JuLy 27, 1899] 
NATURE Aivil 
o 
of the work done in connection with it by its discoverer Major 
Bruce, F.R.S., as follows :— 
(1) Reproduction by division, this being of two kinds :— 
(az) Longitudinal, the commoner. 
(4) Transverse, less frequent. 
(2) Conjugation, consisting essentially, so far as our observ- 
ations go, of fusion of the micro-nuclei of the conjugating 
organisms. 
(a) After this we are inclined to place those forms mentioned 
above, in which the chromatin is broken up, and scattered 
more or less uniformly through the whole body of the Trypan- 
osoma, since this occurs after conjugation in other organisms 
not far removed biologically from this one. The next stage 
in our opinion is the amoeboid ; we think that the flagellate 
form becomes ameeboid perhaps after conjugation, but also 
probably apart from this process. 
(4) Amceboid forms. These are found with and without 
flagella, of various shapes and sizes, but always possessing a 
macro- and micro-nucleus. These forms are constantly seen 
in the process of division, and sometimes are very irregular in 
shape, with, in this case, an unequal number of macro- and 
micro-nuclei, the latter being the more abundant. The amceboid 
forms then fuse, or aggregate, together to form— 
(c) The plasmodial forms. Whether these are true plasmodia, 
or whether they are only aggregations of amceboid forms, it 
is not yet possible to say, but as many related organisms form 
true plasmodia we are inclined to look upon these masses, 
provisionally, as true plasmodia. In the spleen these plasmodia 
reach a large size. From these again are given off— 
(d) Flagellate forms, which increase in size, and become the 
ordinary adult form. Small flagellate forms are not infrequently 
seen in process of separation from the margin of these plasmodial 
masses. 
Besides these forms we have observed frequently, especially 
in rat's blood after death, the adult forms arranged in clumps. 
They appear, upon watching them for a considerable time, to 
get tangled together to form a large writhing mass; then the 
movements become gradually slower in the centre of the mass, 
and are only seen at the periphery. At this stage, if the 
specimen be fixed, the mass appears to be made up of a quantity 
of macro- and micro-nuclei, as the protoplasm does not stain, 
except in the organisms at the periphery, z.e. those which have 
arrived latest. Eventually these, too, become motionless, and 
the mass becomes an indistinct collection of granular matter, 
which is not infective, so that we look upon these tangles as a 
proof of death. 
Since these observations were made, there has been published 
an important paper on the Rat Trypanosoma, by Lydia Rabino- 
witch and Walter Kempner in the Zedtschrift fir Hygiene, 
vol. xxx. part 2. We have been able to confirm many of the 
observaticns and statements as to the morphology and repro- 
duction of the Trypanosoma made by these writers. But there 
is no mention made of the plasmodial stage, or of any repro- 
ductive stage elsewhere than in the blood; and the writers 
recognise only three methods of reproduction, namely, longi- 
tudinal and transverse division, and division by segmentation. 
This segmentation, they consider, arises from ove organism, and 
they state that it may divide up into as many as ten to sixteen 
elements. This segmentation form would seem to correspond 
to our plasmodial stage, but we have seen much larger masses 
than those mentioned above, and they do not notice the 
enormous masses of plasmodia which infiltrate the spleen in 
every direction, and which can be found also in glands and 
marrow. Moreover, their amceboid stage (Kugelform) would 
precede the segmentation form, and therefore the ‘‘ Kugelform ” 
should be much larger than the ordinary adult form, but we 
have observed that, as a rule, our amceboid forms are very much 
smaller than the adult forms, some not being visible with any 
but the highest magnifying powers; so that we have been 
unable to accept this form of division by segmentation, except 
in the form in which we have described it above, ze. our 
plasmodial stage. ; 
EDINBURGH. 
