there is also nothing in these astronomical changes to intensify 
the moist (principally westerly) winds in winter, there will also 
not be a greater quantity of snow falling at that season in 
regions having a regular covering of snow in winter. The 
greater heat and rarefaction of the air in the interior of conti- 
nents in summer will cause the air of the oceans to flow thither 
with greater force, and such a movement of the air is favourable 
to more abundant summer rains than are experienced now, and 
thus to a melting of the snow in mcuntainous countries. 
Thus it would seem that winter in aphelion during high eccen- 
tricity would have rather the opposite effect to that which is 
generally attributed to it, but it seems to me that the effect 
would be in any case but slight, and not by far to be compared 
to that of the distribution of land and sea, mountains and low- 
lands; in other words, to that of the geographical conditions. 
With the change of these the extent and distribution of snow 
and ice must change also. 
An attentive study of the physical geography of the earth and 
of its influence on climates, together with a judicious application 
of the simplest physical theories, will enable us to gain by and 
by abetter knowledge of geological climates. The problem is 
an arduous one, but now that the studies are directed in the 
right way, there is no doubt of the final success. 
A. WOEIKOF 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
; INTELLIGENCE 
AT a recent meeting of the trustees of the Mason College in 
Birmingham, the executors of Sir Josiah Mason presented a 
statement showing the amount to which the college will be en- 
titled under the will of Sir Josiah Mason, After paying claims 
on the estate and providing for legacy duty, about 20,o0c0/. will 
accrue to the college within the next three years, and after certain 
life interests are satisfied, a furtker sum of about 15,000/. will 
be available, makinga total of 35,000/, for the estate. The 
_ benefactions of Sir Josiah Mason to the college building, endow- 
ment, and legacies will then amount to a total of 210,000/. The 
building and endowment of the orphanage and almshouses 
represent a sum of about 260,000/, 
In our University Intelligence last week, in the paragraph re- 
lating to Prof. MacAlister’s Jectures, the word chemical should 
have been clinical. 
SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 
The American Naturalist, December, 1881, contains—F. M. 
Endlich, on Demerara,—C. E. Bessey, a sketch on the pro- 
gress of botany in the United States in 1880,—J. D. Caton, the 
effects of reversion to the wild state in our domestic animals,— 
W. R. Higley, on the microscopic and general characters of the 
peach tree affected with the ‘‘ yellows” (concluded).—W. H. 
Dall, on intellizence in a snail. 
January, 1882.—S. A. Forbes, on the blind cave-fishes and 
their allies (a new species of Chologaster, C. papilliferus, from 
a spring in Southern I\linois, is described).—Dr. C. F. Gissler, 
on a singular parasitic lsopod (Bopyrus palemoneticola, Packd.), 
and on some of its developmental stages (this interesting species, 
which is figured, was found on about Io per cent. of the common 
prawns (Palemonetcs vulgaris) examined.—William Trelease, on 
the heterogony of Oxalts violacea.—J. M. Anders, Forests, their 
influence upon climate and rainfall.—A. S. Packard, jun., gla- 
cial marks in Labrador (with a plate), 
THE Jast number of the Journal of the Russian Chemical and 
Physical Society (vol. xiv. fasc. 1) contains, besides the minutes 
of proceedings, papers on the constitution of compounds of the 
indigo group, by M. Lubavin; an interesting paper on the 
influence of molecular weight of homologues in the so-called 
incomplete reactions, by Prof. Menshutkin; on Caucasus 
napbtba, by MM. Markoynikoff and Ogloblin ; on the distribu- 
tion of magnetical currents, by M. Sloughinoff; and on the 
electromagnetic theory of light of Wm. Maxwell, by M. 
Borgman. 
SOCIETIES AND 
LONDON 
Royal Society, January 26.—‘‘ An attempt at a Complete 
eeacey of Hypstlophodon Foxit,” by J]. W. Hulke, F.R.S. 
