March 12, 1 



885] 



NA TURE 



449 



the appearance of Halley's comet in the year 1456, by Prof. G. 

 Celoria. 



Rivista S, '.ientifico-Industrialt, January 15. — Influence of static 

 electricity on lightning conductors, by Prof. Eugenio Canestiini. 

 — On Trouves universal incandescent electric lamps (four illus- 

 trations), by the Editor. — On the various forms of Scleranthus 

 marginalus, Gussone, by Dr. Leopoldo Nicotra. 



Zeilschrifi fur wissenschqftlicfte Zoologic, December 1884, 

 contains : — Observations on the origin of the sexual cells in 

 1 >belia, by Dr. C. Hartlaub (plates II and 12). — Studies among 

 the Amoeba?, by Dr. A. Gruber (plates 13 and 14). — On the 

 propagation and development of Rotifer vulgaris, by Dr. O. 

 Zacharias (plate 16). — On the amoeboid movements of the 

 Spermatozoa of Polyphemus pediculus, by Dr. O. Zacharius. — 

 ( in the uropneustic system in Helicince, by Dr. H. v. Ihering 

 (plate 17). — On the metamorphosis in Nephelis, by Dr. R. S. 

 Bergh (plates 18 and 19). — On the intercellular spaces and 

 bridges in epithelia, by P. Mitrophanow. 



Morphelogischis yahrbuck, Band x. Heft 3, contains : — On the 

 occurrence of spindle-shaped bodies in the yolk of young frog 

 eggs, by Prof. O. Hertwig (plate 14). — Researches upon the 

 Fori abdominales, by H. Ayers (plate 15). — Contribution to a 

 knowledge of the eye in gastropods, by C. Hilger (plates 16 and 

 17), and a postscript by Dr. O. Biitschli. — Studies on the deve- 

 lopment of the medullary cord in bony fish, with observations on 

 the first appendages of the germinal vesicle and the chorda dor- 

 salis in Salmonida:, by N. Goronowitsch (plates 18 to 21). — 

 Dinosaurs and birds : a reply to Prof. W. Dames, by Dr. G. 

 Baur. — On the carpi centrale, and on the morphology of the 

 tarsus in the Mammalia, by Dr. G. Baur. — Remarks on the 

 abdominal pores in fish, by Prof. C. Gegenbaur. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society, January 13.—" On the Constant of Electro- 

 magnetic Rotation of Light in Bisulphide of Carbon." By Lord 

 Rayleigh, F.R.S. 



A complete account is here given of the experiments briefly 

 referred to in the Preliminary Note, 1 and of others on the same 

 plan of more recent date. As regards the method, it maybe 

 sufficient to add to what was there said, that the electric currents 

 were estimated by comparing the difference of potential gene- 

 rated by the current in traversing a known resistance with that 

 of a standard Clark cell, the value of the cell being known by 

 converse operations, in which the current was measured by a 

 special electro-magnetic apparatus. 2 Allowance being made for 

 temperature, the determination of the currents by this method 

 was abundantly accurate and very simple. 



The results are grouped in three series, of which the first two 

 were considered in the Preliminary Note. In both of them the 

 same tube was used, the principal difference being that in the 

 first the light traversed the tube three times, and in the second 

 but once. In the third series another tube was emploved, and 

 some improvements in respect to thermal insulation were intro- 

 duced. The readings were taken with a double-image prism in 

 place of the ordinary analysing Nicol, a substitution by which it 

 is believed some advantages were obtained. 



From the fifteen sets of observations of Series I. we find as 

 the rotation of sodium light in bisulphide of carbon at 18° corre- 

 sponding to a difference of potential equal to unity C.G.S. the 

 value '04203 minute. From the four observations of Series II. 

 we get in like manner -04198 minute, and from the seven 

 observations of Series III. -04202 minute. The last value is 

 adopted as the most probable. 



In an appendix some remarks are made upon polarimetry in 

 general, especially in relation to the half-shade method. A 

 device proposed by M. Becquerel for augmenting the precision 

 H ilh which rotations can be determined with the aid of a half- 

 wave plate is considered, and the conclusion is arrived at that 

 no advantage can thus be obtained. 



February 19. — " Note on a Preliminary Comparison between 

 the Dates of Cyclonic Storms in Great Britain and those of 

 Magnetic Disturbances at the Kew Observatory." By Balfour 

 Stewart, F.R.S., and Wm. Lant Carpenter. 



The authors had made this comparison, through the kindness 



1 Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. xxxvii. p. 146. 



