iSo 



NA TURE 



[December lo, 1908 



comparable with those of the stalked crinoids of the deep 

 5;ea. — Some remarkable Australian Corduliinse (Neuroptera : 

 Odonata), with descriptions of new species : R. J. Till- 

 yard. The paper deals with new or little-known 

 Corduliinae from northern Queensland. Three new genera 

 are proposed : — Austrophya, allied to Cordulophya ; Pseudo- 

 cordulia, closely allied to Gomphomacromia ; and Austro- 

 cordulia, allied to Syncordulia and the European Oxygastra. 

 I'ive new species and the hitherto unknown male of the 

 beautiful M.acromia tillyardi, Martin, are described. — Notes 

 on the geology of the north-west coast of Tasmania, from 

 the River Tamar to Circular Head : T. Stephens. It 

 seems probable that the basaltic sheets rising from the 

 coast had their origin in fissure-eruptions along anticlinal 

 axes, intervening folds being subsequently hollowed out by 

 the erosion of rivers or by glaciers slowly moving north- 

 ward along the lines of the present river valleys. With 

 the exception of the fossils of the Tertiary beds near Table 

 Cape, and the fossil wood from a breccia west of the 

 River Leven, no evidence of any trace of organic remains 

 in the rocks of the north-west coast has yet been placed 

 on record. — Description of a new fruit-fly of the genus 

 Dacus from New South Wales ; D. W. Coquillet. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAV, DecemI'.hk io. 

 Royal Society, at 4. 30. — Reciprocal lnnervr,tion of .Antagonistic Muscles. 

 Xlllh Note: Proprioceptive Reflexes, .\llllh Note: On the .Antago- 

 nism between Refie-v Inhibition and Refle.x E.xcitation : Prof. C. .S. 

 Sherrington, F.R.S.— Klectrolytes and Colloids. The Physical State of 

 Gluten: Prof. T. B. Wood and W. B. Hardy, F.R.S.— On the Specific 

 Heats of Air and COo at Atmospheric Pressure by the Continuous 

 Electric Method at 20° and joo'C. : W. F. G. Swann.— Potential Gradient 

 in Glow Discharges from a Point to a Plane: J. W. Bispham.— The 

 Extension of Cracks in an Isotropic Material : A. Mallock, F.R.S. — 

 Results of Magnetic Observations at Stations on the Coasts of the British 

 Isles. 1907 : Commander L. Chetwynd, R.N. —The Rotation of the Electric 

 Arc m a Radial Magnetic Field : J. Nicol.— On Anomalies in the Intensity 

 in Dim-acted Spectra: Dr. H.C.Pocklington.F.R.S.— The Isothermal Layer 

 of the .Atmosphere and Atmospheric Radiation : E. Gold;— .A Comparison 

 of the Radium Emanation Spectra obtained by Different Observers : 

 T. Royds. 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, at 8.— Output and Tconomy 

 Limits of Dynamo Electric Machinery: J. C. M.acfarlane and H. Burge. 

 — Probable Pa/>cr : Commercial Electric Heating: J. Roberts. 

 RoVAL Society or Arts, at 4.30.— The Birds of India : Douglas Dewar. 

 MathEiMatical Society, at 5.30.— On the Propagation of Sound Waves 

 Vertically in the .Atmosphere: Prof. H. Lamb.— (i) On Sir William 

 Rowan Hamilton's Fluctuating Functions; (2) On the Representation of 

 a Functio«i by Series of Bessel's Functions : Dr. E. W. Hobson.— Theory 

 of Cauchy's Principal Values (Fourth Paper) : G. H. Hardy.- Solution of 

 a Problem of Mersenne's : Dr. T. Stuart. — Note on a Continued Fraction 

 Equivalent to the Remainder after « Terms of Taylor's Series : Prof. L. J. 



i and Potentials of Plane Discs : Balak Ram —The 



geneous Linear Diff'erence Equation of the Second 

 1.— On Differentials : Dr. W. H. Young. 

 FRIDAY, December ii. 

 Royal Astronosiical Society, at 5. — An Improved Telescope Triple 

 Object Glass: J. W. Gilford.— On the Determination of the Apparent 

 Diameter of a Fixed Star: .Major P. A. Mac.Mahon.— Note on Spectral 

 Class and Steflar Colour: Julia Bell.— Analysis of the Colours and 

 Magnitudes of 3650 Stars between the North Pote and 25' South Declina- 

 tion : W. S. Franks.— A New " Cave Nebula" in Cepheus : Max Wolf.— 

 On Some Points with Regard to the Light Fluctuations of Variable Stars : 

 Karl Pearson. 

 Physical Society, at 7.— Exhibition of Electrical, Optical, and other 



Physical Apparatus. 

 .Malacolugical Society, ^{.i.— On Carelin fiilsbryr, n.s^v- : E. R. Sykes. 

 -The Radula; of British Helicids. Pt. II.: Rev. E W. Bowell.— New 

 Species of Plectopylis : G. K. Gude.— A Preliminarv List of Recent 

 Middlesex Mollusca : J. E. Copper and A. Loydell. — The Application of 

 the Names Gomphina, Marcia, Hemitapes and Katelysia : A. J. jukes- 

 Browne. 



MONDAY, December 14. 

 Royal Geographical Society, at 8.30.— Fifty Years of Nile Explora- 

 tion and Some of its Results (The Jubilee of Speke's Discovery of the 

 Victoria Nyanza) : Sir William E. Garstin, G.C.M.G. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— Twenty Years' Progress in Explosives : 



Oscar Guttmann. 

 Institute of .Actuaries, at 5. — On a New Method of Constructing and 

 of Graduating Mortality and other Tables ; G. King. 

