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NA TURE 



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versy by calling; attention to some sections examines by him in 

 Ross-shire, which he maintained did not bear out the views of 

 •Sir R. Murchison. He also suggested a modified interpretation 

 of the views of Prof. Nicol. Since then many areas in Ross 

 and .Sutherland have been examined by Mr. Hudleston, Prof. 

 Bonney, Dr. Callaway, Prof. Lapworth, and Prof. Blake, and 

 their conclusions showed that though differences of opinion pre- 

 vailed on some points, yet all were agreed as to there being no 

 evidence in the areas examined by them to support the Murchi- 

 sonian view of a conformable upward succession. Many other 

 facts of great importance were brought out in these inquiries. 

 The author expressed gratification at the candid manner in 

 which the whole question had been dealt with by the Director- 

 General and the Surveyors in their recent report, and at their 

 readiness in acknowledging, after due examination in the course 

 of surveying and mapping parts of the areas referred to, that they 

 had found the " evidence altogether overwhelming against the 

 upward succession which Murchison believed to exist." 



Edinburgh 

 Mathematical Society, January 9. — Mr. A. J. G. Barclay, 

 President] in the chair. — Prof. Chrystal read a paper on the 

 problem to construct the minimum circle enclosing « given 

 points on a plane ; Dr. Thomas Muir discussed the equation 

 connecting the mutual distances of four points on a plane ; and 

 Mr. J, S. Mackay gave two notes on a theorem and a problem 

 in geometry which had previously been brought before the 

 Society. 



Paris 

 Academy cf Sciences, January 5. — M. Bouley, Pre- 

 sident, in the chair. — Obituary' notice of M. Victor Dessaignes, 

 who died at Vendome on January 5, by M. Berthelot. — Che- 

 mical studies on the skeleton of plants, part iii., by MM. E. 

 Fremy and Urbain. — Note on the earthquakes in the south of 

 Spain, by M. Hebert. These disturbances, the most serious 

 that have been recorded throughout the historic period in Spain, 

 are attributed exclusively to local causes, and especially to the 

 structure of the soil, which is here formed cf secondary strata, 

 folded, overlapped, broken by numerous faults, and often tra- 

 versed by old and recent eruptive rocks. — On a hydrate of 

 chloroform, by MM. G. Chancel and F. Permentier. — Studies 

 in the reproduction of phylloxera ; distribution of the sulphuret 

 of carbon amongst the vines by means of machinery, by M. P. 

 Boiteau. — Equatorial observations of Barnard's and Wolf's 

 comets made at the Ob-ervatory of Algiers (0.50 inch telescope), 

 by MM. Trepied and Rambaud. — Observations of Encke's 

 comet made at the same observatory, by M. Trepied. — On 

 the internal constitution of the globe, by M. O. Callandreau. — 

 On a generalisation of the theory of Abel, by M. H. Poincare. 

 — ( )n a method of treating universal periodical transformations, 

 by M. S. Kantor. — Note on the theory of electro-dynamic in- 

 duction, of which the integral law is given by Neumann's 

 by M. P. Duham. — A new theorem on the dynamics 

 of fluids, by M. E. F. Fournier. — On the laws of chemical 

 dissolution, by M. H. Le Chatelier. — Determination of the 

 atomic weights of carbon, phosphorus, tin, and zinc, by M. J. 

 D. Van der Plaats. — On the saturation of phosphoric acid by 

 the bases, by M. A. J. Joly. — On the preparation of pure and 

 highly concentrated oxigenated water, by M. Hanriot. — On 

 fusibility in the oxalic series, bv M. L. Henry. — Heat of com- 

 bustion of acetal, crotonic aldehyde, isobutyric acid, and of 

 some other substances of the fatty series, by M. W. Louguinine. 

 — On the germination of plants in soils abounding in organic 

 substances, but free from microbes, by M. E. Duclaux.— Obser- 

 vations on the previous paper, by M. Pasteur. — Fresh researches 

 on the doundake plant {Ciphalina est ulenla, Schum.), and on its 

 active principle doundikine, by MM. E. Ilrckel and F. Schlag- 

 denhauffen. The doundake is described as an astringent and a 

 febrifuge capable of replacing quinine, as well as a dye yielding 

 1 yellow colour worthy of the attention of dyers. It 

 flourishes in Senegambia, Sierra Leone, and other parts of West 

 Africa, and in many respects clo ely resembles the Morinda of 

 the South Sea Islands. — On the presence of the genus Equise- 

 tum in the lower coal-measures of Beaulieu, Maine-et-Loire, by 

 M. Ed. Bureau. — Influence of altitude on vegetation and the 

 migration of birds of passage, by M. Alf. Angot. 



