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and M. Volpicelli concluded the work of the section by 
a communication on Electrostatic Induction. 
Geology is the branch of Natural History which is 
most cultivated in Switzerland. Notwithstanding its 
small extent, that country has the most varied field for ob- 
servation in the mountain-chains of the Jura and the 
Alps; there are few important questions whose solution 
‘cannot be found in these mountains; and many Swiss 
names are found among those who have done most to 
advance that science. During the last year geological 
studies have received a great impulse in Switzerland by 
the subsidies which the Confederation vote for that pur- 
pose ; each year the State grants a sum in aid of the 
researches of a certain number of geologists, and for the 
study of a new part of the territory. The works which 
result are published under the care of a special commis- 
sioner of the Society of Natural Science. As might be 
expected then, the Geological Section was very numerously 
attended, and the papers read on the subject were many 
and valuable. We learn from M. A. Fauzes’ general 
lecture that the Society have taken similar steps for the 
study and preservation of Swiss boulders to those taken 
by the Royal Society of Scotland, whose report we gave 
in a recent number. 
M. V. Gross brought under the notice of the members 
a series of objects belonging to the lacustrine! dwellings 
of the Lake of Bienne, worthy of the attention even of 
- those who have seen the richest collections of this kind. 
There was the bit of a bridle almost complete belonging 
to the station of Mérigen, which belongs to the age of 
bronze ; at the present time only one similar fragment is 
known. Incrustations of iron upon a bronze knife tend 
to confirm what has already been conjectured, that at 
the first appearance of iron it was regarded as a most 
precious metal. The station of Liischersz, of the stone 
age, has been discovered by M. Gross, and has furnished 
axes of nephrite and jade of a size not hitherto met with in 
lacustrine dwellings. It is known that these rocks are 
not found in Europe ; and it is a question whether these 
lake-dwellers obtained them by commercial intercourse 
- with Asia, or whether these rare articles were preserved 
as heirlooms in families from the period of their emi- 
gration from their ancient Asiatic home. 
M. Ch. Vogt communicated to the section the results 
of his microscopic study of rocks. One of the questions 
which he wished to resolve is whether the microscope can 
enable us to know whether or not a rock has ever been in 
“an igneous state. M. Vogelsang has discovered that the 
volcanic rocks present what has been called the “ fluidal 
structure,” a structure resulting from the disposition of 
minute crystals disseminated throughout the vitreous 
mass, and surrounding the larger crystals which have 
been previously formed in the lava. This fluidal structure 
is found in the porphyries, and proves their igneous 
origin. But on examining the siliceous deposits of the 
Geyser, M. Vogt found this same structure, and thus it does 
not belong exclusively to the igneous rocks, but also to 
those of aqueous origin, provided that they have been in 
a viscous state. In his study of volcanic rocks, M. Vogt 
has discovered that the trachytes, the basalts, and the 
lavas, present common characteristics. 
M. Lebert brought under the notice of the section a 
magnificent series of specimens of amber, and expounded 
the results of his researches on that substance, The 
fluorescence of petroleum may be taken as a type of the 
same phenomenon in amber. For naturalists the most 
interesting of M. Lebert’s specimens are fragments of the 
conifers which produced the amber, a piece enclosing a 
movable air-bubble in a drop of water, and a great 
number of other pieces enclosing insects in a perfect state 
of preservation. 
M. Frangois Forel exhibited a photograph of the fossil 
man of Mentone, which represents him in the position in 
which he was found. It would appear that this man was 
not buried under a landslip, but that he must have been 
interred by those who survived him, It is argued that, 
because it is very unusual to inter the dead in a dwelling 
for the living, we may conclude that this individual be- 
longed to a nomad horde of the age of the reindeer, who 
did not inhabit the cavern, but passed it from time to 
time, and who buried this man in the place where he 
died. We may mention here that in the Zoological sec- 
tion Dr. Vonga read a paper on the same subject, he 
having been present at the exhumation of the body. He 
described the caves, and pointed out their probable mode 
of formation. The body lay upon its left side in the posi- — 
tion of sleep. It showed a circular crack at the base of 
the skull, the thorax being broken at one place; the re- 
mainder is in perfect preservation. The cranium is very 
fine, all the teeth being preserved ; the lower jaw is long, 
but the angle between the horizontal and the ascending 
branches isaright angle. Dr. Vonga attributed the re- 
markable preservation of the body to the properties of the 
pulverised earth which covered it. 
Several members presented to the section their studies 
of various parts of the Alps, and M. E. Favre read a 
paper on a section of the Caucasus. In the centre of the 
latter chain a granitic formation is found. On the two 
sides palzeozoic schists are presented, analogous to 
those of Gratz, and connected by veins of crystalline 
schist. They are less developed on the north side than 
on the other. Upon the northern slope the Secondary and 
Tertiary formations are in a very normal position, and 
have but little inclination ; upon the other slope, on the 
contrary, there are many zones of eruptive rocks, and the 
Secondary formations are less disturbed. M. Favre also - 
spoke to the section on the lower limit of eternal snow 
and the glacial phenomena which he has observed in this 
chain. ; 
In the section of Zoology Prof. C. Vogt presented the 
results of his researches upon the Phy//ofodes, especially 
the Branchiopods and the Artemia. 
M. Vogt confirmed the observation of M. Joly, that 
among the Arfemie collected at Cette during the months 
of July and August, no males were found, and that the 
females reproduced by parthenogenesis. 
much the more singular that large numbers of males are 
found in other salt marshes inhabited by the same or 
analogous species. 
M. Auguste Forel presented to the section some curious 
and interesting results of his researches into the nature 
and habits of ants. Different communities of ants, even 
when they are of the same species, are enemies to each 
other. A single community of ants may possess many 
nests, which are connected with each other by galleries 
and tunnels. A community of ants may be either simple 
or mixed ; it is simple when it belongs toa single species, 
mixed when it belongs to two or more species living on 
good terms among themselves. There are in each com- 
munity, at one time at least, workers, some males and 
females. 
the workers of one species pillaging the ant-hills of 
another species, and carrying off the cocoons. These, when 
This fact is so 
If we consider the mixed communities, we — 
can distinguish, amongst others, slave-ants, obtained by 
eel et 
once hatched, become the auxiliary workers and friends 
of their captors, doubtless believing that they are of the 
same origin. The mixed community contains the three 
sexes of the species who plundered, but only the workers 
of the species pillaged, 
The only paper apparently of importance in the Bota- : 
nical Section was by Dr. Miiller, of Geneva, on a new 
species of Loranthus from the Philippine Islands, which, _ 
from the position of the flowers, presents some very extra- _ 
ordinary but not yet well-established peculiarities, 
Other papers of value were read in the various sections, — 
and, considering that the meeting lasted only three days, 
the amount of work gone through appears extraordinary; _ 
but then no mention is made of any excursions. 
