426 



NA TURE 



[March 5. 1885 



had microscopically examined his purest cultivations at Rotham- 

 sted, had been unable to find bacilli, but they appeared to con- 

 tain a micrococcus. [Prof. Lankester, interposing, remarked 

 that the growth sent to him by Mr. Warrington consisted of 

 bacilli, and nothing else.] In explanation, Mr. Warrington 

 said that in one of his earlier papers he had mentioned that 

 white films appeared on some of his solutions. Prof. Lankester 

 had examined these, but he had since found that the bacilli of 

 which they consisted were incapable of nitrifying ammonia. 

 Latterly he had followed Dr. Klein's method, and had intro- 

 duced the infecting matter into the sterilised cultivation liquid by 

 means of a capillary pipette, which was pushed through the 

 cotton-wool plug closing the tube or flask ; since he had done 

 this, the films referred to had never been formed. Dr. Thudi- 

 chum agreed that the amnionic changed was produced in urea 

 by a micrococcus. The study of microphytes and of the 

 chemical changes produced by them in the human body and in 

 the bodies of animals was of the greatest importance. He 

 questioned whether their action was always so specific, however, 

 as was commonly supposed. He would also call attention to the 

 fact that one micro-organism will kill another : thus, after 

 plastering wine, in consequence of the removal of the tartrate, 

 the microphyte which produces ropiness is crowded out by 

 alcoholic forms. Dr. Stevenson calleda ttention to the import- 

 ance of obtaining more imformation as to the alkaloidal bodies 

 formed by the action of micro-organisms. Prof. Frankland 

 replied that he did not mean absolutely to say that in his 

 experiments the work was done by the Bacillus urea:, but ihe 

 diagram was a faithful representation of what he saw ; he attri- 

 buted the action to the particular organism, because it commenced 

 when the organism appeared, and ceased when the bacilli 

 became motionless. The necessity of >tudying the actions of 

 pathogenic organisms had been prominently brought forward in 

 the discussion. He thought there was a substantial difference 

 between the class of chemical changes effected by plants on the 

 one hand and by animals on the other ; animals more particu- 

 larly consumed as food those compounds in which much energy 

 was stored up. 



Geological Society, February n. — Prof. T. G. Bonney. 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — Arthur William Clayden, 

 Samuel Rideal, and H. W. Williams were elected Fel'ows of 

 the Society. — The following communications were read: — The 

 Tertiary and older peridotites of Scotland, by John W. Judd, 

 F.R.S., Sec.G.S. The very interesting rocks known as 

 "peridotites" have been regarded by many petrographers as 

 peculiar to, and, indeed, characteristic of, the older geological 

 periods ; but in the Western Isles of Scotland there occur a 

 number of rocks of this cla c s, constituting portions of intrusive 

 masses, which the author, in a previous paper, has shown to be 

 the central cores of Tertiary volcanoes of vast dimensions. 

 These Tertiary peridotites are most intimately associated with 

 the gabbros and dolerites, the felspathic and non-felspathic 

 rocks passing into one another by insensible gradations, and the 

 rocks of either class being intersected by veins of the other. The 

 peridotites exhibit the same varieties of microscopic structure as 

 the associated gabbros and dolerites, these structures being 

 described under the names of "granitic," "ophitic," an-] 

