45^ 



NA TURE 



\ April /\, 1872 



Mr. A. J. Ellis, P'.R.S., communicated a question which had 

 been forwarded to him by Prof. Haldeman, of Columbia, Penn- 

 sylvania, U.S., "The number of lines in a rhymed stanza 

 being given, how many variations of rhyme-distribution does 

 it admit of, suppose no Une to be left without a rhyme? " 



Victoria Institute, March iS. — Mr. Charles Brooke, F.RS., 

 in the chair. — Dr. B iteman on " D.irwinism tested by recent 

 Researches as to the Localisation of the Faculty of Speech." 

 H.iving called attention to Mr. Darwin's statement, that the 

 difTe'i nee between man and the higher animals was only one of 

 degree, and not of kind, he proceeded to show that such 

 could not be the fact, and instanced the faculty of articulate lan- 

 guage, a distinctive attribute of which there ^^■as no trace in the 

 ape or other animals. After defining articulate language, he de- 

 monstrated that it was exclusively man's prerogative, and there 

 was no analogy between it and the forms of expression common 

 to the lower animals. He then stated that it had been ihought 

 that aparticularpartofthebrain was the seat of language, and, if it 

 were so, the Darw inian might contend that, as there was a certain 

 similariry between the brain of man and of the ape and other 

 animals, that they had the germs of the faculty. He then cited 

 many cases which had be^n brought under the notice of German, 

 French, American, English, and other surgeons, to show that 

 even where various portions of the brain had been injured or 

 destroyed, the faculty of speech remained He concluded by 

 staling that the faculty of articulate speech seemed to be an 

 attribute, the comprehension of which was at present beyond us. 

 Glasgow 



Geological Society, February 8. —Sir William Thomson, 

 LL. D., was elected president; Messrs. E. A. Wiinsch, John 

 Young, an 1 Jame^ Thoins'in,F.G.S., vice-presidents. — Professor 

 Young, the retiring president, delivered an address on " Rock 

 Formati.jns in relation to Geological Time." He concluded by 

 expressing the pleasure he felt in resigning the chair to one so 

 eminent in the walks of science as Sir WUliam Thomson, whose 

 contributions to theoretical geology had been of the utmost im- 

 portance. — The President, in taking the chair, briefly thanked 

 the members for the honour they hid conferred upon him, and 

 hoped he might be of some service to them in the prosecution 

 of geological inquiry. 



Dublin 



Natural History Society, March 6. — Professor E. Perceval 

 Wright, president, in the chair. — The President delivered his 

 inaugural address. He gave an interesting account of the histor)" 

 of the .society from its C'lmmencement in 1S3S. when their meet- 

 ings were held in "^ufTolk Street, and the opeinng address delivered 

 by Mr. O'B. Bellingham. "Ttiere were then 104 members, and in 

 1840 the number had increased to 150. In 1S44 the museum so 

 increased that Mr. M'Coy was appointed curator, and he in 1S45 

 laid a catalogue of the Irish animals in the museum before the 

 society. This catalogue was printed and appended to the report 

 for 1845-46. During these years many records uf species new to 

 Ireland were m-.de. Very many valuable and interesting papers 

 on zoological subjects were read. Many of these are to be found 

 in full in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. It is 

 strange in looking over some of these to be reminded how 

 great has been the development of some branches of natural sci- 

 ence since they were written. Friends of many of us here — friends 

 stiU living — many of them by no means yet full of days, yet 

 wrote before the developmental stages of the Crustacea were 

 known, and could write ot Spongillaas undoubtedly allied to the 

 Diatomacecc. About 1851 a few students in college, including 

 myself, determined to form the University Natural Science Asso- 

 ciation, which is now amalgamated with the present society. 

 Ere ceasing to speak of the College Society, let me pay a passing 

 tribute to the memory of those who were our strong support, and 

 who freely and generously held out to us that helping h,ind, and 

 who have now left us for ever — Robert Ball, W. H. Harvey, A. 

 H. Haliday, and A. Furlong ; nor would it be seemly to forget 

 all the encouragement and assistance given to us by the authori- 

 ties of the College and the Regius Professor of Physic, or the 

 loss we sustained when Allman, our Professor, counsellor, and 

 friend was, by ahard fate, moved tosucceed Forbes in Edinburgh. " 



—Quarterly Weather Report of the Meteorological 0£B e, JuIv-.Sept , 1870. 

 —Annual Report .f the Geologists' Association, 1871.— Modern Science anj 



PAMPHLETS RECEIVED. 



English. — The Dolmen Mounds and Amorpho'itnic 

 Brittany; S. P. '"liver. R.N. Remarks on the successive 1 

 of Cornwall : J H. Collins— The Unity of Mans Being : A. 

 Modern Examples of Road and Railway Bridges, Part I. : Ma 

 —Transaction; of the lostitution of Engineers and Shipbuilde 



the Bible: iheir Positive and D.rect Antagonism.— The Study of Ec 

 Botany: Jas. Collins.— Lord Derby on the United Kingdom Alliance.— 

 Statistics of the Liquor Tralific : Rev. D. Burns.— 19th Report ol the Execu- 

 tive Committee of the Urited Kingdom Alliance —The Deviation of the 

 Compass in Iron Ships : W. H. Rosser— Proceedings of the Geologists" 

 Association. — Report of the Commit' ee on ^hipsof War.— Rfport of the Cas; 

 of H.M.S.^/f,f<j-r„ -Journal of the Iron and Seel Insiitme, February.— 

 Catalogue of Microscopical Preparations of the Qu-k-tt Micr.-copical Club. 

