NA TURE 



[Nov. 20, i i 



hood were discovered an ingot of copper, some tin slag, a piece of 

 glass, flint implements, &c, together with remains of piles driven 

 into the ground — traces of human work belonging, apparently, 

 to the Bronze Age. The author thought it the more probable 

 view that the clay bed was deposited in a shallow marsh of land- 

 water kept back by the sea-beach, then some hundreds of feet 

 further to seaward, and that the forest, which consisted chiefly of 

 willows, grew on the marsh. 



Edinburgh 

 Mathematical Society, November 14. — Dr. Thomas Muir, 

 F.R.S.E., President, in the chair. — Mr. John S. Mackay read 

 a paper on the geometrical figure known to the Greeks as 

 "The Shoemaker's Knife." — The following office-bearers were 

 elected : — President : Mr. A. J. G. Barclay ; Vice-President : 

 Mr. George Thorn ; Secretary : Mr. A. Y. Fraser ; Committee : 

 Drs. R. M. Ferguson and Thomas Muir, Messrs. R. E. 

 Allardice, W. J. Macdonald, John S. Mackay, and David 

 Munn. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, November 10. — M. Rolland, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Additions to the memoir on complex unities, 

 by M. L. Kronecker. — Remarks on the fourth part of the map 

 of Africa, presented to the Academy, on behalf of the Minister 

 for War, by Col. Perrier. This map has been prepared by 

 Capt. de Lannoy, of the War Department, en a scale of 

 I : 2,000,000. The present part comprises the whole of the 

 Congo region, in six sheets, which have been issued for the use 

 of the members of the International Congress now assembled in 

 Berlin to discuss matters relative to West Africa. — Note on 

 Messrs. Renard and Krebs' new balloon, by M. Herve Mangon. 

 Two ascents were again made on Saturday, November 8, which 

 are described as completely successful. On the first occasion 

 the machine was propelled at an absolute speed of 23 kilometres 

 per hour against the wind blowing at the rate of 8 kilometres 

 per hour. The problem of directing balloons independently of 

 aerial currents is regarded by the author as practically solved 

 by these experiments. — Observations, elements, and ephemerides 

 of Wolf's comet, by M. Gonnessiat. The observations were 

 made with the Brunner 6-inch equatorial of the Lyons Ob- 

 servatory. — Observation of the same comet made with the 

 meridian circle of the Bordeaux Observatory, by M. Courty. — 

 Note on the sinuosities and variations of curvature in the shadows 

 cast during lunar eclipses, by M. P. Lamey. — On an equation 

 analogous to Rummer's equation, by M. E. Goursat. — On 

 algebraic curves of any degree described on a plane, by M. 

 Maurice d'Ocagne.— On atomic and molecular movements, by 

 M. M. Langloi's. — On the depth to which sunlight penetrates 

 the waters of the Lake of Geneva, by MM. H. Fol and Ed. 

 Tarasin. From a series of experiments carried out in August 

 and September of this year the authors conclude that light 

 reaches a depth of 170 metres and probably a little more, the 

 luminosity at this point being about equal to that of a clear 

 moonless night. — On a general statement of the laws of chemical 

 equilibrium, by M. H. LeChatelier.— Note on the polymorphism 

 of the phosphate of silica, by MM. P. Hautefeuille and J. 

 Margottet. The authors infer from several experiments that at 

 temperatures ranging from 300 to I0O0° C. this phosphate 

 crystallises spontaneously in four crystallographic forms in- 

 compatible with each other, and consequently constituting 

 four distinct chemical species. — On fluoretted apatites, by M. 

