February 27, 19 19] 



NATURE 



5*9 



Michelson-Morlej experiment Prof. A. J. Ewart : 

 1 Contributions to the Bora of Australia. No. 27. 



1 I'ln- synthesis ol sugar; from formaldehyde. A 

 detailed account was given of Ihe polymerising action 

 1.1 various alkalis on formaldehyde, and also of the 

 influence of temperature, dilution, etc. In the presence 

 of a calcium salt the polymerising action of sodium 

 hydrate is greatly increased, and evidence is brought 

 forward to show that the polymerising action is 

 analogous to that ol .1 condensing enzyme. 



Decembei 12, 1918. -Mr. J. A. Kershaw, pi 

 in tin chair. I . Chapman: New or little-known fossils 

 in the National Museum. Part xxiii. 1 Sonv M 

 remains of Lower Palaeozoic age from Monegetta, 

 neai Lancefield. ["hese are well-preserved specimens, 



and are rcf I to thi ■ istea. I wo 



new genera and foui new species are described, ["he 

 ■ d arc Mastigograptus, Ruedemann, 

 Archasolafoi ., and Archaeocryptolaria, gen, 



nciv. 1 ronothi i a apprai to I"- pi esenl in lln 

 the forms. The horizon is the lowest in the Ordo- 

 vician. — R. T. Patton : The structure, growth, and 

 treatment ol some common hardwoods. Attention was 

 directed to the core-wood of some hardwoods which 

 i sappy, such as is shown by timber grown 

 in excessive -hade, the result of overcrowding whilst 

 young. The author showed that there was no advan- 

 tage in stacking timber on end, and gave the rates of 

 drying of timber cut in various ways. The electrical 

 resistance of a piece of timber determined whether 

 it was properl) seasoned. Estimates of the growth 

 and timber yield of mountain ash ami Messmate were 

 explained in the form of curves, from which the forest 

 yield at various ages could be predicted. — J. T. Jutson : 

 I h. sand-ridgi s, sand-plains, and sand-glaciers at 

 Comet Vale, in sub-arid Western Australia. The 

 phj sical features of Comet Vale, sixty miles north of 

 Kalgoorlie, include a portion of a "dry lake" (Lake 

 GoongarHe), and a belt of rocky "high" lands on its 

 western shore composed of ferruginous laterite and 

 "greenstones," and dissected by narrow valleys. 

 North, north-west, and east are extensive sand-plains 

 with ridges trending east and west. Immediately to 

 the west of the 'high" lands a sand-plain slopes gently 

 to the west. The sanil drifts eastward through some 

 "passes" in a laterite ridge (the 'western end of the 

 "high" land ana) and spreads out as "sand-glai 

 according to the term used by Free. The sand form- 

 ing the smooth sand-plain and glaciers is wind-borne. 

 This will probably explain the origin of extensive sand- 

 plains .Is. -.vliM, in Western Australia. The eastward 

 march of the s.ouls has blotted out the drainage lines 

 to the west of tin "high" lands.— Dr. C. Mackenzie 

 and W. J. Owen: Note on tin parathymus gland in 

 ih, marsupi ' Hirei glands new to science in the 

 scribed by the authors. 

 i mi ol thi se, the parathvmus, has since been di - 

 bv them in tin- Tasmanian Devil, in which it is | 

 than in thi Platypus. N. C. B. Allen and Prof. T. 11. 

 Laby : Thi ol photographic plates to X-rays. 



Sydney. 



I.innean Society of New Smith Wales. September 2^, 



mis. Prof. II. (i. Chapman, president, in tin- chair. 



Prof. W. N. Benson: I 'In- geologj and 



thi Gr Serpi ntim Belt of New South \\ all s. 

 Part viii. : Thi extension of the Great Serpentine Bell 

 from the Nundle district to thi G.I. Playfair : 



New and rare fresh-watei \l^a-. Sixty-six new forms 

 are described and figured, twenty-eighl being admitted 

 tu specific rank, twenty-nine classed as variations, and 

 nine as forms; one genus is proposed as new. Dr. J. 



