520 



NA TURE 



\ApriL 2^, 1875 



the dischar-'e in V, in consequence of the introduction of the 

 induction-coil, the terminals being still surrounded by the soft 

 nebulous light before spoken of ; no luminosity appeared m the 

 second vacuum-tube, V^', in connection with the secondary wire of 

 the induction-coil, except on making and breaking the connec- 

 tion with the battery. At other times there was evidently no 

 fluctuation in the continuous discharge, no periodic increase or 

 diminution of flow, and consequently no induced current m the 

 secondary wire, s s', >.f the induction-coil. 



In the second experiment wires were also led from the 

 terminals of the battery (all I'ther things remaining as before) to 

 the coil accumulalar, as in Fig. 4 ; then immediately the dis- 

 charge in V became stratified, and the secondary vacuum-tube, V^, 

 lighted up ; clearly showing that under these circumstances a 

 fluctuation in the discharge really occurs on the appearance of 

 stratification. 



The brilliancy of the discharge in V- (the induced current 

 passes through complicated vacuum-tubes through which the 

 primary current c..nnotpass) depemis greatly on the quality and 

 quantity of the discharge in the prmiary vacuum-tube, V. Under 

 some circumstances the secondary discharge is extremely feeble, 

 and the illumination in V^ barely visible ; under others it is very 

 brilliant. 



Preraratinns are being made to render evident induced 

 currents in the secondary wire of the coil too feeble to produce 

 any illumination. Pending the further development of our inves- 

 tiiation, we have ventured to give an account ol our progress in 

 elucidating some points in the theory of the vacuum discharge, 

 without any wish to ascribe to our results more weight than they 

 deserve. 



Batteries of this description may be had from Messrs. Tisley 

 and Spiller, Biompton Road. Their cost, in large numbers, is 

 about one shilling per cell, exclusive of the charge of chloride of 

 silver, which costs about two shillings per cell. The latter, either 

 in the form of powder or of rods cast upon flattened silver wire, 

 may be obtained from Messrs. Johnson and Matthey, Hatton 

 Garden. When the battery is exhausted, the reduced silver may 

 be readily reconverted into chloride with scarcely any loss. 



Zoological Society, Aprd 20. — Robert Hudson, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair.— A letter was read from Lieut. R. 

 J. Ward law- Ramsay, dated Tonghoo, British Burmah, 22nd 

 November, 1S74, containing additional remarks on the Wood- 

 pecker (Geciniis erylhropy^ius) described by him at a former 

 meeting (P.Z.S. 1874, p. 212, pi. xxxv.)— Mr. Edward R. 

 Alston exhibited and made remarks on a rufous variety of the 

 Murine Dormouse (Grapkiunis tmcHnus, Desm.) from West 

 Africa. — Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier exhibited and made remarks on 

 two hybrid pheasants, the result of a cross between Phasiamis 

 colckicus and Euplocamns itycthcmerus. — Mr. A. H. Garrod read 

 a paper on the structure of the deep plantar tendons in different 

 birds, in which the different modes of arrangement of these 

 tendons was pointed out, and their importance in the classifica- 

 tion of the order insisted upon. — A communication was read 

 from Mr. R. J. l,echmere-Guppy on the occurrence of Helix 

 coactiliata in Trinidad, and on the general distribution of the 

 land and freshwater moUusca of that island. A second com- 

 munication from Mr. Guppy contained a note on a variety of 

 Butimus conslrictiis found in Venezuelan Guiana. — A communi- 

 cation was read from the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, in which he 

 gave descriptions of nine new species of spiders of the genus 

 Erigonc additional to those described in a lormer communication 

 on the same subject. — A communication was read from Mr. 

 George Gulliver, containing a description of the spermatozoa of 

 the Lamprey, Peiromyzon maranus. — Mr. R. B. Sharpe exhi- 

 bited and made lemarks on some specimens of some rare species 

 of birds of prey lately received by the British Museum from 

 Australia. 



Entomological Society, April 5.— Sir Sidney Smith 

 Saunders, C.M.G., president, in the chair. — Mr. Jenner Weir 

 exhibited a number of young ]\laut da: \\\^t had emerged from 

 an egg-case received from Ceylon. — Mr. Bond exhibited a speci- 

 men of an exotic locust taken alive at the bottom of a well near 

 Brighton. Mr. Sealy read some notes on the habits of the species 

 of OrnithofUra from the Malabar coast, exhibited at the last 

 meeting. — Mr. McLachlan read a letter from an Englishman re- 

 siding in Pueblo, Colorado, U. S., staling that from his experience 

 of the potato beetle the insect could live on the tubers as well 

 as on the haulm, and that unless the English authorities took 

 some steps to prevent the importation of potato bulbs, he 

 believed the beetles would soon be in this country. — Mr, 



^^ 



Edward Saunders communicated the first part of a Synopsis of 

 British Hemiptera (Heteroptera). 



