664 
NATURE 
| April 28, 1870 
Sea, and stated that the only points which were especially 
available would be Xeres near Cadiz, or Gibraltar; Oran 
in Algeria, and a station in Sicily, near Syracuse or Catania. 
[This subject has already been fully discussed in our columns. ] 
The remainder of the evening was occupied by Mr. Watson, 
who brought forward his hypothesis, the result of ten years’ study 
of the moon, that both water and air exist on the side invisible 
tous. His argument was, that from his telescopic views of the 
moon he was convinced water and volcanoes had left traces oftheir 
action ; that chemically and geologically air and water were neces- 
sary forsuch action ; that the air and water couldnotget away from 
the moon, and that as they were not present on the side visible— 
which he admitted to the fullest extent—they must be existing on 
the other side—although he could give no other proof in support 
of his assertion, Mr. Watson’s views were severely criticised in 
a jocular tone by Capt. Noble, and more seriously by Col. 
Strange, who said that Mr. Watson having wished to extract an 
opinion whether he was right from the society, could not have it, 
as that body as such never gave an opinion on any communica- 
tion, and that if distinguished astronomers did not rise to con- 
fute him he must not take silence for consent. Even assuming 
all that Mr. Watson said to be correct, which Col. Strange by 
no means admitted, there was even another explanation than 
that offered, viz., that the water had been absorbed into the in- 
terior of the moon. Mr, Watson’s remarks were a striking 
example of the danger of bringing forward opinions formed 
without a foundation of facts.— After electing seven new Fellows, 
the long and interesting meeting came to an end. 
Anthropological Society of London, April 19.—Dr. 
Berthold Seemann, V. P., in the chair. Mr. John Colam, 
105, Jermyn Street, St. James’s ; and Mr. David Mitchell Hen- 
derson, 1, Carden Place, Aberdeen, and Old Calabar, West 
Africa, were elected Fellows. Dr. D. Lubach, of Kampen, 
Holland, was elected a corresponding Member, 
A paper, by Mr. Alfred Sanders, was 
Darwin’s Hypothesis of Pangenesis as 
Faculty of Memory.” The first question to be asked 
was—‘‘Is thought a function of the brain?’ The author 
answered it in the affirmative, and cited facts and appear- 
ances in physiology, anatomy, pathology, and physics in sup- 
port of his opinion. Thought could not be considered as a pro- 
duct of the brain-cells any more than light could be produced by 
the cells of the retina, yet the brain-cells were necessary for the 
communication between the mind and the external and internal 
world, and were exhausted in the process of thinking and willing, 
in the same manner as the cells of the retina were exhausted and 
required renewal in the process of seeing. Passing to the con- 
sideration of the faculty of memory, the author combated the 
theory of Mr. John Stuart Mill, that the mind is a series of feel- 
ings and nothing more, and that memory is an ultimate fact in- 
capable of explanation. The remainder of the paper was devoted 
to the application of Mr. Darwin’s hypothesis of Pangenesis, 
which the author maintained was capable of explaining the diffi- 
culty raised by Mr. Mill; it being granted that the mental facul- 
ties depend upon the brain, and that the brain-cells give off self- 
propagating gemmules indefinitely, everything becomes plain. 
After describing in detail the action of external impressions on 
the brain at different times in the life of an individual, some of 
the many conditions favourable or the reverse to the retention of 
such impressions, and the dormant and active states of the brain- 
cells, the author entered into a consideration of the growth of the 
supposed gemmules, their action at maturity, and their power of 
self-propagation. Mr. W. BB. Kesteven supplemented the 
paper by a speech of some Jength in general support of 
Mr, Darwin’s hypothesis, but not of its treatment by Mr. 
Sanders, and by the exhibition of a series of microscopic 
anathomical preparations in illustration of his remarks. The 
discussion was further sustained by Dr. Langdon Down, 
Rey. Dunbar Heath, Mr. Dendy, Dr. Ellis, M. Robert Des 
Rufficres, Mr. George St. Clair, the Chairman, and others. 
Mr. George C. ‘Thompson contributed a note on ‘‘ Con- 
sanguineous Marriages,” urging upon the Society an investiga- 
tion into the following questions :—1. When the defects com- 
monly attributed to relationship of the parents are exhibited, are 
the germs of these defects traceable in the parents or their 
families? 2. When the medical pedigree of the parents is fault- 
less are the children sound and healthy? 3. When any particu- 
lar excellence occurs in the parents’ family, is it transmitted to 
the children in increased force? Dr. Langdon Down said that 
after an examination of some five thousand cases of interbreed- 
ing he had arrived at the conclusion that the practice was not 
read “ On Mr. 
applied to the 
only not necessarily injurious, but that a methodical and judicious 
selection in the marriage of close relations would be of enormous 
value to the community in the improved race of men that 
would by that means be obtained. Captain Blair cited in sup- 
port of that view the, case of a people on the Ganges, while 
other speakers adduced conflicting evidence. 
