i;o 



NATURE 



[August 3, igu 



arrangement of the gizzard in birds. — Jacques Pellegrin : 

 The distribution of the soft-water fishes in Africa. — Paul 



Marchal : Spanandria and the obliterati I sexual r< 



production in Chermes. — M. Bordas Considerations on 



the reagents employed for the deten ation oi bl I I tin 



in legal medicine. Remarks in confirmation ol the views 

 put forward in a recent paper by A. Sartory on the un- 

 satisfactory nature of various colour reactions in us^ for 

 the detection of blood stains. — Y. Manouelian : Re- 

 searches on the pathogeny of arterio-sclerous lesions. — 

 L. Launoy and C. Levaditi : Mercurial treatment of 

 experimental syphilis of the rabbit and of Brazilian 

 spirillosis. — Albert Boi-tbelot : Researches on the intes- 

 tinal flora. Isolation of the micro-organisms which 

 specially attack the ultimate products of lie"* digestion of 

 proteids. — Em. de Martonne : The principles of morpho- 

 logical analysis of erosion levels applied to the Alpine 

 valleys. 



Calcutta. 



Asiatic S c ; et'- o r ^en T -1. Tu'v ^ — 1'.. ( '. Mazumdar : 

 The Stambhesvari. Mr. .Mazumdar identifies the goddess 

 Stambhesvari, whose name is to be found in the copper- 

 plate inscriptions of Kulastambhadeva and Ranastambha- 

 cleva, with a goddess still worshipped by some aboriginal 

 tribes. — D. Hooper : Phosphorus in Indian foodstuffs. 

 This paper is the result of an inquiry, made in collabora- 

 tion with Major E. D. W. Greig, into the diet of patients 

 suffering from epidemic dropsv in Calcutta in 1909-10. 

 The amount of phosphorus in the form of phosphoric 

 anhydride is given in several samples of rice, wheat, and 

 other cereal grains, as well as in animal foods, farinaceous 

 foods, vegetables, nuts, and fruits consumed in India. — 

 W. Kirkpati-ick : Folk songs and folk lore of the Gehara 

 (Kanjars). 



Cape Town. 



Roval Society of South Africa, lune 21. — Or. Marius 

 Wilson in the chair. — E. P. Phillips : A note on the 

 principal systematic work and publications dealing with 

 the South African Proteaceae. The first recorded publi- 

 cation of a member of this order was by Clusius in 1(105. 

 In 1720 Boerhaave attempted a systematic study of the 

 order, but it was not until 1809 that a really scientific 

 monograph was published by Salisbury ; in the following 

 year appeared the classic work of Robert Brown. The 

 standard work on the order is a monograph by Dr. 

 Meisner, which appeared in De Candolle's " Prodromus " 

 in 1856, where 279 species are described. The writer 

 undertook to revise the order, and has recorded between 

 300 and 400 species of the genera Diastella, Salisb., and 

 Orothamnus. Pappe, sunk by Meisner, have been re- 

 established, and one new genus, Spatallopsis, Phillips, 

 founded. — J. Moir : The spectrum of the ruby, part ii., 

 and the artificial ruby. By examination of the ruby with 

 better instruments, the complete spectrum of eight hair 

 lines has been discovered; they are best seen in the 

 artificial ruby, which is identical with the natural ruby in 

 all respects, and when free from flaws is actually superioi 

 to the natural gem. — J. Moir: Notes on the spectrum of 

 the precious emerald, and other gem stones. The emerald 

 spectrum contains three very distinct hair lines in the red. 

 Sapphires have no hair lines in their spectrum. Artificial 

 emeralds are green sapphires, and have an ind 

 trum, as is ai the case with the following: — rubellite, 

 spinel, amethyst, floor, aquamarine, rose-quartz, lepidolite, 

 and topi/. Mi- almandini spectrum has been re- 

 examined. — J. R. Sutton : A note on the land and sea 

 nth Africa. 



FORTHCOMING CONGRESSES. 



August.— Centenary of the Foundation of the University of Bi 

 First I 

 - 1: : M. Alexis Slins. Secretarj : M. \ ital Pla , , Vvi 

 1 

 August 13-20.— Prehistoric Society of IV... 



Aucus ; 31-SEPTEMBER 6.— British Association. Portsmouth, 

 dent : Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.B 



! 



NO. 2179, VOL. 8/] 



Sei mmi.i 1 1 o.-( enter)) el tiversity of Christiania. President 



"I Festival Committee : Prof. iv.gger. 



September . International Con-ress of the Applications ol 



iricity. Turin. Presidenl ol the Committee of Honour: H.R.H. the 

 Duke of the Abruzzi. Honorary Secretary of the Committee: Signor 

 Guido Semenza, Via S. Paolo 10, Milano. International Secretary: Col. 

 I' 1 1 lompton, C.B., R.E., Crompton Laboratory, Kensington Court, W. 



Si PTEMBER 12-15.— Celebration ' f <'<■' Fivi hundredth Annivei ; 

 the University of St. Andrev 



Si ptember 18-23. — International Conference of Genetics. Paris. 

 President: Dr. Viger. So ret; . ilmorin. 



October 2-7.— Third International Co ;'iene. Dresden. 



General Secretary: Dr. Hopf, Reichsstrasse 4, Dresden. 



October 12-18. — Italian Society for the Advancement of Science. 

 Rome. President: Prof. G. Ciamician. General Secretary: Prof. V. 

 Reina, Via del Collegio Romano 26, Roma. 



October 15-22. — Tenth International Geographical < '■ ingress. Rome- 

 President : Marquis Raffaele Cappelli. General Secretary: Commander 

 Giovanni Roncagli, Italian Geograj Rome. 



December 27.— American Association for th«- \ I Science. 



nt : Dr. C. E. Bessey, University of Nebraska. Permanent Secre- 

 tary : Dr. L. O. Howard, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 



CONTENTS. page 



Zoogeography 137 



Central Asia 138 



Luciani's Human Physiology 140 



Abbe's Theory of Image Formation in the Micro- 

 scope 141 



The Nutrition of the Alg£e. By H. W 141 



Popular Astronomy. By W. E. R 142 



Our Book Shelf 143 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Nature of 7 Rays— Prof. T. H. Laby ; P. 



Burbidge 144 



The Occurrences of a Fresh-water Medusa (Lim- 



nocnida) in Indian Streams— Dr. N. Annandale . 144 

 Standard Time in Portuguese Territories — Vice- 



Admiral Campos Rodrigues 144 



Obsolete Botanical and Zoological Systems. — 



L. C. M 144 



Lolo and Border Tribes of Western China. 1 



trated.) 145 



Rubber Cultivation. (Illustrated.) 146 



The Coast of North Devon. (Illustrated.) By A. J. 



J -B. . . 147 



Notes 149 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Comet 191 u'i (Kiess). (Illustrated.) 154 



net, 1 9 1 ] 154 



Horary Numbi rs Visible 154 



Charts for the Southern Heavens 154 



The Circuit of Britain by Aeroplane 155 



The Birmingham Meeting of the British Medical 



Association . 156 



Scientific Aspects of the Universal Races Congress 15S 



The Institution of Mechanical Engineers 160 



The Belfast Health Congress 161 



The Fifth International Dairy Congress 162 



The British Pharmaceutical Conference 163 



The Scents of Butterflies. By Dr. F. A. Dixey, 



F.R.S 164 



University and Educational Intelligence 16S 



Societies and Academies 169 



Forthcoming Congresses *7° 