Paris 

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

 The Secretary read a telegram from M. Janssen, dated Singapore, 

 l6th April : " Eclipse observed ; weather not absolutely fine. The 

 results, specially those concerning the atmosphere of the corona, 

 contirm those o( 1S71." — M. Ch. Sainte-Claire Deville then re- 

 plied to the remarks made by AL Faye, at the last meeting, on M. 

 Hildebrandsson's paper. — On the waterspout of Les Hayes (Ven- 

 domois) of Oct. 3, 1871, and the ravages produced by the same, 

 by M. Faye. — On a great dust-fall observed in a part of Sweden 

 and Norway, in the night of March 29-30, 1875, by M. Daubree. 

 — On the observations made at the island of St. Paul by the 

 Transit of Venus party, by M. Ch. Velain. — A (second) note by 

 M. J. M. Gaugain on a theory of the processes of magnetisation. 

 — A note by M. Donato Turamasi, on a new source of magne- 

 tism. — A note by M. de Boisbaudran, on the unequal solubility 

 of the different planes of the same crystah — On Japanese bronzes, 

 a note byM. E. J. Maumene. — A note by M. Pagnoul, on the 

 influence exercised by alkaline salts upon the vegetation of beet- 

 root and potatoes. — On the equivalence of alkalies in beet-root, 

 a note by MM. P. Champion and H. Pellet. — On the discovery 

 of two new types of Conilera in the Permian schists of Lodeve 

 (Herault), by M. G. de Saporta ; the names proposed for the 

 new Conifera are GinkgophyUinti grasseti and Tiichopitys helero- 

 morpha. — M. J. Francois then addressed a communication to 

 the Academy on the hydrothermal and saline emanations from 

 the thermal sources in the Caucasus. — A number of gentlemen 

 then made some communications with regard to Phylloxera. — M. 

 J. Lichtenstein addressed a note on the insect mentioned by M. 

 Holzner (not Helznem, as was erroneously stated in the last 

 Comptf rendu], which lives on the roots ot Abies hahamea and 

 Abies fyaseri. — A note by M. Granjon on the means of inceas- 

 ing the sound of a bell by constructing the same of two concentric 

 bells. — On the theory of storms ; a reply to tA. Faye, by M. H. 

 Peslin. — A note on tartaric acid, which turns the polarisation 

 plane to the right, by M. E. J. Maumene. — On the part played 

 by Microzymata in the acid, alcoholic and acetic ferment- 

 ation of eggs ; reply to M. Gayon, by M. A. Bechamp. — 

 On the therapeutic effect of oxygen, a note by M. Tamin- 

 Despalle. — On a sepulchral retreat of the old Aleouts of 

 Aknafih, on the Isle of Ounga, in the Shumagin Archipelago 

 (Alaska), by M. Alph. L. Pinart. — On the ice conditions on the 

 Danube m the winters of 1836 to 1875, by M. C. Champoiseau. 

 —A note by M . Woillez, on the reproduction, in the lungs of a 

 corpse, of the pulmonary sounds perceived during life by auscul- 

 tation. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



FoKHlGfi.. — Jahresbericht der Commission zur wissenschaftlichen Unter- 

 suchung der Deutschen Miere in Kiel, 1872-73 ; Dr H. A. Meyer, Dr. G. 

 Karsten, Dr. V. Hcnscn, Dr. G. Kupffler (Berlin : Wiegandt, Hempel, und 

 Parey). - Kevue Hibliogr-iphique Universelle. 2nd series, ist vol. (Paris, 

 Bureaux du Polybiblionj — Discorso letto in occasione della testa Centenaria 

 di Ambrogio Fusinieri, by Enrico dall Pozzo di Mombello (Foligno, P. 

 Sgariglia). — Verhandlungen der ^Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Frei- 

 burg, I.B. (Carl Troemer). 



CONTENTS Page 



The Island OF St. Helena 501 



Heredity. By Prof. VV. Stanley Jevons soj 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Cleland's *' Animal Physiology " 504 



Report of the Association for the Improvcinent of Geometrical 



leaching 504 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Influence of Pigments on Photographic Image of the Spectrum. — 



W. J. Stiilman 505 



Dr. A. B. Meyer and his Critics.— Dr. A. B. Meyek 506 



The Chesil Bank.— Thos. B. -Groves 506 



^'lowering of the Hazel. — F. D. Wetterhan £07 



OuK Astronomical Column : — 



The Total Solar Eclipse of 1715, May 3 507 



The Transit of Venus, 1631, December 7 507 



Arctic Geqlogv, IV. By C. K. De Ranch, F.G S 508 



The Progress of the Telegraph, IV. (lUich I llustratiotts) . . . 510 



The " Zenith" Balloon Ascent. By W. de Fonvielle .... 513 



Lectures at the Zoological Gardens 513 



^oTEs . . ri4 



Easter Week at the Sokbonne 516 



Scientific Serials 518 



Societies and Academies 518 



Books and Pamphlets Received 520 



