; 
Sept. 30, 1886] 
f 
NAT OEE 
539 
Fauna.—Rabbit, identical with that of Porto Santo, de- 
scribed by Darwin as having acquired specific characters in 
shortened length, and colour of skin. Sea-dtvds breeding at 
Bugio: Sternus hirundo, Thallassidroma bulwerit, and many 
others. Procellaria angiorum dominant to the exclusion of P. 
major and P. obscura. Influence of birds in migration of plants 
and mollusks. Zestacea; Distribution and affinities—e/ix 
crystallina, affinities of; A. erudbescens, distribution of; 
punctulata, modification of ; H. Leonina, area of, and relations ; 
Hf, vulgata, dwarfed example of ; H. polymorpha, distinct races 
of ; connections of A. tarella, H. coronula, and 4. grabhamt. 
Coleopterous Deuca’ion, isolated species, now related to a Sal- 
vagic form. 
Summary.—Showing the difficulties attending the determina- 
tion of the origin and migration of species to be equally great in 
the component rocks of a group of islands as in the archipelago 
‘itself. Agency of man, chiefly in extinction and destruction, 
illustrated by introduction of opposing or contaminating forms ; 
ravages of Eupatoria and Fiylloxera vasta'rix in Madeira; sur- 
_viving vigour of Miocene plants. Author's paper only meant to 
be indicative of those branches and details which might singly 
occupy the attention of the Section. 
The Multiplication and Vitality of cerlain Micro-organisms, 
Pathogenic and otherwise, by Percy F. Frankland, Ph.D., B.Sc., 
F.C.S., F.T.C., Assoc.Roy.Sch.Mines.—In this paper the 
author records a number of experiments which he has carried out 
on the multiplication of the micro-organisms present in natural 
waters, and also on the vitality of certain pathogenic organisms 
when purposely introduced into similar media. These pheno- 
mena have been studied by aid of the method of gelatine-plate 
eultivation, originally devised by Koch. The first part of the 
paper treats of the influence of storage in sterilised vessels, upon 
| the number of micro-organisms present in the unfiltered water 
of the Rivers Thames and Lea, in the waters of these rivers 
after sand filtration by the companies supplying the metropolis, 
and in deep-well water obtained from the chalk. Of these three 
. different kinds of water, at the time of collection the unfiltered 
_ river-waters are the richest in micro-organisms, containing, as 
they do, several thousand microbes, capable of being revealed 
by plate-cultivation, in 1 cubic centimetre of water, whilst the 
filtered river-waters have this number generally reduced by 
about 95 per cent., and the number present in the deep-well 
water rarely exceeds ten per cubic centimetre. On storage in 
“sterilised vessels at 20° C., however, a great change in the 
relationship of these numbers soon takes place, for whilst the 
' number of organisms in the crude river-water undergoes but 
‘little change, or even suffers diminution, that in the filtered river- 
' water exhibits very rapid multiplication, and this increase is 
even still more marked in the case of the deep-well water. The 
author suggests that the differences in the rate of multiplication 
| exhibited by these three kinds of water is dependent upon the 
number of different varieties of micro-organisms which they con- 
_ tain. Thus in the unfiltered river-waters the organisms belong toa 
number of different kinds ; the filtered river-waters exhibit fewer 
“varieties ; whilst in the deep-well water the number of varieties 
is still more limited, the gelatine-plates having generally the 
“appearance of almost pure cultivations. The microbes in the 
_ deep-well water will thus be less hampered in their multiplication 
_ by hostile competitors than those in the filtered river-waters, and 
these again less than those in the crude river-waters, in which 
an equilibrium must have already been established between the 
-yarious competitors. When the waters were exposed to a tem- 
perature of 35° C., the multiplication was in all cases very much 
“more rapid, but both at 20° C., as well as at 35° C., the multi- 
plication was, on prolonged storage, followed by reduction. 
The pathogenic forms which have been studied by the author 
are: (1) Koch’s ‘‘ Comma” sfirillum of Asiatic cholera, (2) 
) Finkler-Prior’s ‘* Comma” spirvillum of European cholera, and 
(3) the Bacillus pyocyaneus, which produces the greenish-blue 
_colouring-matter frequently present in abscesses. The vitality 
of these organisms has been studied by introducing minute 
_ quantities of their cultivations into sterilised distilled water, 
- deep-well water, filtered Thames water, and London sewage. 
In these media they present some very striking differences. 
pees the Bacillus pyocyaneus was found to flourish in all; even 
in distilled water it was present in largely multipled numbers 
fter fifty-three days. Koch's ‘‘ Comma” spirillum, on the 
ther hand, when introduced into deep-well water was no longer 
emonstrable after the ninth day, whilst in sewage it was still 
' found in enormously multiplied numbers after twenty-nine days. 
