March 5, 1S85] 



NATURE 



427 



positions in which the five specimens were drawn giving a very 

 good idea of its peculiar porpoise-like movements. The various 

 positions which it assumed in making an attack upon a portion 

 of decomposed .matter were also shown, the movements quite 

 fascinating the observer by their rhythmical character. The 

 supposed action of the flagella in the production of the move- 

 ments observed was explained, distinct evidence being afforded of 

 a remarkable spiral motion, at least of those behind. The pro- 

 cess of ti-sion was illustrated in all its observed stages from the 

 first appearance of a constriction to that of final and complete 

 separation, the whole being performed within the space of eight 

 or nine minutes. A description of the process of fusion from 

 the simple contact of two organisms to their entire absorption 

 into eacli other followed, as well as their transformation into a 

 granular mas- which gradually decreased in size in consequence 

 ipping of a train of granules in its wake as it moved 

 across the field. The development of these granules was traced 

 from their minute semi-opaque and spherical form to that of the 

 perfect flagellate organism first shown, the entire process being 

 completed in about an hour. Experiments as to their thermal 

 death-point showed that, whilst the adults could not be killed by 

 a temperature less than 146° F., the highest point endured by the 

 germs was 190' F. Illustrations of a variety of other modes of 

 fission discovered in previous researches on similar forms were 

 given, showing the mode of multiple division and a similar pro- 

 cess in the case of an organism contained in an investing enve- 

 lope. The President concluded his address, which was listened to 

 throughout with the greatest attention, by remarking that, though 

 the processes coidd be seen and their progress traced, the modus 

 operandi was not traceable. Yet the observer could no! fail to 

 be impressed with the perfect concurrent adaptation of these 

 organism- to the circumstance; of their being ; they were sub- 

 ject to no caprices, their life-cycles were a- perfect as those of a 

 crustacean or a bird, and, whilst the action of the various pro- 

 cesses was certain, their rapidity of increase and the shortness 

 of their life history were such that they afforded a splendid 

 opportunity of testing the correctness of the Darwinian law. — 

 Dr. Carpenter complimented the President on the value and 

 interest of his address, and moved a vote of thanks, which was 

 seconded by Mr. Crisp, who referred to the sacrifices the 

 President had had to make in the performance of his duties 

 during the past year. The new Council were elected. 



Anthropological Institute, February 2\. — Francis Galton, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — A paper on the race-types of 

 the Jews, by Dr. A. Neubauer, was read. The opinion that 

 tlir Jewish race have kept their blood unmixed is based chiefly 

 on the fact that fa Jew is almost at once recognised amongst 

 thousands of others. From the earliest times, however, we find 

 evidence of intermixture. Abraham's son, Ishmael, was the off- 

 spring of an Arabian woman ; Joseph married an Egyptian, and 

 Moses a Midianite. David descends from Ruth, the Moabitess, 

 Solomon is the son of a Hittite woman, and he himself had 

 foreign wives. We are often reminded in the Bible of the non- 

 Jewish women who came in contact with the Israelites, and un- 

 doubtedly the " proselytes'' increased the mixture of races by 

 marrying Jewish women. At Rome the conversions were 

 numerous, and, of course, the converts frequently married Jews. 

 Evidence was also adduced of intermarriages in later times 

 between Jews and Chri-tians of various races. The differences 

 between the Spanish-Portuguese Jews and the German- Polish 

 |ews were so marked that in the middle ages they were believed 

 by the Jews themselves to have descended from different tribes 

 — Judah and Benjamin respectively. But the Italian Jews, both 

 in features and habits, stand between the rough German and the 

 polished Spani-h Jews, and there is no evidence of any systematic 

 emigration of the various tribes. The pronunciation of Hebrew 

 words also varies, and this variation is believed by Dr. Neubauer 

 to be due to the influence of the language spoken by the sur- 

 rounding peoples. The difficulties of obtaining accurate mea- 

 surements of Jews are very great, and but few skulls have been 

 examined ; all evidence, however, goes to disprove the exist- 

 ence of any pure Jewi-h type, uninfluenced by contact with the 

 nations amongst which they dwell. — Mr. Joseph Jacobs read a 

 paper on the racial characteristics of modern Jews. After 

 enumerating the various classes of Jews now existing, the inquiry 

 wa- limited to the biostatics and anthropometry of the Ash- 

 kenasim Jews, who form more than nine-tenths of the whole 

 number. Their superior fecundity and vitality were found to 

 be due to social causes, and were therefore only secondarily 

 racial ; an indication of racial influencis was found, however, in the 



fact that mixed marriages between Jews and Christians are infertile. 

