536 



NATURE 



[Sept. 27, 1883 



Rb 85-4x8 = 683-2 

 Ba 137 x 5 = 685. 



In the next division the aulh irs show that by alternate appli- 

 cation of acids and alkalies the muscle of the fro/ may be made 

 to describe, on a slowly revolving cylinder, curves which almost 

 exactly resemble those descrihed on a quick cylinder by the 

 normal contraction of a muscle on stimulation ; ad als > those 

 which the mu-cle desci'ies on irritation after it has been 

 poisoned by barium. They consider that the contraction of 

 muscle may be possibly due in so ne measure at least to altera- 

 tions in acid or neutral salts which the muscle contains. 



Entomological Society, September 5. — Mr. J. W. Dunning, 

 F.I..S., president, in the chair. — Baron O -ten-Sacken of Heidel- 

 berg was elect d a member of the Society. — Sir S. S. Saunders 

 exhibited Martirlla caricee, Hasselq. , which had been lost sight 

 of for mire than a century ; and other interesting fig-insects. — 

 Mr. F. Knock exhibited an hermaphrodite specimen of Macropis 

 labiata, Panz. — Mr. J. Coverdale exhibited specimens of Grapho- 

 Ktha ccecana, Schlager, a Torlrix new to Britain. — The Rev. II. 

 S. Gorham read a revision of the genera and species of Malaco- 

 derm Coleofitera of the Japanese fauna, part i., Lycidtt and 

 Lampyrida. 



Sydney 



Linnean Society of New i-outh Wales, July 25. — Prof. 

 W. J. Stephens, M.A , in the chair. — 'lhe following papers were 

 read : — On the myology of the Frilled Lizard [CAlam) dosaurus 

 Kingii), by Charles He Vis, B.A. The author does not find 

 there is any special muscular mechanism connected with the 

 reptile's habit of elevating the frill and of occasionally assuming 

 the erect attitude. The function of the frill he regards as being 

 partly to frighten assailants, partly to aid in the collectim and 

 concentration of the waves of sound. — Descriptions of Austra- 

 lian Microlepidoptera, No. 9, by E. Meyrick, B.A. — Some 

 remarks on the action of tannin on Infusoria, by Harry Gillian. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, September 10. — M. Blanchard, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — On certain predictions relative to seismic 

 disturbances, by M. Faye. The author exposes the groundle-s 

 character of the theory recently advanced by M. Delauney and 

 others, regarding the connection of earthquakes with the planet- 

 ary movement^, and more particularly with the supposed transit 

 of Jupiter through the August meteors. — Separation of gallium 

 (continued). Separation from titanic acid, by M. Lecoq de 

 Boisbaudran. — A new method of filtration for highly diluted pre- 

 cipitates, by M. I.ecoq de Boisbaudran. — Memoir on induction, 

 by M. P. Le Cordier. In this paper the author adopts the 

 theory of a continuous and incompressible medium, by the 

 translations and pressures of which are produced electric currents 

 and electrostatic phenomena. Electromotor and electrostatic 

 effects of induction are calculated appr oximately for a boll iw 

 sphere forming an insulated conductor, homogeneous, isotropic, 

 and non-magnetic, turning with a constant angular velocity round 

 a fixed axis in a uniform and permanent magnetic field. 

 — Experiments made at Grenoble, by M. Marcel Deprez, 

 on the transmission of force by electricity. Note com- 

 municated by M. Boulanger on behalf of the Committee 

 appointed by the city of Grenoble to follow these experiments. 

 — Cholera from the standpoint of chemistry, by M. Ramon de 

 Tuna. From his chernic il and physiological studies in Madrid 

 and the Philippines the author concludes that cholera is propa- 

 gated exclusively through the respiratory organs, and that the 

 only safe treatment is the inhaling of hypoazotic vapour mixed 

 with air. The best prophylactic is also found in hypoazotic 

 fumigations of rooms, utensils, &c, twice a day. During the 

 terrible outbreak at Manilla, in 18S2, this treatment was adopted 

 with complete success in the case of three hundred artisans em- 

 ployed in the mint. — Observations of the new comet discovered 

 by Mr. Brooks on September 2, and of the planet 234 made at 

 tne Paris Observatory (equatorial of the West Tower), by M. 

 G. Bigourdan. — Proposition on a question of mechanics touch- 

 ing the figure of the earth, by M. E. Brassinne. — Laws of in- 

 duction due to the variation of intensity in currents of diverse 

 forms; circular current, by M. Quet. — On the absorption of 

 the ultra-violet rays by albuminoid substances, by M. J. L. Soret. 

