142 



NA TURE 



[Dec. 6, iJ 



ultimate s eeJ, nor when it ^^ill Le reached. — O.i tiic discovery 

 of Utica slate uraptolites on the v\est side of the Hudsm River, 

 a few miles north of Pou^hkeepsie, by Henry Hooth. — On 

 Becraft's Mountain, rear Hud-on, Columbia County, New York 

 (one illustration), by William Morris Davi-^. After describing 

 the district formations, and their relative and absolute positions, 

 the author deals with the question of nonconformity between ihe 

 Lower and Upper Silurian systems of the localiiy and the rela- 

 tions of these systems elsewhere. In another communication 

 he discusses the question of nonconformity at Kondou;, New 

 York. — Notice of agricultural, liotanical, and chemical results 

 of experiments on the mixed herbage of permanent meadows, 

 condn :ted for more than twenty years in succession on the same 

 land, by D. P. Penhallou-. The results are tahul.iled, and are 

 valuable as shov\in» the influence of dilTeren* fertilisers upon the 

 character of vegetation and the total produce. — Note on Mr. 

 Backhouse's observatio is on phy-iological optics,i by W. Le 

 Conte Stevens. 



Bulleliii of the Belgian Acadimie Roy ale des Sciences, des Lellres, 

 et des Beaux Aiis, August 5, 1883. — Report on M. Gravis' 

 anatomical researches on the vegetative organs and structure of 

 the Urticadio'ica, by MM. Ed. Moiren and Gilkinet. — Report on 

 M. Paul Albrecht's work on the pelvisternum of the Edentates, 

 by MM. P. J. Van Beneden and Van Bambeke. — Note on a 

 thunderbolt which fell near Gougnies on July 11, 1868, by M. 

 D. Van Bastelaer. — Report ou M. Delaey's steam engine of 

 universal application, by M. Maus. — Remarks on some new fos- 

 sils fnind in the Belgian Tertiary formations, by M. P. J. Van 

 Beneden. — Note read to the Academy on jireseniing the two 

 first parts of his work on the theory of the diurnal, annual, and 

 secular movements of the axis of the globe, by M. F. Folie. — 

 Observations on a recent nn te by M. P. J. Van Beneden, touch- 

 ing the discovery of the Bernissart fos.4I iguan idons, by M. E. 

 Dupont. — Note on the influence of respiration on blood-pres- 

 sure, by MM. Em. I.egros and M. Griffe. — Report on M. G. 

 Tiberf;hien's philosophic dissertation on time, by M. A. Le Roy. 

 — Note on M. de Sonnaz's historical studies on the county of 

 Savoy, by M. Rivier. — Communication on some autographs of 

 Gretry, by M. Stanislas Bormans. 



Archives Italieimes de Biologie, tome iv. fasc. i, October 31, 

 1883, contains : — On the zoological station at Naples, by C. 

 Emery. — On le charbon in birds, by E. Perroncito. — On a true 

 diffused kidney in certain mollusca, by S. Trinchese. — On the 

 optic lobes of birds, by J. Bellonci. — On the oscillations of the 

 typhoid fever epidemic at Paris in connection with the rainfall 

 and sewage of that city, by L. Pagliani. — On paraldehyde as 

 antagonistic to strychnine, by V. Cervello. - -On the active pro- 

 perties al Nigella sativa, by P. Pellacani. — On the genesis of 

 Ptomaines, by F. Coppola. — Researches as to the poison of 

 Triton crisiatus, by A. Capparelli. — Euibryological researches 

 as to the mammalian kidney, by C. Emery. — Histological re- 

 searches as to the nervous centres, by C. Golgi. — Obituary notices 

 of P. Pacini, N. A. Pedicino, and Victor Colomiatti. 



Zcitschrift fiir wissensrhaftliche Zoologie, Bd. xxxix.. Heft I, 

 Septeaiber 28, 1SS3, contains : — Researches on the interstitial con- 

 nective tissue in mollusca, by Dr. J. Brock (plates i to 4). — On the 

 germinal layers of the tail end of LttmbrlcHlus zniriega/ns, with a 

 contribution to the anatomy and history of this worm, by Dr. C. 

 Bulow (plate 5). — On the histogenesis of the bones in Teleo. tei, 

 by Carl Schmid-Monnard (plates 6 to 9). — Remarks concerning 

 the blood lacunae and the connective tissue in Najadas and 

 Mytihda^, by W. Flemming. — Contributions lo the histology 

 of the Echinoderm.s, No. i, the Holothuria (Pedata) and the 

 nervous system of the Asteridx, by Dr. Otto Hamahn (plates 

 10 to 12). 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Linnean Society, November 15. — Sir John Lubbock, Bart., 

