140 



NATURE 



[Dec. 17, 1874 



the king and chiefs indulged ralher freely. Lieut. Grandy had 

 shown his Majesty specimens of stearine, and he promised to 

 commence its manufacture, instead of wine, from his palm oil. 

 A terrible epidemic of small-pox was decimating Congo as Lieut. 

 Grandy travelled through the country, and it almost entirely 

 carried off his native porters and escort. _'In conclusion, the 

 report described the Congo as being one of the grandest rivers in 

 the world, and as being navigable for a distance of iio miles 

 from its mouth. 



Cam BRIDGE 

 Philosophical Society, Nov. 30.— Prof. Humphry in the 

 chair. — A paper on "Lopsided Generations," or "Right- 

 handedness," by Dr. W. Ainslie Hollis, was read, which, 

 judging from the abstract before us, contained little or no new 

 matter. The author laid special stress on the statement that the 

 left side of the brain in man is the larger, and that aphasia is con- 

 nected with disease of that side ; statements which, in the discus- 

 sion which followed. Prof. Paget justly remarked were not yet m 

 any way proved. The cases of Johnson and Swift were quoted as 

 instances in which the left side of the brain had suffered, and 

 paralysis of the right side had been induced, apparently as a 

 consequence of overwork. Prof. Humphry and Mr. Carver both 

 agreed that right-handedness was much a matter of education. — 

 Dr. Wilson made a communication on the disposition of the 

 peritoneum in man and other vertebrata, directing special atten- 

 tion to the peculiarities of the omental sac, which he showed to 

 be frequently divided into two parts — a gastro-hepatic and a 

 gastro-colic — by a constriction corresponding with the upper 

 border of the stomach. One or more of the hepatic lobes usually 

 project into the gastro-hepatic portion of the sac. In man, and 

 we should therefore expect in others, it is the lobulus spigelii. 



Dublin 



Royal Irish Academy, Nov. 9. — William Stokes, F. R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — Samuel Ferguson, V. P. , read a paper 

 on the Ogham-inscribed stone at Montaggart, Co. Cork. The 

 author, in applying to this text, which had been considered 

 undecipherable, the same method of translation adopted by the 

 present Bishop of Limerick in the case of the Camp inscription, 

 read it " Feqreq Moqoi Glunlegget," identifying Feqreq v;ith 

 the name Feachra, as written by Adamnan, and assigning the 

 meaning of "the Kneeler" to Glenlugget, which he touk to be 

 a name in religion ; and expressed his belief that the monument 

 is Christian. — A letter was read by the Stcretary from Mr. R. R. 

 Brash, commenting on Dr. Ferguson's paper. — Mr. H. W. 

 Mackintosh read a paper on the muscular anatomy of Cholcepus 

 didiUtyUis. — Alexander Macalistcr, M.D., read a paper on two 

 new species of Pentastoma. The first of these, P. imperatoris, 

 was found in the lung and peritoneal cavity of Boa impcrator, 

 from South America ; the second, P. aoHycis^ in the peritoneal 

 cavity of Aoiiyx tcptonyx, var. B. majcr, from the River Indus. 

 — Alexander Macalister, M.D., aUo read a paper on the pre- 

 sence of a lachrjmo-jugal suture in a human .skull. Although 

 the relation of the maxillary process of the jugal bone to the 

 supra-orbital edge of the maxilla is subject to a considerable 

 amount of variation, yet in the majority of cases this process 

 ends at a point vertically over the infra-orbital foramen. But in 

 one skull in the collection of Trinity College, Dublin, of which 

 the hittory is unknown, the author found the maxillary process 

 to stretch over the whole infra-orbital edge of the maxilla, in 

 front of the large external hamulus of the lachrymal bone, with 

 which it forms a suture of about a line and a half in length. 

 The author further gives a sketch of the comparative anatomy of 

 this suture. 



Paris 



Geographical Society, Dec. 2.— President, M. Delesse.— 

 Dr. Cosson declared himself decidedly against the scheme of 

 forming a sea in the interior c f Africa, on the site of the Tunisian 

 " Chotts." He believes that not only would the climate of the 

 Sahara be modilied, but the great source of wealth of these 

 regions — the culture of dates — would be completely destroyed. 

 Moreover, the commercial results would never repay the enormous 

 cost, estimated at about i2,oco,ooo/. for Tunis, and a like sum 

 for France. All the existing legitimate commerce is sutliciently 

 carried on by means of caiavans. It was, however, suggested 

 that it would be vise to suspend judgment on the subject until 

 the return of the French expedition, which is making preliminary 

 investigations on the spot. — Dr. Hamy announced ihe discovery 

 of new mines of gold in Australia, and of very ancient caverns 

 which are expected to yield valuable results to geologists. — Dr. 



