eo) 
having an estimated length of 190 mm., or 7:5 in.; 
the whole insect (with wings extended) must have 
had a span of more than 400 mm., or 16 in. The 
anterior wing-margin is tuberculated proximally, and 
more distally bears a closely set series of pointed 
spines directed outwards towards the wing-apex. The 
hinder wing-margin is also spinous, the spines possibly 
serving to interlock the fore and hind wings during 
flight. The characters of the costa and subcosta on 
the anterior portion of the wing, and of the cubital 
and anal veins on the hinder part, show the relation- 
ship of the insect to the family Meganeuride. The 
wing is referred to the genus Meganeura as a new 
species. 
EDINBURGH. 
Royal Society, January 19.—Prof. Geikie, president, 
in the chair.—Prof. R. J. A. Berry and Dr. A. W. D. 
Robertson; The place in nature of the Tasmanian 
-aboriginal as deduced from a study of his. calvaria. 
Part ii., His relation to the Australian aboriginal. 
Among the main conclusions of this prolonged study 
of more than a hundred skulls may be mentioned the 
following. The Australians and Tasmanians are the 
descendants of a common Late Pliocene or Early 
Quaternary stock, which may be called, with Sergi, 
Homo tasmanianus; the Tasmanian aboriginal was 
the almost unchanged offspring of this type, but the 
Australian aboriginal is a cross between the primitive 
Homo tasmanianus and some other unknown race, 
and is therefore a hybrid; both races have evolved on 
their own lines, and in their own way; both have 
attained morphologically to a higher stage in the 
evolutionary scale than is usually supposed; neither 
have any direct relationship with Homo primigenius 
as represented by the crania of the Spy-Neanderthal 
men; the range of variability is, in the Australian, as 
great as in any other impure race; but in the Tas- 
manian it is as small as in any other known or sup- 
posed pure race.—L. W. G. Buchner: A study of the 
curvatures of the Tasmanian aboriginal cranium. This 
detailed craniometrical investigation led to the same 
conclusion come to by the authors of the previous 
paper on quite other grounds, namely, that the range 
of variation is so small as to warrant the belief that 
the Tasmanian is a pure race.—E. M. Anderson: The 
path of a ray of light in a rotating homogeneous and 
isotropic solid. By an interesting geometrical demon- 
stration the paths are shown to be circles for rays travel- 
ling in planes at right angles to the axis of rotation.— 
T. J. Evans: The anatomy of a new species of Bathy- 
doris and the affinities of the genus (Scottish National 
Antarctic Expedition). This species, dredged in 1410 
fathoms off Coats Land, differs from the five known 
species in having only two gills, which are inter- 
mediate in condition between a typical Dorid rosette 
of plumes and a Tectibranch gill.—Prof. Carlgren : 
The genus Porponia and related genera (Scottish 
National Antarctic Expedition). The detailed exam- 
ination of the many specimens which were dredged 
off Coats Land in a depth of 1410 fathoms showed that 
Porponia belongs to an elementary group of Actinians, 
or even to the Protactiniz, but is in no way closely 
related to the Zoanthidz, as Hertwig suggested in his 
Challenger report. With Porponia in the familv Endo- 
ceelactida, Prof. Carlgren associates Halcurias and 
the new genus Synhalcurias, created for the species 
Ilyanthopsis longifilis. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, February 9.—M. P. Appell in 
the chair.—P. Appell and J. Kampé de Fériet: The 
convergence of series proceeding according to Hermite 
polynomials or more general polynomials.—Fred 
Wallerant ; The crystallographic properties of dichloro- 
benzene.—Gaston Bonnier and Jean Friedel : Anatomical 
NO. 2313, VOL. 92| 
NATURE 
* the 
[FEBRUARY 26, I914 
remarks on some types of carpophores.—O,. Lehmann ; 
A sudden change in the form of liquid crystals, caused 
by a molecular transformation.—Jean Boccardi; The 
diurnal variations of latitude.—A. Véronnet; The sun | 
and its heat. Its contraction and its duration.—Ch.” 
Gravier ; Simplification of the method of obtaining 
a photographic negative-—Eugéne Darmois and 
Maurice Leblanc, jun. : The working of the alternating 
arc in mercury vapour. An extension of the results 
published in an earlier paper. The current consump- 
tion is satisfactory, but the power factor is low. The 
present paper deals with the influence on the power 
factor of variations in the current dimensions, of free 
surface of the electrodes, length of are, pressure of 
mercury vapour, and shape of the tube.—MM. Hanriot 
and Lahure: Increasing and decreasing hardening of 
metals.—R. Marcelin : The influence of temperature on 
the velocities of transformation of physico-chemical 
systems.—G. Vavon: The reaction velocity of catalytic 
hydrogenation in presence of platinum black. The 
velocity of fixation of hydrogen by limonene in pre- 
sence of platinum black depends upon the quantity 
of platinum present and also upon its condition. The 
latter can be modified by heating the metal to various 
temperatures.—Léon Guillet: New researches on the 
transformation points and the structure of nickel- 
chrome steels. The first series of alloys studied con- 
tained about o-2 per cent. carbon, 2 per cent. nickel, 
and chromium varying from 0-06 per cent. to 10:2 per 
cent. The second series contained 4 per cent. nickel, 
chromium varying from o to 13-9 per cent. Details are 
given of the transformation temperatures, microscopic 
structure, resilience, and hardness for sixteen alloys.— 
Paul Pascal and A, Jouniaux: The density of some 
metals in the liquid state. The densities of fused tin, 
lead, zinc, antimony, aluminium, and copper were 
taken at temperatures between their melting points 
and 1300° C. by means of a loaded fused quartz bulb. 
Formule are given for the expansion of these six 
metals in the fused state. The curve of specific 
volumes of tin shows a marked inflection at 620° C.— 
Alberto Betim Paes Leme: The zeolites of the river 
Peixe, Brazil.—Jean Daniel: The descendants of beans 
which have presented a case of xenia (influence of 
the embryo on the teguments of the seed).—Jakob 
Eriksson and Carl Hammarlund ; Attempts to immunise 
the hollyhock against the disease of mildew (Puccinia 
malvacearum). The introduction of a _ fungicide 
(copper sulphate) into the soil arrests or reduces the 
vitality of the fungus living in the latent state in the 
interior of the plant.—P. Choux ; The genus Tanulepis 
at Madagascar.—Jules Amar: Fatigue cardiograms.— 
A. Javal: The variations of the electrical conductivity 
of the fluids of the organism. The variations in the 
electrical conductivity of blood serum, pleural liquid, 
cephalo-rachidian fluid, and other fluids from the body 
are in close relation with the amount of chlorides 
present.—Louis Joubin: Two cases of incubation in 
Antarctic Nemertians.—Jacques Pellegrin: The fresh- 
water Atherinideze of Madagascar.—Edouard Chatton : 
Autogenesis of the nematocysts in Polykrikes.—MM. 
Azéma and Jamot:; The geology of Ouadaii—De Mon- 
tessus de Ballore ; The distribution of earthquakes on 
the globe. 
February 16.—M. P. Appell in the chair,—E. 
Jungfleisch and Ph. Landrieu: Researches on the acid 
salts of the dibasic acids. The dextrorotatory cam- 
phorates. Various metallic d-camphorates. From a 
study of the d-camphorates of sodium, lithium, 
ammonium, barium, strontium, calcium, manganese, 
cobalt, and piperidine, the conclusions are drawn that 
the neutral camphorates are very stable in presence of 
water and do not undergo dissociation; the acid cam- 
phorates in presence of water give the free acid and 
dimetallic camphorate.—A. Laveran and G. 