Berlin 

 Physiological Society, December 12, 1884. — Prof. Eulen- 

 burg spoke on investigations into the sense of temperature, 



which he had instituted specially for diagnostic purposes. As a 

 test of the cutaneous perceptions in this respect, the only method 

 available in practice was that of ascertaining the least differences 

 perceived, and for this purpose the speaker had constructed 

 special instruments which could be used to examine the 

 sense of pressure as well as of temperature on the part of the 

 skin. These instruments he laid before the Society. The ap- 

 paratus for testing the sense of temperature consisted of two 

 mercurial thermometers fastened on a transverse piece, with flat 

 discoid tubes, one of which was fixed, the other movable. The 

 fixed tube was surrounded at its lower part with metallic 

 wires, by means of which, and an electric current, it could be 

 warmed at pleasure. Both were placed beside or after one 

 another on the spot to be examined, and the least difference of 

 temperature which could be perceived was ascertained. When 

 the temperature of the skin was below 27° C, its sensitiveness 

 both to heat and cold was too obtuse for available results to be 

 attained. In order to determine a normal scale above this 

 lin.it, Prof. Eulenburg carried out a large number of measure- 

 ments, which resulted in showing a great diversity in sense of 

 temperature at different parts of the body. The sensitiveness to 

 warmth was highest at the forehead and at the dorsal side of 

 the last phalanges. At both these places differences of 

 o"2° C. were distinctly perceived. The least sensitiveness to 

 warmth, on the other hand, was shown at the higher end of the 

 anterior side of the upper part of the thigh, at the epigastrium, 

 and in the median line of the back. At these places, only 

 differences as large as from o'Q° C. to ii° C. were perceived. 

 Sensitiveness to cold was likewise greatest at the forehead, 

 and least at the epigastrium and back, but the degree of 

 sensitiveness to cold did not always coincide with that of thermal 

 sensitiveness at particular parts of the body, certain spots show- 

 ing more sensitiveness to differences of heat, others to differences 

 of coll. From the circumstance that the sense of temperature 

 was more developed in the hands and face, which were exposed, 

 than in those parts usually covered, and so far protected from 

 variations, the speaker thought he was justified in inferring that 

 the more delicate sense of temperature was an acquired sense. 

 It was a striking fact that the tip of the tongue, so keen to 

 mark variations of taste, was very dull in distinguishing varia- 

 tions of temperature. While engaged in these investigations Prof. 

 Eulenburg became acquainted with the labours of Dr. Gold- 

 scheider, who, in the same manner as Herr Blix had done 

 somewhat earlier, but, independently of this gentleman, came to 

 the conclusion, as the result of a series of experiments, that the 

 perceptions of temperature on the part of the skin had their seat 

 in a large number of distinct cold and warmth points distributed 

 over the whole body in definite complicated arrangement, the 

 former of which (the cold points), under chemical as well as 

 under electrical and mechanical stimulus, generated only the 

 feeling of cold, the latter, under the same stimuli, only the feeling 

 of warmth ; that at all parts of the body there were a number of 

 cold points which were easy to identify, and which were called 

 cold points of the first class ; and that, in addition, there were a 

 larger number of cold poin's, more difficult to identify — cold 

 points of the second class. Prof. Eulenburg repeated Dr. 

 Goldscheider's experiments, and found them generally confirmed. 

 He had further studied the distribution of the warm and cold 

 points, both in himself and other persons, in such a manner that 

 he marked with a fine pencil on the skin each warm or cold 

 point found during examination, and then had an impression 

 of the points so found made on v ax paper, which he had laid 

 over them. As a result of this operation it appeared that the 

 forehead and the dorsal side of the phalanges had the most, the 

 epigastrium the fewest, cold points. If the same spot of skin 

 were examined on different days, the cold points of the first 

 class always remained the same, while those of the second class 

 varied, being found in larger number on one day than another. 

 This diversity on different days appeared to coincide with the 

 changes of temperature in the skin. The same relations held 

 good in regard to the warmth point,, which were separated 

 locally from the old points by tracts thermally insensible. 

 The distribution of cold and warm points was not the same on 

 all parts of the body. In some places the number of cold 

 points predominated, in others the number of warm points. 

 In the back of the hand, near to the wrist, for example, 

 the number of warm points was in a majority, while to- 

 wards the fingers the number of cold points preponder- 

 ated. On comparing symmetrical parts of the body, it appeared 

 that neither in number nor in the way in which they were distri- 



