NATURE 



[June 2, 1904 



of glazes on pottery, Mr. Burton has been able to obtain 

 with precision a variety of crystalline and opalescent 

 effects of decided novelty and beauty. This has only 

 been rendered possible by making many experiments 

 to discover' the influence of the materials and the tempera- 

 ture on the effects produced and by having- each stage 

 of the process under perfect control. In one of the 

 new glazes produced in this way, artificial crystals which 

 are developed in full perfection at temperatures from 1000° C. 

 to 1030° C. are reabsorbed into the glaze as the temperature 

 is increased, and remarkable changes of colour are assumed 

 until at a temperature of 1070° C. the crystals are entirely 

 reabsorbed. The crystalline effects produced at the different 

 temperatures are of interest to the mineralogist, and the 

 striking appearance of the pottery upon which the crystals 

 are developed demonstrates the advantages of the appli- 

 cation of science to industrial art. 



The first excursion of the summer session of the Belfast 

 Naturalists' Field Club was held on May 21, when 167 

 members and their friends visited Hillsborough to explore 

 and examine the demesne of the Marquis of Downshire. 

 Though this is the largest attendance at any one of the 

 meetings of the society, the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 

 IS, in the forty-second year of its existence, one of the most 

 active Irish societies devoted to the practical study of 

 natural history. The main 

 object of the club is to 

 interest people generally 

 in the study of natural 

 objects, and this is, of 

 course, all that can be 

 accomplished in gather- 

 ings of the size mentioned. 

 We are glad to know, 

 however, that many of the 

 members have been able, 

 by private additional visits, 

 to add to the scientific 

 knowledge of the district. 

 The honorary secretaries 

 of the club are Mr. Nevin 

 H. Foster, Hillsborough, co. Down, and Mr. James Orr, 17 

 Garfield Street, Belfast. 



The Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde contains an 

 extremely interesting report of a lecture on western Asia 

 Minor by Dr. A. Philippson. Having completed his work 

 in Greece, Dr. Philippson has undertaken the investigation 

 of this little known region, which is of special interest to 

 Germany on account of the Anatolian Railway. His paper 

 summarises the results of explorations up to the present 

 time. 



Under the title " A Case of Geographic Influence upon 

 Human Affairs," Mr. George D. Hubbard discusses the 

 results of glaciation in a limited portion of the State of 

 Illinois in the Bulletin of the American Geographical 

 Society. The subject is dealt with " from the point of view 

 of geographic influence upon plants, crops, and animals, 

 and upon man's distribution, occupations, successes, and 

 failures," and the paper is a good illustration of the method 

 of treating the geological element in questions of the kind. 



In an article on the developmental changes in some 

 common Devonian brachiopods {Ainer. Journ. Science, 

 April), Mr. Percy E. Raymond describes, from abundant 

 material, the life-changes undergone in a number of species 

 of brachiopods, with especial reference to the character of 

 the nepionic shell, the development of the pedicle tube and 

 NO. 1805, VOL. 70] 



the deltidial plates, and the acquirement of surface 

 characters. The specimens were obtained from the Moscow 

 (Hamilton) shales, near Canandaigua Lake, New York. 

 They occurred in layers of impure limestone, but were 

 completely replaced by silica, and when the rock was etched 

 in acid the fossils were left in a remarkably perfect con- 

 dition. The fauna comprised many forms of invertebrates, 

 besides brachiopods, and included many individuals in 

 immature stages. 



A RESTORATION of the Ornithosaurian Pteranodon has 

 been prepared by Mr. G. F. Eaton, as the contribution of 

 the Department of Vertebrate Palfeontology of the Yale 

 Museum to the St. Louis Exhibition. Particulars, accom- 

 panied by a half-tone engraving (which we are enabled to 

 reproduce), have been published in the American Journal 

 of Science (April). The genus was originally described by 

 Marsh from the Cretaceous rocks of North America, but 

 further details of its structure have since been obtained. 

 Mr. Eaton points out that the sclerotic circle is composed 

 of twelve thin plates of bone arranged with overlapping 

 edges, so as to form a hollow truncate cone, similar in shape 

 to the avian sclerotic circle. With regard to the vertebrse, 

 there are nine cervicals. In the dorsal series are included 

 eight vertebrae, anchylosed to form the notarium, and four 

 free dorsals intervening between the notarium and the 



. — Reslor.-^tion of 



sacrum. By assuming that the first four vertebrae of the 

 sacral series (in the broader sense) are homologues of the 

 lumbars of other groups, the total number of presacral 

 vertebrae would appear to be twenty-five. This compares 

 closely with the supposed number of presacrals in the 

 Eusuchia. 



In the second part of vol. xxxvi. of the Memoirs of the 

 Russian Geographical Society, for general geography. Prof. 

 N. Zarudnyi gives the second part of the account of his 

 journey to eastern Persia. It contains a description of the 

 421 species of birds found by him, with the addition of a 

 few species previously observed by Dr. Blanford and Dr. 

 Aitchison. It would be premature as yet to draw any 

 general conclusions concerning the relations between the 

 avifauna of eastern Persia and the other parts of the Iran 

 plateau and the Turan lowlands. Consequently, the 

 Russian ornithologist only gives a description of each 

 species, with interesting notes concerning the habits of the 

 species and its distribution. Dividing his region into six 

 districts, he gives the lists of nesting and temporary visiting 

 birds for each district separately. 



The larval eyes of the mollusc Chiton and their ultimate 

 fate form the subject of an article by Mr. H. Heath in 

 the March issue of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia 

 Academy. 