Harmand, one of the companions of the unfortunate Lt. Gamier, 

 gave many interesting details concerning Tonquin. 



Academy of Sciences, Dec. 7. — M. Fremy in the chair. — 

 The following papers were read : —Memoir on the actions pro- 

 duced by the simultaneous concurrence of the currents from a 

 battery and electro-capillary currents, by M. Becquerel. — 

 Memoir on the intervention of physico-chemical forces in the 

 phenomena of life, by M. Becquerel. — On the carpellary theory 

 according to the Liliacere ( I'^trn), by M. A. Trecul. — On the 

 swim-bladder from the point of view of station and locomotion, 

 by M. A. Moreau. — Note on magnetism, by M. J, M. Gaugain. 

 — On trials at acclimatising the "Jesuit's- bark " tree in the Isle of 

 Reunion, by M.Vinson. — On the ureides of pyruvic acid ; synthesis 

 of a homologue of allantom, by M. Grimau,x. In the present 

 communication the author has examined the derivative obtained 

 by the action of urea upon pyruvic acid. This body, named by its 

 discoverer pyvurilt, is a white crystalline substance of the formula 

 CsHgN^Oj. Treated with hydrochloric acid, it is converted into 

 mono-pyruvic ureide, CON2H.2(C3H30).— Application of illumi- 

 nating gas to the pyrophone, by M. F. Kastner. The author's 

 experiments show that if two or several isolated gas flames of 

 convenient size are introduced into a tube of glass or other 

 material at a distance of one-third of the length of the tube, 

 reckoned from the lower extremity, these flames vibrate in 

 imison, this phenome non continuing as long as the flames 

 remain separated, but ceasing immediately on their being 

 brought into contact. The author likewise verifies the for- 

 mation of ozone in the tubes. — Observations concerning species 

 of the genus Phylloxera, by M. Signoret. The author 

 publishes the following rectified synonymy : — P. coriicalis, 

 Kaltenb. = Z/<7iAv«to«;V, Balbiani = /v';/<:i7V, Lich. MSS. Riley. 

 — Method followed in searching for the most efficacious substance 

 to oppose to Phylloxera at the viticultural station of Cognac, by 

 M. Slax Cornu. — Despatch from M. Stcphan, director of the 

 Observatory of Marseilles. This refers to the discovery on 

 the 6—7 December of a new comet by M. Borrelly. — Occulta- 

 tion of Venus, eclipse of the sun and of the moon, observed 

 during the month of October at Pans, by M. C. Flammarion. — • 

 Solution of the equation of the third degree by means of a jointed 

 system, by M. Saint-Loup. — On two simple laws of the active 

 resistance of solids, by M. J. Boussinesq. — Determination of the 

 analytical relations which exist between the elements of curvature 

 of the two nappes of the evolute of a surface, by M. A. Mann- 

 heim. — On the solutions of chrome alum, by M. D. Gernez. — 

 On the transformations of persulphocyanogen, by M. J. Pono- 

 mareff. Phosphoric chloride appears from the author's researches 

 to have the following action : — 



CsNjSaH + 3PCI5 = 2PCI3 -I- SXL + PSCI3 + HCl + C3N3CI3 

 The action of .ammonia has also been studied. — On the transport 

 and inoculation of virus, carbuncular and others, by flies, by 

 M. J. P. Megnin. The author considers it demonstrated that 

 certain flies, such as Stomoxus, &c., can be agents of transmission 

 of certain virulent maladies — amongst others carbuncle. — During 

 the meeting the perpetual secretary announced to the Academy 

 that they had sustained a heavy loss in the person of Count 

 Jaubert. 



CONTENTS pagb 



The Transit of Venus 121 



Chappell's " History OF Music " 123 



Foster AND Balfcil'r's " Embkvology " 126 



Our Book SHELf 128 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Royal Agricultural Society and the Potato Disease.— Prof. 



W. T. Thistleton DVER 128 



Sensitive Flames, — Prof. W. F. Barrett 129 



Fossils in " Trap."— Dr. D. Honevman 129 



The Relatio.n of Race to Species. By Edward B. Tvlor, F.R.S. 



[Wick mustraiions) 129 



Transit of Venus. By Lieut. -Col. A. Strange, F.R.S 13s 



Practical Science at Cambridge. By G. T. Bettanv, B.A, B.Sc. 132 



M. Becquerel on Solar Physics 133 



Reappearance of Encke's Comet. By J. R. Hind, F.R.S. . . . 134 



Notes 134 



On the Structure of Stigmaria. By Prof. W. C. William.son, 



F.R.S 135 



Vegetatio.n OF THE Libyan Desert 137 



Scientific Serials 138 



Societies and Academies i3§ 



