5§4 



NATURE 



[Oct. 



1 1, i< 



author expounds his own v ew-, and argues against the generally 

 accepted theory that underground disturbance of all s irts have 

 their source, not in the upper but in the lowest regions of the 

 earth's crust. — On a case of commemalism between a fish 

 (Caranx melamfiygus) and a medu a [Crambessa palmipes), 

 with two illustrations, by M. G-idefroy I unel. In this 

 instance the fish appears as the parasite or guest of the 

 medusa, taking up its abode in one of its cavities, which it enters 

 and leaves at pleasure without apparent injury to th j gelatinous 

 substance of the sea-nettle. This circumstance, which has been 

 fully verified, seems to thro v a new light on the relations of a 

 species of Schtdophilus to the medusa, on which it is supposed 

 to feed, and has accordingly, by Prof. Cocco, been named 

 Schedopkilus medusophagus. One of these is described by 

 Giinlher in the Transactions oj the London Zoological Society, 

 October, 1882. — Meteorological observations with tables of tern 

 perature and barometric pressure made at the Observatory of 

 Geneva and on the Great Saint Bernard during the month of 

 August. 



Rivista Scittttifico-Tndustrialc e Giornah del Naturalista, luly 

 15 and 31. — On the measurement of altitudes by means of the 

 barometer, by S. Paolo l'.usin. — Further remarks on a new ex- 

 periment in electrolysis, by Prof. Eugenio Semmola. — On the 

 comparative electric resistance of fixed and vibrating metal 

 wires, by Prof. Angelo Emo. — An essay on some rew ap- 

 plications of the hyperbolic functions to pseudo-spherical sur- 

 faces, with a description of Gronau's tables for all kinds of 

 trigonometrical functions of cyclic and hyperbolic sectors, by 

 Trof. Angelo Forti. — On the language of birds, by Prof. Luigi 

 Paolucci. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Entomological Society, October 3. — Mr. R. McLachlan, 

 F. R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — Two new members were 

 elected. — Mr. F. P. Pascoe exhibited several interesting British 

 Hemiptera, and Mr. T. Wood exhibited a supposed new 

 British species of Malthodes, — Mr. W. F. Kirby (on behalf of 

 M. Wailly, who was present as a visitor) exhibited a large box 

 of bred specimens of various Safurniidtr, &c, and some living 

 larvse of Telea Polyphemus, aid Hyperchiria Jo. — Mr. Billups 

 exhibited specimens of the celery fly [Tephritis cnopordinis), 

 and a small larva of Meloe (?). — Dr. P. Sharp communicated 

 some proposed alterations of names in the genus Batrisus. — Mr. 

 W. F. Kirby read notes on the Diptera of New Zealand, sup 

 plementary to Prof. Hutton's list of 1881. 



Sydney 



Royal Society of New South Wales, July 4.— The 

 Hon. J. Smith, C.M.G., M.D., president, in the chair. — 

 Ten new members were elected and sixty-three donations re- 

 ceived. The following papers were read : — By the Rev. J. 

 E. Tenison-Woods, F.G.S., &c , on the Waianamatta shales. 

 — By R. Etheridge, jun., farther remarks on Australian Stro- 

 phalosix ; and description of a new species of Aucella from the 

 Cretaceous rocks of North-East Australia. — Prof. I.iversidge, 

 F.R.S., &c, exhibited specimens of tin ore; he explained that 

 most of the tin worked in this colony was alluvial tin, though 

 occasionally thin veins of crystallised tin had been met with. 

 Those sho« n, however, were from a vein which had already 

 proved to be of a width of ten feet, and the full width had not yet 

 been reached. The tin, as could be seen, was disseminated 

 through the felspar, and the specimen, which came from the 

 Stannifer Bischoff Mine in New England, closely resembled the 

 ore found in the St. Agnes Mine, in Cornwall, England. 



