Jan. II, 1872] 



NATURE 



215 



M. Emile Joly to the effect that I,atrei!le's supposed crustaceous 

 genus, Prosopostoma. is probably founded upon the immature 

 condition of certain EphciiicriJa:. — Mr. Butler read a paper "On 

 certain species oi Pcncopidcs " — Mr. F. Smith read a letter from 

 Mr. J. T. Moggridge with reference to the habits of some species 

 of ants belonging to the genus Aphcnogastcy, as observed at 

 Mentone in the winter. Mr. Moggridge affirmed that those ants 

 harvested the seeds of various plants in ciiambei's, sometimes ex- 

 cavated in solid rock. lie had seen thein busily engaged in 

 conveying the seeds into these chambers, and found that, in most 

 cases, the radicle was bitten off, so as to prevent germination ; 

 but he had also observed sprouted seeds being brought out again 

 as apparently unfitted for store purposes. Many of the seeds 

 had their contents extracted through a hole in one side, and 

 though he had not actuilly seen the ants feeding upon them, 

 he was inclined to believe that the stores were made for the 

 purpose of providing food in the winter months. 



Society of Biblical Archaeology, January 2 — Mr. S. 

 Birch, president, in the chair. — A p.aper entitled " Hebroeo- 

 yEgyptian in Hebrew-Egyptian Analogues," contributed by M. 

 Fran9ois Chabas, Membre de I'lnstitut, and translated for the 

 society by Mr. E. R. Hodges, was read by the translator. In 

 this the learned Egyptologisf, having enumerated the various 

 sources and original texts from which his materials were taken, 

 proceeded to consider the various moral and religious parallelisms 

 of the Egyptians and Hebrews under three distinct sections : ( i ) 

 Laws respecting charity and special duties ; {2) Commands and 

 l^roverbs enforcing the obligation of filial obedience ; (3) Legal 

 formula; and reports, referring to the prohibition of blasphemous 

 and irregular oaths. Under each of the divisions several trans- 

 lations of hieroglyphic texts were given, together with an exegesis 

 justifying the renderings adopted by M. Chabas. The last sec- 

 tion, in which the adjuration "by the life of God, and by the 

 life of Pharaoh " was explamed, possessed, in the opinion of the 

 learned author, special interest from its exact attestation of the 

 minute accuracy of certain portions of the Pentateuch, and as 

 throwing much light upon a passage hitherto obscure or unknown 

 to the bulk of English students. — The president read a paper 

 " On the Cypriote Inscription on the Bronze Tablet of Idalium " 

 (Dali). Having referred to the felicitous discovery, by Messrs. 

 Lang and Smith, of the Cypriote alphabet, as announced to the 

 society at its last meeting, he entered into the consideration of 

 the Cypriote parts of the bi-lingual inscription of Dali, and the 

 Hellenic element of the Cypriote language. He then proceeded 

 to give some account of the Cypriote inscription on the bronze 

 tablet of Dali, which records donations to the Temple of 

 Idalium by the monarch, Pythagoras, and Indostes. It also 

 referred to various writings in connection with a temple of Isis. 

 Its date of inscription .nppears to be about B.C. 256. Examples 

 were given of the Hellenic structure cf the language, and the 

 identification of many Cypriote with Greek words. An in- 

 teresting discussion took place, in which Sir C. Nicholson, 

 Emanuel Deutsch, Rev. J. M. Rodwell, S. M. Drach, W. R. A. 

 Boyle, the president, and the secretary, took part. 



Edinburgh 

 Royal Physical Society, Dec. 20, 1871. — Mr. C. W. Peach, 

 president, in the chair. — " Zoological Notes," by Prof. Duns. 

 (I.) On a dog-fish (.Sfj'/ZZ/fw wd/v/wrij/^m) from Java (2.) On 

 the Porbeagle, or Beaumaris shark [Lamna cornitbica). The 

 specimen exhibited was a beautiful young one captured last year 

 ne.ir Elie, Fifeshire. The difference between the dentition of the 

 adult and the young was well illustrated in this case. The lanceo- 

 late teeth of the former have a small basal cusp on each side. The 

 cusps are absent in the latter. (3 ) On Rondekt's httle Sepia 

 (Sepiola Kondclctti). A specimen taken in the Firth of Forth 

 was exiiibited. (4.) On tlie Redwing (Tiinfiis lli'aciis). — On the 

 Extirpation of Venomous Serpents from Islands, by Robert 

 Brown. This consisted of correspondence addressed to the author 

 and Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier relating to the subject. It was 

 shown that the common domestic pig had exterminated rattle- 

 snakes in the vicinity of the Dalles and other settlements in Ore- 

 gon, and that in India the same antipathy is shown by the same 

 animal to the deadly cobra di capello. The subject was import- 

 ant economically to the inhabit mts of some of the West Indian 

 Islands infested by these reptiles, and physiologicallv in so far as 

 facts went to show that the pig enjoyed an immunity from the 

 poison of both the rattlesnake and the cobra. In Ireland it was 

 well known few or no snakes of any kind are found, and nowhere 

 is " the pig " more abundant, showing a probable relation be- 

 tween these two facts, without calling in the supposed aid of St. 



