94 



NA TURE 



[November 28, 1901 



Hudson ; determination of all the groups of order i68 ; Dr. 

 G. A. ^Iiller ; an outline of a theory of divergent integrals, 

 Mr. G. II. Ilarily ; hmiis of logical statements, Mr. II. 

 MacColl ; additiun theorems for hyperelliplic integrals, 

 Mr. A. L. Dixon ; on the representation of a group of finite 

 order as a permutation group, and on the composition of 

 permutation groups, Prof. W. Burnside, F.R.S. ; note on Clebsch's 

 transformation of the equations of hydrodynamics, Mr. T. 

 Stuart, and linear null systems of binary forms, Mr. J. II. 

 Grace. 



Geological Society, November 6. — Mr. J. J. H. Teall, 

 V.P.R.S,, president, in the chair. — Note |on a submerged and 

 glaciated rock-valley recently exposed to view in Caermarthen- 

 shire, by Mr. Thomas Codrington. This valley was brought to 

 light in building a bridge across the River Towy at DrysUwyn, 

 nine miles above Caermarthen, to which the tide now flows. At 

 the bridge the valley is narrowed to about half a mile. Near 

 the water-edge the rock sloped down gradually to 23 feet 

 below summer water-level, and was glaciated in large furrows a 

 foot or more across, and striated blocks of grit rested upon it. 

 About 60 feet farther out into the river rock was not met with 

 till depths of from 34 to 42 feet below summer level were 

 reached, and the rock-surface was found to be sloping towards 

 the south at an angle of from 28° to 18° with a vertical line ; it 

 was followed down to between 45 and 56 feet below summer 

 water-level. Scratched stones were again met with in the clay 

 near the rock. The glaciated surface on the northern bank is 

 only 25 feet above sea-level ; and the rock-surface is sloping 

 down at a precipitous angle at 8 feet below sea-level at a distance 

 of eighteen miles from the mouth of the river. — On the Clarke 

 collection of fossil plants from New South Wales, by Mr. Edward 

 Alexander Newell Arber. This collection, numbering nearly 

 2600 specimens of all kinds, including some 80 fossil plant- 

 remains, was presented to the Woodwardian Museum, Cam- 

 bridge, in November 1S44. Among other points discussed is 

 the age of the beds. Such evidence as the few plants in the 

 Clarke collection afford supports Keistmantel's conclusion that 

 the Wianamatta beds are of Triassic age. Thinnfeldia odotito- 

 pteroidcs occurs in Rh^tic beds in South America, and the iden- 

 tification of Rattee's Salisbitria palmata with the American 

 Baiera mitltiftda, and a comparison with the Rhortic Baiera 

 Steinmanni of Chile, is a new point in favour of this conclusion. 

 The plants also support Keistmantel's opinion that the New- 

 castle beds are equivalent to the Permian of Europe. The 

 exact origin and age of the Arowa beds must for the present 

 remain doubtful. In the discussion that followed Dr. Blanford 

 expressed his satisfaction at hearing a paper read before the 

 Geological Society in which the PaUeozoic age of the Austra- 

 lian Coal-Measures was fully accepted on palaeontological evi- 

 dence. For many years the question had been debated between 

 McCoy, backed by all the European pahx-ontologists, Schimper 

 among others, who declared that the Newcastle beds of Australia 

 were Jurassic, on the one side ; and on the other, by the 

 geologists of New South Wales, among whom none did more 

 valuable work in proving the Palceozoic age of the Coal- 

 Measures than the Rev. W. B. Clarke, the collector of the 

 specimens described by the author. — On an altered siliceous 

 sinter from Builth (Brecknockshire), by Mr. Frank Rutley. 



Zoological Society, November 19. — Mr, William Bateson, 

 F.R.S. , vice-president, in the chair. — Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 

 F.R.S. , read a memoir on the new African mammal, Okapia 

 •ohnstoni. After an account of the history of the discovery of 

 this remarkable animal by Sir Harry Johnston, Prof. Lankester 

 gave a description of its skull and skin, based upon the 

 specimens forwarded to the British Museum by the discoverer, 

 and compared its structure with that of the giraffe and the 

 extinct member of the same family, Helladotherium. The 

 nearest living ally of the okapi was undoubtedly the girafie. — 

 Mr. Oldfield Thom.as read a paper on the five-horned girafte 

 obtained by Sir Harry Johnston near Mount Elgon. It was 

 shown that, although the horns were unusually developed, the 

 animal could not be specifically separated from the ordinary 

 Norlh-.-Vfrican giraffe, Giraffa camclopardalis. This latter was 

 believed to grade uniformly in the development of the horns 

 and other characters into the South- African form, which would 

 therefore be only a subspecies, G. c capensis. On the other 

 hand, de Winton's G. c. reticulata (from Somaliland) seemed to 

 be sharply separated, and therefore to be worthy of recognition 

 as a distinct species, G. reliciilata. With regard to the accessory 



NO. 1674, VOL. 65] 



