fuly 10, 1884] 



NA TURE 



2 59 



least the merit of being exhaustive, and differs so slightly from 

 that in common use in America that its adoption does not involve 

 a change in, but only an addition to, the system which in some 

 form or other is destined to supersede the binomial system now 

 rendered inadequate by the acceptance of the theory of evolution. 



As an example of the compromise I propose, I add a list ot the 

 local races of the Dipper, with their geographical ranges : — 



Cinchis aquaticus melan <gaster (Scandinavia). 



Cinclus aquaticus me/auoeas'tr-albicollis sive Cinclus aquaticus 

 (West Europe, as far north as the Carpathian and as far south as 

 the Pyrenees). 



Cinchis aquaticus albicoltts (South Spain, Algiers, Italy, 

 Greece). 



Cinclus aquaticus albicollis-ea*hmiriensis (Asia Minor, Cau- 

 casus, Persia). 



Cinclus aquaticus leucogaster (East Siberia). 



Cinclus aquaticus leucogaster-cashmiriensis (Central Siberia). 



Cinclus aquaticus ca l Amiriensis (Cashmere, South Siberia. 

 and Mongolia). 



Cinclus aquaticus caihmiriensis-sor.lijus (Altai Mountains). 



Cin lus aquaticus sordidus (Thibet). 



In this system it must be observed that wherever there is a 

 fourth name it is always connected by a hyphen to the third 

 name, and comprises all the intermediate forms between the 

 two. It is somewhat cumbrous, but it provides for the con- 

 tingency of any intermediate links that may occur. To express 

 it algebraically, it provides not only for A B and B C, but also 

 for A C. It is perhaps the only system which is theoretically 

 perfect, but the question whether its voluminousness renders it 

 impracticable or undesirable is one requiring careful considera- 

 tion, 



( To be continued. ) 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 

 University College, Bristol. — A correspondent writes :— 

 This session has been most successful, the numbers of students in 

 attendance being considerably larger than in the two preceding 

 years. Funds are wanted more seriously than ever to complete 

 the building and provide additional accommodation. Nothing 

 has yet been done towards an endowment fund. Mr. E. Buck, 

 M.A., Lecturer in Mathematics, has resigned his position on the 

 staff. The Demonstrator in Physics, Mr. Colman C. Starling, 

 has also resigned his post in consequence of internal rearrange- 

 ments. The Chair of Geology and Physiology, left vacant by 

 the resignation of Prof. Sollas, has been filled by the appoint- 

 ment of Mr. Lloyd Morgan. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 Sydney 

 Linnean Society of New South Wales, April 30. — 

 I)i. James C. Cox, F.L.S., vice-president, in the chair. — 

 The Hydromedusse of Australia, part 2, by R. von Lendenfeld, 

 Ph.D. According to the principles set forth in part I of this 

 paper, the Hydromedusre are classified in a new manner, and 

 the Australian representatives of the first four families in this 

 system are described or referred to. The paper contains de- 

 scriptions of several new and interesting forms, and in every 

 case an abstract of everything known on the histology of every 

 species is given with references. The most interesting of the 

 new forms is Eudendriiuu generate, the male polypastyles of 

 which show a great similarity to Medusa?. They possess four 

 aboral tentacles in the principal radii, and on these the sperma- 

 tozoa reach maturity. These tentacular appendages are there- 

 fore homologous to the radial canals of the Craspedote Medusae. 

 Some deductions are drawn herefrom, and the homology of the 

 parts in Medusa? and Polypes described differently to the views 

 expressed by Allman and others. The Umbrella is not homo- 

 logous to a web between the tentacles of the mouth, but between 

 the generative tentacular processes at the aboral pole. — Revision 

 of the recent Rhipidoglossate and Docoglossate Mollusca of 

 New Zealand, by Prof. F. W. Ilutton, F.G.S. The synonymy 

 of all the species is fully given, with, in many instances, revised 

 s and notes on the dentition where known. — Notes 

 on hybridism in the genus Brachvchiton, by Baron Ferd. 

 von Mueller. K.C.M.G., M.D., Ph.D., F.R.S., &c. The plant 

 which is the subject of this paper is a beautiful tree of forty feet 



in height and a stem diameter of one foot, grown at Fern Hill, 

 near Penrith, New South Wales, and is an undoubted hybrid 

 between Brachychiton populneum and Brachychilon acerifolium. 

 Like most hybrids, the flowers never perfect their seed. — Mr. 