 F.K.S., president, in the chair. — Messrs. Philip Crowley and 

 J. Murray were elected Fellows of the Society. — Mr. Charles 

 B. Plowright exhibited a young pear tree showing Ra-s/e/iu 

 canccllata, Jacq., y ruduccd from Podisoma salnncs, therefore 

 supporting the observations of A. S. Oirstcd in Botaiiiska 

 Nbtiser for 1865 ; also examples of Puccinia graviinis on wheat 

 produced from CEcidiuoi on Mahonia aqtiifolia ; the QCcidio- 

 sporis were sown June 2, 1883, the Uredospores were sown 

 June 10, and the ripe P. graminis was gathered September 10, 



1883. He likewise called auenii m to exainiiles of CEcidium 

 nimicis on Kumex obtusifolius, R. hydrolapalhiim, R. conglo- 

 meratus, and Rheum officiniU, the same bemg pr> duced from 

 Piucinia phraginilis. — Prof P. Martin IJuncan showed a speci- 

 men of coral {Desmophyllum crista-galli) which had grown 

 upon an electric telegraph cable off the shores of Spain ; it pos- 

 ses-ed radicles, apjiarently due to the presence of a worm close 

 beneath the base of the coral. — Mr. E. P. Ram.say exhibited a 

 series of rare New Guinea birds, and Mr. \<. B. Sharpe made 

 remarks thereon.— Mr. T. Christy exhibited a fine living and 

 henlihy specimen of Trevesia sundnica, Miq. (the so-called 

 Gaslonia palmatd), or probalily a new species. T his |ieculiar 

 and hmdsome plant has rarely been seen in this country, and of 

 lite years almost been lost sight of. — Dr. J. Murie showed and 

 mad'.- remarks on specimens of Ascaris bicolorixova the living walrus 

 at the Westminster Aquarium. — Mr. F. \. Warner drew atten- 

 tioiitoa series oi ^.^ezxai^W'. nf Orchis incarnala from Hampshire. 

 —A paper was read by Mr. A. W. Beimett, on the reproduc- 

 tion of the Zygnemaceas, as a solution of the qae-ti .n. Is it a 

 sexual character ? De B.ary twenty-five years ago, and since then 

 Witirock, have instanced what they have deemed sexual differ- 

 ences between the conjugating cells, though most later writers 

 rather ignore essential physiological distinctions. Mr. Rennett 

 has directed his investigations chiefly to the genera Spirogyra and 

 Zygmma, and from these he supports the inference of the above- 

 mentioned authors. He finds there is an appreciable difference 

 of length and diameter in the conjugating cell-, that ileemed the 

 female being the larger. The protoplasmic contents he also 

 finds pass only in one direction, and change first commences 

 jn the chlorophyll bands of the supposed male celLs. with ac- 

 companying contraction of the protoplasmic material. The 

 genera Mesocarpus, Staurospcrmum, and the doubtful form 

 Crateiospermum have likewise been examined, and, though 

 showing differences, yet on the whole substantiate the view 

 above enunciated of cell sexuality. — There followed the reading 

 of notes on the antennje of the honey bee, by Mr. T. J. Briant, 

 in which he descibes the minute structure of the segments, the 

 joints and certain rod and cone like organs, previously referred 

 to by Dr. Braxton Hicks, of highly sensitive function. — A paper 

 was read on the Japanese Languriidce, their habits and external 

 sexual characteristics, by Mr. G. Lewis. He remarks that a repre- 

 sentative of the family has been found in Siberia, lat. 46° (L. meite- 

 tfiesi) ; there are none in Europe, and one is known from Egypt. 

 Others inhabit the Malay Archipelago, Ceylon, and the American 

 continent. The author infers from the geographical distribution 

 of these beetles that they have emanated from a tr< epical area. 

 .Some in the imago state cling to the stems of brushwood ; others 

 sit on the leaves of the moist shade-loving plants in the forests, 

 while still others frequent debris on hill sides. Their colours 

 are all dull, their bodies elongate and not structurally adapted for 

 boring. The sexes show peculiar diiferences in size, au'l monstrous 

 enlargement and obliquity of the head, volume of tibia, &c. — 

 A paper was read by Prof. P. Martin Duncan on the replace- 

 ment of a true wall or theca by epitheca in some Serkil Coralla, 

 and on the importance of the structure in the griwth of incrust- 

 ing corals. After alluding to the discussions which have taken 

 place regarding the value of epitheca in classification, the author 

 states that one form of this struc uie is simply protective, and 

 that another form is of high physiological value, for it replaces 

 entirely the usual theca or wall. The anatomy of the hard 

 structures of a Coeloria illustrates the second proposition, for 

 the broad base is covered by an epitheca, within whieh is no 

 wall or "plateau commun," the septa, remarkable nodular walls 

 (described in detail), and the columella; arise from the epitheca 

 directly, and it limits the interseptal loculi inferiorly. In a Lep- 

 toria the the same replacement of a wall by epitheca is seen. In 

 incrusting Porites and such Asti-aeidoe as Leptastrsea the majority 

 of the corallites of the colony arise from this basal epithecate 

 structure, and grow upwards, budding subsequently from their 

 sides. 



Royal Meteorological Society, November 21. — Mr. J. 

 K. Laughton, F. R.A.S., president, in the chair.— The Earl of 

 Dalhousie, K.T., T. H. Davis, D. C. Embleton, J. Hargreaves, 

 and J. L. Lewington were elected Fellows of the Society. — 

 The following papers were read :— Report on temperatures in 

 two different patterns of Stevenson screens, by E. Mawley, 

 F. R.Met.Soc. The screen; employed were a« ordinary Stcven.son 

 screen obtained from Casella, and a new Stevenson screen made 

 in accordance with the recommendations of a committee ap- 

 pointed by the Council of the Society. The new screen is two 



