June 7, 1883] 



NA TURE 



H' 



hy the development of the rounded and ribbed involuted border. 

 It appears clear to me that this thick involuted structure is an out- 

 growth from the upper surface of the leaf, and which crossed the 

 base of the cuspidate apex, a, without materially modifying it ; 

 and as it developed in a similar manner round the base of the 

 distal surface of the lid / g, it contracted that base so as to reduce 

 the attachment of the lid to the pitcher to very small dimensions. 

 If the ext Innation is as correct as 1 believe it to be, the apex a 

 of the middle dorsal wing is ahn the true apex of the leaf, whilst 

 the involuted margin of t> e pitcher and the whole of its lid are 

 equally outgrowths from its upper surface. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Oxford. — In a Convocation to be held in the Sheldonian 

 Theatre on Wednesday, June 13, at twelve o'clock, it will be 

 proposed to confer the degree of D.C.L. honoris causa upon 

 lord Rayleigh, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Experimental 

 Physics and Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 

 and Sir Frederick A. Abel, K.C.B., F.R.S. 



In a Convocation held on June 5 the following decree was 

 submitted to the House : — "That the Curators of the University 

 chest be authorised to expend a sun. not exceeding 10,000/. in 

 the erection of a laboratory, working-room, and lecture-room for 

 the Waynflete Professor of Physiology, and in providing fixtures, 

 warming apparatus, and gas for the same," which was carried 

 by 88 to 85. 



Cambridge.— The Geological Museum Syndicate recommend 

 the combination of a new chemical laborati ry w ith the Sedgw ick 

 Geological Museum, and believe that no better site w ill be avail- 

 able than the Downing Street frontage. They have asked per- 

 mission to obtain plans and estimates in accordance with this 

 proposal. 



The Special Board for Medicine recommend the combination 

 of the subjects of botany and comparative anatomy, now taken 

 in the 1st and 2nd M.B. respectively, into one — elementary 

 biology, which is to include much less than the two separa'.e 

 subjects. They propose that chemistry and physics in the 1st 

 M.B. may be taken at a distinct period from the elementary 

 biology, if candidates prefer it, and also that human anatomy 

 and physiology in the 2nd M.B. may be taken at a distinct time 

 from pharmacy and pharmaceutical chemistry. They also pro- 

 pose to discontinue classifying candidates, which has only been 

 adopted of late years, and to publish merely alphabetical lists. 



The university Local Lectures in populous centres have during 

 the past winter, as usual, included numerous courses on science 

 subjects, including chemistry and electricity, by Messrs. C. M. 

 Thompson and S. L. Hart ; Europe in Prehistoric Times, by 

 Mr. 1. E. Marr ; Geology and Physical Geography, by Mr. 

 W. W. Watts ; Physics of the Earth, by Prof. Teall, &c. 



London. — On Tuesday afternoon last a large number of the 

 friends of the medical education of women met at the Ladies' Medi- 

 cal College in Brunswick Square at the ceremony of presenting the 

 prizes to the successful students of that institution. Countess 

 Granville presided, and in the course of the proceedings Mr. 

 Stansfeld, M.P., referred to the financial condition of the college 

 as satisfactory. Two gentlemen from India spoke on the recent 

 movement in Bombay to secure qualified medical women for that 

 country, and referred to the immense value of a knowledge of 

 medicine as an adjunct to missionary effort. Mrs. Garrett- 

 Anderson, M.D., as Dean of the College, supplied some sta- 

 tistics of its progress, and Mrs. Fawcett, in proposing a vote of 

 thanks to Countess Granville, dwelt on the assistance which the 

 movement for placing a medical training within reach of women 

 had received from Earl Granville in his capacity as Chancellor 

 of the University of London. 



With a view to encourage the study of veterinary science, the 

 Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal has resolved to offer two prizes 

 — one of 50/. and the other of 20/. — for competition by holders 

 of Agricultural Scholarships from Bengal, studying in the Royal 

 Agricultural College, Cirencester. 



SCIENTIFIC . SERIALS 



The American Journal of Science, No. 149, May, 1883. 