August 1. — The Hon. J. Smith, C.M.G., M.D., president, in 

 the chair. — Three new members were elected, and sixty-seven 

 donations received. The following pa; er was read : — On plants 

 used by the natives of North Queensland, &c, for food and 

 medicine, by E. Palmer. — Mr. J. Trevor Jones, City Engineer, 

 exhibited and explained the MacGeorge test, an instrument for 

 determining the deviation in diamond drill bores. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, October 1. — M. Blanchard, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — On the slow uoheavals and subsidences of 

 the ground, by M. Faye. In reply to M. Issel of Genoa, the 



author revivts _ tbe old theories of Elie de Beaumont, Cordier, 

 and in-iny others, and argues that the progressive cooling of the 

 earth's crus' goes on at a more rapid rjte under water than on 

 dry land. There is nothing hypothetic in this view, which might 

 have been deduced from the thermometric soundings taken fifty 

 years ago by the Venus in deep seas, and repeated with similar 

 re ul's in recent time;. It follows that the solidified crust is 

 much thicker under the oceans than on the continents. Hence 

 al»o the liqnid mass in the interior of the globe is subjected to 

 In greater pressure under the seas than on the main land ; and 

 as this excess of pressure is diffused more or less rapidly in every 

 direction, the less dense continental cru-t must yield to the pres- 

 sure exercised on it from within. It is thus being everywhere 

 continually upheaved, while the submarine crust, becoming 

 denser and denser, is -lowly subsiding, — Note on the recent 

 attempts made by M. Delauney and others to foretell seismic dis- 

 turbances, byM. Daubree. The author concludes that the hitherto 

 collected statistical data are insufficient to justify any theorising for 

 the present on the future recurrence of earthquakes. — Separation 

 of gallium (continued) ; separation from tantalic acid, by M. 

 Lecoq de Boisbaudran. — Researches on the encephaloid cancer, 

 by M. C. Sappey. — On the destruction and utilisation of the 

 carcasses of animals dying of contagious diseases, and especially 

 ofcharbon, by M. Aime Girard. — Observations made at the Ob- 

 servatory of Marseilles, by M. Coggia. — On the calculus of 

 perturbations, by M. A. tie Gasparis. — On the approximate evalua- 

 tion of integers, by M. Stiehjes. — On the interpreta' ion of some 

 phenomena of the solar spectra, by M. I.. Thollon. — On the 

 transport and distribution of electric force ; experiments made 

 at Grenoble by M. Marcel Deprez, by M. Bouhnger. — On the 

 presence of arsenic in certain wines in the absence of all foreign 

 colouring matter, by M. A. Baithelemy. — Quantitative analysis 

 of the chloroform in the blood of an animal treated with this 

 anaesthetic, by MM. Grehant and Quinquaud. — Researches on 

 parasitic infusoria, with an account of fifteen new species of 

 protozoa, by M G. Kunstler. — On the marine lamprey, by M. 

 L. Ferry. — On the caterpillar that feeds on the citron blossom, 

 by M. Lnugier. — On the position of a fcetus found in a Pontoporia 

 Blainvillci, by M. H. P. Gervais. — On a meteor observed at 

 Evreux on the night of September 23, by M. H. Dubus. 



CONTENTS Page 



The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science. 



By R. B. Haldane '. ... 561 



Letters to the Editor :— 



The "Transmission Eastwards round the Globe of 

 Barometric Abnormal Movements." — A. N. Pear- 

 son 562 



Apparent Disappearance of Jupiter's Satellites. — W. 



F. Denning 563 



The English Viper.— Katharine B. Claypole ; E. 



W. Claypole 563 



Solar Halo.— E. Brown 563 



A Remarkable Rainbow.— A. Ramsay 564 



Meteors. —A. Taun 564 



A Palaeolithic Flake. — G. F. Lawrence .... 564 



Hop "Condition." — H. M. C 564 



Joachim Barrande 564 



The Sanitary Congress on House Sanitation . . . 564 



The Astronomische Gesellschaft 565 



The Norwegian Circumpolar Station. By Aksel S. 



Steen ( With Illustrations) 566 



A National Laboratory of Marine Zoology . . 569 



Notes 570 



Geographical Notes 572 



The Evolutionary Position. By Prof. Flower, 



F.R.S 573 



A Green Sun in India. By Prof. C. Piazzi Smyth ; 



Rev. W. R. Manley 575 



The Java Eruption 577 



The British Association : — 



Section C — Geology 577 



Section D — Biology— Department of Zoology and 



Botany 579 



Department of Anatomy and Physiology . . . 581 



Section G — Mechanical Science 582 



Scientific Serials 583 



Societies and Academies 584 



