534 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 27, 1883 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



University College, London.— The Department of Ap- 

 plied Science and Technology in this college opens on October 

 2, along with ihe rest of the college. The instruction in this 

 department includes (1) lectures on different branches of civil 

 and mechanical engineering and surveying and levelling, drawing 

 and practical experimental work in the engineering laboratory ; 

 (2) lectures and practical laboratory work in electricity and allied 

 branches of physics ; (3) lectures in architecture and architec- 

 tural construction; and (4) lectures and practical laboratory 

 work in different branches of chemical technology, including 

 brewing, heating and lighting, metallurgy, chemistry of the alkali 

 irade, and agricultural chemistry. Besides these technical and 

 professional lectures, the Faculty of Science provides very com- 

 plete courses of lectures in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and 

 geology, the sciences upon which the professional knowledge 

 must be based. 



On Tuesday last Mr. F. J. M. Page, B.Sc, F.C.S., was 

 elected Demonstrator of Practical Chemistry at the London 

 Hospital Medical College. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, vol. xvii. part 4, 

 July, 1S83, contains: On the action of saline cathartics, by Dr.' 

 Matthew Hay.— On the anatomy and physiology of the urinary 

 bladder and of the sphincters of the rectum, by F. Le Gros Clark, 

 F.R.S.— On ten cases of congenital contraction of the stomach, 

 with remarks, by W. Roger Williams (plate 17).— A new rule of 

 epiphyses of long bones, and on the ossification of the temporal 

 bone, by J. B. Sutton (plate 18).— On three cases of cerebellar 

 disease, by Dr. Thomas Oliver.— A contribution to the anatomy 

 of the Indian elephant, by Dr. R. J. Anderson.— On a case of 

 semi-agnatha or synotia in a lamb, by Frederic Eve. — On a case 

 of primary epithelioma of the lung with secondary deposits in 

 the kidney, vertebrae, and ribs, by W. E. Hoyle, M.A. (plate 19). 

 — Researches into the histology of the central gray substance of 

 the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, by Dr. W. A. Hollis 



(plate 20). — On themembrana tympani, by Dr. J. M. Crombie. 



An account of an obturator hernia, and of a fibrous body attached 

 to the hydatid of Morgagni, by \V. S. Richmond. 



The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science for July 

 contains : — On the ancestral form of the Chordata, by Prof. W. 

 Hubrecht (plate 23).— On the renal organs of Patella, by J. T. 

 Cunningham.— On a rare form of the blastoderm of the chick, 

 and its bearing on the question of the formation of the vertebrate 

 embryo, by Dr. C. O. Whitman (plates 24 and 25).— On the 

 development of the pelvic girdle and skeleton of the hind limb 

 in the chick, by Alice Johnson (plates 26 and 27). — On the 

 development of the mole (Talpa turopca), by Walter Heape 

 (plates 28 to 31).— On the tongue of Ornithorhynchus paradoxus: 

 the origin of taste bulbs and the parts upon which they occur, 

 by Edward B. Poulton, M.A. (plate 32).— Observations upon 

 the fretal membranes of the opossum and other marsupials, by 

 Dr. H. F. Osborn (plate 33). 



The Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society for August 

 contains : — On the red mould of barley, by C. G. Matthews 

 (plates 5 and 6). — On the spicules of Cucumarea hyndmanni, 

 C. calcigera, and two allied forms, by Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell, 

 M.A. (plate 8). — On a method of preserving the freshwater 

 medusa, by Peter Squire (four grains of bichloride of mercury 

 to a pint of distilled water). — The usual summary of current 

 researches and Proceedings of the Society. 



The American Journal of 'Science, September. — On the exist- 

 ence in both hemispheres of a dry zone and its cause, by Arnold 

 1 ruyot. The presence is determined of two nearly rainless belts 

 on both sides of the tropics, extending round the globe, and em- 

 bracing most of the so-called deserts of both hemispheres. ] t is 

 argued that the atmospheric currents, w hich are the great regu- 

 lators of aqueous precipitation, are the primary cause of these 

 subtropical dry zones. — On the relations of temperature to glacia- 

 tion, by George F. Becker. Assuming the correctness of the 

 generally received opinion that the sun is a gradually cooling 

 body, it is concluded that the absolute maximum in the develop- 

 ment of glaciers is past, and that the Glacial period was not one 

 of general cold, but one of higher mean temperature at sea-level 

 than the present. — Analysis of two varieties of lithiophilite 

 (manganese triphilite) from Tnbbs Farms, Maine, and Branch- 

 ville, Connecticut, by S. L. Penfield.— On the intensity of sound. 



