154 



NA TURE 



\jftl7lC 2 1, 1877 



in the principles of 'agriculture in their several schools." Prof. 

 Henry Tanner, M.R.A.C., examiner for the section under the 

 Government Department of Science will, on August 7 next, begin 

 a course of twenty lectures, to be continued from day to day, at 

 the College in Aberystwith. 



The UiNivER-siTiEs' Bill was read a third time in the House 

 of Commons and passed on Monday, and a first time in the 

 Upper House on Tuesday. 



Adelaide. — We have received a copy of the Calendar of 

 Adelaide University for 1S77. This University has at present 

 only four professors, wiio represent very fairly the main branches 

 of literature and science. There is only one profes-or for 

 Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and the professor of 

 Natural Science gives instruction in Chemistry, Geology, and 

 Botany. We hope the University will soon be able to carry the 

 principle of sub-division of labour into these two professorships, 

 and thus promote efficient teaching, and at the same time relieve 

 the,e two professors of a burden they ought not to be made to 

 bear in this advanced age. There are some points in which our 

 home universities might advantageously imitate that of Adelaide. 

 Judging from the programme of the B.A. examinatioii, the 

 Adelaide graduates must be possessed of a more varied amount 

 of knowledge than the ordinary graduates of our universities. 

 Some knowledge of physical science (physics and chemistry), 

 must be possessed by every graduate, and a choice of subjects is 

 given in the second and third stages, whereby a candidate can 

 take his degree either through literature or science. The Uni- 

 versity possesses a few valuable scholarships, one, of the value of 

 200/. per annum for three years, being awarded after examina- 

 tion in mathematics and natural science, the holder being 

 required to proceed to England, take a degree in science at the 

 London University, and undergo a training in engineering. We 

 cannot but admire the lines on which education is conducted at 

 Adelaide, and we trust the University may soon be able to 

 extend its staff of teaching. 



Berlin. — The report of the Berlin University for the present 

 year shows an attendance of 2,237 students, a decrease of 253 

 on the past year. The lectures are also attended by 2,oSo other 

 persons not connected with the University. Tlie students are 

 divided among the faculties as follows : — Theology, 135 ; law, 

 792 ; medicine, 297 ; philosophy (philology, history, &c. ), 644 ; 

 mathematics and natural sciences, 369. 194 students are from 

 foreign countries, including nine English and thirty-nine Ameri- 

 cans. The professors and privat-docenten number 200 — fourteen 

 in the theological, eighteen in the legal, seventy-four in the 

 medical, and ninety-four in the philosophical faculties. The 

 University library contains but 60,000 volumes, the royal library 

 of 700,000 volumes being chiefly used. 



Upsala. — The Abo Uiidarattchcr states that the Imperial 

 Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg will be represented by 

 MM.|Gadoline and Grote at the celebration of the 400th anni- 

 versary of the foundation of the University of Upsala. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



American Journal of Science and Arts, June. — An account 

 of the discoveries in Vermont geology of the Rev. Augustus 

 Wing (continued), by James D. Dana. — On barite crystals from 

 the Last Chance Mines, Morgan County, Missouri, and on 

 Gotliite from Adair County, Missouri, by G. C. Broadhead. — 

 Estimation of chromium and aluminium in steel and iron, by 

 Andrew A. Blair. — On the chemical composition of triphylite 

 from Grafton, New Hampshire, by S. L. Penfield. — On a new 

 mode of manipulating hydric sulphide, by Josiah P. Cooke, jun. 

 — On a base derived from a waste product in the aniline manu- 

 facture, by C. Loving Jackson. — On an association of gold with 

 Scheehte m Idaho, by B. Silliman. 



VerJiandlun^en Jcr k. k. zoologisch-botanisc/ien Gesellschaft in 

 Wien, vol. xxvi. (Parts I. and II.), 1876.— The followingare the 

 principal papers in this volume :— Synopsis Cecidomydarum, by 

 J. V. Bergenstamm and P. Low. — On the structure and habits 

 of lichens, by Dr. Arthur Minks. — On the ornithological fauna 

 of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire, by A. Pelzeln (fourth paper). 

 — Biology and characteristics of Psyllodje, with description of 

 two new species of the genus y'.fj'//rt, by Dr. F. Low. — On the 

 flora of fungi in Hungary, by Fr. Haslmsky. — On the butterfly 

 fauna of Surinam, by H. B. Moschler. — Mycological researches, 

 by Schulzer von Miiggenburg. — On the lichen-flora of New 

 Zealand, by Dr. A. von Krempelhuber. 



Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scicnze e Letlere, Rendiconti, vol. x., 



fasc. viii. — On the encystment of the Proteus of Quanzati [Am- 

 phtleptiis jnoniligcr, Ehr. ), by M. Maggi. — Theory of reticular 

 woodwork combined with an articulated system in modern 

 American suspension bridges, by M. Clericetti. — The silk of the 

 Bombyx mylitta, by M. Gabba. 



The fahrbuch der k.k. geologischen linchsanstalt (1876, vol, 

 xxvi., Oct. -Dec.) contains the following papers: — On the ore 

 deposits of the southern Bukowina, by B. Walter. — On the soda 

 and Szek-soil in the Hungarian Lowlands, by E. von Kvassay. 

 — On some green slate of the Saxon Erzgebirge, by Dr. E. 

 Geinitz. — On the petrographical condition of the tuft-stones 

 occurring in the Devonic formation at Graz, by Joh. Terglav. — 

 On some rocks from the neighbourhood of Rosignano and Castel- 

 lina Maritima to the south of Pisa, by Dr. Friedrich Berwerth. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Society, June 14 — " On the Minute Structure and 

 Relationships of the Lymphatics of the Mammalian Skin, and 

 on the Ultimate Distribution of Nerves to the Epidermis and 

 Sulsepidermic Lymphatics," by George Hoggan, M.B. , and 

 Frances Elizabeth Hoggan, M.D. Communicated by Dr 

 William Farr, F.R.S. 



"Refractive Indices of Glass," by J. Hopkinson, D.Sc, M.A. 

 Communicated by Prof. G. G. Stokes, Sec. R. S. 



"Electrostatic Capacity of Glass," by J. Hopkinson, D.Sc, 

 M.A. Communicated by Prof. Sir Willi.am Thomson, F.R.S. 



" On the Difference of Potential produced by the Contact of 

 different Substances," by Prof. R. B. Clifton, F.R.S. 



Linnean Society, June 7. — Prof. Allman, F.R.S., president, 

 in the chair. — Dr. Maxwell Masters read an interesting paper on 

 the "Morphology of Primroses." Hitherto much discussion has 

 aiisen with reference to the superposition of the stamens to the 

 petals, the free central placenta, and the nature of the ovules in 

 the Primulaceae. From a lengthened study and comparison of 

 the development of the flower, minute structures, and pheno- 

 mena of monstrosities, the author arrives at conclusions differing 

 somewhat from those hitherto held. Cultivation is not the 

 reason of the frequent structural variation, for deformed Primu- 

 lacece in the wild state are far from uncommon ; indeed the wild 

 primrose itself is very much subject to such changes. Certain 

 genera and species are more frequently found deformed than are 

 others ; for instance, the cowslip is less subject to change than is 

 the primrose. Entering into all the more important variations 

 observed by the author and recorded by others, in various parts 

 of the flower, he sums up : (i) Thct the petals of most Primu- 

 laceje are late outgrowths from the receptacular tube. (2) That 

 the placenta is a direct prolongation of the receptacle or axis, 

 and without apex or side connection with the carpels. (3) The 

 placenta occasionally in monstrous flowers arises from the margin 

 or centre of carpel, but sometimes is detached, the detached 

 placentic cohering like a solid column. (4) Staminal and car- 

 pellary leaves may occasionally be div'ded or lobed. (5) The 

 ovular coat is essentially foliar, representing blade or undivided 

 leaf, and is not a direct production from the axis. (6) Processes 

 of carpellary leaf may be infolded, thus forming secondary 

 carpels. — The Rev. G. Henslow followed by a " Note on the causes 

 of numerical increase of parts of plants." In this he classified 

 the various methods and causes of the increase of parts of leaves 

 and floral whorls, more especially with the view of limiting each 

 of the various kinds to its proper cause respectively. — The secre- 

 tary briefly indicated the contents of a paper by Mr. Marcus 

 Hartog, " On the floral development and symmetry in the order 

 Sapotace:^." From the extracts read of this communication it 

 appears the author, from observation of growing plants in 

 Ceylon has independently arrived at and here brought for- 

 ward further evidence tending to the same results propounded 

 by the two foregoing home botanists. — " On the nymph stage 

 of the Embidje, with notes on the habits of the family, &c.," 

 was next read by the author, Mr. R. McLachlan. He 

 stated that in 1S37 Prof. We twood (in Trans. Linn. Soc.) 

 instituted the characters of Embia, a genus of insects allied to 

 the white ant. Lately (therefore forty years after) Mr. Michael, 

 of Highgate, discovered some orchids partially destroyed by an 

 insect found to belong to the Embidae, and subsequently the nymph 

 form obtained fills a gap in the iniicct's history. Mr. McLachlan, 

 in allusion to the habits, recorded by Mr. Lucas and others, men- 

 tioned its being carnivorous and spinning a silken web like that 

 of a^spider, which, however, Mr. McLachlan beUeves to be for 



