500 



NATURE 



[April 22, 1875 



ment from the base of the dentine papilla, in a part a mere con- 

 densation of surrounding tissue. 



"Experiments to ascertain the Cause of Stratification in 

 Electrical Discharges in vaaip," by Warren De la Rue, Hugo 

 \V. Miiller, and William Spottiswoode. 



" First Report of the Naturalist attached to the Transit of 

 Venus Expedition to Kerguelen's Island, December 1874," by 

 the Rev. A. E. Eaton ; communicated by the President. 



[These are two long and important papers, which we hope to 

 be able to be able to give next week ] 



Linn^an Society, April 15. — Dr. G. J. Allm.m, president, 

 in the chair. — Prof. A. Dickson, M.D., Mr. J. F. Duthie, and 

 Mr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., were elected fellows. The following 

 papers were read : — On the nature and productions of the 

 atolls of the South Pacific, by the Rev. Thos. Powell. — Papers 

 on the botany of the Challenger Expedition : xxv., On the 

 Diatomacece collected by Mr. H. N. Moseley in Kerguelen's 

 Land, by the Rev. E. O'Meara ; xxvi.. Letter from Mr. H. N. 

 Moseley on an ediljle Chinese Splurria, known as "winter 

 worm-grass," parasitic on certain larva; (this was stated by Mr. 

 Currey to be Torntbia sinensis) ; xxvii.. On the Musci and 

 Hepatica; collected by Mr. IL N. Moseley, by Mr. W. Mitten, 

 F. L. S. (these were from Teneriffe, Tristan d'Acunha, Ker- 

 guelen's Land, &c.) — On Algi^ collected by the Rev. W. W. 

 Gill near the island of Mangara, by Dr. Dickie, F. L.S. — List 

 of plants collected by Dr. A. 13. Meyer in New Guinea, in 1873, 

 by Prof. Oliver, F. R..S. (these were only ten in number, in- 

 cludmg two new species). — Mr. W. S. Mitchell made] some 

 additional observations on tne male Octopus. 



Chemical Society, April 15.— Prof. Abel, F.R.S., in the 

 chair. — Mr. J. W. Thomas read a paper on the gases enclosed 

 in coals from the South Wales basin, and the gases evolved by 

 blo\^'ers and by boring into the coal itself. These gases were 

 found to be marsh gas, carbonic anhydride, and nitrogen, in all 

 three of the classes of coal examined, namely, bilumnious coals, 

 steam coal, and anthracite. — A pa[)er on narcotine, cotannine, 

 and hydrocotannine, Part L, by Mr. P. H. Beckett and Dr. 

 C. R. A. Wright, was then read by the latter ; after which Dr. 

 H. E. Armstrong communicated a note on isomeric change in 

 tlie phenol series. 



■ Zoological Society, April 6. — Dr. E. Hamilton, vice-presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — A letter was read from Dr. G. Hartlaub, 

 stating that the Finch described by him and Dr. Finsch as new 

 in the S jciety's Proceedings for 1870, p. 817, and named Lobio- 

 spiza notnbilis, was probably only the young bird of Ainblynra 

 cya)iovirens. — Dr. A. Giinther exhibited the skin of a new spe- 

 cies of Mole from British Caffraria, which he proposed to call 

 Chrysochloris tni'elyani. — The Secretary exhibited, on behalf 

 of Mr. J. Gould, F. R.S., the original specimen of the Parrot 

 (Aprostnietus iusignissimus), spoken of by Mr. Gould in his 

 communication to the Society on the 3rd of November, 1874 

 (P.Z.S., 1874, p. 499); also specimens of two other new species 

 of birds from Northern Queensland, a new Honey-eater, proposed 

 to be called Ptilotis flavostrtaUi, and a new Parrot, proposed to 

 be called Cyclnpsitta maccoyi. — Mr. Osbert Salvin, F.R.S., read 

 a memoir on the avi-fauna of the Galapagos Archipelago. After 

 a summary of what was known of the history and physical 

 peculiarities of these islands, Mr. Salvin proceeded to give a 

 complete account of the birds as at present known to us from 

 the visits of Mr. Darwin, of the naturalists of the Swedish frigate 

 Etigniie, and of Dr. Habel, whose collection afforded the prin- 

 cipal materials upon which the present communication was 

 based. Of the fifty-seven species of birds known to exist in the 

 Galapagos, about two-thirds were stated to be peculiar to the 

 Archipelago.— Mr. A. G. Butler read a memoir on the Hetero- 

 cerous Lepidoptera of the family Spningida:, in which a complete 

 revision ol the various genera and species of this family was 

 given.— A communication was read from Dr. J. S. Bowerbank, 

 entitled "A Monograph of the Siliceo-Fibrous Sponges," Part 

 HI., being the third of a series of memoirs on this class of 

 sponges. A second communication from Dr. Bowerbank con- 

 tained the seventh part of his contributions to a general history 

 of the Spongida;.— Mr. A. H. Garrod read a paper on the form 

 of the trachea in Tantalus ibis, in which the peculiar and nume- 

 rous convolutions of that tube within the thorax of that bird 

 were descriiied. — A communication was read from Mr. G. S. 

