5§2 



NA TURE 



[Oct. ii, 1883 



nition of chlorophyll in animals wa< first referred to, and the 

 writer stated that he had based his conclusions as to the identity 

 of animal and vegetable chlorophyll on the fact that the wave- 

 lengths of the centres of the bands of the fame solutions of 

 animal and vegetable chlorophyll are the same, and that the 

 w ave-lengths of the centres of the bands are the same when the 

 same reagent is added to the respective solutions. Without 

 committing himself to accepting the views of Kratis nr Sorby, 

 he applied the term chlorophyll to that colouring matter, or 

 mixture of colouring matters, which can be extracted out of 

 green leaves, such as those of Primula, by means of alcohol or 

 alcohol and ether. The colouring matter, to which the writer 

 has given the name " enterochlorophyll " (Proc. Roy. Soc. 226, 

 1883), and which can be extracted from the liver or other ap- 

 pendage of the enteron of invertebrates, was shown to be 

 probably produced by, and in, the body of the animal, and lor 

 certain reasons (detailed at length) not food chlorophyll. The 

 absence of parasitic algx- in sections of the livers of certain 

 mollusks which yield enterochlorophyll shows that this pigment 

 cannot be due to their presence. The writer further showed 

 that Pocklington's opservations, published in the Pharma. 

 Journal ( 1 JS73), on the presence of chlorophyll in the wing-cases 

 of Cantharides beetle-, could be verified, and he had succeeded 

 not only in verifying the presence of the principal chlorophyll 

 band in the ethereal, chloroformic, and alcoholic solutions of 

 the wing-cases, but the changes produced in the spectra of these 

 solutions on the addition of certain reagents showed the pre- 

 sence of a body indistinguishable from vegetable chlorophyll. 

 Hence Leydig's conclusion as to the presence of that colouring 

 matter in insects was proved to be correct. However, in the 

 case of green larva? the mere occurrence of a band in red when 

 a strong light is concentrated on the integument may be merely 

 due to the presence of food chlorophyll in the intestine, for, on 

 squeezing out the contents of the latter, the green colour and the 

 band both disappear. The function of chlorophyll was then 

 referred to : it was shown that it could hardly be of much use in 

 respiration, as oxidising and reducing agents do not affect it ; 

 that for protective purposes or in mimicry a body of less com- 

 plex chemical c imposition might answer equally well, except 

 that the eyes of some invertebrates may be more susceptible to 

 rays of light of a certain wave-length than our own, especially 

 as Sir J. Lubbock has shown that ants perceive the ultra-violet 

 rays of the spectrum which are invisible to us. It may possibly 

 be the persistence of a pigment which was once useful in a re- 

 mote ancestor in some cases, perhaps at a time when the atmo- 

 sphere contained much more carbon dioxide than at present. 

 Or again, it may be of use in absorbing the chemically active 

 rays of the spectrum when occurring on the surface of an animal, 

 especially as Zimiriazeff had shown that Langley's observations 

 with the bolometer have proved that the point of maximum 

 energy of the solar spectrum corresponds with the principal 

 chlorophyll band between B and C. In the case of entero- 

 chlorophyll this colouring matter may be of use in furnishing 

 material for the construction of other colouring matters, espe- 

 ci ill) as this body and hsemochromogen exist side by side in the 

 bile of some mollusks ; and in the bile of the sheep and ox a 

 body exists which fluoresces red and resembles chlorophyll 

 closely, but possesses at the same time some properties which 

 show that it is a haemoglobin derivative, as proved by the 

 wi iter (Proc. Boy. Soc. No. 208, 1880, and loc. cit.). The con- 

 clusions which had been arrived at gave support to the view 

 which Prof. Lankester had maintained, namely, that chlorophyll 

 may occur quite independently of the presence of parasitic alga;, 

 as in Spongilla and Hydra, and that it is in some cases produced 

 synthetically by and in the bodies of animals. 



On tlic Into cellular Connection of Protoplasts, by Prof. W. 

 Hillhouse. — In this paper the author gives the results of a large 

 number of observations to prove the intercellular connection of 

 protoplasm. Out of twenty-two plants examined, these connec- 

 tions were only found in the cortical tissue of J lex aquifolium 

 and ALsculus Iiippocaslnnum, the pulvinus of Primus taurocera- 

 sits, and the winter bud pith of Acer pscudoplatanus ; he, how- 

 ever, points out that these connections are easily broken in 

 preparation, and that a single connection between a number of 

 cells would be sufficient to produce a perfect unity of action. 

