JuLy 10, 1902] 
account of the structure of Acinetines, from observations on a 
species (Choanophrya infundibulifera) epizoic on Cyclops. He 
demonstrated that the spiral marking of the tentacles was due 
to a double-threaded constriction, that in protrusion and retrac- 
tion there was no torsion, but only an opening and closing of 
the spiral, and that the tentacles were continued deep into the 
endosarc of the creature. —Mr. C. F. Rousselet read his paper 
on the genus Synchz ta, with a description of five new species. — 
Mr. Walter Wesché gave a brief vésemé of his paper on unde- 
scribed palpi on the proboscis of some dipterous flies, with 
remarks on the mouth-parts in several families. Specimens 
showing the palpi on several species were exhibited under 
microscopes. 
Zoological Society, June 17.—Prof. G. B. Howes, F.R.S., 
vice-president, in the chair.—Mr. R. I. Pocock exhibited 
and made remarks upon the nest of a gregarious spider 
(Stegodyphus dumicola) sent home by Captain Barrett-Hamilton 
from Vredefort Road, Orange River Colony, South Africa.—Mr. 
Oscar Neumann exhibited specimens of some new and 
interesting mammals which he had discovered during his recent 
journey through Eastern Africa, and called special attention to 
some monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus, and to various species 
of hyraxes (Procavia).—Dr. Walter Kidd read a paper on certain 
habits of animals as traced in the arrangement of their hair. It 
was an attempt to interpret, in terms of certain characteristic 
habits, the departures from a primitive type of hair-arrangement. 
Short-haired mammals, chiefly ungulates and carnivores, were 
considered. The habits referred to were divided into passive 
(those of sitting and recumbent postures) and active (chiefly 
those of locomotion), and these were shown to match closely the 
variations observed in the direction of hair in the animals 
concerned.—Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., described the carpal 
organ which he had observed in a female specimen of Hapalemur 
griseus that had lately died in the Society’s Gardens. He 
pointed out that this organ in the female differed in some details 
from that in the male. —Mr. R. I. Pocock read a paper on some 
points in the anatomy of the alimentary and nervous systems of 
the false scorpions of the order Pedipalpi.icA communication 
from Mr. H. J. Elwes, F.R.S., called attention to Mr. Lydekker’s 
recently published description of a new elk, Ades dedfordiae, 
based on some unpalmated antlers and a skull of an elk from 
Siberia, and offered a remark that he thought it unadvisable to 
found a new species, or even a subspecies, on the material. Mr. 
F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., read a paper, prepared by himself and 
Miss Fedarb, descriptive of a new ccelomic organ in the earth- 
worm, Pherelima (Pertchaeta) posthuma, which consisted of a 
series of sac-like structures on the floor of certain segments in 
the middle of the body.—Mr. Beddard also described some new 
species of earthworms belonging to the genus Polytoreutus, and 
made some remarks on the spermatophores of that genus.—A 
communication from Miss Igerna B. J. Sollas contained an 
account of the Sponges obtained during the ** Skeat Expedition’ 
to the Malay Peninsula in 1899-1900. The collection contained 
examples of twenty-nine species, eleven of which had proved 
to be new and were described in the paper.—Mr. G. A. 
Boulenger, F.R.S., enumerated the eight species of fishes of | 
which specimens were contained in a collection made Mr. S. L. 
Hinde in the Kenya district of East Africa. 
new and were described by the author.—A communication from 
Mr. A. L. Butler contained a list of the species of batrachians 
—thirteen in number— that had been added to the Malayan fauna 
since the publication, in the Society’s Proceedings in 1899, of 
Captain Flower’s paper on the reptiles and batrachians of the 
Malay Peninsula. 
Geological Society, June 18.—Prof. Charles Lapworth, 
F.R.S., president, in the chair.—The Great Saint-Lawrence- 
Champlain-Appalachian fault of America, and some of the 
geological problems connected with it, by Dr. Henry M. Ami. 
The extent, earth-movements and striking characteristics of this 
fault-line and of the geological formations which occur along this 
line of weakness in the earth’s crust, with special reference to 
the formations in British North America, were discussed.—At 
this stage of the proceedings, Mr. E. T. Newton, F.R.S., took 
the chair at the president’s request.—The Point-de-Galle Group 
(Ceylon): Wollastonite-Scapolite-Gneisses, by Mr. A. K. 
Coomaraswamy. The chief rock-types vary from basic pyroxene- 
sphene-scapolite-rock, through intermediate rocks composed of 
pyroxene, scapolite and wollastonite, with felspar and quartz 
subordinate or abundant, to acid types made up of orthoclase- 
NO. 1706, VoL. 66] 
NATURE 
| chlorine or fluorine. 
