n8 



NA TURE 



[Dec. 4, 1884 



niferous ether ; but when we have a thing elastic like jelly and 

 yielding like pitch, surely we have a large and solid ground for 

 our faith in the speculative hypothesis of an elastic luniinifcrous 

 ether, which constitutes the wave theory of light. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 Bulletin dc la Socictc Je Geographic, Paris, 3 Trimestre, 18S4. 

 — The principal portion of this number is occupied by papers of 

 M. Huber, who spent the years 1S78 to 1882 in Arabia on a 

 scientific mission on behalf of the Department of Pablic Instruc- 

 tion. In the first he introduces 145 inscriptions which he found 

 in various parts of Central Arabia on rocks. The second article 

 is the first instalment (accompanied by a map) of an account of 

 his numerous and extensive journeys in the same region, from 

 Palmyra and Bagdad in the north, to Kheiber in the south. A 

 glance at the route map shows that he has explored the greater 

 part of this region during his prolonged stay there. — M. Petitin, 

 in his account of his journey in Indo-China, gives a lengthy 

 description of the difficulties and dangers which the traveller 

 encounters in this peninsula. He was selected by Admiral 

 de la Grandiere when Governor of Saigon to make a geological 

 investigation of Cochin-China, Siam, Hainan, and Formosa, 

 but the death of the governor and the appointment of another 

 whose views were different cut M. Petitin's explorations short. 

 He saw enough, however, to give a brief account of the geology 

 of Cochin-China, and to give the intending traveller much 

 advice as to his arrangements and preparations. He also urges 

 his countrymen to extend their dominion in the Indo-Chinese 

 peninsula, especially in Tonquin, where the Red River affords 

 them an opening into the heart of China. — M. la Meslle's paper 

 on the eastern provinces of Australia is little more than a lively 

 account of a journey in Queensland, while the object of M. 

 Simonin's article on the ports of Great Britain — especially 

 London, Liverpool, and Glasgow — is not quite apparent, unless 

 it be to urge his countrymen to go and do likewise with their 

 ports. 



Verhandlungen der Gesdlschafl fur Erdkunde zu Berlin, 

 Bind xi., Nos. 6 and 7. — Herr Muller-Beeck, in the trade of 

 Further India deals largely with trade routes into the Shan 

 States and China. The Songkoi route into Yunnan he regards 

 as one of great difficulty on account of the rapids. The delta 

 also is constantly extending. Hanoi is now no miles from the 

 sea ; in the seventeenth century it was only half that distance. 

 For half the year the upper part of the river is only navigable 

 for boats of four tons, and when Manhao is reached, there is 

 still a difficult land journey to Yunnan. The population also, 

 he thinks, will form a grave obstacle to any regular trade by 

 this channel. — Herr Buchta, in the Soudan and the Mahdi, 

 deals purely with the political side of the Soudan question. — 

 Prof. Seelstrang gives much interesting geographical and sta- 

 tistical information about the province of Santa Fe, in the 

 Argentine Republic. — The usual notices of other societies and 

 of new books conclude the number. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Linnean Society, November 20. — Prof. P. Martin Duncan, 

 F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. A. Roope Hunt was 

 elected a Fellow. — Mr. F. B. Forbes drew attention to specimens 

 of pods and seeds used by the Chinese in place of soap. He stated 

 that for ordinary detergent purposes an impure earthy soda and a 

 lye made fromashes are employed. The leaves of Hibiscus syriacus 

 and Ginko biloba are occasionally used for cleansing the head. 

 The most favourite substance, however, is the fruit of certain 

 Leguminosfe (Fei-tsao-tow). The late Daniel Hanbury figures 

 these seeds as a species of Dialium. Dr. Porter Smith says 

 they are the product of the Acacia concinna (Mimosa saponaria, 

 Roxb. ). Dr. Breitschneirler asserts, on the contrary, that they 

 belong to Gymnodadus chinensis, originally described by 

 Baillon from pods only. Specimens at Kew lately figured in 

 the " Icones Plantarum," are young leaves, fruit, and flowers 

 from Foochow ; those now exhibited (by Mr. Forbes) are, how- 

 ever, much finer examples from Ningpo and Wahu. The pods 

 are roasted and kneaded into small balls used for washing 

 clothes, and the head in bathing, but, on account of their un- 

 pleasant smell, they arc prohibited in the public baths. The pods of 

 Gleditschia sinensis, Lamk. (Tsao-chio) are used for the same pur- 



poses as Gymnodadus, those shown at the meeting being from 

 Pekin and Shanghai district. One appears to answer to Dr. 