London Mathematical Society, April 14.—Prof. H. J. 
S. Smith, V.P., in the chair. The Chairman madesome remarks 
on a problem in kinematics; Mr. Cotterill communicated some 
propositions bearing on residuals and former papers of his own 
read before the society ; Mr. Crofton drew attention to a locus in 
Cartesian ovals; Mr. Jenkins gave a geometrical construction for 
showing the spherical excess of a triangle; and the chairman 
mentioned some focal properties of skew surfaces to which he 
had been led. 
Palzontographical Society, April 8.—Annual general 
meeting; Dr. J. S. Bowerbank, F.R.S., in the chair.—The 
Council reported that the Society was in a most prosperous con- 
dition ; that the volume for the present year was in progress, and 
would be published in the autumn; that new monographs by 
Mr. Carruthers, on the Fossil Cycades, by Dr. Lycett on the 
Fossil Tregonize, and by Prof. Owen on the Purbeck Mam- 
malia, were in preparation. It was added that Mr. H. Wood- 
ward would continue the Monograph on the Trilobites, left un- 
finished through the death of Mr. Salter, and that Mr. Wood 
would issue a supplement to the Crag Mollusca. The ballot for 
the council and officers was taken, and the following gentlemen 
were elected. President, Dr. S. J. Bowerbank. Vice-Presi- 
dents: Prof. Bell, C. Darwin, ‘T. Davidson, and Prof. Owen. 
Council: Prof. Ansted, Dr. J. J. Bigsby, W. Boyd Dawkins, 
Prof. Duncan, Sir P. Egerton, Bart,, J. W. Flower, R. Hudson, 
J. W. Lott, J. Gwyn Jeffreys, H. Lee, Sir C. Lyell, Bart., J. 
Pickering, J. Prestwich (Pres. Geol. Soc.), Prot. Tennant, C, 
Tyler, H. Woodward. Treasurer, Searles Wood; Honorary 
Secretary, Rey. T. Wiltshire. 
EDINBURGH 
Royal Society, April 18.—‘‘On Change of Apparent 
Colour by Obliquity of Vision.” By Robert H. Bow, C.E., 
Edinburgh. Mr. Bow observed the peculiarity of chromatic 
vision in the month of January, when experimenting upon 
the perfection of definition at different parts of the retina. 
Coloured objects seen obliquely undergo two changes: first, 
they become less obviously coloured,—this is particularly the case 
with greens, yellows, and oranges ; and secondly, the colour be- 
comes altered in character, most strikingly so in the cases of 
pinks, purples, and scarlets; pinks and purples become blue, 
and a brilliant scarlet (such as given by biniodide of mercury 
fixed with gum arabic) becomes successively orange and yellow, 
according to the degree of obliquity. The phenomena are most 
satisfactorily produced when the coloured objects are held on the 
nasal side of the observing eye. The author speculates on the 
influence this discovery may have upon the theories of colour 
sensation, and upon our knowledge of the nature of colour-blind- 
ness and the anatomy of the retina. 
Paris 
Academy of Sciences, April 18.— A memoir by M. Mou- 
tard, entitled ‘Researches upon the Equations with partial 
derivatives of the second order, with two independent variables,” 
was communicated by M. Bertrand.—M. Boileau presented a 
memoir on the determination of the latent work in systems, with 
uniform or uniformly periodical movements.—M. G. A. Hirn 
communicated a second note on the specific heat of water towards 
its maximum of density.—A note by M. Croullebois on the 
variations of the index of refraction of water with temperatuie, 
was presented by M. Balard. Upon this subject the author had 
come to a conclusion directly opposite to those of Arago and 
M. Jamin, and maintained that the index of refraction attains its 
maximum at the maximum density of water (4° C=39° 1 F.) 
and decreases both above and below that temperature. He de- 
scribed the apparatus employed by him.—M. L. Sonrel commu- 
nicated a note on the Aurora Borealis of the 5th April, of which 
he described the appearance and the various phenomena accom- 
panying it. The Aurora only became visible in the evening, but 
it was then decreasing in intensity; it was visible over the greater 
part of Europe, and everywhere presented the same characters, 
It was accompanied by a strong and disagreeable odour, which 
was noticed both in France and Germany. Magnetic perturba- 
tions were observed both on the 4th and 5th of April.—-M, 
