1^,6 



NA TURE 



IDec. 17, 1874 



of the south-west monsoon, vessel* can run for shelter nito their 

 midst, and once there are as safe as when inside a breakwater. 

 If the surface is so still, of course so is the water below, and 

 such spots seem to be well suited to the siluroid fishes. These 

 curious patches of sea which appear in a continually perturbed 

 state, and the sea-bottom in the locality, would probably well 

 repay careful scientific observation. 



The manufacture of isinglass, generally supposed to be confined 

 to Russia and North America, or other countries where the sturgeon 

 is found in abundance, is carried on to a considerable extent in 

 India, principally from the air-vessels of several v.aricties of 

 acanthopterygian fishes, and particularly, different kinds of perch, 

 as well as from other fish. There is room for a great extension 

 of th.e trade, as isinglass, the purest known form of animal jelly, 

 has, in a measure, had its consumption checked by its high 

 price, and substitutes are employed, such as gelatine, of which it 

 is itself the purest form. 



At the; last meeting of the British Association a com- 

 mittee was appointed to investigate the circulation of the under- 

 ground water in the New Red Sandstone and Permian Forma- 

 tions of England, and the quantity and character of the water 

 supplied to the various towns and districts from these formations. 

 Prof. Hull, M.A., F.R.S., director of the Geological Survey of 

 Ireland, is chairman, and Mr. C. E. de Ranee, F.G.S., Scien- 

 tific Club, 7, SaviUe Row, London, W., secretary. The fol- 

 lowing queries have been circulated by the committee for the 

 purpose of eliciting information in connection with the important 

 subject : — I. Position of well, or wells, with which you are 

 acquainted. S. Approximate height of the same above the meaa 

 sea level. 3. Depth from surface to bottom of shaft of well, with 

 diameter. Depth from surface to bottomof bore-hole, with diame- 

 ter. 4. Height at which water stands before and after pumping. 

 Number of hours elapsing before ordinary level is restored, after 

 pumping. 5. Quantity capable of being pumped in gallons per 

 day. 6._Djej the toater level vary at different seasons of the 

 year, and how ? Has it diminished during the last tea yeais ? 



7. Is the ordinary water Iroel ever affected by local rains, and if 

 so, in how short a time? Anl how does it stand in regard to 

 the level of the water in the neighbouring strea-ns, or sea? 



8. Analysis of the water, if any ? Does the water possess any 

 marked peculiarity? 9. Nature of the rock passed through, 

 including cover of drift, with thicknesses. 10. Does the cover of 

 drift over the rock contain surface springs. 11. If so, are they 

 entirely kept out of the well ? 12. Are any large faults known 

 to exist close to the well? 13. Were any salt springs or brine 

 wells passei through in making the well ? 14. Are there any 

 salt springs in the neighbourhood? 15. Have any wells or 

 borings been discontinued in your neighbourliood, in conse- 

 quence of the water being more or less brackish ? If so, if pos- 

 sible, please give section in reply to query No. 9. 



We have received, among the results of the geographical and 

 geological explorations of the Western (U.S.) States, the annotated 

 list of the birds of Utah, by Mr. H. W. Henshaw, containing 

 the names of 214 species, of which 160 were either taken or 

 noted in the expedition. The au'.hor thinks th.at if collections 

 were, as they have not yet been, made during the spring months, 

 several extra species would have to be added to the cjllection. 



Coal is beginning to attract attention in New South Wales, 

 in some parts of which the mineral is being found in abundance, 

 and the pre-eminence which gold and cipper have main- 

 tained will be assailed by the increasing importance of the 

 newly worked product. A sea-n, seven feet thick, has been 

 opened at Boughton Creek, near the Shoalhaven River, and 

 not far from the Moss Vale Railway Station ; so that every 

 circumstance of locaUty is in favour of its profitable working. 



The American Chemist {ox August and September, which we 



have just received, contains a full account of the proceedings at 

 tlie Priestley Centenary in Northumberland, Pa., on July 31 

 last. There was then a large and enthusiastic gathering of men 

 of science and others, and several valuable addresses were given. 

 The principal one in the numbers before us is by Prof. B. SiUi- 

 man, being a long, minutely detailed, and carefully compileo 

 paper on "American Contributions to Chemistry." 



