Nov. 5, 1885] 



NATURE 



23 



suggestion which has so often been made, that the Hospital 

 schools would do well to cease the attempt to teach purely 

 scientific subjects, and should recognise the Faculty of Science 

 of University College as the common preliminary scientific 

 school for all London hospitals. The students themselves, it is 

 obvious, already take this view. Of the 52 successful candidates 

 belonging to the Faculty of Science of University College only 

 12 have entered the Faculty of Medicine of that institution. 

 The remaining 40 have selected their liospitals without prejudice. 

 Several have obtained entrance scholarships at the large London 

 hospitals. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 BiiUelin de r Acadhiiie Royah de Belgique, July. — Observa- 

 tions on the planets Jupiter and Venus, made at the Astronomic 

 Institute of Ongree, by M. L. de Ball. — On the eurites, or older 

 i-hyolithic formations of Grand-Manil, by M. Ch. de la Vallee 

 Poussin. — On the pretended bacterirn origin of diastase, by M. 

 Emile Laurent. — On the organic structure and growth of 

 Phycomyces nilciis, by the same author. — On the Devonian lime- 

 stones of coral origin and their distribution throughout the 

 palEeozoic formations of Belgium, by M. E. Dupont. — The:>ry 

 of elliptic functions : Hermite's equation, by M. J. A. Martius 

 da Silva. — The philosophic system of the Bhagavadgita, by M. 

 Le Roy. — An unpublished Latin inscription referring to T. 

 Desticius Severus, Procurator of Gallia Belgica, by M. Bartolini. 

 — Origin of the Flemish inhabitants of Belgium, with pre- 

 liminary remarks on the Suevi of Flanders, by M. Alph. 

 Wauters. 



August. — Fresh researches on the appai-ent enlargement of 

 the sun, moon, and stars at the horizon, by M. Paul Stroobant. 

 — Reaction of the sulphate of barium and the carbonate of 

 sodium under the influence of pressure, by M. W. Spring. — 

 Note on the lower Devonian rocks of Belgium : the pudding 

 system of Weris and its transformation, by M. E. Dupont. — 

 Experimental researches on the sense of sight in insects : Do 

 insects distinguish the outlines of objects? by M. F. Plateau. — 

 Determination of an empirical relation connecting the tension of 

 vapour with the coefficient of internal friction in Huids, by M. P. 

 De Heen. — The eurites of Grand-Manil (continued), by M. Ch. 

 de la Vallee Poussin. — Biographical notices of Mathieu de 

 Morgues and Philippe Chifflet, by M. Auguste Castan. — On 

 the old Persian, Hindu, and Chinese literatures, by M. Ch. de 

 Harlez. — Note on the domain of the Aduaticse, and on some 

 other questions of ancient Belgian geography, by M. L. Vander- 

 kindere. 



Schriflen der Physikalisch-OkonoiniscUen Gesdlsfhaft zii R'onigs- 

 iei-g I. Pr., 25th year (1884). — 1st and 2nd parts. — Memorial 

 address on Oswald Heer (with list of works) by A. Jentzsch. — On 

 the development of the oil-vessels in the fruits of Umbellifera:, 

 by J. Lange. — Festival address on the centenary of Bessel s birth, 

 by I. Franz. — Correction of Sanio's memoir on the numerical 

 relations of the flora of Prussia, by J. Abromeit. — Reports on 

 local botany, museum collections, &c. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Mineralogical Society, October 20. — The Rev. Prof. 

 Bonney, President, in the chair. — Messrs. F. R. W. Daw, John 

 Daw, Jun., G. F. Kung, and C. C. Ross, M. P., were elected 

 members. The following were elected officers and Council for 

 the ensuing year: — President: L. Fletcher, F.G.S. ; Vice- 

 Presidents: Rev. S. Haughton, F.R.S., Rev. Prof. T. G. 

 Bonney, F.R.S. ; Council : C. A. Burghardt, LL.D., A. 

 Geikie, F.R.S., Rev. H. Gurney, M.A., Hugo Mliller, F.R.S., 

 Rev. W. W. Peyton: Treasurer: R. P. Greg, F.G.S. ; 

 General Secretary: R. H. Scott, F.R.S. ; Foreign Secretary: 

 T. Davies, F.G.S.; Auditors: B. Kitto, F.G.S., F. W. 

 Rudler, F.G.S. The Secretary read the following Report of 

 Council : — The balance-sheet for the year 1884, which appeared 

 in No. 28 of the Journal, showed that the finances of the 

 Society were in a healthy condition, the excess of assets over 

 liabilities amounting to 215/. I2j. 4a'. The number of Members 

 and Associates elected during the year has been seven, and the 

 number of resignations five, while the names of four Members 

 and one Associate have been removed from the list for non-pay- 



ment of subscriptions for three years. The Council regret that 

 they have to report also the death of Alexander Murray, 

 C.M.G., of St. John's, Newfoundland. Three meetings have 

 taken place since the last anniversary : those in December and 

 March were held in the Museum of Economic Geology, by kind 

 permission of the Director-Genera! of the Survey ; the third 

 was held in Glasgow in the month of June, in the rooms of the 

 PhilosophicaljSociety. This, the second Scottish meeting, was, 

 like its predecessor in 1SS4, a decided success. Three parts of 

 the Jonrnal have been issued during the year. Among their 

 contents the Council would especially draw attention to Mr. 

