March 25, 1875J 



NATURE 



419 



Neighbourhood." — Mr. Spencer Bickham read a paper on the 

 different kinds of .beehive used in this country, and exhibited 

 specimens. 



Feb. 23. — Mr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., vice-president, in the 

 chair. — Mr. Joseph Sidebotham, F.R.A.S., sent for exliibition a 

 specimen of the Colorado Potato Beetle [Daryp/iora daomlineata), 

 which had appeared in great numbers in Canada last year, and 

 had caused great destruction in the potato crops. — E. W. Binney, 

 F.R.S., V.P., exhibited to the Society specimens of a strong 

 arenaceous shale, approacliing to a flagstone, containing numbers 

 of macrospores of Lcpidodmdron. 



March 9. — Edward Schunk, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — 

 On Mr. Millar's method of finding the axes of an ellipse when 

 two conjugate diameteis are given, by Mr. Robert Rawson. — Mr. 

 A. M 'Dougall invited attention to a specimen of carbon formed 

 upon the roof of a gas retort, by the decomposition of the hydro- 

 carbon gas by heat. The carbon thus formed resembles graphite 

 in its almost metallic lustre, and it was suggested that its mode 

 of formation might throw some light upon that of graphite. — On 

 the presence of sulphate of copper in water heated in tinned 

 copper boilers, by WiUiam Thomson, F.C. S. — Prof. W. Boyd 

 Dawkins, F.R.S., exhibited a collection of articles of the Neo- 

 lithic and Bronze ages from the pile dwellings in the Lake of 

 Bienne, lately presented to the Manchester Museum, Owens 

 College, by Mr. J. Thompson. He called attention to the fact 

 that the NeoUthic peoples were the first herdsmen and farmers 

 of whom we have any trace, and stated that to them we owe the 

 introduction into Europe of domestic animals and of cultivated 

 cereals. They were also the first weavers and gardeners. From 

 the southern character of some of the domestic animals such as 

 Sus pahistris, and of some of the vegetables such as the Egyptian 

 wheat and SUeiu- Crctica, it may be inferred that they came from 

 the south, probably from the south-east, from the warmer regions 

 of Central Asia. 



Watford 



Natural History Society, March ii.^ — Mr. John Evans, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — On the Cretaceous Rocks of 

 England, by Mr. J. Logan Lobley, F. G. S. As an introduction 

 to the study of the geology of Hertfordshire, the author described 

 the stratigraphical relations and the geographical extension of 

 the entire Cretaceous system and of its various subdivisions. 

 The composition and origin of the chalk, including the results of 

 the recent researches of the ChalUtiger expedition, was specially 

 dwelt upon, and the hypothesis of the organic origin of clays as 

 well as of limestones was discussed. The relation of geology to 

 botany was pointed out, and the members of this new Society 

 were urged to make themselves acquainted with their local geo- 

 logy as a prelude to a more extensive knowledge of geological 

 science. 



Philadelphia 



Academy of Natural Sciences, Sept. 8.— Dr. Ruschen- 

 berger, president, in the chair. — "Notes on Santa Fe Marls 

 and some of the contained Vertebrate FossUs," by Mr. E 

 D. Cope. — On a new variety of Helix, by James Lewis, M.D. 

 — Prof. Leidy stated that in the early part of last June, in 

 examining some of the material obtained from a mill-pond 

 at Absecom, New Jersey, he had observed a most wonderful 

 amoeboid animal, of which he had made notes, but was not 

 able at the time to make a drawing and satisfactory descrip- 

 tion. Subsequently he sought patiently for two days in the 

 same material for another individual, but without success. Last 

 week he paid a visit to the Absecom mill-pond to seek the 

 curious amoeboid, and was so fortunate as to find it again. 

 Prof. Leidy exhibited a drawing of the animal, and described it as 

 follows : — The animal at rest is spherical or oval, or constricted 

 back of the middle. In the spherical form it measured the one- 

 fifth of a millimetre in diameter ; in the oval and constricted 

 form it was about one-fourth of a millimetre long, and one- 

 sLxth of a millimetre broad. It is white or cream-coloured, 

 opaque, or translucent at the border, and was spotted green 

 from food-balls of de;mids. It moves with extreme sluggish- 

 ness, and with little change of form. From the fore part of the 

 body the animal was observed to project almost simultaneously 

 a number of long, conical, acute pseudopods, about the one- 

 twelfth of a milfimetre long. From the back part in the same 

 manner a multitude of papUlafotm pseudopods were projected 

 about one-filtieth of a millimetre long. All the pseudopods and 

 the surface of the body everywhere bristled with innumerable 

 minute spicules. From time to time more or less obtuse portions 

 of the clear ectosaic were projected, and these likewise were 



observed to be covered with the minute spicules. The opacity of 

 the animal prevented the exhibition of a nucleus, if such exists. 