Royal Society, July 3.—Prof. Copeland in the chair.—A 
telegram from Lord Kelvin was read on magnetism and mole- 
cular rotation. An electrified body is set into rotation by 
the generation of a magnetic field around it. The magneto- 
optic phenomena discovered by Faraday, Kerr, and Zeeman are 
NO. 1552, VOL. 60] 
to be thus explained.—Prof. Tait communicated a japer by 
Prof. C. N. Little on the non-alternate + knots of the tenth 
order. The characteristic of non-alternate knots is that, as we 
pass round it, the crossings do not always come alternately above 
and below. The simplest non-alternate knot is one of eight 
crossings ; and Prof. Little has now carried the census of these 
knots as far as the tenth order.—Prof. Sir W. Turner read a 
paper on contributions to the craniology of the people of the 
Empire of India: Part I. ‘‘ The Hill Tribes of the North-east 
Frontier and the People of Burmah.” Certain of the skulls 
which were shown, and discussed in detail, came from the 
Lushai-Chin region, and were, with few exceptions, of the 
dolichocephalic type. Yet the features of these people are dis- - 
tinctly Mongolian ; and the typical Mongolian skull is brachy- 
cephalic. The same peculiarity was shown in eight skulls 
which Surgeon Lieut.-Colonel Wright had sent from the Naga 
Hills north of Manipur—the skull being dolichocephalic but 
the features Mongolian, and therefore usually belonging to the 
brachycephalic type. Onthe otherhand, the Burmese skulls, which 
had been supplied by Surgeon Captain Bannerman and Surgeon 
Major Bell, were, with two exceptions, brachycephalic.—Sir 
William Turner also read a paper on decorated and sculptured 
skulls from New Guinea. These had all come from British 
territory. The sculptured skulls were of special interest, the 
sculpturing in all cases being executed on the frontal bone. Sir 
William distinguished five distinct types of sculpturing, and 
threw out various speculations as to their significance.—Dr. 
Hepburn described and exhibited an improved form of crani- 
ometer for the segmentation of the transverse, vertical, and 
antero-posterior diameters of the cranium. In this improved 
form of cranial calliper, the graduated bar has zero at its centre, 
and the two curved legs of the callipers are both movable, each 
along its own half of the bar, which is graduated from the centre 
outwards. At the centre of the bar a straight calliper leg is 
introduced, being sunk in an undercut groove so that it may be 
adjusted to any required convenient length. The instrument may 
be used as an ordinary calliper by removing the centre limb, 
clamping the one calliper leg, and reading on the reverse 
side of the bar, which is graduated continuously from end to 
end. In using the improved form, we place the point of the 
central limb on any desired spot, and adjust the two curved 
limbs until they touch the ends of the chord to be measured. 
The measurements give, not only the length of chord, but also 
indicate the amount of asymmetry. The instrument had been 
tested on a number of skulls of various human races and of 
anthropoid apes. The relative heights of cerebrum and cere- 
bellum had been determined, the position of the occipital 
condyles in relation to the greatest length had been studied, 
and a variety of other results obtained. In all such measure- 
ments the dolichocephalic skulls came nearer to those of the 
anthropoid apes than the brachycephalic skulls.—Mr. J. Y. 
Buchanan read a paper on the meteorology of Ben Nevis in 
clear and in foggy weather. The days in which the mountain 
was enveloped in cloud were first separated from the days when 
a clear atmosphere prevailed, the minimum of foggy weather 
being taken as three consecutive days, and the minimum of 
clear weather as twenty-four consecutive hours. As was to be 
expected, the foggy weather contained all the worst weather, 
and the clear weather all the best. Also in foggy weather the 
barometer was, on an average, half an inch lower than in clear 
weather. 
July 10.—Prof. Copeland in the chair.—At the request 
of the Council, Prof. Cargill G. Knott gave an address on 
earthquakes, their propagation through the earth, and their 
bearing on the question of the earth’s internal state. A brief 
sketch of the history of earthquake research was followed by an 
account, illustrated by lantern slides, of the various forms of 
seismographs, seismoscopes, seismometers, tromometers, &c., 
which have been devised, more especially in Italy and Japan, 
for the recording of the gentler types of earthquakes, and of 
seismic vibrations too feeble to be perceived by our senses. 
This led to a discussion of the main characteristic of those 
minute vibrations which have their origin at an earthquake 
focus, and pass across thousands of miles to be recorded on 
suitable instruments at localities not themselves subject to even 
feeble shocks. The results recently established by Prof. John 
Milne, F.R.S. (see various letters in last volume of NATURE), 
were then described, and certain conclusions deduced. The 
manner in which a far-travelled earthquake disturbance was 
drawn out in time seemed to be better explained in terms of a 