 " porphyro-granulitic." The felspars, which are rare in the 

 peridotites, are intermediate in composition between labradorite 

 and anorthite ; they rarely, however, exhibit evidence under the 

 microscope of being built up of lamina; belonging to different 

 species. The study of the lamellar twinning, which is a common, 

 but by no means universal, character in these felspar crystals, 

 points to the conclusion that it has been induced by pressure or 

 strain, like the similar structure in rock-forming calcite. The 

 pyroxenes are represented by many varieties, roth of the mono- 

 clinic forms (augites) and the rhombic forms (enstatites), the 

 former being by far the most abundant. The olivines below 

 are, for the most part, highly ferruginous varieties. The spinell- 

 ids, magnetite, chromite, and picotite occur in these rocks, as 

 do also titano-ferrite and its alteration-products. Among the 

 accessory constituents biotite is the most abundant. It was 

 shown that each of the minerals of these rocks is found to under- 

 go remarkable changes as we pass from the superficial to the 

 central portions of these intrusive rock-masses. The most 

 important of these changes is that for which the author proposed 

 filename " schillerizalion." It consists in the development of 

 microscopic inclosures, in the form of plates and rods, along 

 certain planes within the crystal, giving rise to metallic reflections 

 or a play of colour. The felspars, pyroxenes, and olivines are 



all found to be affected in this way when they have formed the 

 deepest parts of these volcanic cones. In this way common 

 augite is seen at gradually increasing depths, passing into the 

 deep-brown variety known as pseudo-hypersthene. The last- 

 mentioned substance presents a curious mimicry of true 

 hypersthene and paulite, which is the schillerized form of a 

 ferriferous enstatite. The Tertiary peridotites present many 

 variations, not only in their structure, but also in their minera- 

 logical constitution. Among them occur examples of the rocks 

 which have received the names of dunite, picrite, and Iherzolite, 

 with some curious types composed of felspar and olivine. Among 

 the older peridotites of Scotland a new and very interesting type 

 is described from near Loch Scye in Caithness. It appears to 

 have been originally a mica-picrite, but the whole of the original 

 minerals have been converted into paramorphs, firstly by 

 schillerization, and subsequently by amphibolization and ser- 

 pentinization. In conclusion, it was punted out that the 

 discrimination between the effects of the changes described as 

 schillerization, and those known as uralitization, amphibolisa- 

 tion, serpentinization, and kaolinization is of the utmost import- 

 ance, not only to the petrographer, but to the mineralogist. — 

 Boulders wedged in the Falls of the Cynfael, Ffestiniog, by 

 T. Mellard Reade, F.G.S. 



Royal Microscopical Society, February 1 1. — Anniversary 

 Meeting. — The President (Rev. Dr. Dailinger, F. R.S.) in the 

 chair. — The Report of the Council showed a remarkable de- 

 velopment of the Society during the last six years, 301 new 

 Fellows being elected as against 97 in the preceding six years. 

 The income showed also an important increase. — Dr. Carpenter, 

 in moving the adoption of the Report, referred also to the suc- 

 cess which had attended the Society's Journal. — Dr. Dailinger 

 then gave his annual address to what was probably the largest 

 gathering of Fellows ever assembled on a similar occasion. 

 After briefly referring to the increased interest lately manifested 

 in the study of minute organisms and recalling the characteristics 

 of the doctrines of abiogenesis and biogenesis, he passed rapidly 

 in review the results of the observations of Tyndall, Huxley, 

 and Pa-teur as bearing upon these questions, and called attention 

 to the observations of Buchner as to the transformation of Bacillus 

 anthracis and Bacillus subtilis, and vice versa, and referred with 

 approval to Dr. Klein's criticisms thereon. Having spoken of 

 the desirability of careful and continuous study of this class of 

 organisms, and the importance of endeavouring to establish the 

 relation of the pathogenic form to the whole group, he said he 

 should be better able to deal with the subject by recording a few 

 ascertained facts rather than by making a more extended review, 

 and he therefore devoted the main part of his address to a descrip- 

 tion of " the life-history of a septic organism hitherto unknown to 

 science." In his observations of this form — extending over four 

 years — he had the advantage of the highest quality of homo- 

 geneous lenses obtainable, ranging from one-tenth to one-fiftieth 

 of an inch, his chief reliance being placed upon a very perfect 

 one-thirty-fifth of an inch ; and from the continuous nature of 

 the observations as well as the circumstances under which they 

 were carried on, dry lenses had for the most part to be employed. 

 Having in his possession a maceration of cod-fish in a fluid ob- 

 tained from boiled rabbits, he found at the bottom of it, when in 

 an almost exhausted condition, a precipitate forming a slightly 

 viscid mass, to which his attention was particularly directed. It 

 was seen to contain a vast number of Bacterium termo, hut on 

 examination with a one-tenth inch objective showed that it 

 also contained a comparatively small number of intensely active 

 organism-: — one being discovered in about eight or ten drops 

 of the sediment. These measured i-io,oooth of an inch in 

 length by i-ia,5coth of an inch in breadth. The fluid had 

 originally been kept at a temperature of 90° to 95' F.. and it 

 was noticed that, when placed upon a cold stage under the 

 microscope, the movements of the organisms became gradually 

 slower, until at last they entirely ceased ; the necessity, there- 

 fore, arose for the use of a warm stage, and the very ingenious 

 contrivance, by which a continuous and even temperature was 

 maintained within the one-tenth of a deiree, was exhibited. The 

 greatest difficulty in the matter was, however, experienced in 

 obtaining specimens for observation, in order to be able to 

 trace them from their earliest to their latest stage. — The 

 President then explained, by means of an admirable series of 

 illustrations projected upon a screen by the oxyhydrogen 

 lantern, the life-history of the organism to which he had 

 referred, exhibiting it first as a translucent, elliptic, spindle- 

 shaped body, with six long and delicate flagella, the various 



