2l8 



NATURE 



iJan. 14, 1875 



Mr. L. Schwendler sends us two papers by him : "On 

 Earth Currents," reprinted from the Proceedings of the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal ; and " On the General Theory of Duplex 

 Telegraphy," from the yourital of the same Society. 



" Notes on a Till or Boulder Clay with Broken Shells, in the 

 lower valley of the River Endrick, near Loch Lomond, and its 

 relation to certain other Glacial Deposits," is the title of a paper 

 by Mr. R. L. Jack, F. G.S., reprinted from the Transactions of 

 the Geological Society of Glasgow. 



Under the title of " Report of the Government Botanist for 

 the year ending June 30, 1874," Biron von Mueller, of Mel- 

 bourne, has given a risumi of the scientific work of the year, 

 carried on by him or undi:r his immediate supervision. In the 

 first place, Baron Mueller refers to the issiie during the year of the 

 sixth volume of the " Flora Australiensis," in the production of 

 which he is associated with Mr. Bentham ; towards the composi- 

 tion of the seventh volume he mentions that it will include the 

 Grasses, numbering about 250 species, the Rushes, Sedges, 

 RestiaceK numbering alone about 7° species, the Naiadeje, 

 PalmaccT, &c. With reg.ird to the number of species, howeverj 

 these may be considerably modified before publication. In re- 

 ference to a botanical appendix which Baron Mueller made to 

 the works of Mr. F. A. Campbell, of Geelong, on the New 

 Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands, which appendix was drawn 

 up from collections made by the author during a visit to these 

 islands, he says : " By such means we have obtained the first 

 connected records of the insular vegetation of those spots of the 

 globe after the lapse of more than a' century since their dis- 

 covery. Such opportunities for research should also be seized 

 on by other travellers, and especially by educated settlers re- 

 siding on these islands, as thereby will be gained not merely an 

 advancement for phytographic science, but also a closer acquain- 

 tance with the natural productions of any of the Pacific insular 

 lands, to the advantage also of Australian industries and com- 

 merce." With regard to the Paleontology of Victoria, Baron 

 Mueller describes the vegetation of the Pliocene period as re- 

 markable for its densely umbrageous trees of almost tropical 

 types, which, as very recently ascertained, spread over very 

 extensive areas, where in the present nothing of the past 

 physiognomic grandeur of the vegetation is left. The elucida- 

 tion of new economic plants and the tests as to their value in 

 the world of commerce has long been one of Baron Mueller's 

 special points . his pen has produced many pamphlets on these 

 and kindred subjects, and from his laboratory have issued many 

 actual results of his researches in this direction. The large col- 

 lection of chemical products from the various species of Euca- 

 lyptus, Melaleuca, Acacia, &c., together with other vegetable 

 products of Victoria, will be remembered by many as forming 

 one of the principal features of the] Australian Court of the 

 London International Exhibition of 1S73. This collection, 

 which included oils, tars, acetic acids, and alcohol' from species 

 of Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Casuarina, &c., as well as fibres, 

 papers, and starches, were, at the close of the Exhibition, pre- 

 sented to the Kew Museum, where they are now exhibited. In 

 regard to what Baron Mueller terms j" field service," he says 

 he was engaged for seven days in December 1S73 in in- 

 vestigating the plants in the forest regions of the Upper Yarra 

 and the southern branches of the Goulburn River. Measure- 

 ments were also taken at this [time of the heights of some lofty 

 trees of Eucalyptus amygcialina, the highest of which gave 

 400 ft. To some trees which appeared 'to be higher access could 

 not be obtained in the short time allowed and the means at com- 

 mand, as the dense jungle would have to be cleared for a base 

 line. A magnificent species of Festuca (F. diz'es), discovered in 

 West Gippsland by Baron Mueller in i860, "was now," he 

 says, "ascertained to have a wide range through the forests 



towards the Yarra and Goulburn sources, where among grasses 

 it forms a most stately object, the height of 12 ft. being not un- 

 usual, while occasionally this superb grass, in the fern-tree 

 gullies or rivulets, attains, in rich soil, to 17 ft. The result of 

 this journey," Baron Mueller says, "was the discovery of many 

 plants new to Victoria and a few new to science. So far as the 

 country itself is concerned, the Alps are easily accessible for 

 horses from the eastern side, as the slopes are more gradual. The 

 summits can be traversed for many miles with little or no im- 

 pediment : being at an elevation of from 6,000 to 7,000 fc, 

 they are above the region of trees and shrubs, and are conse- 

 quently open in all directions." 