Patrick. —Exhibition of Glacial Shells of the Clyde Beds, from 

 a recent Excavation near Greenock, by David Grieve. Also of 

 Specimens of various Polyzoa and Foraminifera from the same 

 locality, with remarks by C. W. Peach. — " On Shells, Foramini- 

 fera, &c., from the recent post-tertiary lieds between the Bridge 

 of Allan and Stirling" (specimens exhibited), by C. W. Peach. 

 GLA.SGOW 



Geological Society, December 14, 1871. — Mr, James 

 Thomson, F.G.S., read a paper on "The Stratified Rocks of 

 Islay "^ He described in detail the sedimentary deposits on the 

 south side of the island, and then gave a transverse section of 

 them from Port-na-Haven on the west to Port Askaig on the 

 east. Although the rocks in the central valley of the island had 

 not yet yielded identifiable organic remains, he did not despair, 

 if properly investigated, of forms being found that would place 

 them beyond doubt in the Lower Silurian series. In mineral 

 character they quite coincided with those described by the late 

 Sir Roderick Murchison as occurring in Ross and Sutherland- 

 shires. On the east side of the island, at Port Askaig, these 

 deposits repose upon a series of stratified rocks of much higher 

 antiquity, which correspond to the Cambrian rocks of the North- 

 west Highlands, described by the same distinguished author. 

 At the base of these latter sedimentary rocks there is a mass ot 

 conglomerate, made up of fragments and boulders of granite, im- 

 bedded in an arenaceous talcose schist ; and as no granite occurs 

 ii: siln in the island, he was disposed to account for its presence 

 in this conglomerate by tke agency of ice. Specimens of the 

 granite and a striated block of quartzite were laid upon the table. 

 He then described the rocks of the western extremity of the 

 island, which consist of highly metamorphosed stratified rocks, 

 as gneiss, serpentine, dolomite, quartzite, and schists, extending 

 from Port-na-Haven, on the west, to Brouch-Ladach, a distance 

 of nine miles. i\t the latter point the superior deposits are seen 

 resting on the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, nearly at right 

 angles to the planes of stratification. In lithological aspect and 

 mineral character these rocks agreed so entirely with the " fun- 

 damental or Laurentian gneiss " of Sir R. Murchison, as occurring 

 in the North- Western Highlands and other parts of the world, 

 that he had not the slightest hesitation in placing them as be- 

 longing to this, the oldest division of known sedimentary rocks. 

 It thus appeared that both Cambrian and Laurentian rocks 

 occurred farther south in Scotland than had hitherto been re- 

 corded. Taking a genenal view of the group of deposits to which 

 he had called attention, there were — i. The calcareous deposits 

 in the central valley of the island, of LQv>-er Silurian age ; 2. The 

 deposits from Ardnahuamh on the north to Balleochreoch on the 

 south, of Cambrian age ; 3. The metamorphic rocks in the west 

 of the island, of Laurentian age. He was not prepared to speak 

 with any degree of certainty regarding the source of the materials 

 constituting the basic congl >meratemass. These differ so widely 

 from the granites found in situ in other parts of the Highlands, 

 that he felt the necessity for tracing them to another S'jurce, and 

 hoped he would not be thought to overstep the bounds of prudent 

 speculation in suggesting that these erratics are the reassorted 

 materials of some great northern continent that has yielded to the 

 gnawing tooth of time, leaving only these scattered fragments to 

 attest its former existence. The portion of striated rock which 

 he had laid before the meeting pointed to an agency adequate to 

 the transport of such materials, and indicated that we should 

 have to contemplate a glacial period deeper in time than had 

 hitherto been suspected, when glaciers and icebergs planed down 

 the hardest rocks and dispersed their fragments, obedient to the 

 same great laws which still regulate the economy of Nature. 

 New Zealand 

 Wellington PhilosophicalSociety, August 26, 1S71. — Capt. 

 Hutton described the two species of bats found in New Zealarid, 

 and proposed that the name Mystacina tuk-radala be changed to 

 M. vdiitina, to avoid confusion with Scolopliilus liiht-rLulatiis. Dr. 

 Hector mentioned that large numbers of the former species 

 lodged in the topsails of H.M.S. C/w when in Milford Sound 

 last summer. — Mr. Skey proposed as a convenient method of 

 generating H„ S for laboratory use, to employ galena, zinc, and 

 dilute hydroi^hloric acid. — Capain Hutton described the micro- 

 scopic structure of the egg-shell of the moa, and showed that it 

 was altogether different Irom the kiwi egg. 



September 16. — Mr. W. T. L. Travers described the tradi- 

 tions of the Maories, showingreasonswhy they were not reliable as 

 history, and that the usual date a.-signed for the first landing of 

 the Maories is much too recent. — Captain Hutton read a paper 

 on the lizards of New Zealand, and described a new species from 