 —On the IVIec' anical Impossibility oi the Descent of Glaciers by their Weight 

 only: Canon Mosdey — Krench farmers' Seed Fund Reporis.— Eastbourne 

 Natural History Society Report.— Journal of the Royal Dublin Society, 

 No. 40. — Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society. 



AMEKrcAN.'i Cot ONI AL.-Hinnchs' School Laboratory of Physical Science. 

 Nos. 3 *nd 4. — Experimental Ste.am Boiler Explosions : Prof Thurston —Ob- 

 servations on Encke's Comet : Prof C. A Young. -The Phojnix, for Januarj'. 

 1872. — Smithsonian Contribulionsto Knowledge: Converging series expressing 



the ratio between th- diamater .^nd circumference of a circle : W. Ferrel 



7lh Annual Catalogue of the Ma.ssachusctts Institute of Technology.— The 

 Lens, No. i. — Proceedings of theAmerican Philosophical Society, luly-Dec , 

 1S71. -Lecture on Water: C. F. Chandler.— Inaugural Lecture of the De- 

 partment of Practical Science in M'Gill University: G. F. Armstrong.— 

 Lectures delivered at the Industrial and Technical Museum at Melbourne 

 during the Autumn Session of 1871. 



F01.EIGN.— Bericht der Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaftenzu Wien. 

 —Bulletin de I'Academie Impi^riale de- Sciences de St Petersbourg.— Karte 

 der Alpen in 8 koorirten B iittern : iMayr u Berghaus.— Die Centralen 

 Ortler-Alpen : nebst einetn Anhange zu der Adamello-Presanella-Alpcn : 

 J. Payer. 



DIARY 



THURSDAY, Api!Il 4. 

 LiNNEAN Society, at 8. —On the Geographical Distribution of Composite : 



G. Bentham, President (concluded). 

 Chemical Society, at 8. 



FRIDAY, April 5. 

 Geologists'Association, at8.— On the Excavations on the Site of the Law 



Courts : Wilfrid H. Hudleston, and F. G. H. Price —On Columnar Basalts i 



John Curry. 

 Arch-^ological Institute, at 4. 



MONDAY, Apbil 3. 

 Royal United Service iNSTiritTinN. at 8.30— H. M.S. Anncourl on, 



and off, the Pearl Rock: Commander R. H. Boyle, R.N. 

 Anthropological Institui e, at 8 Notes on the Hair of Oceanic Races : 



Dr. B. Davis —Note on the Hair of a Hindustanee : Dr. H. Blaoc-On 



the Descent of the Esquimaux : Dr. Rink. 



TUESDAY, April 9. 

 Royal Institution, at 3.— Statistics and Social Science : Dr. Guy. 

 Photographic Society, at 8 — M. Merget's Mercury Process. 



WEDNESDAY, April 10 

 Geological Society, at 8.— Notice of some of the Secondary Effects of the 

 Earthquake of loth January, 1S69, in C.achar: Dr. Oldham, Calcutta and 

 Robert Mallet, F.R.S. — Notes on Atolls or Lagoon Island-: S. J. Whitnell 

 On the Glacial Phenomena of the Yorkshire Uplands : J. R. Dakyn — 

 Modem Glacial Action in Canada : Rev. W. Bleasdell, M.A. 



THURSDAY, April n. 

 Royal Society, at 8 30. 

 Society of Antiquaries, at 8.30. 

 ^p-''^^}^^-"-'VTioti, at 3.- Heat and Light : Dr Tyndall. 



8 — f>n the Mechanical Description of certain 



Sextic Curvts : Prof. Cayley, V.P., F.R.S. 



CONTENTS Pack 



The Foundation op Zoological Stations. II.— The Aquarium at 



Nap'es. By Dr. Anton Dohrn 437 



SCROPE ON VoLCANos. By D. Forbes, F.R.S. {With lUustrations.) 440 



Our Book Shelf T.j 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Adamites .2 



The Segmentation of Annulosa.—E. Ray Lanke^^ter 442 



Adaptive Coloration, Phosphorescence, &c.— Dr. W. C. McIntosh 



F-L-S 443 



The Aurora of February 4.— E. J. Stone, F R S.: A. J. Warner 443 



MorseonTerebratulina.— Hrnf E.S. Morse 444 



On the Colour of a Hydrogen Flame —A. J. Meeze 444 



Vestiges of the Glacial Period in Nor ph-Eastern Anatolia 444 

 iHE Inhabitants of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.— Crus- 

 taceans and Insect.s. By A. S. Packard, Jun. (With Illustrations) 445 



Notes .... 448 



Annual Address to the Geological Society of London, Feb. 



■ 6. i87i (C,>«;,V;„f.V). By J. Prestwich, r.R.S 451 



Societies and Academies .* . , ! 454 



Pamphlets Received ' \ ', 456 



Diary ^55 



NOTICE 



We beg leave to state that we decline to return rejected communica- 

 tions, and to this rule we can make no exception. Communica- 

 tions respecting Subscriptions or Advertisements must be addressed 

 to the Publishers, NOT to the Editor. 