 Hance's new G. xyhcarpa. Bentham refers a South China tree 

 to G. sinensis. Lamarck founded his species on a tree growing 

 in the Jardin des Plantes, raised from seeds sent by Pere Incar- 

 ville 200 years ago from Pekin. It is doubtful if the northern 

 and southern plants are identical. The pods are broken into 

 small bits soaked in boiling water until an oily substance is 

 floated, when they are ready for use. Another saponaceous 

 substance is derived from Sapindits makarosi (the .S - . chinensis at 

 Kblrttiteria pomculata, Lam.), specimens of which were shown 

 from Ningpo. — Messrs. H. and J. Groves exhibited specimens 

 of (i) Chara connh'cns, collected at Slapton, South Devon] 

 the only known British station, for no trace of the plant is now 

 to be found at Stokes Bay ; (2) Chara canescens, obtained from 

 a pool between Helston and the Lizard, West Cornwall, by 

 Messrs. Guardia and Groves, and also at Little Sea, Studland, 

 Dorset, by Mr. Mansell Pleydell. — Mr. Geo. Murray showed 

 dried and moistened examples of an Algae, Glceocapsa, found by 

 Mr. Pryer in birds' -nest caves in North Borneo. — Mr. J. G. 

 Baker read the following letter from Mr. W. Brockhurst, of 

 Didsbury, dated November 17, 1884 : — " On April 2 I had the 

 pleasure of exhibiting to the Society a number of prepared 

 specimens of the daffodil, which appeared to prove that double 

 daffodil flowers might produce seeds, and I advanced some 

 arguments, based upon the observations I had made, to show 

 that they were spread over wide areas in a wild state of seeding. 

 The specimens showed the seed-vessels filled with ovules, but this 

 did not fully prove that ripe seeds capable of germination 

 would be matured. I therefore carefully observed a number of 

 flowers of double daffodils (Narcissus telamoneus-p/enus), and 

 marked them as they went out of bloom, to prevent any mis- 

 takes. One of these produced a capsule containing nine shining 

 black seeds, which were gathered on June 24, and at once sowed 

 in a pot, and covered with a sheet of glass. Of these seeds four 

 have already germinated, and show grass-like growths an inch 

 above the soil. This therefore completes the proof." — Mr. \V. 

 T. Thiselton Dyer pointed out and made remarks on some 

 sterile runners of Mentha piperita, and the remains of flowers of 

 EpiloHuw hirsntum, both taken from a wreath found by Prof. 

 Maspero in a tomb near Thebes, and supposed to be of the 20th 

 or 26th dynasty ; Mr. Dyer also exhibited fresh flowers of 

 Ipomea purpureo-ccerulea. — Mr. Thos. Christy exhibited two 

 specimens of Lycaste Skinneri, Lindl., one with two flowers on 

 one stem, the other with an aborted lip adherent for the greater 

 part of its length to the column. He also drew attention to 

 samples of the tea (probably a species of Ilex) used largely in 

 Bogota, but which is said to be deficient in flavour. — Mr. E. C. 

 Stanford thereafter showed some of the products from seaweed, 

 viz. : — Algin, the insoluble form of which (alginic acid) can be 

 made into shirt-studs resembling horn, &c. ; the soluble algin 

 (or alginate of soda), which diminishes the brittleness of shellac, 

 besides other uses. — A paper was read by Mr. E. M. Holmes 

 on Cinchona Ledgeriana as a species. The author expressed the 

 opinion that under the name of C. Ledgeriana, a number of varie- 

 ties or forms, and probably some hybrids of Cinchona Calisaya, 

 are now under cultivation in the British colonies. He believed 

 that, if more attention were paid to the characters afforded by 

 the bark of trees, taken in conjunction with the other botanical 

 characters of flower and fruit, these varieties and hybrids would 

 be more easily defined and recognised. He considers that the 

 plant published under the name of C. Ledgeriana by Dr. Trimen 

 was probably referable to Weddell's Cinchona Calisaya, var. 

 pallida, as a horticultural form, for which the author proposed 

 the name " Trimeniana." — A paper was read, notes on the habits 

 of some Australian Hymenopterous Aculeata, by H. L. Roth. 

 He states that the wasps of the genus Pelopceus [P. Icetus) build 

 their nests on the walls, ceilings, legs of chairs, under the table, 

 in cupboards, vases, between pictures and the walls, on curtains, 

 in all sorts of crevices in the house, and on the roof. No place 

 is safe from their intrusion. When a cell is completed, the wasp 

 goes in search of spiders, and, seizing these, packs their half- 

 dead bodies in the cell, lays an egg, and closes the cell-top ; 

 thereafter rows of cells are added to the primary one and 

 dealt with in the same fashion, generally finishing with a streaked 

 coating of mud, thus to deceive as to the real contents beneath. 

 These wasps are infested with Dipterous parasites. Of the 

 Australian ants, F01 mica rufinigro is numerous, bold, and de- 

 structive. They destroy the web of certain caterpillars and 

 wriggle them out, when they fall a prey to a host of attendant 