stract, 
ACADEMIES 
After a reference to papers descriptive of parts of the skeleton oa 
of this dinosaur, by Professors Owen, Huxley, and himself, the 
author gives a detailed description of the skull, vertebral col es 
shoulder, and hip-girdles, with their appendages. The skull is 
essentially lizard-like, both in its general form and inits structural 
details, The frontal is a paired bone. The premaxillze send up- 
wards mesial processes separating the external nares; the exclu- 
sion of the maxilla from these nares by the external ascending 
process of the premaxilla is apparent more than real, since the 
maxilla is prolonged forwards beneath this process, and comes — 
into close proximity to the nostril. The supra-occipital enters _ 
into the foramen magnum, The palate fissured nearly in its — 
whole length is strictly lacertilian. The presence of simple — 
cylindrical teeth in the premaxillze, of small, compressed teeth 
in the front of the maxilla and in the mandible, and of 
larger, more complex, compressed teeth behind these, fore- 
shadow the incisors, premolars, and molars of the higher — 
vertebrates. The vertebrz are opisthoczlous in the neck, plano- 
czelous in the trunk and loins, and amphiczlous in the tail, In — 
the neck and thoracic region of the vertebral column the ribs 
are forked. In the loinsa simple unforked riblet is anchylosed to — 
the end of the transverse process. The sacrum comprises five — 
vertebrze, The ilium has a very long preacetabular process. The | 
femur is shorter than the tibia ; the inner trochanter is long and 
acutely pointed. The tibia has a stout pracnemial crest. The 
tarsus consists of two bones that together form a sinuous hollow 
upper surface, in which the tibia and fibula rest ; the outer 
bone representing the os calcis' supports both bones of the leg, 
whilst the inner, representing the astragalus, bears the tibia only. 
In two feet evidence of two elements of a distal row of tarsalia 
was found in the outer side of the foot. There are four functional 
toes with 2, 3, 4, 5 phalanges counting from the inner side of 
the foot, and a styliform rudiment of an outer metatarsal, devoid — 
€ 
~ 
of phalanges. This alone demonstrates the generic distinctness of __ 
Hypsilophodon from [guanodon in which, as is well known, the hind 
foot comprises only three functional toes. The ungual phalanges — 
are sharply pointed. Thesternumisrhomboid. The scapula and 
coracoid have a general resemblance to those of Iguanodon. The 
humerus has a considerable deltoid crest, and is shorter than the 
femur. The radius and ulna are shorter than the humerus, The 
ungual phalanges of the digits resemble those of the hind toes, 
but are smaller. 
Physical Society, February 25.—Prof. G. C. Foster in the 
chair—New Members: Prof. G. F. Fitzgerald, Trin. Col. 
Dublin, Mr. C. Richardson, Lieut. H. J. Dockrell, R.N., Mr. 
W. Ford Stanley, General H. Hyde, R.E., Mr. J. Buchanan. 
—Prof W. E. Ayrton, F.R.S., read a paper on Faure’s accamu- 
lator, giving the results of experiments made by him and Prof. 
Perry on the efficiency, storing-power, and durability of the 
battery. The efficiency was got by measuring the power put in, 
and comparing it wih that taken out, by means of Perry and 
Ayrton’s voltameter and ammeter. The authors found that the 
cell has great resuscitating power if left insulated after all the 
current appears to have been discharged. Care had to be taken 
to see that the cell was quite discharged by letting it stand on 
open circuit for intervals and discharging between whiles. When 
this was done they found that the total loss for charges up to one 
million foot pounds need not be greater than 18 per cent. With 
slower charges they got a loss of only 10 percent. As to the 
storage, a mean current of 18 amperes gave, after eighteen hours” 
discharge (six hours on three consecutive days), 1,440,000 foo 
pounds of work equivalent to 1 horse-power in forty-three 
minutes. The cell contained 81 Ibs. of red lead, thus making 
a capacity of about 18,0co foot pounds per lb. of red lead. The 
cell showed no deterioration after two months of work.—Prof. 
Ayrton then described a new form of his dispersion photometer, 
which greatly reduces it in size and convenience. The prince 
of this instrument has already been described to the Society by 
the author. It consists in using a concave lens “to disperse the 
stronger light, and thus obviate the necessity of putting it at a 
great distance if it is very powerful, such as an electric light. 
The powers of the two lights arc compared by the eye in esti- 
mating the intensity of the shadows of a rod thrown on a white 
screen of blotting-paper by the two lights simultaneously. A 
sperm candle is used as the standard, and it is placed on 
a movable stand at an angle to the path of the other beam 
through the lens. Both the lens and candle can be shifted 
to and from the screen along a scale giving their distances, 
and the stronger beam is reflected from a small mirror. 
This mirror is ingeniously fixed so as to reflect the ray from the 
a 
