NA 7 URE 



yjune 26, 1 i 



Flavitzky. — On the preparation of animal colours from albu- 

 minoids, by W. Mihailoff. — Notes on the pseudosulphocyanogen, 

 and on the dissolution of fihrine, by A. Lidoff. — On the thermal 

 phenomena due to magnetism, by P. Bakhmetieff. — On the 

 reproduction of curves traced by a point of the axis of a revolv- 

 ing body suspended at a point of its axis, by D. Bobyleff. The 

 author publishes a photolithographed plate showing the different 

 curves described by a conical pendulum revolving around its 

 axis of symmetry, and balancing at the same time about its point 

 of suspension. The apparatus having been improved, the curves 

 are very symmetrical, and, notwithstanding the influence of the 

 decrease of the oscillations, the curves are most like those de- 

 duced from the integration of the differential equations. — A pre- 

 liminary note on the electrical properties of quartz, by G. 

 Woulff. — On the conditions of sensibility of the method of 

 Mance, a mathematical inquiry by D. Zolstareff. — On the 

 changes produced in the intensity of an induction current by the 

 introduction of a branch containing a bobbin, by J. Borgmann. — 

 Notes on elementary optics, by P. Ziloff and M. Wolkoff. — 

 Note on friction, by M. Kraiewitsch. 



SOCIETIES A XT) ACADEMIES 

 London 



Royal Society, June 19. — " On the Structure and Develop- 

 ment of the Skull in the Mammalia. Part II. Edentata." By 

 W. K. Parker, F.R.S. 



My former paper on the structure and development of the 

 mammalian skull was published in the Philosophical Transac- 

 tions in 1S74 ; it was on that of the Pig. 



Since then, whilst gathering fresh and fresh mammalian mate- 

 rials, the greater part of my actual work has been on the skull 

 of the other classes. 



I have come to the conclusion that the Edentata are nearer of 

 kin to the Monotremata than to the Marsupialia, and that if they 

 did, as indeed they must have done, pas* through a Metalherian, 

 pr Marsupial stage, they did not utilise it, but ran through it in 

 an abbreviated pre-natal stage. 



Of course the remarkable modification of their jaws, due to 

 abortion, and in some cases complete suppression, of their 

 teeth, is that which makes these forms so abnormal to the mor- 

 phologist as well as to the zoologist. 



As it happens, the most primitive form of Mammalia existing, 

 the Prototheria (Ornithorhynchus and Echidna), are also ab- 

 normal on the same account, and thus the best standard existing 

 by which to measure the height of the platform on which we 

 find the Edentata is not itself normal, or straight, or perfect. 



Now none of the Metatheria or Marsupials have suffered from 

 this kind of degenerative specialisation ; they therefore come in 

 well as standards of measurement and comparison for the In- 

 sectivora next above them, but of little use here among the 

 Edentata. 



Prof. Flower, after working out the general anatomy of this 

 group (Proc. Zoo!. Soc. 1S82, pp. 358-367), has come to the 

 conclusion that the Edentata of the Old World have little to do 

 with those of the New. 



That sounds like a hard saying to one not familiar with the 

 structure of the group ; it did to me, no long time ago, although 

 what I had done at the group, long ago, went to prove the same 

 thing ; now, however, I am quite satisfied of the truth of my 

 friend's deductions. 



The Neotropical Edentata hold together much more than 

 might have been expected ; the Armadillos are the most isolated, 

 but much as the Aard-Vark of the Cape looks like an archaic 

 Armadillo without armour, he is not more than a very distant 

 relative of the modern armed Armadillos. 



Indeed, the curious coincidences that I have found between the 

 structure of the Aard-Vark and that of a large Insectivore from a 

 contiguous region, namely, the Rhyncocyon from Zanzibar, lead 

 me to suspect that the Cape Anteater is an offshoot from the same 

 stock, and is, indeed, the only Edentate that can be looked upon 

 as probably arising originally from a Metatherian or Marsupial 

 stock, like the Insectivora. 



The other Palceotropical Edentata — the Pangolins — are per- 

 haps still more isolated than the Aard-Vark, but they have not 

 come so near extinction, and are found in more than one con- 

 tinent of the Old World. 



If the term Reptilian might be applied to characters seen in any 

 Placental Mammal, it might to what I find in this. This crea- 

 ture has most remarkable correspondences with the Reptilian 



group. Of course, the scaly covering is mimetic of (lie Lizard's 

 scales, and is in reality made up of cemented hairs ; that may 

 pass ; but not the structure of the sternum in some species, with 

 its long "xiphisternal horns," as in the Stellionidos, nor the 

 cartilaginous abdominal ribs, as in the Chameleons and some 

 other kinds. (See my memoir on the "Shoulder-girdle and 

 Sternum," Ray. Soc, 186S, plate 22, fig. 13). 