We have received the indexes to vol. vii. of " Patents and 

 Patentees," 1872, for the colony of Victoria. The volume con- 

 tains three separate indexes : " Subject Matter," " Alphabetical 

 Index of Names," "Chronological and Descriptive," and seven- 

 teen sheets of illustrations. The work gives in a compact form 

 a good idea of the activity of inventors in the colony. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Black-handed Spider Monkey (Ateles 

 mdanoc/iir) from Central America, presented by Mr. H. Camp- 

 bell ; a Macaque Monkey (Alacaais cynoniolgus) from India, 

 presented by Mr. C. Lucas ; a Ring-necked Parrakeet (Paltvomis 

 torquata), from India, presented by Miss Attwood ; a Yellow- 

 bellied Parrakeet [Platyccrcus Jlaviventris] from Tasmania ; and 

 a Little Grebe (PodiceJ'S minor), British, purchased. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The Quarterly Journal oj Microscopical Science for this 

 month contains several articles and notices of interest, the 

 most important of which are : " Observations on the Anatomy 

 of Tivnia mcdiocancllata" by Mr. F. H. Welch, in which 

 the author describes the detailed structure of that species, 

 which, as he remarks, is consideralily more common than 

 the better known T. solitim. Two plates accompany the 

 description ; very instructive sections through the segments 

 in different directions occupying one of them. — Mr. C. H. 

 Golding Bird describes the method to be employed in 

 imbedding in elder-pith for cutting sections, a method more 

 simple and frequently as advantageous as imbedding in wax, the 

 moistened pith adapting itself to the inequalities and supporting 

 the substance to be cut, in a most convenient manner, without 

 the necessity for a tripod, spirit-lamp, &c., required when wax 

 is used. — Mr. W. Archer has a paper "On Apothecia occurring 

 in some Scytonematous and Sirosiphonaceous Alga;, in addition 

 to those previously known," in which the transfer by Bornet of 

 Ephche pithescens to the lichens suggested observations as to 

 whether other species, Stigoncma and allied genera, would not 

 require similar relegation on account of the discovery of apothecia 

 and spermogonia in them. The question as to the nature of 

 these Gonidia-forming AlgEE types is discussed. — Mr. Ray Lan- 

 kester makes " Ot)servations on the Development of the Cepha- 

 lopoda," in which he continues his elaborate investigations on 

 the development of the MoUusca. The points on which most 

 stress is laid in the present paper are the formation of the blasto- 

 derm and the nature of the " autoplasts ; " the development of 

 the pen-sac, and of the alimentary canal, and especially of the 

 eye, whose radical similarity in the di- and tetra-branchiate Cepha- 

 lopoda is proved, at the same time that its great difference from 

 the vertebrate organ is rendered equally apparent. — Mr. H. C. 

 Sorby has a fpaper "On the Chromatological Relations of 

 Sponr;illa jJu-'iatilis," which is shown to contain much the same 

 colouring matter, soluble in carbon-disidphide, as the highest 

 plants, though in different proportions. — The last paper, reprinted 

 from this journal, is Prof Huxley's " Classification of the Animal 

 Kingdom, " read before the Linnean Society in December last. 

 — A review is given of Strieker's "IManual of Histology," as 

 well as an excellent short life, by Dr. Payne, of Dr. Lankester, 

 one of the founders of the journal. 



Astronoinische Nachrichten, No. 2,016. — In this number is a 

 list of some thirty stars, of types iii. and iv., discovered by 

 D'Arrest. Notes on colour and bands in the spectrum of each 



