234 



NATURE 



{Jan. 18,1872 



strated witli three figiires, and likewise shown to be susceptible of 

 ocular pro. if by direct experiment. Several interesting corolla- 

 ries are also drawn. Some such mechanism is shown to be an 

 anatomic d necessity, from the structure of the wrist -joint, to pro- 

 vide for the extremes of adduction aud abduction that take place 

 in the wrist, without strainmg the joint. Another obvious pur 

 pose subserved is equalisation of muscular power, by relegating a 

 part of the work, that the hand muscles would otherwise have to 

 perform, to the larger flexors and extensor of the ui^per arm ; and 

 an actual saving of a certain amount of muscular effort, this being 

 replaced by automatic movements of the bones themselves, 

 Having seen no account of this mechanism, the author is inclined 

 to think it may be unnoticed.* It is is at any rate a new expla- 

 nation of the design of the peculiar shape and position of the 

 radial articulating surface of a bird's humerus, far more important 

 than that hitherto as-igned— viz., its causing simply the wed- 

 known obliquity of flexion of the forearm. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 The number of the Geological Magazine for Dec. 1871 (No. 90) 

 contains an unusual abundance of important interesting pap'rs. 

 The first is an article by Prof Traquair on the genus of fos^il 

 fishes to which Prof. Huxley has given the name of P/iaiiero- 

 plcuron, with the description of new .^-pecies [P. elegans) from the 

 Lower Carboniferous limestone of Burdiehouse. The author 

 describes some new points in the structure of the type-species of 

 this genus (P. Andeisoni) from the Devonian yellow sandstone of 

 Dura Den), the most important being that the dorsal fin was in 

 that fish continued as a " dorso-caudal" to extremity of the body 

 as in Lcpidosiren and Ceratodus Forsteii. Prof Traquair gives a 

 restored outline of P. Andcisoni in accordance with his views, 

 and also figures of two specimens of his new species. — Mr. T. & 

 Bonney contiibutes an interesting paper on a double "cirque" 

 in the syenite hills of Skye, wiih remarks upon the formation of 

 cirques, in continuation of his paper read before the Geological 

 Society some time since. — From IVIr. Carruthers vve have de- 

 scriptions of two previously unknown coniferous fruits from the 

 Gault of Folkestone ; one of them a magnificent cone, described 

 and figured under the name of Piniks hcxagonus ; the other a 

 smaller form called Scquoites ova/is. To this paper the author 

 has appended a note on the structure of the scales of his Arau- 

 carites splurrocarpus, with some judicious remarks on the caution 

 which ought to be exercised by the student of fossil plants in de- 

 termining the aftinities of the often fragmentary remains with 

 which he has to deal. — Mr. James Geikie publishes a first paper 

 connected with that apparently inexhaustible subject, the climate 

 of the glacial epoch. In this the author discusses the evidence 

 furnished by the glacial deposits of Scotland with regard to the 

 occurrence of warm interglacial periods, during which all or 

 nearly all the snow and ice may have disappeared from the face of 

 the country.— Mr. A. H. Green's notes on the geology of part 

 of the coun'y of Donegal contain an interesting account of the 

 structure of the county, especially with regard to the relations of 

 the granites and stradfcd rocks and to the glaciation of the 

 surface. —And lastly, Mr. A. J. Browne, fiom an examination of 

 the valley of the Yar in the Isle of Wight, throws out the sug- 

 gestion that that valley and the other river-valleys of the island 

 were or'ginally occupied by continuations of the Hampshire 

 rivers before the excavation of the Solent — Among the miscel- 

 laneous notices we may call attention to an article by Prof. T. 

 Rupei t Jones and Mr. W. K. Paiker on the Foraminifera from 

 the chalk of Meudon, figured by Ehrenberg in his "Mikrogeo- 

 logie." 



Qiuvicrly Journal of Microscopical Science, January.—" Notes 

 of a Course of Practic^.l Histology for Medical Students." given 

 at King's College, London, by Dr. Wm. Rutherford, F.R S.E., 

 i\:c. This paper illustrate> the author's method of teaching, the stu- 

 derits preparing for themselves the serie.. of specimens of the various 

 tissues. After an enumeration of the tissues so prepared follow- 

 some general observations on Examination of Tissues, How to 

 Harden Tissues, How to Soften Tissues, How to make Sections 

 of Tissues, How to render Tissues Transparent, How to Stain 

 Tissues, How to Inject, and How to Preserve Tissues, with 

 notes on cells and cements.— "On the Peripheral Distribution 



* It is indeed not men'ion'd in the works of Cuvier, Meckel, Tied>-m.inii, 

 Wa?-er, and other di.tingui,hed a.i-hors ; but Dr Eevgraann, of Gtittingen 

 (Arcliiv fur A>mt., 1839,296), speaks of essentially the same thing, although 

 the results of the mechanism are not so fullyshown. —Eds. Am. Nat. 



of Non-raeduUated Nerve-fibres," by Dr. E. Klein. Part II. 