 Br.idy, in which he gave a revision of the known species of 

 British Marine Mites, together with descriptions of some new 

 species. -Mr. C. A. Wright read a paper on the question of the 



specific identity of the Weasel found in Malta, which he was | 

 inclined to refer to Alnslela ioccamela, Bp., hitherto only known 



to occur in Sardinia. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, April 12. — M. Fremy in the chair. — 

 The following papers were read : — On the comparison of the 

 first observations of the Transit of Venus ; a letter addressed by 

 M. Puiseux to M. Dumas, President of the Transit Commission. 

 From the data, M. Puiseux (Nature, vol. xi. p. 474) finds the 

 mean solar parallax to be 8" '879. This value differs liule from that 

 found by experiments on the velocity of light, made by M.M. Fou- 

 ciult and Cornu, which is 8 "86 ; the latter is also the average 

 value ot those calculated by RL Leverrier from the perturbations 

 of planets. — On the last number of the Meniorie lii Spettroscopisti 

 Italiani, by M. Faye ; this paper has special relerence to M. 

 Langley's memoir on the minute structure of the photosphere. - 

 On the periodical variations and inequalities of the temperature 

 (eleventh note) ; period ol the twelve-fold twentieth day ; by M. 

 Ch. Sainte-Claire DeviUe. An extremely elaborate paper, with 

 seven diagrams. — M. Cahours then presented to the Academy 

 the third volume of his " Traite de Chimie Organique," 

 and made some remarks on the same. — The Academy then 

 nominated General Sabine as correspondent to their .Section of 

 Geography and Navigation, in lieu of the late M. Chazallon. — 

 Researches on the transmission of air by a steam or air jet, by 

 M. F. de Romilly. — On a new substance found in urine alter the 

 ingestion of chloral hydrate, by MM. Musculus and de Merme, 

 The authors gave it the name nrochloralic acid. — A note by M. 

 Bobierre, on the use of a little apparatus called cherche-plomb 

 (lead-finder), which shows the presence of lead in alloys suspected 

 of containing it, by contact with glacial acetic acid and iodide 

 of potassium. — A note by M. G. Helznem, on an insect living, 

 like Phylloxera, upon roots. It is principally found on Abies 

 balsainea and Abies Fraseri. — M. R. de Wouves reminds the 

 Academy, upon the occasion of the interesting researches 

 now published by M. Ch. Sainte-Claire Deville, that as 

 far back as December 20, 1870, he presented to the Academy 

 a memoir entitled "On the Periodicity of the Weather." — 

 Calorimetric researches on the carbon compounds of iron and 

 manganese, by MM. L. Troost and P. Hautefeuille. — On the 

 preparation of ethylene perchloride, by M. E. Bourgoin. — 

 jResearches on the quantities of heat disengaged in the decom- 

 position by water of the bromides of some of the fatty acids, by 

 M. W. Longuinine. — On the determinations of the carbonic acid 

 of the air made in the balloon Zenilh, by M. G. Tissandier. 

 The percentage of carbonic acid varied between 2"40 (at 890 

 metres elevation) and 3"oo (at 1,000 metres) volumes in 10,000 

 volumes of air. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



Colonial. — Monthly Record of Results of Observations iu Meteorology, 

 Terrestrial Magnetism, &c., taken at the Melbourne Observatory dur.ng 

 August 1874 : Robert L. J. Ellery (Melbourne, John Ferris).— Geological 

 Suivey of Victoria. Observations of New Vegetable Fossils of the Auriferous 

 Drifts : Baron Ferdinand von Mueller (Melbourne, John Ferris). 



American —Observations on the Phenomena of Plant Life. Paper pre- 

 sented to the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture by W. S. Clarke (Boston, 

 Wright and Potter). 



CONTENTS Pace 



The Ancient Monuments Bill 4S1 



Practical Physics (fKrV/i/Z/aj/ra/zOTM) 482 



Dresser's " Birds of Europe " 485 



UUR Book Shelf:— 



" Monthly Journal of Education and Scholastic Advertiser " . . 4S6 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



On the Dynamical Evidence of Molecular Constitution. — R. C. 



NlCHOUS 486 



On the "Law of Fatigue'' regulating Muscular Exertion, IL — 



Prof. Samuel Haughton, F.R.S. (JfiM/^^ju/ra/zOT) . . . 4S8 



Denudation 489 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Sun's Parallax 489 



Tuttle's Variable Nebula in Draco, &c 489 



Comet 1766(11.) 489 



The Solar iLCLipss 490 



Arctic Geology, III. By C. E. De Rance, F.G S 492 



On Attraction and Repulsion resulting from Radiation . . 494 I 



The Fatal Balloon Ascent. By W. de Fonvielle 495 i 



^OTES 496 I 



Accidental Explosions, in. By Prof. F. A. Abel, F.R.S. ... 498 



Societies and Academies 499 



Books and Pamphlets Received 500 



