March 9. 1899] 



NATURE 



455 



Prior and Mr. L. J. Spencer. Owing to variations in previous 

 ■analyses, the true character of this rare mineral from the 

 Binnenthal has been hitherto in doubt. The result of the 

 •chemical analysis of very carefully selected material, and of the 

 ■crystallographic examination made by the authors, shows that 

 binnite is identical with tennantite, since neither in its chemical 

 inor in its physical characters can it be distinguished from that 

 mineral. 



Linnean Society, February i6. — Dr. A. Giinther, F.R..S., 

 Pre.sident, in the chair. — Mr. Clement Reid exhibited some 

 fruits of Najas minor, AUione, and of Najas p-aiiiiiiea, Delile, 

 found during a further examination of the interglacial deposits 

 at West Wittering in Sussex. — Dr. A. B. Rendle exhibited 

 specimens of a freshwater Alga (Pilhophora) new to Britain, 

 and described its structure. — Mr. Gilbert C. Bourne read a paper 

 on the genus L€innaliii, Gray, with an account of the branching 

 systems of the order AUyoimcen. In the course of his remarks 

 some new terms were proposed specially applicable to the mor- 

 phology of the Alcyonaceans. — Messrs. I. H. Burkill and C. H. 

 Wright read a paper " On some African Labiadu with alternate 

 leaves," a peculiarity which had been recently used by M. Hua 

 to characterise a new genus, Iiomuin. To this genus three 

 new species were now added. — Messrs. J. Cosmo Melvill and 

 Robert Standen communicated a " Report on the Marine 

 MoUusca obtained during the first expedition of Prof. A. C. 

 Haddon to the Torres Straits." Over 400 forms of Gastropoda 

 and Pelecypoda were collected, together with a few Poly- 

 placophora. Twenty-four novelties were described, one of the 

 most noteworthy being a Neriteid Mollusc allied on the one 

 hand to Vanicoro, and on the other to Nerila, for which the 

 generic name Magadis was proposed. Photadomya Haddoni 

 ■was described as a new species. 



Zoological Society, February 21. — Prof. G. B. Howes, 

 F.K.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. A. Smith Woodward 

 read a paper by Dr. F. P. .Moreno and himself, on a piece of 

 skin supposed to belong to the Neomylodon listai of Ameghino, 

 from a cavern near Consuelo Cove, Lost Hope Inlet. Patagonia. 

 Dr. Moreno's contribution was an amplification of his remarks 

 on the subject made at a previous meeting. He maintained that 

 the specimen in question was of great antiquity, and belonged 

 to the extinct ground-sloth, Mylodon. In reply to objections 

 founded on its state of preservation, he supported his contention 

 by mentioning that he had found a well-preserved mummified 

 human body in another cavern in the same district, which 

 certainly belonged to an extinct race of great antiquity, unknown 

 even to the present Tehuelche Indians. Mr. Woodward gave a 

 detailed description of the specimen, pointing out that the skin 

 was unique, even for an Edentate, in having the armour of 

 ossicles confined to the lower half of the dermis, while the 

 covering of hair was implanted in every part of the upper half. 

 He thought he could recognise in it the base of the left ear, and 

 concluded that the piece of skin had probably belonged to the 

 neck. It certainly represented an animal quite as large as 

 Mylodon ; but he noted discrepancies in the microscopical 

 structure of the dermal ossicles, which inclined him to believe 

 in its generic distinctness. The problem could not be solved, 

 because the dermal armour of Mylodon had only been definitely 

 described in the lumbar region, and it was quite possible that 

 the ossicles in the flexible neck of the animal might not agree 

 with those in the comparatively rigid back above the pelvis. If 

 Dr. Moreno had not been able to give so circumstantial an 

 account of the discovery, Mr. Woodward would have unhesi- 

 tatingly pronounced the skin to belong to a recent animal killed 

 quite lately. — A communication was read from P. W. Bassett- 

 Smith, R.N. , containing observations on the formation of 

 the coral-reefs on the N.W. coast of Australia. Special atten- 

 tion was called to the part played by massive Polyzoa in 

 forming coral-reefs. — A communication was read from Mr. G. 

 A. Boulenger, F. R.S., containing an account of a collection of 

 reptiles and batrachians made by Mr. J. D, La Touche in 

 N.W. Fokien, China. Eight species were described as new to 

 science in the present paper, amongst which was a snake be- 

 longing to a new genus, most nearly allied to Opislhotropis of 

 Giinther, proposed to be called Tapinophis latouchii, after its 

 discoverer. — A communication was read from Sir G. F. 

 Hampson, Bart., containing the second portion of his 

 " Revision of the Moths of the subfamily Pyrauslinae of the 

 family Pyralidae." 



