Jan. 15, 1885] 



NA TURE 



249 



test, by gradual stages to Ascidia mammillata (Fig. 5)) 

 where the vessels are numerous all over the test, branch 

 fre;ly in its outer layer, and terminate close to the surface 

 in large ovate bulbs, which are usually found filled with 

 blood-corpuscles. 



The only part of this history which presents any diffi- 

 culty is the passage from the Clavelinid to the Cionid 

 arrangement, from the gemmiparous stolon to the first 

 traces of a respiratory system of vessels. This can, I 

 believe, be most satisfactorily explained by assuming that 

 the rudimentary stolons after they had lost their primary 

 function became useful as adhering organs (Figs. 2 and 3), 

 and consequently were retained or possibly increased by 

 the action of natural selection, until their respiratory 

 function became established. 



I hope to work out the modifications of the system 

 throughout the various groups of Ascidians in detail, and 

 the results will probably be given in Part II. of the 

 Report on the Challenger Tunicata. 



W. A. Herdman 



NOTES 



The Council of the Royal Astronomical Society have awarded 

 their gold medal to Dr. W. Huggins for his researches on the 

 motions of stars in the line of sight and on the photographic 

 spectra of stars and comets. The presentation takes place at 

 the annual meeting next month. This is the second time that 

 Dr. Huggins has received the medal, he having, in 1867, in 

 conjunction with the late Prof. Miller, received it for his 

 researches in astronomical physics. 



The will of Mr. George Bentham, who died in September 

 last, has been proved by Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker and 

 the Right Hon. Sir Nathaniel Lindley, the executors, the 

 value of the personal estate amounting to over 23,000/. 

 The testator bequeaths, among other sums, 1000/. each to the 

 Linnean Society of London and the Royal Society Scientific 

 Relief Fund. The residue of his real and personal estate is to 

 be held upon trust to apply the same in preparing and publishing 

 botanical works, or in the purchase of books or specimens for 

 the botanical establishment at Kew ; or in such other manner as 

 his trustees may consider best for the promotion of botanical 

 science. 



At the meeting of the Colonial Institute on Tuesday, Gen. 

 Sir Henry Lefroy read a paper on the meeting of the British 

 Association in Canada. Sir Lyon Playfair, M.P., referred to 

 the visit of the British Association as marking a point in the 

 advance of civilisation. Canada's position of having federated, 

 not under the pressure of war, but in a time of profound peace, 

 was unique in the history of the world. The science of Great 

 Britain belonged to the Empire, and it was right that Canada 

 should be the first to try to federate the science of the United 

 Kingdom, and distribute it over the Empire. What Canada 

 wanted was not pure science, but applied science, to bind to- 

 gether her vast territory by railways. But knowing that applied 

 science did not come except pure science preceded it, Canada 

 had had the forethought and wisdom to welcome that pure 

 science to the Dominion. Sir Lyon gave a humorous account of 

 an adventure he had in a wild part of Ottawa with a Scotch 

 mining manager. It turned out that the manager, when in 

 Scotland, had attended the Mechanics' Institu'eat Glasgow, and 

 afterwards the evening classes at the Andersonian Institution, 

 obtaining a knowledge of chemistry and mineralogy, which had 

 stood him in good stead on emigrating to Canada. From his 

 compatriot he (Sir Lyon) heard of many other Scots of a like 

 type, all of whom had got on well, from the scientific education 

 they had acquired at similar institutions. For such men he did 

 not know any better country than Canada to find openings for 



getting on in the world. Prof. G. T. Bonney spoke at some 

 length of the interesting geological formation of Canada, and 

 said he believed that the district north of the St. Lawrence was 

 rich in valuable minerals, and that exploring parties for their 

 discovery should be organised to supplement the systematic 

 geological survey which was being slowly c inducted. He con- 

 demned the wasteful treatment of the forests that was going on 

 in some of the parts he had visited, and suggested that it was a 

 matter which should engage the attention of the Dominion 

 Government. 



On Tuesday evening Sir Frederick Bramwell gave an address 

 at the Institution of Civil Engineers on his assuming the chair 

 for the first time since his election as president. Sir Frederick's 

 subject was suggested to him by the forthcoming Exhibition of 

 Inventions, his address consisting mainly of a review of some 

 of the most remarkable recent inventions in the application of 

 science to engineering. Sir Frederick has apparently given up 

 hope of our being able to put the tides to any practical use, and 

 hints that Khartoum might have been relieved long ago had 

 our aeronauts been as inventive, or our War Department as 

 enterprising, as those of France. 



M. Cochery, the French Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, 

 was present, on January 2, at Rouen to witness some interesting 

 experiments in telephoning to a great distance. The object was 

 to test the results of the application between Rouen and Havre, 

 a distance of 90 kilometres, of M. Van Rysselberghe's system 

 of instantaneous transmission. The experiment was perfectly 

 successful, and during more than one hour, messages were ex- 

 changed between Rouen and Havre. The Minister announced, 

 on leaving Rouen, that the communication would be open to 

 the public in about a fortnight. Since January 1 the first tele- 

 phonic offices have been open in Paris, and it is probable that 

 communication will soon be established between Paris and 

 Rouen. 



Mr. Lant Carpenter lectures on Sunday at the Sunday 

 Lecture Society, on "The Life and Work of Sir William 

 Siemens," illustrated by experiments, diagrams, and the oxy- 

 hydrogen lanterns. Mr. Carpenter has, we understand, obtained 

 some special materials, of which he will make use in his lecture. 



Reports from Brussels state that the Spanish earthquake, or 

 a similar rimultaneous earthquake, was felt at the Royal Obser- 

 vatory there. The Observatory is stated not to be provided with 

 special instruments for recording earthquakes, as these phenomena 

 are so rare and slight in Belgium. It is said that on December 

 26 last, the day succeeding the first great shock of the Spanish 

 earthquake, one of the astronomical clocks in the principal 

 meteorological station in the Boulevard de 1'Observatoire was 

 stopped, and the other went irregularly. The officer charged 

 with attending to them perceived that the pillars on which they 

 rested had been displaced, and were no longer vertical. Or. 

 the evening of the same day, M. Lagrange, when about to 

 make some observations, noticed that the large telescope was 

 also displaced. It appears from this that the undulations of 

 the crust of the earth, which have had such disastrous effects in 

 Spain, extended as far as Brussels, and although their effects 

 were not generally appreciable in the latter city, yet they were 

 noticeable in the case of delicate instruments, such as astronomical 

 clocks. It would be interesting to have a precise, authentic 

 statement on this subject, and also to learn whether similar effects 

 were noticed anywhere else in Europe during the last week of 

 the old year. 



At a recent meeting of the German Asiatic Society of Japan 

 a paper was read by Dr. If. Muraoka of Tokio, on the magic 

 mirror of Japan. It is generally supposed that its magical 

 quality was discovered only recently ; but it was, says Dr. 

 Muraoka, known for a long time in Japan. Old ladies have 