horns, it was shown that they, or rudiments of them, existed in 

 all male giraffes, even in the southern subspecies. Mr. Thomas 

 believed that these rudimentary horns corresponded, not only to 

 the somewhat similar projections found in Samotherium and the 

 okapi, but also to the large posterior horns of Bramotherium, 

 and perhaps of Sivotherium. If this were ihe case, it .seemed 

 probable that they were the degenerate rudiments of horns 

 which had been large and functional in the giraffe's ancestors. — 

 Mr. J. Graham Kerr read some notes on the genito-urinary 

 system in the male Lepidosiren and Protopterus, in which he 

 gave an illustrated account of the more important anatomical 

 features of the organs. Mr. Kerr dwelt particularly on the 

 presence in both Lepidosiren and Protopterus of very definite 

 remains of a testicular network, and pointed out that the 

 presence in all three Dipnoi of the connection between the 

 testis and the kidney gave greatly increased probability to the 

 view that this connection is a very ancient and primitive feature 

 of gnathostomatous vertebrates. Mr. Kerr also pointed out 

 that the conditions in the Dipnoi shed considerable light upon 

 the relations of testis and testis-duct in the Crossopterygians and 

 the Teleosts. — A communication was read from Mr. .Alfred E. 

 Pease, M.P., containing some field-notes on the antelopes 

 obtained during his expedition to Somaliland and Southern 

 Abyssinia in 1900-1901. 



Mineralogical Society, November 12. — Dr. Hugo Muller, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Mr. R. H. Solly, in continuation 

 of his investigations on minerals from the Binnenthal, described 

 baumhauerite, a new sulph-arsenite of lead, 4PbS.3As.jS3, 

 which crystallises in the oblique system (3 = 82' 42'i() ; the 

 crystallographic examination of good recently-acquired crys- 

 tals of dufrenoysite led him to refer this mineral also to the 

 oblique system with 3 = 90'33'i; twin crystals of hyalophane 

 from the Legenbach Binnenthal were also de.scribed. — Dr. 

 H. Warth contributed a note on the occurrence of gibbsite in 

 the Palni Hills in southern India, — Prof. H. A. Miers gave an 

 account of a visit to the Klondike which he had made last 

 August at the invitation of the Canadian .Minister of the Interior. 

 He described the various methods of mining which are in opera- 

 lion this year, and showed a number of photographs illustrating 

 the great changes which have taken place in the mining camp. 

 An account was given of the various conditions under which the 

 gold occurs. 



Edinburgh. 

 Royal Society, November 4. — The Hon. Lord M'Laren in 

 the chair. — The chairman read an opening statement describing 

 the work done during the preceding session and enumerating 

 the losses the Society had sustained, with special reference to 

 the great loss occasioned by the death of Prof. Tail, who had 

 for many years acted as general secretary. — \ paper on variable 

 stars of the .Mgol type was communicated by Dr. A. W. 

 Roberts. It dealt with the star C.P.D. 4i""45ll, whose period 

 of variation of brightness is i day 20 hours 30 minutes. The light 

 curve has one well-marked minimum lasting 4 hours 30 minutes, 

 with a diminution 085 from the normal brightness, which is 

 steady for the remainder of the period with the e.xception of a 

 short drop of o'l dividing it into two symmetrical parts. These 

 variations of brightness are due to the two stars which form the 

 double system eclipsing one another wholly or partially as viewed 

 by an observer on the earth. From them Dr. Roberts deduces 

 the following elements for the double-star system :— Diameter 

 of each (probably the same), 0325, the disUnce between them 

 I being unity ; inclination of orbit, b" 43' ; ratio of the bright- 

 I nesses of the two components, 6:1; and mean density 0-44 of 

 I the sun's density, or about two-thirds that of water. The 

 theoretical light curve calculated :from these data .agreed 

 exactly with the observed light curve.— Prof. M.acGregor read 

 a note on the relation of the density of electrolytes to ionisation, 

 chietly with reference to certain discrepancies which appeared 

 when the densities were measured and calculated to six signifi- 

 cant figures.— Prof. Chrystal communicated a paper, by Mr. 

 J. N. Miller, onaninstrument for the mechanical Irisection of an 

 angle. A rod o.Mi is rotatable about the fixed point o ; and a 

 second rod PAX pivots on A, and PA is made equal to OA. From 

 M, the middle point of ad, a perpendicular is constructed of 

 convenient length. If o is placed at the vertex of the angle to 

 be trisected, the trisection is accomplished by adjusting the in- 

 strument until the point P lies on one side of the angle and the 

 other side of the angle pas.ses through the intersection of AX 

 with the perpendicular to the middle point of AB. The curve 