 His conclusions are: — 1. That protoplasmic threads connecting 

 neighbouring protoplasts are present in such widely different and 

 diffused structures as sieve-tubes, cortical parenchyma, leaf-pul- 

 vinus, pith of resting leaf-bud, and endosperm of seeds. 2. 

 That in the contraction of the protoplast in natural plasmolysis 

 these threads would normally remain unbroken. 3. That they 



may serve to transmit impulses from one cell to another, acting 

 in this way somewhat like a nervous system. 4. That besides 

 the perforating threads, equally widely spread and much more 

 numerous, are threads which attach the protoplast to the cell- 

 wall, whether at the base of pits or otherwise, and that these 

 threads are often opposite each other. 5. That the closing 

 membrane separating two threads often shows differentiation, 

 which suggests permeability, if not " sieve perforation." 6. 

 That in the contraction of the protoplast in natural plasmolysis 

 these threads would naturally be unbroken. 7 That these 

 threads may, when in extension, act upon the cell-wall and put 

 it in a state of slight positive tension. 8. That the pre-ence of 

 minute perforations communicating from cavity to cavity of 

 living cells would not, and when communicating with the inter- 

 cellular spaces need not, be a hindrance to the turgipotence of 

 the cells. 



On the Continuity of Protoplasm through the Walls of Vege- 

 table Cells, by Walter Gardiner — The author, after briefly re- 

 viewing the work which has already been done in this depait- 

 ment, goes on to describe his own experiments with Mimosa, 

 Robinia, Diona;a, and other sensitive plants, and with thickened 

 endosperms in general. In all organs of movement examined, 

 the freely pitted parenchymatous cells were found to communi- 

 cate with one another by means of delicate protoplasmic threads, 

 which perforate the closing membranes of the pits. The author 

 remarks that the existence of a communication between adjacent 

 cells appears to be very wide, if not of universal occurrence. 

 His own observations, extending over a series of fifteen species 

 of palms and representatives of some thirteen orders, w ere all 

 found to bear out the above researches, as in all cases definite 

 and well pronounced continuity existed. 



On the Muscular Movements that are associated uit/i certain 

 Complex Motions, by R. J. Anderson, M.A., M.D. — When a 

 muscle contracts, one extremity or both extremities may move. 

 When one extremity moves whilst the other is fixed, the fibre 

 may describe a plane surface, as when the moving end lies in a 

 right line or a cone, as when the moving extremity lies in the 

 circumference of a circle or other plane curve. If the fibre lie 

 in the plane of the circle, the cone will be reduced to a plane. 

 Where both extremities move, the fibre may describe a plane, 

 or a cylinder, or a ruled surface of a high order. It frequently 

 happens that when one extremity of a fibre is fixed the other 

 extremity moves in a circle, which itself experiences a move- 

 ment of translation. The moving point then describes a 

 trochoid, examples in pronator teres and pectoralis major. 

 Muscle fibre may describe curves of a complex nature, although 

 the muscles themselves form a simple surface, as in the two 

 muscles already cited. 



SECTION G— Mechanical Science 



A Comparison of Morecamte Bay, Barrow-in-Furness, North 



Lancashire, IVest Cumberland, &*c, in 1836 and 1883, by Hyde 

 Clarke. — The writer gave an account of his plans and surveys in 

 1S36 for forming a through line of railway from Lancaster, through 

 Furness and West Cumberland, across the Solway to Dumfries, 

 and thence to Glasgow, by the course now adopted by the 

 Glasgow and South-Westem Railway. The chief feature was 

 the passage and embankment of the large estuaries called More- 

 cambe Bay. The history of this undertaking was given, with 

 details of the plans of Messrs. Hyde Clarke, George Stevenson, 

 Hayne, Rastrick, &c, and the works carried out by Mr. James 

 Brunlees. The plans of the Warton Land Company were 

 described. The effect of the undertaking in the development of 

 Barrow or Foudrey and the iron manufacture of Furness was 

 illustrated. There were still 40,000 acres to be reclaimed, and 

 capable of becoming good agricultural ground. If reclaimed it 

 would enable a railway to be carried across the bottom of the 

 Bay. There was now a population of 5 , 000 i' 1 Barrow, and 

 although there had been great depression there] were elements 

 which pointed to a probable increase of from 100,000 to 200,000 

 persons. 



The Term "Stability," as used in the Literature of Naval 

 Architecture, by Prof. Osborne Reynolds. — The author explained 

 that the origin of the paper had been the report and discussion 

 which had taken place in regard to the lamentable disaster which 

 happened to the Daphne. Stability meant a state of being able to 

 maintain a particular position against any forces which tend to 

 upset ; or another way of expressing the same thing was a state 

 of ability to maintain a position after being disturbed and 

 allowed to go free to recover itself again. It appeared from 