Four of them were | 
| properties 
263 
microperthite or coarse-grained quartzo-felspathic rocks. They 
differ in several respects from the normal types belonging to the 
Charnockite series. —On the Jurassic strata cut through by the 
South Wales direct line between Filtonand Wootton Bassett, by 
Prof. S. H. Reynolds, and Mr. Arthur Vaughan. In this section 
a thin bed of typical Cotham Marble is followed by the ‘* White 
Lias,” and that by the Lower Lias, which in this district attains 
a thickness of about 200 feet. 
Linnean Society, June 19.—Mr. W. Carruthers, F.R.S., 
vice-president, in the chair. —Dr. W. G. Ridewood described a new 
genus of Copepoda occurring parasitically in the suprabranchial 
cavity of the lamellibranch Lyonsiella, and for which, on 
account of the great inflation of the thorax, he proposed the 
name Obesiella. He showed that the systematic position of 
Obesiella was next to Ascomyzon, in the family Ascomyzontidze. 
—Mr. George Massee described some of the results of modern 
methods of investigation in mycology, illustrating his remarks by 
means of lantern slides. He pointed out the errors of some 
observers who urged the suppression of genera wholesale on the 
evidence of a few species, and pleaded for the retention of 
familiar names until a clear case for their suppression had been 
established on evidence furnished by pure cultures.—Mr. W. P. 
Pycraft read the second part of his contribution towards 
our knowledge of the morphology of the owls. This dealt 
with the osteology. After drawing attention to the close 
resemblances between the skeleton of the striges and that of the 
accipitres among the falconiformes, and pointing out the 
homoplastic character of these resemblances, he proceeded to 
discuss briefly the more important characters of the several 
genera, and of the nestling skull, which exhibited some curious 
relations between the squamosal, parietal and alisphenoid bones. 
The modifications referred to appear to fall under two heads. 
Especial stress was laid upon the relations ofthe squamosal. In 
some forms this bone was barely visible in the inside of the skull, 
whilst in others almost its entire inner surface was exposed, thus 
taking a prominent part in the formation of the cranial 
cavity. 
Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, June 30.—M. Albert Gaudry in 
the chair.—On the structure and history of the lunar crust, 
remarks suggested by the fifth and sixth numbers of the photo- 
graphic atlas of the moon, published by the Observatory of 
Paris, by MM. Loewy and P. Puiseux.—New researches on the 
liquid hydride of silicon, Si,H,, by MM. H. Moissan and S. 
Smiles. The vapour density of this liquid silicon hydride has 
been determined at 100° C. by Gay Lussac’s method, and has 
been found to be 2°37. The formula Si,H, requires 2°14. 
The compound is not decomposed on heating to 100° C. ; it is 
very soluble in ethyl silicate, but is only slightly soluble in 
water. The compound possesses very strong reducing pro- 
perties, acting instantly on solutions of mercury perchloride, 
silver nitrate and gold chloride. The most remarkable property 
of this new hydride is its action on saturated compounds rich in 
An attempt to determine its solubility in 
carbon tetrachloride gave rise to a violent explosion imme- 
diately the two liquids came into contact, and the very stable 
sulphur hexafluoride gave rise to a similar reaction with detona- 
tion, —On some new properties of amorphous silicon, by MM. H. 
Mcissan and S. Smiles. When liquid silicon hydride is de- 
composed by a series of electric sparks, amorphous silicon is 
obtained in a new form. It differs from the amorphous silicon 
prepared by the method of Vigouroux in possessing reducing 
towards potassium permanganate, sulphate of 
copper, mercury perchloride, and chloride of gold. These 
differences are attributed by the [authors to the different state 
of division. —On appendicitis and its causes, by M. Lannelongue. 
A discussion of the history of appendicitis and its relations to 
other diseases of the intestines and peritoneum. Appendicitis is a 
microbial enteritis, rarely associated with a single micro-organism, 
several species usually being found in association. —The action 
of the X-rays on very small electric sparks, by M. R. Blondlot. 
It was discovered some years ago that the sparking distance for a 
given potential is increased under the influence of the X-rays ; in 
the present paper a new action is described. Two pieces 
of metal are placed a small fraction of a millimetre 
apart, and kept at a potential difference slightly greater than 
that necessary to produce a spark in the absence of the X-rays. 
If this spark interval is now exposed to these rays, the spark 
becomes distinctly brighter. Suppress the X-rays, and the 
