Ajignst 30, 1877] 



NA TURE 



391 



(one carrying bare soil, another a plant in the same soil exposed 

 to air, and the third a similar plant, but with its stem passing 

 up through a covering obturator), and with a dry and a wet 

 registering thermometer, M. Grandeau hopes to be able to 

 settle some important questions relating to quantity of water 

 required by a given species, transpiration, quantity of evaporation 

 from ground under various conditions, &c. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Macaque Monkey {Macaciis cynomolgtts) 

 from India, presented by Miss Gover ; a Bonnet Monkey (Ma- 

 cacus radiaiiis) from India, presented by Mr. G. B. Southern ; a 

 Sosmmerring's Antelope (Gazdla sa-mmerringi) from Abyssinia 

 an Arabian Gazelle (Gazella arabica) from Arabia, presented by 

 Capt. F. Cotton ; an Emu (Drom,rus ncn>a-hollandii€) from New 

 South Wales, presented by Mr. F. Green ; a Slender-billed 

 Cockatoo {Cacatmi tennirostris) from South Australia, presented 

 by Major M. Pasley, R.A. ; Crested Ground Parrakeet 

 (Calopsitta noiuc-hollandia:) from Australia, presented by Mr. 

 Salisbury Baxendale ; a Purple-faced Monkey {Sfiiinopitliecus 

 leucoprymnns) from Ceylon, deposited. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



Bulletin de V Acadhnie Roy^tii des Sciences de Belgique, No. 3. 

 On the pension-fund of widows of officers of the Belgian army, 

 by M. Liagre. — Some curious examples of discontinuity in analysis 

 (continued), by M. Plateau. — Reply to M. Terby's criticism on 

 the map of Mars, published in the Terres dii del, by M. 

 Flammarion. — Theorem on the Arquesians, by M. Saltel. — 

 Applications of the method of analytical correspondence and of 

 the law of decompositions to certain left curves, by the same. — 

 Observations at Rome on the magnetic needle and the solar 

 spots during 1S75, by Abbe Spec. — Microscopic researches on 

 the anatomy of the cochlea of mammalia, by M. Nuel. 



No. 4. — On the theory of continuous periodic fractions, by M. 

 Le Paige. — Studies on the planet Mars (loth notice) by M. 

 Terbe. — Continuation of theorems on regular polygons, by M. 

 Reynemund. — Fragment of tourmaliniferous rock from pudding- 

 stone of Bonsalle, by MM. Poussin and Renard. 



No. 5. — Application of the rhe-electrometer to the lightning- 

 conductors of telegraphs, by M. Melsens. — Some remarks on 

 the winter of 1876-77 ; periodicity of mild winters and hot 

 summers, by M. Lancaster.— On subnormal polars and radii of 

 curvature of plane lines, by M. Ghysens.— Morphology of the 

 dental system of human races, by M. Lambert. — Stratigraphic 

 arrangement of fossil seals collected in the strata of Antwerp, 

 by M. Mourlon. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Entomological Society, August i.— Mr. J. W. Dunning, 

 F.L.S. , vice-president, in the chair.— Mr, Stevens exhibited speci- 

 mens of /"m/r/w /;rt>j. Fab., one of the Histoid,!- taken on a 

 fence at Norwood. He also remarked on the appearance of a 

 second brood of Cotias £dusa, of which he had observed several 

 males.- Mr. F. Smith exhibited (on behalf of Dr. Bennett of 

 Sydney, who was present at the meeting), a fine pair of the 

 beautiful and rare Eupholus BcnnMii, Gestro., from Yule 

 Island, New Guinea. It had been described under that name in 

 the Annah di Mus. Civ. di Genova, viii. 1876.— The secretary 

 exhibited a specimen of an insect forwarded to him by Mr 

 Bewicke Blackburn, who stated that a large field of mangolds 

 belonging to the Knight of Kerry, in the island of Valentia 

 had been totally destroyed by it. It was believed to be the 

 larva of some Coleopterous insect, but in consequence of the 

 imperfect condition of the specimen, it could not be determined. 

 —Mr. R. A. Ogilvie forwarded (through Mr. Douglas), speci- 

 mens of an insect found in great quantities in a jar of pirkles 

 (piccalilly), devouring the pieces of cauliflower in the jar. Prof 

 Westwood had pronounced them to be the dipterous Drosophifa 

 cellaris, an insect commonly found in cellars and cupboards 

 delichnng in stale beer, wine, &c. In answer lo a question asked 

 by Mr. Ogilvie, he said that the eggs were laid in the pickle-jar 



and not in the cauliflowers before they were pickled.— Mr. 