 Miers' contributions, including his careful index to the mineral- 

 ogical literature of the year. Herr Sjogren's paper on graphite 

 also deserves notice ; it is a translation from the Swedish, as it 

 originally appeared in the Forhandlingar of the Stockholm 

 Academy. In conclusion the Council would only remind the 

 members that it is very desirable that they should co- 

 operate actively in the working of the Society by the 

 contribution of papers to be read at its meetings and 

 published in its yournal. It is by such co-operation alone 

 that the Society can be maintained in a stale of vigorous 

 activity. The President then delivered his address, which 

 will appear in the Journal. Prof. Bonney then vacated 

 the chair, which was taken by the newly-elected President, Mr. 

 Fletcher, and the following papers were read': — H. A. Miers, 

 on a crystal of orthoclase. — R. H. Solly, notes from the Mine- 

 ralogical Laboratory, Cambridge, being an account of the fol- 

 lowing minerals : — garnet, axinite, asbestus, and semiopal from 

 the Mid-Devon Copper Mine, apatite or Francolite from the 

 Levant Mine, and Fluor Spar from Holmbush. — Dr. Max 

 Schuster, results of the crystallographic study of danburite. — W. 

 E. Dawson, analysis of a supposed new chromate of lead from 

 the Transvaal. — Prof. Lewis exhibited a fine crystal of cole- 

 manite ; and Mr. Fletcher exhibited some Roman coins found 

 near Chester and presenting crystals of cuprite. 



Sydney 

 Linnean Society~of New South Wales, August 26. — 

 Prof. W. J. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S., President, in the chair. — 

 The following papers were read : — List of plants in use by the 

 natives of the Maclay Coast, New Guinea, by N. de Miklouho- 

 Maclay, with botanical remarks by Baron Ferd. von Miiller, 

 K.C.M.G., &c. Baron Maclay in this paper gives (i) a list of 

 the plants used as food, dividing them into those cultivated and 

 those growing wild ; (2) those cultivated as stimulants or for 

 medicine ; (3) those useful in various ways for household pur- 

 poses ; and (4) those introduced since 1871. An Appendix by 

 Baron Midler gives an account of some of the plants mentioned 

 by Baron Maclay and gives a description of a new species named 

 Bassia maclayana. — Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Australia, 

 by George Masters. This is the first of a series of papers 

 intended by Mr. Masters to make a complete and perfect list of 

 all the kno.vn species of Coleoptera in Australia. The present 

 part comprises the Cicindelidae and Carabids, and numbers 950 

 species. — Descriptions of three new Port Jackson fishes, by J. 

 Douglas-Ogilby, Assistant Zoologist, Australian Museum. The 

 three species here described are Scyllium atialc, HeiiasUs i»t- 

 maculatiis, and Pempheris lineatus, — Mr. Macleay exhibited a 

 section of a branch of an orange tree completely perforated by 

 the larva of a longicorn beetle. Also three specimens of a 

 beetle found in the perforated wood. The exhibit had been sent 

 by Mr. M. de Meyrick, a member of the Society, who stated 

 that many orange trees had suffered in the same way in the 

 neighbourhood of Penrith. Mr. Macleay said the injury was 

 caused by the larva of Monohainmusfiilulator, a grub destructive 

 to all kinds of fruit trees, but, as far as his experience went, its 

 ravages were confined to old or decaying trees, and it would be 

 interesting to know if in any instance it had been found to attack 

 young and vigorous plants. The accompanying beetles were 

 heteromerous insects of the genus Amarygmus, and were not in 

 any way the cause of the injury to the tree. — Mr. A. Sidney 

 Olliff exhibited specimens and sketches of Cryptomuiatus 

 jansoni, Matt., a curious beetle which was found under the fur 

 of the common rat in Tasmania, and said that he believed new 

 and interesting species with similar habits might be found in 

 Australia if the smaller mammals were examined when freshly 

 killed. Two allied species were known from Peru, one ol 

 which was found in the fur, and also in the nests, of mice. The 

 specimens exhibited were captured by Mr. A. .Simson and had 

 been obtained from Mr. Morton, of the Hobart Museum. 



