336 



NA TURE 



{Feb. 4, i! 



Section of Natural Science.— V. Ball, M. A., F.R.S., in the 

 chair. — Note on the deposit of supposed worked fiint ini|)Ie- 

 ments at Thenay, near Blois, by Prof. J- P- O'Reilly, C.E.— 

 On the occuiTence of a tract of Old Red sandstone and Con- 

 glomer.ite amongst the Knockalla Hills, co. Donegal, by Prof 

 E. Hull. LL.D., F.R.S. — On a Clogg almanac in the Science 

 and Art Museum, by B. H. Mullen, B. A. —Prof. Haddon ex- 

 hibited models made by Krantz, illustrating the evolution of the 

 shells of fossil Cephalopoda.— Mr. Greenwood Pain exhibited 

 a remarkable fvmgus-growth on paper. — Mr. V. Ball exhiliited 

 a specimen of meteoric iron from Glorieta Mountain, New 

 Mexico. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, January 25. — M. Jurien de la 

 Graviere, President, in the chair. — Remarks in connection with 

 a heliographic engraving representing the aerostatic experiments 

 at Chaiais-Meudon presented tu the Academy by M. J. Janssen. 

 — Studies on a phanerogamous plant (Cymodoceites parisicnsis) 

 belonging to the order of the Naiadete, which flourished in tlie 

 marine waters during the Eocene epoch, by M. Ed. Bureau. 

 This new genus, which is named Cymodoceites, in consequence 

 of its numerous points of analogy with the genus Cymodocea, 

 was widely diffused over the Paris basin, and tends to confirm 

 the Indian affinities of the Middle Eocene flora already revealeil 

 by Ottelia, Nipadites, Nerium pm-isunse, &c. — Description of a 

 differential sphygmograph invented for the purpose of easily 

 demonstrating the peculiar veinous circulation "by influence" 

 discovered in 1875, by M. Ch. Ozanam. — Further observations 

 and studies on the parthenogenetic reproduction of the Phylloxera 

 of the vine, by M. P. Boiteau. The fifteenth generation, ub- 

 tained during the year 1S84 by cultivation in tubes, was increased 

 by a new series of four generations in 1S85. All are at present 

 hibernating, and appear to show no symptoms of degeneracy. 

 Nevertheless the Phylloxera, after a prolonged existence, will 

 probably become less vigorous, and, like the oidium, anthrac- 

 nose, and mildew, may cease to be destructive to the plants 

 which it infests. — Note on the comet recently discovered by M. 

 Fabry at the Paris Observatory, by M. Weiss. — Orbit and 

 ephemeris of Fabry's comet, calculated by M. Leboeuf. The 

 elements of the orbit deduced from observations made at Paris 

 on December I and January 10 are as under : — 



T= 1SS6 April 6, 1372, Paris Mean Time 



a = 126 30 48'0 ) 



fl = 36 23 29' I [• Mean Equinox of i8S6'o. 

 i = 82 46 5-5 ) 

 log q — 9'8o8992 



— Determination of the error of the constant of astronomical re - 

 fraction by meridian observations, by M. A. Gaillot. — Note on 

 the residuums of the double integrals, by M. H. Poincare. — On 

 the theory of linear equations, by M. E. Goursat. — Note nn 

 telemicrophonic instruments, by M. E. Mercadier. By tele- 

 microphone the author understands a combined apparatus 

 simultaneously producing the effects of the microphone and tele- 

 phone, and reversible like the latter. He has constructed! 