Shirley and C. V Lambert: The stems ol 1 limbing 

 plants. Abnormal stem-structures in climbing plants 



have for tin ir object the free flow of elaborated sap 

 V I. 2574, Vol.. I02] 



iii the bast-tissues. Sewn classes of Dicotyledons and 

 jjwo of Monocotyledons are proposed, based on the 



■ mi-Hi ol thi tissues concerned. Dr. V. F. 

 Brothcrus and the Rev. \Y. W. Watts; The mosses of 

 North Queensland. Being essentially Malaysian, 



than Australian, in their affinities, the number 



a species was smaller than was anticipated. 



Seventeen genera new to Australia are listed, and 



some thirty known species. One genus and fourteen 



- are described as new.— Dr. R. J. Tillyard : 



Mi so/nic insects of Queensland. Part iv. Hemiptera 



,1,1.1: the family Dunstaniidae. With a note 



origin of the Heteroptera. Originally described 



in [qi6 as a Lepidopteron by the author, the fossil 



■ m, 1 pulchra has created considerable interest 

 and discussion This paper, first of all, gives ■»< 



,1 of the various suggestions that have been put 

 forward -is to its true affinity, and shows that opinions 

 have favoured its relationship with no fewer than 

 |p Ur orders (Lepidoptera, Homoptera, Diptera, and 

 Plectoptera). Having definitely rejected all these, the 

 am Inn ,mh luun.l tin Inn- solution from the study of 

 more recentlv discovered material from the same 

 I pper Triassic beds at Ipswich, Queensland. These 

 prove that the family Dunstaniidae belongs to the 

 Hemiptera Heteroptera. The new material is 

 described and placed in two new genera, Dun- 

 staniopsis and Paradunstania, each containing a single 

 new species. The venation is worked out by com- 

 parison with the nvmphal tracheation of a recent 

 Heteropteron (Svroniastes sp.). Finally, in consider- 

 ing the origin of the Heteroptera, the author shows 

 that the Dunstaniidae are closely related to the Permian 

 fossil Prosbole, placed by Handlirsch in a separate 

 order, Palaeohem'iptera. This order is considered to 

 be only a sub-order within the Hemiptera; and the 

 Dunstaniidae, which arc true Heteroptera, are derived 

 from the immediate ancestors of Prosbole, not from 

 Prosbole itself. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, December 4, 191S. 

 - Mr. W. S. Dun, president, in the chair.— Marguerite 

 Henry : Some Australian Cladoccra. The fresh-water 

 Crustacea dealt with in this paper were collected at 

 Kendall, Cumbalum, Casino, and Bvron Bay on the 

 north coast; in the neighbourhood ol Sydnej ; and at 

 the Lett River, Blue Mountains. Port Stephens, 

 Bathurst, Mudgee, and Corowa. Twenty-six species 

 were found, of which nine" are described as new.— .1 H. 

 Maiden : Notes on Eucalyptus (with descriptions of two 

 m w sp.-cies in co-operation with Mr. R. H. Cambage>. 

 No. vi. One of the two new species described is a 

 Box from just south of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the 

 other .1 Stringybark from the Bine Mountains, long 

 confused with E. capitellata originally described from 

 p or l ia,ks, m. Tin- Flooded Gum of the coastal 

 cts is proposed to be raised to the rank of a 

 pecies, following an almost forgotten suggestion of 

 Mr. Walter Hill, of Brisbane, made mam years ago. 

 h is suggested tli.it Miiller's abandoned name for the 

 morrel-tree of Western Australia should be revived, 

 , markabli varietj ol E. pvriforinis is described 

 thi interior of that Stale. The paper 1 oni 

 number of critical notes in regard to the distribution 

 a„d morphology of Australian gum-trees. Dr. 1". II. 

 Johnston and Miss M. Bancroft : Some nev 



ites ol 1 'in -. nsland fresh-water fish. On \ a 

 occasions there have broken out in western Queens- 

 land serious epidemics amongst the fresh-water fish, 

 resulting in their whole-sale destruction, and, as ., 

 result, pollution of the water supply lias taken placi 

 lln- authors have investigated the outbreak in ordei 

 to determine its cans.-. They haw been engaged in 



field work, and in the coin-, of their inquiry 1 am- 

 (TOSS a number of minute protOZOOn parasites ol 