 Jews enjoy no immunity from any special diseases, but they are 

 more often colour-blind, blind, deaf, and insane than others, 

 owing, perhaps, to their life in cities and to their frequent inter- 

 marriages. Jews were then shown to be the shortest of all 

 Europeans except the Magyars, and to have the narrowest chest. 

 Their skulls are mostly brachycephalic. An examination of 

 over 100,000 Jews showed that they have darker hair and eyes 

 than those of any nation in Northern Europe, though nearly 

 one-fifth of the Jews have blue eyes, and they have nearly twice 

 as many red-haired individuals as the inhabitants of the 

 Continent. A number of composite photographs of Jewish 

 boys, prepared by Mr. Galton, were exhibited to show the 

 Jewish type, and were compared with early representations of 

 Jews in Assyrian :nt. The Jewish face was said to be a com- 

 bination of Semitic features and Ghetto expression. Turning 

 to the question of the purity of the race, it was pointed out that 

 this depended on the number of proselytes made by Jews in 

 ancient and mediaeval times. The earlier proselytes, before the 

 foundation of Christianity, were mostly fellow-Semites, and 

 would not affect the type, while the numbers made afterwards 

 were too small to modify the race, owung to their infertility and 

 the tendency of the offspring to revert to the Jewish parent. A 

 considerable number of Jews, the Cohens, or descendants of 

 Aaron, were not allowed to marry proselytes, and must conse- 

 quently be tolerably pure. The general conclusion reached was 

 therefore in favour of the purity of the Jewish race. 



Royal Meteorological Society, February 18. — Mr. R. H. 

 Scott, F.R.S., President, in the chair.— Messrs. H. B. Baker, 

 M.D., S. Dixon, R. Foster, and B. O. Meek, F.L.S., were 

 elected Fellows of the Society. — The following papers were 

 read : — How to detect the anomalies in the annual range of 

 temperature, by Dr. Buys Ballot. The author shows that it is most 

 likely that only a long-continued series of observations can give 

 some evidence of an interruption of rise and fall, especially in 

 latitudes where the temperature of the same day in different years 

 may differ by 20° C, as in St. Peter-burg. — Cloud observing, 

 by D. W. Barker. As there is a great deal of confusion 

 amongst cloud-observers, not only as to the particular names of 

 clouds, but more especially with regard to their movements, the 

 author recommends that there should be two simple divisions, 

 viz. "stratiform" and "cumuliform." To the stratiform belong 

 all the higher forms of cloud and a few of the lower ; to the 

 latter belong the typical cumulus cloud always seen in the lower 

 atmosphere. From the result of numerous observations the author's 

 conclusion is that the actual normal action of the cirro-filum 

 cloud is along the line of filature, and that, knowing the bearing 

 of the V or radiating point, the direction of its motion can be 

 at once inferred. In all cases the V point first formed in the 

 point from which the cloud is coming, but it will frequently be 

 noticed that threads first appear parallel to a certain point on 

 the horizon, and in all sorts of positions between this and the 

 central V point. — A suggestion for the improvement of radia- 

 tion-thermometers, by W. F. Stanley. The author suggests 

 that the radiation-thermometer should indicate the amount of 

 heat radiated by the sun upon a metal ball of a certain size, this 

 being an object easy of uniform reproduction by mechanical 

 means. For experiment he made three hollow copper balls, 

 which were cast with ordinary filed cores, and were of different 

 weights. These balls were turned to exact external diameter of 

 i - 4inch, with similar necks of the insertion of thermometers. 

 The surfaces were oxidised by heating to resemble the oxidation 

 produced by the atmosphere. In each of these balls a similar 

 thermometer was inserted, closing around the neck just sufficient 

 to keep it steady by cotton thread soaked in paraffin. The three 

 thermometers thus inclosed in the metal balls, when exposed to 

 sunshine and placed at two inches above a piece of black board, 

 appeared to register, under similar conditions, exactly alike. 

 The experiments for three summer months gave from 6' to 11° 

 difference between the sun and shade. 



Entomological Society, February 4. — R. McLachlan, 

 F.K.S., President, in the chair. — The President returned 

 thanks for his election, and nominated Messrs. Dunning, 

 Stevens, and Weir as Vice-Presidents for the coming year. 

 — Two new members were elected. — Mr. J. W. Slater ex- 

 hibited a specimen of Polyommolus chiyseis from Aberdeen- 

 shire. — Rev. A. Fuller exhibited a collection of insects 

 captured along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. — 

 Mr. W. Cole exhibited a wasp's nest which appeared to have 



