Sept. 9, 1886] 
the gum vine of Penang, the caoutchouc vine of Sumatra, 
and metals in the Malay Peninsula. In philology and 
ethnology we have a paper on traces of the Hindu language 
amongst Malays (by Marsden); Dr. Leyden’s famous 
paper on the languages and literature of the Indo-Chinese 
natives, the alphabets of the Philippine Islands, &c. 
There are several papers on geology and natural history. 
Two of the latter are catalogues of the Mammalia and 
reptiles inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, by Dr. Cantor ; 
while a third is a catalogue of the botanical collection 
brought home by the same naturalist in 1841. Another 
paper re-published has a peculiar interest, in view 
of the surveys undertaken by the French two years 
ago in the Krau isthmus for the purpose of cutting a 
canal, This is a report by Capts. Fraser and Forlong on 
a journey from the mouth of the Pakchan River to Krau, 
and thence across the isthmus to the Gulf of Siam. In 
the 16th paragraph of that report they urged that the Bay 
of Bengal could be connected with the China Sea by 
cutting through the isthmus at comparatively little ex- 
pense. ‘They enter into calculations showing how easily 
this could be done, the advantages of the route, &c. 
These calculations of distance, cost, c., are exceedingly 
elaborate, and show that the two officers entered tho- 
roughly into the matter. 
It will thus be seen that the volumes offer much of 
interest to several classes of students, and we repeat the 
hope that the Singapore Society may shortly be in a | 
position to continue the publication of further selections. 
LEEPER S LO LAE BDILOR 
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 
pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to 
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu- 
scripts. No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. 
[The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters 
as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great 
that it ts impossible otherwise to insure the appearance even 
of communications containing interesting and novel facts.] 
Physiological Selection and the Origin of Species 
SEEING that criticisms on the theory of physiological selection 
are flowing through channels other than the pages of NATURE, 
and this in a volume larger than could at first have been antici- 
pated, it seems desirable that I should now permit them to 
exhaust themselves before undertaking a further and a general 
reply. On the present occasion, therefore, I will only ask you 
to be good enough to insert the following remarks. 
In order to put myself right with my critics, I should like 
them to remember that the paper published by the Linnean 
Society is designedly restricted to a preliminary statement of 
principles, which, it was hoped, might fulfil its avowed object 
_ of inducing other naturalists to co-operate with me in verifying 
the theory by observation and experiment, in the ways suggested. 
Such being the design, all details as to facts and references were 
intentionally omitted, and the same has to be said for all objec- 
tions to the theory which had occurred to my own mind. All 
these things will require to be gone into with the utmost care, 
should the course of verifying inquiry eventually prove that the 
voice of Nature pronounces for the theory. Therefore, while I 
shall be thankful for all criticisms, I should like my critics to 
remember that they have not as yet my whole case before them. 
In particular, I may intimate that I should not haye published 
even the outlines of my theory had I not been prepared for the 
very obvious exceptions which are taken to it by Mr. Wallace 
in the current issue of the Fortnightly Review. 
I am much indebted to Mr. Francis Darwin for his reference 
to Mr. Belt’s anticipation of my theory, for the fact that in its 
general form this theory has independently occurred to so dis- 
tinguished a naturalist, appeals to me as an additional pledge 
of its probability. On the other hand, I am greatly dis- 
heartened by his further statement that he has reason to suppose 
his father was ‘‘familiar with the principle of physiological 
selection,” and yet ‘‘did not regard it with any great favour.” 
Hitherto I have been under the impression that it was a theory 
to which the judgment of his father would probably have in- 
NATURE 
439 
clined, and therefore I shall await with no ordinary interest the 
statement of his reasons for thinking otherwise, whether this be 
communicated through your columns or privately to myself. It 
only remains to add that, if Mr. Darwin will be kind enough to 
turn to p. 380 of my paper, he will find that I have quoted zx 
extenso, and with its context on both sides, the passage from the 
“Origin of Species” which he extracts. But it does not appear 
to me that this passage furnishes any evidence that the theory of 
physiological selection was ever present to the mind of the 
writer—less evidence, for instance, than there is-from a passage 
in one of his earliest writings that the theory of natural selec- 
tion was present to the mind of Mr. Herbert Spencer. 
GEORGE J. ROMANES 
Geanies, Ross-shire, September 4 
Actinotrocha of the British Coasts 
I HAVE been reminded by Mr. T. Bolton, of Birmingham, 
that about three years ago I sent him living specimens of what 
Mr. A. G. Bourne afterwards identified as Phoronts. At the 
time I was under an impression, from hasty observation of the 
arrangement of the tentacular crown, and before I had seen the 
entire animal, that I had found a new Polyzoan allied to 
Lophopus. Phorontis occurs here in company with Sfzo setz- 
cornis ; a solitary individual or a small group of the former, in 
the midst of a colony of the latter. A block of stone densely 
populated with these annelids is a most interesting object in a 
tank. To me they have proved so interesting that I believe I 
have spent more time over them than over any other marine 
organism. 
I take the opportunity of calling attention to what I believe 
is an undescribed species of Peridimzum that annually recurs in 
these waters. The form is flattish, and the outline bi-conical, 
having one end bifurcated, with a flagellum in the fork, and a 
central ciliary groove. By degrees it loses its present form, and 
assumes that of a spheroid. 
I will gladly send specimens of either or all of these organ- 
isms to any naturalists who may wish to study them, if the cost 
of carriage be defrayed and the applicants not very mumerous. 
Sheerness-on-Sea W. I. SHRUBSOLE 
A New Aérolite 
ON May 28 last a farmer of Barntrup, a small town of the 
Principality of Lippe, in the north-west of Germany, walking in 
the afternoon, 2h. 30m., on the edge of a neighbouring wood, 
suddenly heard repeated reports like those of a gun, followed 
shortly after by an indistinct rumbling as of thunder. At the 
same time a meteorite came crashing through the leaves of a 
tree. The rumbling came from a south-westerly direction, the 
temperature was warm, the sky bright, and almost entirely 
cloudless. 
This is the twelfth case of a meteoric fragment being found in 
the north-west of Germany. It is a monolith of about the size 
of a walnut, and weighs 17°3 grammes (specific weight = 3°495). 
It is covered with a black crust chipped off in places by the fall. 
Under this crust it is of a light gray colour and granitic sub- 
stance, dotted in places with small yellow crystals, which are 
probably troilite or schreibersite. It has been lately presented 
to the Detmold Museum. L, HAEPKE 
Bremen, Germany 
DRAPER MEMORIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF 
STELLAR SPECTRA EXHIBITING BRIGHT 
LINES 
“pee spectra of ordinary stars, whether examined 
directly by the eye, or indirectly by means of 
photography, present little variety. The comparatively 
few cases of deviation from the usual type are therefore 
particularly interesting, and the occurrence of bright lines 
in a stellar spectrum constitutes perhaps the most singular 
exception to the general rule. The brightness of the F 
line in the spectra of y Cassiopeize and $8 Lyra was 
noticed by Secchi. Rayet afterwards found three rather 
faint stars in Cygnus, the light of which was largely con- 
centrated in bright lines or bands. The adoption at the 
Harvard College Observatory of a system of sweeping, 
with a direct-vision prism attached to the eye-piece of the 
