Mar. 2 1, 1872] 



NATURE 



415 



city on the 14th of January. We understand that thefxpecUtioii 

 was thoroughly successful in every respect, securing the collec- 

 tion of large numbers of fossiis, ns also numerous skeletons of 

 recent animals, together with valuable antiquities, &c. The 

 expense of the exploration amounted to nearly 15,000 dols., ex- 

 clusive of the value of the services rendered by the Government. 

 This was defrayed entirely by the gentlemen composing the party; 

 and it is unriers'cod that the material results are to be placed in 

 the Museum of Yale College, which will thereby be rendered the 

 richest in America in this department of natural history. — 

 According to Dr. Peterraann, the peak of Itatiaiossu, the highest 

 mountain in Brazil, was ascended during the past summer and 

 its altitude determined by Mr. Glaziou, the Director of the Im- 

 perial Parks in Kio de Janeiro. It proved to have an elevation 

 of 8,899 English feet, being somewhat less than had been pre- 

 viously estimated. Many species of plants were found on the 

 mountain, and what is of great interest, a large number of Alpine 

 species, especially of Composita:, were collected at from three to 

 seven hundred metres below the summit. — The report of pro- 

 gress for 1870 of the Geological Survey of Ohio, under the direc- 

 tion of Prof. J. S. Newberry, has just been published at Columbus, 

 forming a volume of nearly 600 pages, with a number of accom- 

 panying maps and sections. The volume contains, besides a report 

 of progress of 1S70, a sketch of the structure of the lower coal 

 measures in North Western Ohio, by Prof. Newberry; the 

 report of labours in the second geolgical district, by Prof. E. 

 B. Andrews, and on the geology of Highland County, by Prof. 

 Orton ; the report of the Agricultural Survey of the State, by 

 Mr. J. H. Klippart ; a report of the chemical department, by 

 Prof. Wormley ; sketches of the geology of several counties, by 

 Messrs. M. C. Read and E. Gilbert ; a sketch of the present 

 state of the iron manufacture in Great Britain, by W. W. Porter ; 

 and a sketch of the present state of the steel industry, by Henry 

 Newton. All these subjects are treated with great care, and the 

 whole volume bears ample testimony to the ability of the chief 

 geologist and the industry of .'his assistants. This volume is in- 

 tended a=; simply preliminary to the final report, which Prof. 

 Newberry hopes to have embodied in four volumes — two of 

 them devoted to geology and palceontology, one to economi- 

 cal geology, and one to agriculture, botany, and zoology. 

 The materials for these volumes are in advanced stage of forward- 

 ness, and will embrace monographic treatises on the several 

 subjects, which wiU be of the utmost benefit in ascertaining and 

 developing the resources of the State.— A society was organised 

 in New York some time since under the name of the " Palestine 

 Exploration Society," with the Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson, 

 chairman, Dr. Howard Crosby, secretary, and James Stokes, 

 jun., treasurer, with a list of members including the principal 

 arclu-eologists of the Eastern States. Its first report was 

 published some time ago, embracing an account of the American 

 explorers in Palestine, and the proceedings of the English Pales- 

 tine Exploration Society, notices of the late explorations in 

 Jerusalem, the Moabitic stone, iS:c., and concluding with an 

 appeal to all persons interested for contributions of funds to aid 

 in catrying out the propo.=ed researches of the society. The field 

 of invesiigation proposed includes the territory east of the Dead 

 Sea and the Jordan Valley, as also Hermon, Lebanon, and the 

 valleys and plains of Northern Syria. A simultaneous prosecu- 

 tion of researches in this field by two such bodies as the Ameri- 

 can and English societies will probably be productive of very 

 important results, especially if supported with proper official 

 documents from the Turkish Governments. As so much of what 

 is now on record in regard to the geography and condition of 

 Palestine is due to Americans, it is much to be hoped that the 

 work may be contlnued_by them toward a successful completion. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Annalen dcr CJiemie iind Pharinack viii. Supplement band, 3 

 Heft. Hesse has contributed a lengthy paper on the alkaloids of 

 opium. It is the most exhaustive essay on the rarer alkaloids 

 that has yet been published. He has examined minutely 

 the following : — Pseudomorphin, laudamine, codamine, narrotine, 

 papaverine, nitropapaverine, cryptopine, nitroci7ptopine, proto- 

 pine, laudanosine, and hydrocatarine, and numerous salts of each 

 of the above. The author groups the alkaloids into four classes, 

 the morphine, thebaine, papaverine, and narcotine groups, and 

 gives the distinctive characters with v/hich the members of these 

 groups dissolve in pure concentrated sulphuric acid. Marignac 



follow.! with a long communication "On the specific heat, 

 density, and expansion of certain solutions." Bousingault has 

 made some experiments on the freezing of water. He took an 

 exceedingly string steel cylinder, placed in it a small steel bullet, 

 and filled it entirely with water at iC C, the cylinder was then 

 closed by means of a cap, so that it was absolutely tight ; the 

 cylinder was exposed to a temperature of- 24° for some time, but 

 the wrater inside was not frozen, as was proved by the mobility 

 of the bullet in the interior. Immediately on opening the cylin- 

 der and relie\ing the pressure, the water became a mass of ice. 