We are gratified t ■> see that the Geographical Magazine has 

 been so successful that the price is to be reduced tD one shilling. 



The additions to the Zoological .Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Chamois {Rupicapra tragus) from the 

 Pyrenees, presented by Mr. A. Wilson ; a White-fronted Capu- 

 chin (Ccl'us allii/rons) from South America, presented by Mrs. 

 Carpenter ; a common Boa (Boa constrictor) from South America, 

 presented by Capt. E. C. Kemp ; two Barred-tailed Pheasants 

 {Phasianns reevesii) from North China, received in exchange. 



ON THE STRUCTURE OF STIGMARIA * 



A T a meeting of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical 

 ■'"^ Society, held on October 20, Mr. Binney called in ques- 

 tion some conclusions at which I had arrived and had published 

 in Part II. of my memoirs on the Structure of the Coal Plants, 

 respecting the organisation of Stigmaria. Mr. Binney further 

 published an abstract of his remarks in Part II. of vol. xiv. of the 

 Society's Proceedin'^s. Believing that Mr. Binney's observa- 

 tions, if allowed to pass unnoticed, may mislead some palceonto- 

 logists unacquainted with Stigmaria, I feel called upon to reply 

 to them through the same channel a<; that which he has employed 

 for their promulgition. The general features of the plant known 

 for half a century as Stii^maria ficoiles have been so well 

 described by Lmdley and Hutton, Dr. Hooker, Mr. Binney, and 

 Brongniart, that no one familiar with those descriptions can fail 

 to recognise it without difficulty. That plant consisted of a 

 central medulla, surrounded by a cylinder of scalariform vessels 

 arranged in radiating wedges, \ cry distinctly separated by two 

 kinds of medullary rays (primary and secondary), the whole 

 being enclosed in a thick bark, from the surface of which spring 

 numerous large cylindrical rootlets. The vascular cylinder gives 

 off numerous large vascular bundles of scalariform vessels, which 

 proceed outwards, through the conspicuous primary medullary 

 rays, to reach the rootlets. 



The .dispute between Mr. Binney and myself resolves itself 

 chiefly into three points: (i), the structure of the medulla 

 of Stigmaria; (2), the source whence the vascular bundles 

 supplying them are derived ; .and (3), the nature of some 

 vascular bundles which both Mr. Binney and M. Goeppert 

 have figured as existing within the nudulla, and one of 

 which is prolonged radially in M. Goeppert's example through 

 a medullary ray. Mr. Binney and M. Goeppert believe that the 

 cellular medulla of .Stigmaria contained bundles of very large 

 scalariform vessels, and that those bundles proceeded outwards 

 to supply the rootlets. On the other hand, in my second 

 memoir, referred to by Mr. Binney, I not only expressed my 

 conviction, but demonstrated the absolute certainty, tliat such 

 was not their origin. I adhere to the same opinion as I pre- 

 viously expressed, and liave the specimens on the table which 

 prove its correctness. The fact that these bundles were derived 

 not from the medulla, but from the vascular wedges of the woody 

 cylinder, was illustrated by the figures 43, 44, and 47 of the , 

 memoir referrel to, figures which accuiately represent, not 

 conditions occasionally met with, but those which characterise 

 every specimen of the true Stii^inaria ficoides. In the memoir I 

 farther affirm that immediately within the woody cylintler there 

 exists a delicate cellular tissue, and state that one of my speci- 

 men; makes it perfctly clear that the entire medulla consisted of 

 similar cells, unmixed with any vascular bundles whatever such 

 as were represented in M. Goeppert's and Mr. Binney's figures, 

 and the accuracy of which i=, was, and it appears still is, en- 

 dorsed by Mr. Binney. After thus endorsing what I believe to 

 be a grave mistake, Mr. Binney proceeds to justily his doing so 

 by appealing to a specimen which I have not seen, but which 

 Mr. Binney's own description convinces me is a plant altogether 

 different alike from the Stigmaria of authors, and from M. 



* A paper read before the Manchester Philosophical Society, by Prof. W. 

 C. Williamson, F.R.S., Nov. 17. 