 In general appearance the curious creature resembles one of 

 the forms of Pdoiny.xa faluslris, described by Prof. Greef in 

 " Schultze's Archiv," vol. x. PI. iv., Fig. 9, but in this, minute 

 spicules project only from the posterior disc-like extremity of 

 the body, as they have also been observed to do in the cor- 

 responding part of Amceba lillosa of Wallich, and perhaps other 

 species. The general spiculate character of the Absecom amoe- 

 boid is probably sufficient to distinguish the animal genericallv 

 from Amoeba, and in this view the animal may be named Deina- 

 meba mirabilis. 



Boston 



Academy of Natural Sciences, April 8, 1874. Mr. 



BickneU in the chair.— Mr. Stodder exhibited scales of Pelt'o. 

 PIUS maritimus and Amathusia Horsfddii, to show that the 

 so-called "beads" were the results of imperfect observation and 

 illumination. — Mr. Bicknell exhibited and explained his achro- 

 matic condenser, made by Mr. Tolles after the design of 

 Mr. Bicknell. Its focal distance is ^i;, and its aperture 150°. 

 Its most important variation from other condensers is in the 

 position of the stops, the diaphragm plate being placed close to 

 the front lens, which gives a power of controlling the illuminat- 

 ing ray greatly superior to that possessed by other condensers. — 

 Mr. Samuel Wells exhibited a heliostat, remarkable chiefly for 

 the small expense at which it was constructed. It was made from 

 a marine clock, capable of running like a watch, in any position ; 

 the hands being removed, a pulley of 1 in. diameter is slipped 

 on to the arbor of the hour-hand ; on the woodwork at the top 

 of the clock is fastened bearings for a small shaft, carrj-ing at its 

 upper end the plane mirror intended to follow the movement of 

 the sun. On this shaft is a pulley one inch in diameter, deriving 

 motion from the pulley on the hour-hand arbor by a cord. A 

 support attached to the side of the clock carries a subsidiary 

 mirror directly above tlie revolving mirror. The clock is himg 

 on a board, hinged so as to be capable of elevation to an angle 

 equal to the complement of the latitude. The face of the clock 

 is turned to the north. The revolving mirror is adjusted to the 

 declination of the sun so as to reflect the ray to the north. The 

 ray is received on the subsidiary mirror, which reflects it in any 

 required direction. The cost of the heliostat was less than 

 twenty dollars, and its performance sufficiently accurate for 

 microscopic purposes. 



April 15.— The president in the chair. — Dr. Samuel Kneeland 

 read a paper on the geology, geography, and scenery of the 

 Union Pacific Railroad, illustrated by specimens of. ores, fossils, 

 and minerals found along the route from Cheyenne to the Sierra 

 Nevada, with lantern illustrations of such of the scenery as best 

 displayed the geological fisatures. 



Wellington, New Zealand 

 Philosophical Society, July 18, 1874. — The president. Dr. 

 Knight, in opening the business of the evening, delivered an 

 address, which passed in review the various questions discussed 

 at the society's meetings during the past year. Its main feature 

 was a dissertation upon certain peculiarities in the cUmate of 

 New Zealand, and the evidences which, in the opinion of the 

 president, proved the former existence of glacial periods in the 

 southern hemisphere just as in the northern, but occurring alter- 

 nately. The effect of ice in producing surface features had, in 

 his opinion, been greatly overrated, and following up this 

 opinion the president explained that the great ice sheets, several 

 thousand feet in thickness, which the ice theorists required, 

 could not have existed, as the pressure of the mass of ice would 

 melt the lower stratum. 



July 25, 1874. — Dr. Hector drew attention to the articles 

 with which the museum had been enriched by the officers of 

 H.M.S. Challenger. These consisted of specimens of different 

 fishes, &c. — Mr. J. C. Crawford read a paper on the question, 

 "Did the great Cook Strait River run N.W. or S.E. ?" After 

 which Mr. Hood read a paper on'.the hot mnds of Australia 

 having influence on the climate of New Zealand. 



Aug. 8, 1S74. — Mr. Travers read a letter from Capt. Tum- 

 buU, haibour master at Hokitika, to the Hon. J. A. Bonar, 

 superintendent, descriptive of a portion of wreck found at the 

 Haast, on the west coast of the Middle Island. This fragment 

 was foimd at a great distance from the present high-water 

 mark, surrounded by dense bush. It was discovered by diggers 

 in 1867. Dr. Hector said that in 1867 he had called attention 

 to the wreck. The most important point was the distance 