But the curious ornithic nasal bones, deeply cleft in front, the 

 imperfect desmognathism of the palate, the feeble and segmented 

 state of the anterior sphenoid, and the open pituitary space of 

 the embryonic cartilaginous skull, all these things suggest that 

 the Pangolins, whatever degenerative specialisation they may 

 have undergone, never did rise to any height as Mammals. 



Indeed, to me their pre-natal development — the Eutherian 

 placentation — seems to be their best title to be ranked even 

 amongst the low forms of the high Mammalia. 



If a complete series of fossil types could be found, on one hand 

 stretching backwards (or downwards) from the Glyptodons, and, 

 on the other, from the Megatheroids, then, long before these two 

 groups merged into a common Prototherian root-stock, we should 

 find their differences one by one dying out. 



Embryology would help us here very much if materials could 

 be obtained. Even with the scanty treasures that I have been 

 able to obtain, most remarkable things are shown. 



Of the two Anteaters I have only been able to obtain the 

 young (not the embryo) of the smallest and most aberrant type 

 — Cyclotwus — and of the Sloths only two embryos, and one of 

 these considerably advanced, belonging to two genera, namely. 

 Cholapus and Bradypus [Arciopithecus, Gray). 



But every step backward in the structure of the skull of the 

 Sloth brings me nearer and nearer to what I see even in the 

 young of the Little Anteater, and that it is possible for both of 

 these types to have arisen from the same stock is no longer a 

 doubtful thing. 



But the skull of developing embryos of the Sloth (of either 

 kind) forms a very valuable and easy-working key to what is 

 difficult in the skulls of the extinct gigantic Megatheroids. 



If this be the case, if Sloths, extinct or recent, have arisen 

 during time from the same stock as the great terrestrial Ant- 

 bear, and the little prehensile-tailed Cycloturus, then there is 

 nothing in any other Order to shock the mind or to be a 

 stumbling-block in the path of the most timid evolutionist. 



That in the Armadillos the new husbandry, or growth, of 

 hair — the correlate of milk glands — should thrive badly on the 

 old stony ground of Reptilian horn-covered scales, breaking out 

 where it can among the clefts, is not more wonderful than that 

 this same new growth of hair in the Pangolin should mat itself 

 together and imitate the scales of Reptiles and Fishes. 



Physical Society, June 14. — Dr. Guthrie, president, in the 

 chair. — New Member, Mr. Stanley Butler. — Mr. Hoffart read a 

 paper on a new apparatus for colour synthesis, which he ex- 

 hibited. The colours are obtained by sending through prisms 

 the light from a series of platinum wires made incandescent by 

 Grove or other cells. Three different rays can be compared or 

 superposed at a time by the instrument shown. The rays art- 

 received into the eye through an adjustable eyepiece ; and various 

 ingenious devices are adopted in the construction of the appara- 

 tus. The intensities of the lights are regulated by rheostats in the 

 circuits of the platinum electro-pyres. Lord Rayleigh, Mr. Stanley, 

 and Prof. Perry commented on the apparatus, and Dr. Guthrie 

 thought that it would be useful in studying colour-blindness. 

 — Mr. Blaikley read a paper on the velocity of sound in small 

 tubes — a continuation of experiments formerly brought before 

 the Society by the author. Mr. Blaikley showed experimentally 

 how his measurements were made. He found that pipes in 

 which the upper proper tones were in harmonic order, or, better 

 still, those in which they were far removed from the harmonic 

 order, and therefore dissonant, were best for the purpose. He 

 had obtained velocities from fine tubes varying from 11 '4 to 

 8S"2 mm. in diameter, the former giving '324-38, and the latter 

 330*13 m. per second as the velocity of sound. In free air 

 Mr. Blaikley thought the velocity would come out 331 m. per 

 second. The differences of velocity for the different pipes were 

 very regular. Lord Rayleigh, Dr. Stone, and Dr. Guthrie made 

 some observations on the paper, Dr. Stone remarking that the 

 diameter of a pipe modified the pitch of the same rate, a fact 

 noticed in musical instruments. In experiments on water-waves 

 Dr. Guthrie had found that in rectangular troughs the rate of 

 oscillation was less than in circular ones. — Mr. Howard read a 

 paper by himself and Mr. Hayward, on the thermal relation- 