; 
Finkler-Prior’s ‘‘ Comma” sfirillum, although showing such 
far greater vital activity than Koch’s im gelatine cultures, pos- 
sesses far less vitality than the latter when introduced into water. 
Thus in the above-mentioned media it was in no case demon- 
strable after the first day. 
SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 
American Fournal of Science, September.—A_ post-Tertiary 
elevation of the Sierra Nevada, shown by the river-beds, by 
Joseph Le Conte. In further elucidation of his already pub- 
lished speculations regarding an upheaval of the Sierra Nevada 
towards the close of the Tertiary epoch, the author here brings 
forward much additional evidence, also correlating this move- 
ment with a contemporaneous elevation in other parts of the 
western half of the continent. He endeayours to show that 
the upward moyement, which seems to have affected all 
high latitude regions at that time, but which was oscillatory and 
therefore temporary on the eastern side of North America 
and in Europe, on the Pacific slope was permanent, and has 
largely determined the orographic structure of that region.— 
The strain effect of sudden cooling, as exhibited by glass and by 
steel (second paper), by C. Barus and V. Strouhal. In their first 
communication the authors compared the strains experienced by 
glass and steel on sudden cooling, by aid of the density varia- 
tions observed when the bodies carrying strain were annealed, 
as a whole. Were they seek to confirm their earlier inference 
relative to the temper-strain of glass. They also investigated 
the density-relations of consecutive similar shells of the Prince 
Rupert drop, and the optical character of the successive cores. 
In general it is shown that the optical effect of the temper- 
strain in glass may be regarded as the analogue of the electrical 
effect of the temper-strain in steel. In a further communication 
a more specific inquiry will be made into the causes of hardness 
itself, with a view to throwing some light on the mysterious 
transformations of carbon.—Devonian Lamellibranchiata and 
species-making, by Henry S. Williams. In connection with 
the publication of Prof, James Hall’s monograph on Devonian 
Lamellibranchs, completing vol. v. part 1 of the ‘* Paleontology 
of New York,” it is pointed out that fossil species, and even 
genera, are unduly multiplied on totally inadequate data. 
Species and genera cannot be regarded as established so long as 
the author himself is unable to distribute the typical specimens, 
twice alike, without reference to the original labels. —Note on 
the composition of certain ‘‘ Pliocene sandstones” from Mon- 
tana and Idaho, by George P. Merrill. While lately classifying 
the rocks collected in Montana and Idaho by Dr. A. C. Peale 
in 1871, the author's attention was called to some fragments 
labelled as ‘‘Pliocene” sandstones. A glance, however, 
showed that they strongly resembled compacted volcanic dust 
and sand, and a microscopic examination made it evident that 
the stones consisted very largely of minute flakes of pumiceous 
glass sufficiently compacted to be readily broken out into hard 
specimens, but extremely friable. The specimens are fully de- 
scribed and some speculations offered as to their probable 
origin. It is added that in Kansas and Nebraska these dusts 
are collected and sold as ‘‘ diamond polishing powder,” or used 
in the preparation of the so-called ‘‘geyserite ” scouring-soap.— 
Contributions to mineralogy, by W. Earl Hidden, with crystallo- 
graphic notes by A. Des Cloizeaux. The paper deals with the 
ipodumene, black tourmaline, xenotime, and twin crystals of 
monazite from North Carolina ; a remarkable crystal of herderite 
found in 1884 near Stoneham, Maine; a twin crystal of molyb- 
denite from Renfrew, Canada; and the phenacite from Floris- 
sant, El Paso County, Colorado.—Turquois from New Mexico, 
by F. W. Clarke and J. S. Diller. A full analysis and micro- 
scopic study is given of some specimens from the turquois mines 
of Los Cerillos, New Mexico, about 22 miles south-west of 
Santa Fé. The turquois-bearing rock appears to be eruptive, 
and probably of Tertiary age, while the small size of the veins 
and their limited distribution show that the turquois is of local 
origin, possibly the result of alteration of some other mineral. — 
On the electrical resistance of soft carbon under pressure, by 
T. C. Mendenhall. In reply to Prof. Sylvanus P. Thompson's 
objections, the author describes some fresh experiments fully con- 
firming his views regarding the change in the resistance of carbon 
due to change of pressure. In the form of compressed lamp- 
black the electrical resistance of carbon varies greatly with the 
pressure to which it is subjected, and the variation is mainly due 
to a real change in the resistance of the carbon itself.—Com- 