 From his experiments, in which he was assisted by MM. 1 lanilew- 

 sky and Deni, Monnier, the author concludes that all albuminoid 

 substances hitherto studied contain a common principle, to which 



is due their characteristic absorp'ive band. Gelatine, which in 

 so many other respects differs from albumen, acts quite dif- 

 ferently. It is much more transparent, and gives rise to no 

 bands. — On the proportion of food con-umed by dogs under 

 various temperatures, by M. Guimaraes. In the normal state the 

 average daily consumption varied from one-tenth to one-sixteenth 

 of the weight of the body ; in a temperature of 10° to 12° C. 

 from one-ninth to one-twelfth. — On the division of the cellular 

 nucleus in plants, by M. L. Gui^nard. — On the structure of the 

 leaf of the fossil genus Spkcttophyllum, rang 11; from the Lower 

 Carboniferous to the Upper Permian systems, by M. B. Renault. 

 — General conclusions on the ciuses of chemical change in 

 wheaten flour, and on the best c inditions for preserving it for 

 Ions periods in a sound state, by M. Balland. 



September 17. — M. Blanchard, pre-ident, in the chair. — Allu- 

 sion was made by the president to the loss sustained by the 

 Academy in the person of M. Puiseux, member of the Geo- 

 metrical Section, who di^d at Fronteiny on September 9. — On 

 the destructive fires caused by lightning, with some sugge>ted 

 improvements in lightning conductors (one illustration), by M. 

 1>. Colladon. — On the possibility of increa ing the irrigating 

 waters derived from the Rhone by regulating the discharge 

 the Lake of Geneva, liy M. Ar. Duinont. The author dwells 

 on the great benefits likely to be c inferred on the southern de- 

 partments of France by the project recommended by the ( renev 1 

 ission. This project, which might be carried out at an 

 expenditure of about iSo,ooo/., involves the creation of a 

 hydraulic force of 7000 horse-power, by which the level of the 

 lake at high water might be reduced by at least 0'6o m., and 

 the minimum discharge of the Rhone at the outlet increased by 

 Some, per second. — Elements and ephemerides of the Pois- 

 Brooks comet of 1812, by MM. Schulhof and Bossert. — Search 

 for the red star observed during the total eclipse of the su 1 

 on May 6, 1883, by M. E. L. Trouvelot. The subsequent 

 di a pearance of this object might perhaps justify the supposi- 

 tion that it was an intra- Mercurial planet. But pending more 

 accurate observations the author suspends his judgment on this 

 point. — On the double star 2 2400 of the Dorpat Catalogue, by 

 M. Perrotin. — E.lectric law of the conservation of energy under 

 all forms at entrance and issue of any material system traversed 

 by the electric current, by M. G. Cahanellas. — On a new 

 capillary electrometer, by M. A. Chervet. — Note on Hall's 

 electric phenomenon, by M. Auij. Righi, — Qualitative research 

 of manganese in the zinc of commerce, in zinc ashes and zinc 

 spar, and search for bismuth in the lead of commerce by means 

 of electrolysis, by M. A. Guyard. — New observations on the 

 microbes of fishes, by MM. L. Olivier and Ch. Richet. — On the 

 olfactory apparatus in the antennae of Vanessa Io, by M. 1. 

 Chatin. — On the venomous properties of the jequirity, by MM. 

 Cornil and Berlioz. — On the microbes found in the liver and 

 neys of victims to yellow fever (three illustrations), by M. I 



CONTENTS Paob 



Hermann Muller's "Fertilisation of Flowers" {With 



Illustration) 5'i 



Letters to the Editor : — 



lv;uanodon.— Prof. H. N. Moseley, F.R.S. . . 514 



Prof, Henrici's Address at Southport.— J. J. Walker 515 

 Scientific Aspects of the Java Catastrophe. — Prof. 



J. P. O'Reilly 5 ' 5 



" Elevation and Subsidence." — Rev. O. Fisher . . 515 

 A Complete Solar Rainbow, — D. Morris; T. W. 



Backhouse 515 



Animal Intelligence.— -Geo. G. Chisholm ... 516 

 The British Association : — 



Section I) — Biology — Opening Addre-s by Prof. E. 

 Ray Lankester.M. A., F. R. S. , F. L. S. , President 



of the Section 5'7 



Department of Anthropology — Address by William 

 Pengelly, F.R.S, F.G.S., Vice- President of the 



Section 524 



Joseph Antoine-Ferdinand Plateau 529 



Official Reports on Cholera in Egypt 530 



Nordenskjold's Greenland Expedition 530 



Notes 53 1 



The Iron and Steel Institute 533 



University and Educational Intelligence .... 534 



Scientific Serials 534 



Societies and Academies 535 