I. The energy and coefficient of damping of a tuning-fork, by 

 Charles K. Wead.— The decay of rocks geologically considered, 

 by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt. In this comprehensive memoir the 

 author insists (a) on the evidence afforded by recent geological 

 studies of the universality and antiquity of subaerial decay both 

 of silicated crystalline rocks and of limestones, and of its great 

 extent in pre-Cambrian times ; {/>) on the preservation of the dis- 

 integrated materials in situ, wherever they have been protected 

 from denudation by overlying strata, or by their position in places 

 sheltered from erosion, as in the Appalachian and St. Lawrence 

 valleys ; (c) on the insignificant results of this process of decay 

 since the Glacial period owing to the relatively short duration of 

 that period, and probably also to changed atmospheric con- 

 ditions in recent times; (</) on the fact that the process has 

 furnished the materials both for the clays, sands, and iron-oxides 

 from the beginning of the Palaeozoic to the present time, and for the 

 corresponding Eozoic rocks formed from the older feldspath rocks 

 by the partial loss of protoxide bases. The decay of sulphuretted 

 ores in the Eozoic rocks has also given rise to oxidised iron ores 

 and to deposits of rich copper ores in various geological regions ; 

 (<) that the rounded masses of crystalline rocks left in the process' 

 of decay constitute not only the boulders of the drift, but, judg- 

 ing from analogy, the similar masses in conglomerates of various 

 ages from Eozoic times. — On Mr. Glazebrook's paper on the 

 aberration of concave gratings, by H. A. Rowland. — On the 

 stibnite from Japan, by Edward S. Dana. The author fully 

 describes and illustrates the remarkable series of specimens of 

 crystallised stibnite from Mount Kosang in the Island of Shi- 

 koku, South Japan, which have recently come into the posses- 

 sion of the Yale Museum. — Notes on the volcanoes of Northern 

 California, Oregon, and Washington Territory, by Arnold 

 Hague and Joseph P. Iddings. — Cassiterite, spodumei e, and 

 beryl in the Black Hills, Dakota, by William P. Blake.— Dis- 

 covery of a new planetoid on the night of August 12, by C. II. 

 F. Peters. 



The American Naturalist for June, 1883, contains :— Pearls 

 and pearl fisheries, part i., by W. H. Dall.— Aboriginal quar- 

 ries : soapstoie bowls and the tools used in their manufacture, 

 by J. D. McGuire.— Annelid messmates with a coral, by I. W. 

 Fewkes. — Progress of invertebrate palaeontology in the United 

 States for the year 1882, by Dr. C. A. White.— Notes on the 

 genus Campeloma of Rafinesque, by R. E. Call.— Mosses, by 

 W. W. Bailey. — Emotional expression, by A. T. Bruce. — The 

 developmental significance of human physiognomy, by C. D. 

 Cope. 



July, iSS3, contains: — The Naturalist Brazilian expedition, 

 No. 2 : the lower Jacuhy and Sao Jeronymo, by H. S. Smith. 

 — Growth and development, by C. Morris. — Pearls and pearl 

 fi heries, part 2, by W. H. Dall.— Catlinite : its antiquity as a 

 material for tobacco pipes, by E. A. Barber. 



August, 1883, contains :— Means of plant dispersion, by E. 

 I. Hill. — On the classification of the Linnean orders of Ortho- 

 ptera and Neuroptera, by A. S. Packard, jun. — On the power 

 of scent in the turkey vulture, by S. N. Rhoads.— The Siphono- 

 phores (illustrated), by T. Walter Fewkes. 



Annalen der Pkysik und Chemie, July 15. — Theory of dis- 

 persion, by L. Lorenz.— On the elliptical polarisation by reflec- 

 tion from the surfaces of transparent bodies, by A. C. van Ryn 

 van Alkemade. — The coefficient of refraction of some mixtures 

 of alcohol and aniline, by W. Johst (with tables).— Remarks on 

 E. Lommel's treati-e "Concerning Newton's Rings,'' by Karl 

 Exner. — On a method of comparing electrical resistances inde- 

 pendent of the resistance of the leads, by F. Kohlrausch. — Some 

 determinations of the absolute resistance of a chain by means of 

 an earth inductor and a galvanometer. — Concerning the effect of 

 polarisation with alternating currents, by A. W'inkelman. — 

 Quantitative determination of the influence of the changes of 

 temperature produced by extension upon the measurement of the 

 former, by Dr. A. Miller of Miinchen.— On the admissability of 

 the acceptance of an electric sun potential and the effect of its 

 interpretation on terrestrial phenomena, by Werner Siemens. — 

 Researches in gaseous constitution of heavenly bodies, by A. 

 Ritter of Aachen. — On the reduction of the fundamental units of 

 mechanics to their elements, by E. Budde. — On a new fluid of 

 high specific weight, of high refractive index and great dispersion, 

 by Carl Rohrbach (with tables). — On the correct writing of some 

 expressions of Arabic origin used in the art of measuring, by K. 

 Zoppritz. 



Bulletin of the Belgian A'oyal Academy of Sciences, July 27. 

 — On the influence exercised by the respiratory process on the 