NO. 1532, VOL. 59] 



Anthropological Institute, February 14. — Mr. C. H. 



Read, President, in the chair. — A paper was read byColonel 

 Sir T. H. Holdich, K.C I.E., C.B., on "The Arab Tribes 

 of our India Frontier." After describing the physical features 

 of the country, the author proceeded to discuss certain ethno- 

 logical questions. Many of the existing tribes can be identified 

 with those named by Herodotus and Strabo. The author 

 gave a sketch of Arab influence in Baluchistan, which was, 

 he suggested, greater than is commonly supposed. The ex- 

 planation why our control of the southern borderland is more 

 elTective than it is in the north, is that in the former we are 

 not merely facing the Baluch tribes, but we are at the back of 

 them. Besides this, the Baluchis have a well-defined tribal 

 organisation, and the dealings of the Indian Government with 

 them are thereby much facilitated The author's view as to the 

 predominance of Arab influence in Baluchistan was disputed by 

 Messrs. J. Kennedy and W. Crooke. 



Manchester. 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, February 7. — Mr. J. 

 Cosmo Melvill, President, in the chair. — Notes on the slipperi- 

 ness of ice, by Prof. Osborne Reynolds, F. R.S. The author 

 referred to some experiments by Mr. Beauchamp Tower on the 

 lubrication of two metallic surfaces, and showed the extra- 

 ordinary degree of coherence between two " Whitworth planes " 

 after they had been pressed together so as to squeeze out the 

 film of air between. All lubrication is due to the presence of a 

 fluid, either liquid or gaseous, between the opposing surfaces, 

 and in the case of ice the pressure induces a partial liquefaction, 

 which is the sole cause of slipperiness. When ice is cooled 

 below a certain point, it becomes no more slippery than a 

 polished surface of stone. — On science in the " Historical 

 English Dictionary," by C. L. Barnes. It was pointed out 

 that " astronomy " and "astrology" have interchanged mean- 

 ings since they were first introduced, as is clearly shown by 

 Evelyn in his "Memoirs" (1676), where he says: " Dined with 

 me Mr. Flamsteed, the learned astrologer and mathematician, 

 whom his Majesty had established in the new observatory in 

 Greenwich Park." The science of chemistry appears to have 

 been unhappy in its first introduction into literature, for Gaule 

 (1652) speaks of it as "a kind of praestigious, cheating, 

 covetous magick," and Bentham, in 1S12, makes use of this 

 language: " Idioscopic, or cryptodynamic anthropurgics has 

 for its single-worded synonym the unexpressive appellation 

 chemistry." The curious derivation of "alcohol," from the 

 Arabian "kohl," referred to in 2 Kings, ix. 30, and in Ezek. 

 xxiii. 40, as a material for personal adornment, was next 

 referred to. From meaning a fine powder, produced either by 

 trituration or sublimation, the latter sense gradually slid off 

 towards distillation, though in Spanish the words alcohol, 

 alcoholado, alcoholador, and alcoholar still retain their ancient 

 significance in part. The derivation of the word " antimony" 

 itself, and Littre's conjecture that the same Arabic root has 

 furnished both " antimonium " and "stibium" — the latter 

 through the Greek "stimmi" — was also noticed. Under the 

 heading " Atom," the Dictionary quotes, besides the ordinary 

 meanings, a table of Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia in 

 the second century, in which the word signifies a small interval 

 of time, the 22,560th part of an hour. A similar usage is found 

 in the Greek text of i Cor. xv. 52, where the expressions "en 

 atomo, en rhipe ophttialmou " are translated "in a moment, in 

 the twinkling of an eye." But most important of all is the dis- 

 covery, announced alone in this dictionary, that the word 

 " gas " was suggested to Van Helmont by the Greek " chaos," 

 or, as he himself puts it: " Halitum ilium 'gas' vocavi, non 

 longe a chao veterum secretum." The spirant sound of the 

 Dutch "g"was probably taken as a nearer equivalent of the 

 Greek "ch" than "k" would have been. Lastly, allusion 

 was made to the originally divergent meanings cf ' ' algebra," 

 as a branch of mathematics and the art of bone-setting, which 

 are still both in use in Spain. 



P.\RIS. 

 Academy of Sciences, February 27. — M. van Tieghem in 

 the chair. — The Perpetual Secretary announced the death of M. 

 Sophus Lie, Correspondant of the Section of Geometry. — • 

 Notice on M. Sophus Lie, by M. D.uboux. — An electrolytic 

 interruptor, by M. d'Arsonval. A description of Wehnelt's 

 electrolytic interruptor. — On a new uranium mineral, carnotite, 