The Geological Magazine for February (No. 92) opens with 

 some excellent notes on fossil plants by Mr. Carruthers, illus- 

 trated with a plate and several woodcuts. The subjects here re- 

 ferred to are the Palivopteris hibeyriica, the presence of sporangia 

 belonging to the Hynneuophylleie in coal, Osinundilcs Do^okeri, 

 the genus Antholites, a revision of the British forms belonging 

 to which is given, the coniferous wood of Craigleith quarry and 

 Poihocites grantoni.— iAr. S. R. Pattison communicales a note 

 on the pyrites deposits in the province of Huelva, in Spain, and 

 Mr. James Geikie the conclusion of his memoir on changes of 

 climate during the glacial epoch. The latter contains a compa- 

 rison of the glacial deposits of Scotland, Switzerland, Scandina- 

 via, and North America. The other articles in the number are 

 an abstract of the contents of Heer's " Flora FossUis Arctica," 

 by Mr.^R. H. Scott, and an early notice (50 years old) of the 

 occurrence and use of meteoric iron in Greenland. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 

 Anthropological Institute, March 18. — Dr. Chainock, 

 vice-president, in the chair. M. Letourneur and Dr. Haast 

 were elected corresponding members. Mr. Geo. Harris lead a 

 paper on "The comparative Longevity of Animals of diffei-ent 

 species, and of M an ; and the probable causes which mainly 

 conduce to produce that difference." He cited several re- 

 markable instances of longevity both in animals and man, and 

 alluded to the opinions on the subject, both of ancient and 

 modern writers. The influence of climate, air, and food were 

 discussed, and also of domestication and civilisation. The 

 theory of disease in connection more especially with con- 

 current decay and renovation was inquired into, and some 

 speculations were made as to the effect future scientific 

 discovery, as regards the medical properties both of plants 

 and animals, might have on the question at issue. — 

 Sir Duncan Gibb, Bart., M.D., read a paper on " The Physical 

 Condition of Centenarians." His remarks were founded upon 

 an examination of six genuine examples, in whom he found the 

 organs of circulaiion and respiration in a condition more ap- 

 proaching to the prime of life than old age. There was an ab- 

 sence of all those changes usually observed in persons reaching 

 70, and in nearly all the special senses were ummpuirtd, the 

 intelligence perfect ; thus showing, at any rate, the complete 

 intfgiity of the nervous system. The author's views were op- 

 posed to those held regaiding the extreme longevity of centena- 

 rians. — Dr. Leith Adams exhibited and described a scries of stone 

 implements from the island of Fferm ; and Col. Fox contributed 

 a note on some stone implements and pottery from. St. Brienne, 

 Normandy. 



Entomological Society, March 4. — Prof. J. O. Westwood, 

 president, in the chair. — Prof. Westwood exhibited livirg speci- 

 mens of the Acanis described by him at the last meeting as 

 Areas reflcxHs, from Canterbury Catheiiral, and also another 

 species of the genus found by Dr. Livingstone in Central Africa, 

 which enters the feet of the natives between the toes, causing 

 pain and inflammation. — Mr. S. Stevens exhibited an apparently 

 new species of PJiycila from near Gravesend, remarkable for its 

 pearly colour and' Cramhus-\\\e. form. — Mr. F. Smith read an 

 extract from a further communication from Mr. J. T. Moggridge 

 respecting the storing of grain by ants at Mentone. Mr. Mog- 

 gridge had confined a colony of the ants in a glass vessel so as 10 

 observe their habits, and he was now a'^'le to slate positively that 

 they fed upon the grain. A detailed account of the observations 

 will be furnished by Mr. Moggridge upon his return to EngLnid. 



Mr. MuUcr exhibited galls formed by Acari, of the genus 



Phytoptus, upon the leaves of Cinitainommm nitidum, from Bom- 

 bay, being the first observation of the occurrence of those creatures 

 in India. — Mr. H. W. Bates exhibited a series of species of Cara- 