 TUESDAY, December 15. 

 /Zoological Society, at 8.30. — .A Hunting-trip to Thian-Shan, illustrated 

 by Laiitern-slides : F. Gillett. — Some Notes on the Muscular and 

 Visceral Anatomy of the Balrachian Genus Hemisus, with Notes on the 

 Lymph Hearts of this and other Genera : F. E. Beddard.— Description of 

 a New Species of Lacerta from Persia: G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S. — 

 Remarks on Some Wart-hog Skulls in the Br.tish Museum : Dr. Einar 

 L.innberg.- On two Chinese Serow Skulls: R. Lydek^ker, F.R^S, 

 Warning Coloration in the Musteli ' ' ' ' . - 



New River-crab of the Genus Gecarcinuci 

 Caiman— The Duke of Bedford's Expl< 

 On Mammals from the Provincesof Shan- 

 Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S. 



-Solid Angle 

 Solution of the Home 

 Order : G. N. Watsoi 



Faraday Societv, at 8.— The Redetermination t,f the Electrolytic 

 Potentials of Silver and Thallium: Dr. F. J. Brislee— The Heats of 

 Combustion of .Aluminium, Calcium, and Magnesium : F. E. Weston and 

 H. R. Ellis. — The Formation of Graphite by the Interaction of Magnesium 

 Powder and Carbonates : H. Russell Ellis.— Colloidal Barium Sulphate : 

 Dr. E. Feilmann. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at i.— Further Discussion : The 

 Rotherhithe Tunnel : E. H. Tabor. 



Royal Statistical Society, at 5. 



WEDNESDAY, December 16. 



Geological Society, at 8. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 8. — London Milk Supply from a Farmer's 

 Point of View : Primrose McCjunell. 



Royal Microscoi-ical Society, at 8. — (i) .A Workshop Microscope for the 

 Examining of Opaque Objects; (2) .A Simple Melhod of Illuminating 

 Opaque Objects: J. E. Stead, F.R.S.— ^n Mounting Rotifers and 

 Protista in Canada Balsam : Rev. E. Tozer. 



RovAL Meteorological Society, at 7.30. — Some Forms of Scientific 

 Kites: E. S. Bruce.— (i) The Registering Balloon Ascents of July 27- 

 August I, 1908 : (2) Balloon Observations at Ditcham, July 27-August 2. 

 1908 : C. J. P. Cave. 



THURSDAY, December 17. 



LiNNE.tN Society, at 8.— The Anomura .f the Red Sea: W. Riddell.— 

 Forms of Flowers in Valeriana dioica: R. P. Gregory.— fetudes sur les 

 Cirrhipedes du Cambridge Museum : Piof. A. Gruvel. — Rhynchota from 

 the Scalnrk Exp-dition : W. L. Distant. 



Institution of Ei.eciricai. Engineers, at 8.- The Electric Discharge 

 and the Production of Nitric Acid : W. Cramp and B. Hoyle. 

 FRIDAY, December iR. 



In.stitution of Mechanical Engineers, at 8. — Type.casting and 

 Composing Machinery : L. A. Legros. 



Institution of Civil ENriiNEERS, at 8.— High. power Water-turbines on 

 Moderate Falls: R. Wolfenden. 



Pocock.— On a 

 from New Guinea : Dr. W. T. 

 ition of Eastern .Asia. XL, 

 and Shen-si, Northern China : 



NO. 2041, VOL. 79] 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Biological Research on the Lancashire Coast. By 



W. W. 151 



Laboratory Arts. By Prof. C. V. Boys, F.R.S. . . 152 



Moral Kducation. By Prof. J. A. Green 154 



Climate . 155 



School Arithmetics . 156 



German Philosophical Text-books. By William 



Brown 157 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Makowtr : "The Radio-active Substances." — 



J. A. M 157 



Cesaresco : " The Psychology and Training of the 



Horse." 158 



Drabble : " Elementary Botany " ; Wagner : 

 " Biologic tinserer einheimischen Phanero- 



gamen " . ... 158 



Schlomann : •' The Deinhardt Schlomann .Series of 

 Technical Dictionaries in Six Languages : German, 

 English, Fiench, Russian, Italian, Spanish "... 158 

 Parker: " I lijjhways and Byways in Surrey " .... 158 

 Letters to the t!.ditor. — 



Students' Physical Laboratorie.'. — Prof. John Perry, 



F.R.S 159 



A Model .\tom. — Hatry Bateman 159 



Silk-pioducing Insects of West Africa. — Gerald C. 



Dudgton . 160 



Vitality of Leaves. — Dr. Walter Kidd . 160 



The Exhibition of Fishes in Museums. — Dr. F. A. 



Lucas 160 



An Electromagnetic Pioblem. — Prof. Arthur W. 



Conway 160 



Mercury Bubbles. — Philip Blackman ; C. E. 



Stromeyer . . 160 



The Organisation of Rural Education 161 



The Childhood of Man. (Illustrated.) By Dr. A. C. 



Haddon, F.R.S. 162 



Albert Gaudry. By A. S. W 163 



Notes 164 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



The Spectrum of Comet Morehouse, l9o8<- 169 



The Changes in the Tail of Comet Morehouse . . . 169 

 Determination of Longitude by Wireless Telegraphy . 169 



Speclrosctipic Binaries 169 



A Recent Uliseivaiion of Nova Cygni 169 



Some Recent Publications of Geological Surveys. 



(Illustrated.) By G, A. J. C 170 



Three Volumes on North Sea Fishery Investigation 172 

 The Dawn of Meteorology. (Illustrated.) By Prof. 



G. Hellmann . . 173 



University and Educational Intelligence 176 



Societies and Academies 177 



Diary of Societies 180 