 Douglas also forwarded a letter from Mr. A. H. Swinton, of 

 Guildford, inclosing a specimen of Myrmica niginodis, which, on 

 being placed under a wine glass, sta'tioned itself near the rim, 

 held downwards, and rapidly vibrating the abdomen, continued 

 "an intense noise," resembling the spiracular piping of the 

 dipteron, Syrilla pipiens.~}Ax. Enock remarked that a specimen 

 of a spider taken by himself at Hampstead, and exhibited at ? 

 previous meeting by Sir Sydney Saunders as Atypus suheri had 

 been since submitted to the Rev. O. Pickard, Cambridge, who 

 stated that it was certainly not A. suheri, but probably^, beckii 

 Cambridge, which he believed to be the same as A. piceus, 

 Thorell, ihough he was not certain as the only specimen he h.id 

 examined of ^. beckii was a female, and until he could obtain 

 the other sex, he could not give a decided opinion. He added 

 that he would be glad if collectors in the Hampstead locality 

 would search for the males during the next autumn and winter, 

 as it would help him to clear up the diificulty as to the species. 

 A discussion then took place with reference to the exhibition by 

 Mr. Jenner Weir, at the last meeting, of a specimen of Cicada 

 nunitana, which was reported to have been distinctly heard to 

 siridulate, notwithstanding that the insect was a female, and also 

 that the species was one of which even the males were not known 

 10 stridulate. Mr. Weir slated that he had, since the last 

 meeting, again visited the New Forest, and had seen in the 

 possession of Mr. James Gulliver two specimens of C. jnontaiia, 

 and he was assured by Mr. Gulliver that the fact of it stridu- 

 lating was well known to him, and that he was guided by the 

 sound so made, in effecting the capture. Mr. Champion said 

 that he himself had captured the insect, and had distinctly heard 

 a loud buzzing noise, but whether that sound was caused by the 

 males or females he could not say. Mr. Dunning considered 

 that farther evidence was wanting to prove stridulation in the 

 females. — The following papers were communicated, viz. : Notes 

 on the new and rare species of Sphingida in the Museum of the 

 Royal Dublin Society, with remarks on Mr. Butler's recent 

 revision of the family, by W. F. Kirby.— Descriptions of new 

 genera and species of Cryptocephalid,T, by J. S. Baly. — Descrip- 

 tions of new species of Cterid,e, by the Rev. H. S. Gorham. 



Geneva 



Society of Physics and Natural History, May 3. Piof. 



Plantamour gave the results of the deteiminationof the difference 

 of longitude between the observatory of Zurich and the geodetic 

 stations of the Giibris (Canton Appenzell), and of the Pfiinder 

 (Austrian Vorarlberg), at which he has worked with MM. R. 

 Wolf and Oppolzer. The two last observers h-.ve had to guard 

 against the influence of the electric register on the rate of their 

 pendulum, which was sometimes affected to the extent of one- 

 tenth of a second. — Prof. Plantamour also referred to a par- 

 ticular fact which has been manifested by the corresponding 

 observations made by him at Geneva, and by Col. Orffat Munich, 

 and where the instants marked are influenced by the inclination 

 to right or left of the head of the observer, according to the 

 position he must take to apply his eye to the telescope. There 

 is here a physiological or psychological phenomenon which de- 

 serves attention. 



Vienna 



Imperial Academy of Sciences, June 14.— Action of 

 bromine on phloroglacin, by M. Benedikt.— On the means of 

 acid formation in the animal system, and on some phenomena of 

 bloud-serum, by M. Maly.— A new proof of Pohlke's funda- 

 mental proposition, by M. Pelz.— On a proposition relating to 

 the theory of the higher equations, and on development ot the 

 root expression of a quadratic equation, by M. Zimels. — Testing 

 of a method for determination of the water in silicates, by M. 

 Sipocz. — On formation of pimelin acid in action of a mixture of 

 h>droxide and cyanide of potassium on bromide of amylene, by 

 M. Bauer. The Cceltnterata, Echinodermata, and Worms of tie 

 Austro-Hungarian North Polar Expedition, by M. Marerzell — 

 On the spots in the xyltma of leafy and resinous trees, by M. 

 Kreuz. 



June 21.— Orthoptera of Senegal, by M. Krauss.— On the 

 probable connection of the wind with the period of sun-spots, by 

 M. Hornstein. — On the determination of the value of a circle 

 by an immediate method, by M. Georgievicz.— Observations on 

 the nerves of the cornea and their vessels, by M. Konigstein. — 

 On the influence of the earth's rotation on the movements of 

 any kind parallel to the earth's spheroidal surface, especially 

 the currents of rivers and wmds, by M. Finger. 