* "On the Electro-chemical Equivalent of Silver, and on the Absolute 

 electromotive I-orce of Clark Cells." Proc. Hoy, Soc, vol. xxxvii. p. 142 



of Mr. Whipple, in the case of about thirty storms, the dates of 

 which were taken haphazard from those given by Mr. R. II. 

 Scott in his paper on the cyclonic storms of the last ten years, in 

 the Quarterly yournal of the Meteorological Society for 

 October, 1884. Out of these thirty cases, in twenty-three there 

 war a distinct magnetic disturbance, for the most part preceding 

 the storm by somewhat more than a day. The authors intend 

 to pursue the subject, considering that there is a prima* facie 

 case for investigation. 



Geological Society, February 20. — Annual General Meet- 

 ing. — Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., President, in the chair. — 

 The Council's Report announced the awards of the various 

 medals and of the proceeds of the Donation Funds in the gift of 

 the Society. — In handing the Wollaston Gold Medal to Dr. 

 W. T. Blanford, F. R.S., for transmission to Mr. George Busk, 

 F. R. S., F.G. S., the President addressed him as follows : — The 

 Council of the Geological Society has awarded to Mr. George 

 Busk the Wollaston Medal in recognition of the value of his re- 

 searches in more than one branch of palaeontology. Polyzoa, 

 not only fossil, but also recent, he has made peculiarly his own, 

 and his numerous separate papers, his British Museum Catalogue, 

 and his memoir on the Polyzca of the Crag, have entitled him to 

 the lasting gratitude of workers at this class of the Molluscoida. 

 But, perhaps as a relief to the study of these minute invertebrates, 

 he has occupied himself, not less successfully, with the larger 

 vertebrata, so that to him we are indebted for much information 

 on the fauna of Post-tertiary deposits, especially from the caves 

 of Malta and of Brixham. Permit me, in handing you this 

 medal for transmission to Mr. Busk, to express my pleasure at 

 having such a duty to discharge, and my earnest hope, in which I 

 am sure all present will share, that restored health may enable 

 him to continue his work in the cause of our science. — The Pre- 

 sident then presented the balance of the proceeds of the Wollaston 

 Donation Fund to Dr. Charles Gallaway, F.G. S., and addressed 

 him as follows : — The Council of the Geological Society has 

 awarded to you the balance of the proceeds of the Wollaston 

 Donation Fund, in recognition of the value of your researches 

 among the older British rocks. By your identification of Upper 

 Cambrian rocks in Shropshire you have placed beyond question 

 the antiquity of the Rhyolitic Group of the Wrekin, our know- 

 ledge of which and of yet older rocks in that district you have 

 greatly augmented. Your contributions also to the geology of 

 Anglesey and to unravelling the stratigraphy of the Scotch High- 

 lands have been of great value, and we look forward to the results 

 of further researches, in aid of which I have great pleasure in 

 placing in your hands the amount of the award. That you 

 receive it from a fellow-labourer will, I hope, make it not the bss 

 welcome. The President then handed the Murchison Medal to 

 Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R. S., for transmission to Dr. Ferdin- 

 and Rdmer, F.M.G.S., of Breslau, and addressed him as fol- 

 lows : — The Council has awarded to Dr. Ferdinand Romer the 

 Murchison Medal and a sum of ten guineas from the Donation 

 Fund. His life-long and unwearied labours in the service of 

 our science have long since made his name familiar to his fellow- 

 workers. When I state that the Royal Society Catalogue, 

 published now more than eleven years since, records the titles 

 of 122 separate memoirs written by him, when I mention his 

 other important works, such as that on "The Chalk Formation 

 of Texas," on "The Silurian Fauna of Tennessee," on "The 

 Geology of Upper Silesia," and the "Lethsea Geognostica," I 

 have said enough to prove that this memorial of an illustrious 

 geologist could not well have been bestowed on a more illus- 

 trious recipient. In transmitting it to Dr. Romer, be so kind 

 as to express our regret that the distance and the season of the 

 year have deprived us of the pleasure of his presence r n this 

 occasion. In presenting the balance of the proceeds of the 

 Murchison Geological Fund to Mr. Horace B. Wocdward, 

 F.G. S., the President addressed him as follows : — The balance 

 of the proceeds of the Murchison Donation Fund has be n 

 awarded to you in recognition of the good service which you 

 have already rendered to geology, especially by your work 

 among the later deposits of the eastern counties, and to aid 

 you in further researches. But the excellent papers which you 

 have written, in addition to the work done by you as a member 

 of the Geological Survey, do not constitute your only claim to 

 our recognition. You have made use of the opportunity of your 

 official position to promote a love of science among those who 

 live in our eastern counties, and we are indebted to you for that 

 admirable volume, "The Geology of England and Wales," 

 which, though in one sense a compilation, is such a one as only 