 This is the continuation of the paper commenced in the last 

 number of this journal, and to be concluded in the next. It 

 deals with the Nerves of the Nictitating Membrane and 

 Nerves of the Peritoneum. — "Remarks on Prof Schulze's 

 Memoir on Cordylophora lacustris," by Prof. Allman, 

 F. R.S. ; "Size of the Red Corpuscles of the Blood of the 

 Porbeagle, or Beaumaris Shark, Lamna corniilnca," by George 

 Gulliver, F. R. .s^. The mean long diameter of the corpuscles 

 measured j)jj of an inch, and the short diameter rrju, nearly 

 alike in magnitude to those of the small dog-fish and other Sela- 

 chii. — " A Note on some Circumstances affecting the Value of 

 Glycerine in Microscopy," by Mr. W. M. Ord. This note 

 suggests that from the action of glycerine on murexide and 

 oxila'e of lime, mounted for the microscope, it is impossible not 

 to have some misgivings as to the results of its use in the prepa- 

 ration of tissues for the microscope. — "On Remak's Ciliated 

 Vesicles and Corneous Filaments of the Peritoneum of the Frog," 

 by Dr. E. Klein. — "On the Structure of the Stem of the Screw 

 Pine," by Prof. W. T. Thiselton Dyer. Scalariform ducts 

 were detected by the author in the branches of a Paitdanits, and 

 crystalline forms of two kinds in the tissues. — "On Students' 

 Microscopes," by Mr. J. F. Payne, with a table of English 

 and foreign microscopes, their features, powers, accessory appa- 

 ratus, and prices. 



Journal of ihc Quckett Microscopical Club, January. — "Notes 

 on Podisoma," by Mr. M. C. Cooke. After describing the 

 minute structure and mode of germination in these fungi, the 

 author proceeds to detail the experiments of Prof. Oersted, 

 from which it has been supposed that the identity of Podisoma 

 with Ra-sltlia has been established. The paper concludes with 

 a critical examination of all the known species, one of which it 

 referred to a new genus, and a different order, under the name of 

 .Sarcoslronia Bcrkelevi. — " On the so-called Boring or Burrow, 

 ing Sponge {Cliona)" by Mr. J. G. Waller. The object of this 

 paper is to call in question the burrowing proclivities of the 

 sponges belonging to th: genus Cliona of which I/ymeniacidon 

 celata, Bowerbank, is the type. This number completes the 

 second volume of the journal. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Geologists' Association, January 5. — The Rev. J. Wilt- 

 shire, president, in the chair. "On the overlapping of several 

 Geological formations on the North Wales border," by Mr. 

 D. C. Davies, of Oswestiy. The author stated that the Geo- 

 logical formations of the district ranged upwards from the Llan- 

 dcilo to the New Red Sandstone. Attention was directed to the 

 way in which nearly every one of these overlapped the one 

 below, hiding in its course many of the beds, amounting in some 

 cases to 1,000 feet of strata, which at other points wei-e exposed. 

 The overlaps increase as a rule from north to south, e.xcept in 

 that of the Bala and Caradoc beds by the Llandovery, which in- 

 crease in an opposite direction. The author inferred that the 

 conformability of strata at a given point did not necessarily prove 

 the unbroken sequence or complete series of the beds at that 

 point, and also that conformability between either two consecu- 

 tive beds of the same formation, or between those of two dis- 

 tinct formations, was not to be expected to extend over a large 

 area. Amongst other facts stated in this paper was the impor- 

 tant one that coal seams occur in Permian strat.i in tlie neigh- 

 bourhood of Ifton. The President remarked upon the enormous 

 time required for the production of the phenomena described by 

 Mr. Davies. Prof lil orris explained the geological and phy- 

 sical features of the district, and spoke of the high value of the 

 paper. — " Report of the Proceedings of the Geological Section 

 of the British Association at Edinburgh, 1S71," by Mr. John 

 Hopkinson, one of the deputation from the Geologists' Asso- 

 ciation. In this communication the author succinctly stated the 

 more important features of the opening ddress by the president, 

 Prof. Geikie, and of the many papers read before Section C at 

 the meeting at Edinburgh last year, and gave interesting accounts 

 of the two geological excursions under the direction of Prof. 

 Geikie. — Mr. J. T. B. Ives communicated the interesting fact of 

 an extensive bed of peat occurring under gravel between Finchley 

 and Whetstone. — Fossils from the glacial deposits of Islington 

 cemetery were exhibited by Mr. Caleb Evans. 



