i66 



NA TURE 



\_Dec. 13, 1 1 



the Keuper of Wurtemberg and the Rha;tic of Somersetshire, 

 and those of the Oolitic genus Stereognathus, the former having 

 on each tooth two muUituliercuIate ridues, and the latter three 

 ridges, but with only two tubercles on each. The fossil presents 

 no characters to show definitely whether the animal it represents 

 was a placental or a non-placental mammal. — Cranial and 

 vertebral characters of the crocodilian genus Plesiosuchiis, Owen, 

 by Prof. R.Owen, C. B., F.R.S. In this paper the author, 

 with the view of showing that the Kimmeridgian Steneosaurus 

 iiiaindii, Ilulke, really forms the type of a distinct genu^, dis- 

 cussed the characters by which Cuvier divided the fossils referred 

 by him to the Crocodiles into three principal groups, to which 

 Geoffroy St.-Hihire gave generic names, and those by which the 

 latter author afterwards distinguished his genus Steneosaurus, 

 including Oolitic forms, from the Liassic genus Teleosaurus. 

 From his exposition of these characters the author concluded 

 that the above-named species does not belong to Steneosaums, 

 Geoff, and he proposed to make it the type of a new genus, 

 Plesiosuchiis, characterised by the convergence of the frontal 

 bones to a point nearer the apex of the skull tlian in Steneosaurus, 

 by the extension of the gradually attenuated nasal bones into a 

 point penetrating the bind border of the nostril, and by other 

 peculiarities of the skull, teeth, and vertebra;. The author 

 pointed out that this form, like Steneosaurus, helped to bridge 

 over the space between the Liassic Teleosaurs and the Tertiary 

 and recent Crocodiles, even approaching nearer to the latter than 

 the older Oolitic type. — On some tracks of terrestrial and fresh- 

 water animals, by Prof. T. McKenny Hughe.s, M.A., F.G.S. 

 The author's observations have been made on certain pits in the 

 district about Cambridge which are filled with the fine mud 

 produced in washing out the phosphatic nodules from the 

 " Cambridge greensand " — a seam at the base of the chalk marl. 

 As the water gradually dries up, a surface of extremely fine 

 calcareous mud is exposed. This deposit is often very finely 

 laminated, and occasionally among the laminas old surfaces can 

 be di-covered, which, after having been exposed for some time 

 to the air, had been covered up by a fresh inflow of watery mud 

 into the pit. The author described the ch.aracter of the cracks 

 made in the process of drying, and the results produced when 

 these were filled up. He also described the tracks made by 

 various insects, indicating how these were modified by the degree 

 of softness of the mud, and pointed out the differences in the 

 tracks produced by insects with legs and elytra, and by Annelids, 

 such as earthworms. The marks made by various worms and 

 larva; •v\hich burrow in the mud were also described. Marks 

 resembling those called Nereites and Myrianites are produced liy 

 a variety of animals. The groups of ice-spicules which are 

 formed during a frosty night nlso leave their impress on the mud. 

 The author concluded by expressing the opinion that Cruziana, 

 Nereites, Crossopodia, and Palaochorda were mere tracks, not 

 marine vegetation, as has been suggested in the case of the first, 

 or, in the second, the impression of the actual body of ciliated 

 worms. 



Anthropological Institute, November 27. — Prof. Flower, 

 F. R.S., president, in the chair. — Dr. J. G. Garson read a pajier 

 on the cranial characters of the natives of Timor-Laut. The 

 osteological remains described in this paper were obtained by 

 Mr. H. O. Forbes from the district of Larat, and consist of a 

 series of eleven skulls and crania. The four male skulls are all 

 of a round form, and resemble one another in general appear- 

 ance ; of the females, five correspond in form to the male skulls 

 in being short and broad, but the sixth differs markedly from the 

 others in being narrow in proportion to its length. — Mr. \\. O. 

 Forbes read a paper on the ethnology of Eastern Timor, re- 

 ferring especially to the great intermixture of race that has taken 

 place, and to the occurrence of a red-haired, blue eyed race 

 in the interior; to the numerous dialects, many of them unin- 

 telligible at a short distance from the district in which they 

 are spoken ; to the religious rites of the people of certain 

 regions, conducted by a priest in what is called the Uma Lulik 

 ( ir Taboo House) with an intricate and imposing ceremonial ; to 

 their marriage ceremonies and customs, which in some districts 

 remind one of the Australian totem .system in the occurrence of 

 husliand clans and w ife clans ; to their death and burial rites ; to 

 their system of law and justice, under which, though the chief 

 was king and judge, each freeman had the right — or took it — of 

 |.rivate war, retaliating on the wrong-doer with his own hands 

 for loss in his property or person. " Eye for an eye " ran their 

 code, like our own Old English one, "and life for life, or for each 

 jfair damages." Mr. Forbes had directed special inquiries into 



the alleged habit of the Timorese in intentionally arlificially 

 distorting their infants' heads. No such custom was found to 

 prevail in the districts traversed by him. 