 Macleay read a letter from the Rev. J. E, Tenison-Woods, 

 vice-president of the Society, dated from Perak, February 27 

 last, giving a long and interesting acount of his proceedings and 

 experiences in the Malacca Peninsula. He had examined and 

 reported on the rich tin mines of the settlement, and the geo- 

 logical features of the whole territory ; and he had spent some 

 time in the investigation of its zoological and botanical pro- 

 ductions. 



Royal Society of New South Wales, May 7. — Annual 

 Meeting. — Hon. Prof. Smith, C.M.G., president, in the chair. 

 — The Report of the Council stated that thirty new members 

 had been elected during the year, and the total number on the 

 roll, April 30, was 494. M. Louis Pasteur, M.D., of the 

 French Academy of Sciences, had been elected an honorary 

 member in the place of the late Dr. Charles Darwin, and 

 Ottokar Feistmantel, M.D., Palaeontologist to the Geological 

 Survey of India, had been elected a corresponding member. 

 — The Clarke Medal for the year 1884 had been awarded to 

 Alfred R. C. Selwyn, LL.D., K.R.S., in recognition of his 

 scientific labours in Great Britain and as Director of the Geo- 

 logical Surveys of Canada and of Victoria. — During the year 

 the Society held nine meetings, at which the following papers 

 were read, viz. : — Presidential Address by Chr. Rolleston, 

 C.M.G. — On the aborigines inhabiting the great lacustrine and 

 riverine depression of the Lower Murray, Lower Muirum- 

 bidgee, Lower Lachlan, and Lower Darling, by P. Beveridge. 

 — On the Waranamatta shales, by the Rev. J. E. Tenison- 

 Woods, F.G.S. , F.L.S. — Further remarks on Australian Stro- 

 phalosire, and description of a new species of Aucella from the 

 Cretaceous rocks of North-East Australia, by R. Etheridge, 

 jun., F.G.S. — On plants used by the natives of North Queen- 

 land, Flinders, and Mitchell Rivers, for food, medicine, &c, 

 by E. Palmer (M.L.A. Queensland). — Notes on the genus 

 Macrozamia, with descriptions of some new species, by Charles 

 Moore, F.L.S., V.P.— A list of double-stars, by H. C. Russell, 

 B.A., F.R.A.S. — Some facts connected with irrigation, by the 

 same. — On the discoloration of white bricks made from certain 

 clays in the neighbourhood of Sydney, by E. H. Rennie, M.A. 

 — On the roots of the sugar-cane, by Henry Ling Roth, 

 F.M.S. — On irrigation in Upper India, by H. G. McKinney, 

 A.M.I.C.E. — On tanks and wells of New South Wales ; water- 

 supply and irrigation, by A. Pepys Wood. — Additions to the 

 census of the genera of plants hitherto known as indigenous to 

 Australia, by Baron F. von Mueller, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., &c — 

 The Medical and Microscopical Sections held regular monthly 

 meetings. At the preliminary meeting of the Medical Section 

 this year, the Chairman stated that never during the history of 

 the Section had its meetings been so numerously attended, and 

 that the value of the papers read before it was attested by the 

 fact that so many of them had been reprinted in the Home 

 journals. — The Council has issued the following list of subjects, 

 with the offer of the Society's bronze medal and a prize of 25/. 

 for each of the best researches- if of sufficient merit : — Series III. 

 To be sent in not later than September 30, 1884. No. 9. Origin 

 and mode of occurrence of gold-bearing veins and of the 

 associated minerals. No. 10. Influence of the Australian 

 climate in producing modifications of diseases. No. II. On the 

 Infusoria peculiar to Australia Xo. 12. On water-supply in the 

 interior of New South Wales. Series IV. To be sent in not 

 later than May 1, 1S85. No. 13. Anatomy and life history of 

 the Echidna and Platypus. X,,. 14. Anatomy and life-history 

 of Mollusca peculiar to Australia. No. 15. The chemical com- 

 position of the products from the so-called kerosene shale of 

 New South Wales. Series V. To be sent in not later than 

 May 1, 1886. No. 16. On the chemistry of the Australian 

 gums and resins. — The Chairman read the Presidential Address,, 

 and the officers and Council were elected for the ensuing year. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, June 30. — M. Rolland, President, in 

 the chair. — Remarks on the hygrometric reports from nearly a 

 hundred French stations, yearly published by M. Mascart in the 

 Annates du Bureau niitiorologiquc tie France, by M. J. Jamin. — 

 On the use of formene in the production of very low tempera- 

 tures, by M. L. Cailletet. The author finds that, when slightly 

 condensed and cooled in boiling ethylene under atmospheric 