 A. Ditte. — On the action of the primary alcoholic iodides on the 

 fulminate of silver, by M. G. Calmels. — Anaytical study of the 

 atmosphere of the city of Algiers, by M. Chairy. — On the 

 hydrate of neutral sulphate of alumina, by M. P. Marguerite- 

 Delacharlonny. — Saponification of the simple aromatic ethers of 

 neutral substances, by M. A. Colson. — The microbe of yellow 

 fever : prophylactic inoculation, by MM. D. Freire and Rebour- 

 geon. After a series of extensive experiments conducted at Rio 

 de Janeiro during the years 1880-S4, Dr. Domingos Freire has suc- 

 ceeded in attenuating the virus of yellow fever and reducing it to a 

 vaccinal virus. With this, 400 persons have already been treated 

 with complete success. But fresh experiments will be needed 

 to determine the duration of immunity obtained by this per- 

 ventive inoculation. — On the effects of inflation of the lungs with 

 compressed air, by MM. Grehant and Quinquaud. — Researches on 

 the genesis of saccharine in beetroot, by M. Aime Girard. — -On 

 peptonic fermentation, by M. V. Marcano. This new process is 

 described as a simple and economic means of preparing in a few 

 Hours extremely pure peptone at a cheap rate. It is capable 



of being advantageously applied in a large way to the exporta- 

 tion of meat in a far more nutritive and economic form than that 

 of the extracts of meat now in use. — Origin and mode of forma- 

 tion of the phosphates of lime found deposited in large quantities 

 in sedimentary lands : their connection with the iron ores and 

 clays of siderolithic levels, by M. Dieulefait. — Contributions to 

 the anatomy and morphology of the Malpighian vessels in the 

 Lepidoptera, by M. N. Cholodkovsky. Completion of the bio- 

 logical evolution of Chaitophorus aceris, Fabricius (sub-Aphis), 

 by M. J. Lichtenstein. — Note on the characteristics of a 

 Tertiary "Conifer (Arancctritcs Stembergi, Goepp.) allied to the 

 Dammarea; (Doliostrobus Sternlnrgi), by M. A. F. Marion. — On 

 a great oscillation of the Cretaceous seas in Provence, by M. L. 

 Collot. — On the limestones containing fossil Echinids occurring 

 at Stramberg, Moravia, by M. G. Cotteau. — Observations of the 

 solar corona in Algeria, by M. E. Fuchs. — Account of a magni- 

 ficent meteor observed at Morges on November 3, by M. Ch. 

 Dufour. 



Vienna 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences, October 16. — -On bodies 

 with a maximum of density, and on the conclusions derived 

 from their behaviour, by C. Puschl. — On the passing of lu- 

 minous rays through glass pipes, and on a method based 

 thereupon for determining the refractive indices of condensed 

 gases, by T. Dechant. — On the influence of pressure on 

 the magnetisation of iron and steel rods, by H. T. Ibrailean. 

 — Computation of the orbit of the planet Ccelestina (237), 

 discovered by T. Palisa on June 27, by F. von Oppolzer. — 

 Geographical determination of the place of San'a (capital of the 

 Yemen Vilayet), by E. Glaser. — Calculation of the orbit of 

 Wolf's comet, by K. Zelbr. — On the action of zinc-ethyl on 

 a @ dichlorocrotonaldehyde, by A. Lieben. 



CONTENTS page 



Bacteriology 49 



Heroes of Science 50 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Bentley's " Student's Guide to Systematic Botany " . 5 1 



Wigan's " Electrician's Pocket- Book." — Prof. A Gray 51 



Hinton's " Science Note-Book." — Dr. Karl Keun . 51 



Bottone's " Dynamo : How Made and How Used" . 5 2 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Natural Science in Schools. — Prof. W. A. Shen- 



stone 5 2 



Do Flying-Fish Fly or Not? -Robert W. S. 



Mitchell 53 



Earthquake Measurement. — Dr. H. J. Johnston- 



Lavis 53 



Autumn Flowering. — Joseph John Murphy .... 54 

 The Northernmost Extremity of Europe. — W. 



Mattieu Williams 54 



Breeding of the Quadrumana. — Arthur Nicols . . 54 

 Fly-Maggots Feeding on Caterpillars. — R. McLach- 



lan, F.R.S. ; F. W. Elliott 54 



The Sunday Question. — Mark H. Judge 54 



A Pugnacious Frog. — Edwin H. Evans 55 



A Disease-Germ Myth 55 



The Buddhist Theory of Evolution. By J. Starkie 



Gardner 55 



The Rainfall of 1884. By Fredk. J. Brodie 56 



Ancient Chinese Geography 58 



Colour. (Illustrated) 58 



The Late Ferdinand von Hochstetter 61 



Notes 62 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Saturnian System 65 



The Variable Star U Geminorum 65 



Encke's Comet 65 



Wolf's Comet 65 



Geographical Notes 65 



An Account of some Preliminary Experiments with 

 Biram's Anemometers Attached to Kite Strings 



or Wires. By Prof. E. Douglas Archibald .... 66 

 The Classification and Affinities of Dinosaurian 



Reptiles. By Prof. O. C. Marsh 68 



The Danish Expedition in Greenland 69 



Scientific Serials 70 



Societies and Academies 7° 



