, 

 sometimes as a triangle (the two intersecting triangles 

 seem to represent a pair of eyes), sometimes with a triangular 

 eyebrow. A row of triangular eyes and eyebrows, or of 

 eyebrows alone, is a common design on carpets. 



Geological Society, November 23. — Dr. J. E. Marr, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — On an ossiferous 

 cavern of Pleistocene age at Hoe-Grange Quarry, Long- 

 cliffe, near Brassington (Derbyshire) : H. H. Arnold- 

 Bemrose and E. T. Ne^wton, F.R.S. The quarry is 

 situated near the top of the plateau, at about iioo feet 

 above Ordnance-datum. The cave is evidently a master- 

 joint in the limestone, enlarged by water, and, besides being 

 a swallow-hole, has served as a hysena-den. The large 

 number of mammalian remains found includes lion, hyeena, 

 rhinoceros, Elephas, and other Pleistocene forms ; but, be- 

 sides these, there were numerous bones and teeth of fallow- 

 deer, mi.xed with the Pleistocene remains at all horizons in 

 the cave. The physical conditions are such as to preclude, 

 as the authors think, any idea of a re-deposition of the bones 

 at any date subsequent to the Pleistocene period ; and it is 

 concluded, therefore, that the fallow-deer (Ccrvus dama) 

 was a Pleistocene species, although hitherto supposed to be 

 a much later introduction. — The superficial deposits and pre- 

 Glacial valleys of the Northumberland and Durham Coal- 

 field : D. Woolacott. Six volumes, published by the 

 North-of-England Institute of Mining and Mechanical 

 Engineers, contain a large number of borings made in the 

 northern coalfield. A considerable proportion of these are 

 most valuable in showing the nature and distribution of the 

 superficial deposits. From them and from field-mapping it 

 is possible to form a fairly accurate conception of the pre- 

 Glacial floor of the district and its drainage, and also of the 

 relative changes of level before, during, and after the Glacial 

 period. 



Zoological Society, November 29. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger, 

 F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — Observations on the 

 field natural history of the lion made during seventeen years 

 of travel and residence in Central Africa ; Captain Richard 

 Crawshay. — Some nudibranchs from East Africa and 

 Zanzibar, part vi. : Sir Charles Eliot. The paper contained 

 an account of thirty species and varieties, of which eight of 

 the former and one of the latter were described as new. 

 — Some photographs of giraffes and a zebra taken from 

 pictures in the art collection at Windsor Castle, and an old 

 print of a zebra dated 1762 : R. Lydekker. Mr. Lydekker 

 was of opinion that the picture and print of the zebra had 

 been taken from the same animal. — Two specimens of 

 lorises, one a slow loris (Nycticebus) and the other a slender 

 loris (Loris), recently acquired by the British Museum : R. 

 Lydekker. The latter specimen was pointed out to be 

 sufficiently different from the typical L. gracilis to be 

 entitled to subspecific rank. — The morphology and classifi- 

 cation of the Asellota group of crustaceans, with descrip- 

 tions of the genus Stenetrium and its species : Dr. H. J. 

 Hansen. — The lizard Lacerta depressa of Camerano and 

 its varieties : G. A. Boulengrer, F.R.S. — A small collection 

 of fresh-water Entomostraca from South Africa : R. 

 Gurney. The collection comprised examples of five species, 

 three of which were described as new. — The cranial 

 osteology of the Egyptian mastigure {Urohiastix spinipes) : 

 F. E. Beddard, F.R.S. 



Chemical Society, December I. — Prof. W. A. Tilden, 

 F.R.S., in the chair. — The nitrites of the alkali and alkaline 

 earth metals and their decomposition by heat : P. C. Ray. 

 These nitrites are shown to be comparatively stable, and 

 their aqueous solutions can be evaporated to dryness without 

 decomposition or oxidation taking place. When barium 

 nitrite is heated it is first converted into barium oxide and 