 — Observations of the transit of Venus, December 6, 1882, 

 at Princeton, New Jersey, and South Hadley, Massachusetts, 



by Prof. C. A. Young. Two sets of measurements of 

 the planet's diameter, and some spectiosccpic observations 

 were made by the author and Mr. McNeill. During the 

 transit 191 phi tograpbs were taken by Piof. Brackett and 

 assistants. Of these 40 were first class, 30 woilhless, the 

 rest of all grades of excellence. The planet's atmosphere was 

 seen by all observers at Princeton. But no satellite, spots, or 

 marks were detected upon the planet's disk. — Notes on the 

 occurrence of certain minerals in Amelia G unity, Virginia, by 

 Wm. F. Fontaine. These have been brought to light during 

 the excavations cairied on for some years past for the purpose 

 of obtaining mica. They are chiefly feldspar, I eryl, fluorite, 

 columbite, garnet, orthite, microlite, monazite, and helvite. — On 

 the surface limit or thickness of the continental glacier in New 

 Jersey and the adjacent States, by J. C. Smock. — Coniributions 

 to the geological chemistry of Yellowstone National Park, by 

 F. Leffmann and W. Beam. — Notes on American earthquakes, 

 with records from June, 1879, to end of December, 1882, by 

 Prof. C. G. Rockwood. — A four years' record of earthquakes 

 in Japan, studied in their relation to the weather and seasons, by 

 Dr. Thos. H. Streets, U.S. Navy. The shocks are tai ulated, 

 with remarks on the state of the barometer and temper;. ture. 

 Three charts show the relation between the height of the baro- 

 meter and the earthquakes. — Observations on the fossils of 

 the meiamorphic rocks of Bernardston, Mass., by R. P. Whit- 

 field.- On De Candolle's "Oritiin of Cultivated Plants," with 

 annotations upon certain American species, by Asa Gray and 

 J. Hammond Trumbull (part ii.). 



Annalen der Physikund Chemie, 18S3, No. 5. — Experimental 

 researches on the elliptical polarisation of light by reflection from 

 surface-coloured bodies, with ten illustrations, by Julius Merkel. 

 — A new radiometer, described and figured by C. Bauer. — The 

 radiation of rock-salt under various temperatures, by the same 

 author. — On the generation of heat in the absorption of gase^ by 

 solids and fluids, with illustration, by P. Chappuis. — Some 

 remarks on the action of air condensed on glass surfaces, by W. 

 Voigt.— On the theory of the longitudinal impact of cylindrical 

 iods, 1 y the same author. — Observations on the action of quick- 

 silver drops falling in thermometrical tubes, by Paul Volkmann. 

 — On the galvanic resisting-power of psilomelan, by Hugo 

 Meyer. — Remarks on W. Siemens' theory of luminosity, by W. 

 Hittorf. — On a hitherto unrecorded phenomenon accconipanying 

 electric discharges, with three illustrations, by Heinrich Hertz. 

 — On the action of platinum, palladium, gold, coal, and alu- 

 minium in nitro-muriatic acid, by Carl Fromme. — On the dyna- 

 mometrical method of determining the ohm, by J. Frbhlich. — 

 On the measurement of local variations in terrestrial magnetic 

 horizontal intensity, by F. Kohlrausch. — Researches in the 

 electromagnetic phenomena of rotation, with three illustrations, 

 by Friedrich Koch. — Experiments in connection with the theory 

 of the Nobili-Guebhard rings, by W. Voigt. — Measurement of 

 the diminution of sound in the telephone, by K. Vierordt.— On 

 electric undulatory movements, with illustration, by A. Over beck. 

 — On the selective absorption of solar energy, with two plates, by 

 S. V. Langley. — Remarks on C. Bohn's treatise on "Absolute 

 Dimensions," by Paul Volkmann. — An account of Foucault's 

 experiment with the pendulum, by A. Schuller. 



No. 6. — On the measurement of the refractive relations of 

 coloured fluids, with four illustrations, by C. Christiansen. — On 

 the determination of the power of emission and absorption of 

 heat in bodies, by the same author. — Observations on Norman 

 Lockyer's theory of dissociation, by Hermann \V. Vogel. — Re- 

 searches on the variation of temperature in the pole-plates of a 

 voltameter during the transmission of electric currents, with two 

 illustrations, by E. Edlund. — Carl Fromme's electrical investiga- 

 tions (continued) : Experiments on the condensation and al sorp- 

 tion of hydrogen by platinum and palladium ; risumisaA further 

 explanation of the results contained in the two previous sections. 

 —Remarks on A. Kundt's treatise on "The Optical Action of 

 Quartz in the Electric Field," by W. C. Kontgen.— On some 

 experiments with static electricity, with numerous illustrations, 

 by V. Dvorak. — Some remarks on the unipolar conduction of 

 solid bodies, by F. Braun. — On the elliptical polarisation of the 

 heat rays reflected by metals, by H. Knoblauch. — On the fluor- 

 escence of the vapour of iodine, by E. Lommel. — On the ther- 

 modynamic equilibrium of vapour mixtures, by Max Planck. — 

 On some modifications of the pyknometer, by G. W. A. Kahl- 

 baum. — On the selective absorption of solar energy (continued), 

 with fresh observations on the invisible prismatic spectrum, 

 by S. P. Langley. 