 instruments of this kind, for which he claims the followin'j^ 

 advantages over the ordinary microphone : the possibility of a 

 double mode of transmission with the same apparatus ; reversi- 

 bility of the transmitter, whereby the reception is greatly simpli- 

 fied ; reduction of the number of organs on the microphonic 

 posts, and consequent diminution of the total resistance of the 

 apparatus on the same line. By this reduction the construction 

 of the instrument may also be simplified, and its size consider- 

 ably reduced. — Obsen'ations in connection with Prof. Langley's 

 recent note on the hitherto recognised wave-lengths of light and 

 sound, by M. Henri Becquerel. The statement attributed to 

 the author by Prof. Langley that the most extreme radiations 

 whose existence has been experimentally determined, do not 

 reach a wave-length of o'ooi5 mm., is denied, because the limit 

 of observation depends essentially on the nature and delicacy of 

 the methods employed to reveal the presence of ultra-red 

 invisible rays. — On the transmission of copper through a volume 

 of gas, and on the direct combination of copper with nitrogen, 

 by M. R. Blondlot. — On some properties of the sulphur of 

 antimony, by M. A. Ditte. —On a reagent, by means of which it 

 may be possible to detect the acid function of the weak acids, hy 

 M. R. Engel. — On the composition of brandies distilled from 

 wine, by M. Ch. Ordonneau. In order to ascertain the cause 

 of the difference between neutral spirits distilled from grain, 



beet, potatoes, &c., and true wine brandies, the author has made 

 a series of analyses, from which it appears that the unmistakable 

 flavour of the latter is due to the presence in small quantities of 

 a terpene boiling at 178° C, and whose products of oxidation 

 are characteristic of old brandies. — On the digestive apparatus of 

 the Phylloxera {Ph. punctata), by M. Victor Lemoine. — Note 

 on the comparative morphology of the labium in the Hymeno- 

 ptera, by M. Joannes Chatin. — Zoological and anatomical 

 observations on a new species of Balanoglossus [B. sariiiensis), 

 discovered in the month of August 1885 at the island of Ilerm, 

 a little east of Guernsey, by M. R. Kcehler. — Note on the roots 

 o{ iheCaXOimoAenAredS (Calamoiicndion striatum, C. congenium, 

 &c.), by M. B. Renault. — On the pollinic tube and its physio- 

 logical role; a nev; reaction of the deposits improperly called 

 cellulose knots, by M. Ch. Degagny. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED 



" The Pictorial Arts of Japan." p.irt i. section i. General History : Wm. 

 .Anderson (S. Low and Co.).— "Calendar of University College of Souf. 

 W.ales and Monmouthshire."- 3rd Session. 1885 and 1886 (Owen. Carditl) — 

 " Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada for the Ye.ir 

 1884." vol. ii. (Dawson, Montreal) —" Elements of Chemical Physics," 4th 

 Edition : J. P. Cooke. Jun. (Macmillan and Co.).— "A Text-Book of De- 

 ductive Logic," 2nd Edition: P. K. Ray (Macmillan and Co.)— "The 

 Year-Book of Treatment for 1885" (Cassell).— ■' Dogs in Health and 

 Disease": J. S. Hurndall (R. Gould). —"Modern Science": Edward 

 Carpenter (Heywood).- " Chemistry of the Non-Metallics " : Dr. E. B. 

 Aveling (Hughes).— "The Reign of L.aw in Medicine " : Dr. Dyce Brown 

 (Triibner).— '■ University of Wales Calendar, 1885-86 "(Cornish, Manchester). 



CONTENTS Page 



Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century. Ey 



Sir Robert S. Ball, F.RS 313 



Craniography. By Dr. J. G. Garson 314 



Our Book Slielf :— 



"Studies from the Laboratory of Physiological 

 Chemistry of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale 



College for 1884-85" 316 



Boulenger's " Catalogue of the Lizards in the British 



Museum (Natural History) " 316 



Groth's " Physikalische Krystallogr.aphie und Ein- 

 leitung in liie krystallographische Kenntniss der 



wichtigeren Substanzen " 3'^ 



Ramsay's " Rudiments of Mineralogy " 316 



Anderson's " Prospector's Handbook " 317 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Hereditary Stature. — Francis Gallon, F.R.S. . . 317 

 Deposits of the Nile Delta. — Prof. John W. Judd, 



F.R.S 317 



Stone Implements and Changes of Level in the Nile 



Basin. — F. Archer; S. Archer 317 



Parallel Roads in Norway. — Hugh Miller .... 318 

 Meteorological Phenomena. — John C. Willis . . . 319 

 M. Barre de Saint-Venant. By Prof. Karl Pearson 319 

 On Some Interesting Cases of Migrations of Marine 

 Fishes on the Coast of Venezuela at Carupano. 



By Dr. A. Ernst 321 



Kilima-Njaro. By Prof. A. H. Keane. [Illustrated) 322 



Notes 325 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Photographic Evidence as to the Constitution of Sun- 

 spots 328 



The Structure of the Solar Envelope 328 



Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1886 



February 7-13 328 



Biological Notes : — 



Metamorphosis in Ncinatodes ... 329 



Artificial Propagation of Oysters 329 



Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval 

 Observatory. Commodore G. E. Belknap, U.S.N. 330 



Molecular Physics 330 



The History of Fossil Crocodiles. By A. Smith 



Woodward "^Z^ 



Professor Sylvester's Lecture "On the Method of 

 Reciprocants as Containing an Exhaustive 



Theory of the Singularities of Curves " 331 



University and Educational Intelligence 332 



Scientific Serials 332 



Societies and Academies 333 



Books and Pamphlets Received 336 