The Victoria Institute, December 3. — A paper on recent 

 Egyptological res arch in its Biblical relatinns was read. In it 

 the author, the Rev. H. G. Tomkins, described the results up 

 to the present of those researches which are now being made in 

 Egypt, alluding in warm terms to the assistance rendered him 

 in the preparation of his summary of these results by M. Naville 

 and Prof. Maspero. 



The Institution of Civil Engineers, November 27. — Mr. 

 Brunlees, pre-ident, in the chair. —The paper read was on the 

 new Eddystone lighthouse, by Mr. William Tregarthen Douglas.s, 

 Assoc.M.Inst.C.E. 



Cambridge 



Philosophical Society, Nov. 26.— The following communi- 

 cations were made to the Society : — On ihe mea-u'ement of elec- 

 tric currents, by Lord Rayleigh. The author referred to the method 

 of measuring currents by the silver voltameter a- suitable for 

 currents from 05 ampere to 4 amperes, and staiel that the elec- 

 trochemical equivalent of silver as determined at 'he Cavendish 

 Lab iratory was I'lig X 10-^. A second method was described, 

 snited for larger currents ; it cond>ts in balancing the difference 

 of potential between two points in the circuit throUL;h which the 

 current is running against the effects of a standard cell working 

 through a large resistance such as lo.oco "hms. The author 

 suggested as a third method the use of the rotation of the plane 

 of polarisation of light pass'ng thri ugh a piece of heavy glass, 

 round which the current circulates in a coil of thick wire. A 

 current of 40 amperes will produce a rotation of 15° if the coil 

 have one hundred turns. — On the measurement of tem|.erature 

 by water-vapour pressure, by Mr. W. N. Shaw. — On some 

 measurements of the well-known dark rings of quartz, by Mr. 

 I. C. McConnel. — On the origin of segmentation in animals, by 

 Mr. A. Sedgwick. 



Edinburgh 



Royal Society, December 3.— The Rijht Hon. Lord Mon- 

 creiff, president, in the chair. — This beinur the opening n.eeting 

 of the loist session, it had been the intent'on of the Pre-ident to 

 give a Review of the Hundrtd Year's Histu-y of the Society ; 

 but, on account of his indisposition, the meeting permitted its 

 postponement. Mr. Robert Gray, one of ihe vice-pre^dents, 

 occupied the chair during the remainder of the evening. — Prof. 

 Turner communicated a paper by Prof Haycnfr on the limita- 

 tions in time of conscious sensati'in. The paper contained the 

 result of e-perinients on the limitations in tine of tactile and 

 thermal sensation-, and dealt also with the lim tations in the case 

 of the different senses — Prof. Tait read a paper hy Mr. VV. F. 

 Petrie on the old English mile. The old mile was longer than 

 the present, and consisted of 5000 feet of 13 inches. It seemed 

 to be identical with the old French mile. The furlong had no 

 connection originally with the mile, w hich was modified to suit 

 the former. — Mr. Patrick Geddes read a communication on the 

 re-formation of the cell theory. In a sec md paper, in order to 

 explain muscular contraction, he advanced an hypothesis based 

 on the existence of surface tension in fluids. 



Dublin 

 Royal Society, November 19. — Section of Physical and 

 Experimental Science : G. Johnstone Stoney, F. R.S., vice- 

 president, in the chair. — Prof. W. F. Barrett read a paper 

 on hearing-trumpets and an attempt to determine their rela- 

 tive efficiency by physical means. With the view of ob- 

 taining a steady and comparable source of sound of a pitch 

 and quality resembling the human voice, a reed pipe was 

 inclosed in a padded box with an opening on one sitie, and 

 blown by a steady current of air from a hi -Ider, a manometer 

 showing the jire^sure, which was kept con ta'it. The distance 

 at which sound fmm this source cea ed to be audible was noted, 

 and in cases of slight deafness a sliding shutter was added. In 

 other arrangements devised by the author, the principle of inter- 

 ference of sonorous waves was utilised, the degree of deafness 

 being estimated by the departure from complete interference. 

 An induction balance, in wdiich the iiitcrruptiT was a C tuning- 

 fork, was also tried ; as nlso a siren drivrn by a falling weight 

 and blown by a current of air at constant pressure : but none of 

 these arrangements were so simple and uniform as the reed. An 

 attempt wa- made to test the value of ear-trumpets by means of 

 a sensitive flame. The flame was, however, les sensitive than 

 the ear to sounds of the pitch of the human voice. The author 



