254 



NA TURE 



\yan. lo, 1884 



regarded as new to science. — Mr. W. F. R. 'Weldon read a 

 paper on some points in the anatomy of /'rtii'«!Vt);>/'«-Kj and its 

 allies. An account was given of the air cells of the Flamingo, 

 which were shown to differ from those of Lamellirostres, aid to 

 agree with those of Storks (i) in having the prasbronchial air- 

 cell much divided, (2) in the feeble development of the posterior 

 intermediate cell, and (3) in the great size of the abdominal cell. 

 The pseudopiploon was also shown to differ fron thit of Lamel- 

 lirostres, and to agree with that of Storks, in exten-ling back to 

 the cloaca. A detailed comparison between the muscles, 

 especially those of the hind limb, gave the same results. The 

 larynx, however, being Anserine, and the skull intermediate, 

 the position expressed by Huxley's term " Amphimorpha" " was 

 considered fully justifiable. — Mr. Sclater read a paper, in which 

 he gave the description of fix apparently new species of South 

 American Passeres. 



Anthropological Institute, December 11, 1883.— Prof. 

 Flower, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — The election of Mr. 

 E. W. Streeter was announced. — Mr. Walton Haydon exhibited 

 some photographs of North American Indians. — A paper by 

 Mr. A. W. ILiwitt, on some Australian ceremonies of initiation, 

 was read by I 'r. E. B. Tylor. The ceremonies described by the 

 author are common to a very large aggregate of tribes in the 

 south-eastern part of Australia, and as himself an initiated 

 person, Mr. Howitt has had unusual opportunities of observa- 

 tion and of ibtainiiig information from the Blacks. When it 

 has been decided that there is a sufficient number of boys ready 

 for initia'ion, the headman sends out his messenger, who travels 

 rourd to the headmen of the same totem, who then communicate 

 the mes.sage to the principal men of the different totems which 

 form the local groups. The messenger carries wiih him, as the 

 emblems of his mission, a complete set of male attire, together 

 with the sacred humming instrument, which is wrapped up in a 

 skin and carefully concealed from women and children. The 

 ceremonial meeting having been called together, that moiety of 

 the community which called it prepares the ground and gets all 

 ready for the arrival of the varions contingents. Mr. Howitt 

 then described at length the procession from the camp to some 

 retired and secret place where the ceremonies are to be per- 

 formed, each novice being attended by a guai-dian, who fully 

 explains to him all that is said or done. A camp is formed 

 when the spot is reached that has been fixed upon for the site 

 of the tooth-knocking-out ceremony, which was fully described 

 by the author in the latter part of the paper. — Dr. R. G. Latham 

 read a paper on the use of the terms " Celt " and " German." 



Geological Society, December ig, 1883.— J. W. Hulke, 

 F.K.S., president, in the chair. — Rev. W. R. Andrews, Robert 

 James Frecheville, and Rev. Philip R. Sleeman were elected 

 Fellows of the Society. — The following communications were 

 read : — On some remains of fossil tishes from the Yoredale 

 series at Leyburn in Wensleydale, by James W. Davis, F.G.S. 

 — Petrological notes on some North-of-England dykes, bv J. 1. 

 H. Teall, M.A., F.G.S. The author described the 'strati- 

 graphical relations and the structure, macroscopic and mi ro- 

 scopic, ofa number of dykes which cccur in the north-cast of 

 England, giving analyses. He pointed out that they fell into 

 four more or less distinct groups : (i) the Cleveland dyke and 

 that of Acklington ; (2) the Heth and its related dykes; (3) the 

 dykes of Heblnun, of Tynemouth, of Brunton, of Hartley, and 

 of Morpeth; (4) the High Green dykes. Groups (i) and (3) 

 resembled one another in specific gravity and chemical composi- 

 tion, as did (2) and {4), the percentage of silica in the first two 

 (except in the Morpeth dyke) varying from 57 to 59, and the 

 specific gravity being about 27 or 2'S, while the others had a 

 silica percentage of from 51 to 53, and a rather higher specific 

 gravity. The former present some microscopic differences, the 

 latter are very closely related. The Cleveland, Ackling-.on, and 

 Heth dykes have been examined at intervals far apart, and 

 exhibit no variation or relation to tlie surrounding rocks ; so that 

 evidently they have not taken up any appreciable portion of the 

 material through which they have broken. The dykes of 

 Group (3) being probably pre-Tertiary (the author does not 

 himself find it possiljle to distinguish igneous rocks by their 

 geologic age) would be termed melaphyres on the Continent ; 

 but those of (2) and (4) are nearer to the group of diabases. The 

 Cleveland dyke (Group i) is almost certainly of Tertiary age, 

 and its structure and composition entitle it lo the name of an 

 augite-andesite. — The Droitwich brine springs and saliferous 

 marls, by C. Parkinson, F.G.S. 



Edinburgh 

 Royal Society, December 17, 1883.— Robert Grey, vice- 

 pre.sirlent, in [the chair.- -Prof. Tait communicated a paper by 

 Mr. A. Campbell, containing the results of additional experi- 

 ments on the Peltier effect. The results agreed closely with 

 their values as calculated from the thermoelectric diagram. — 

 Dr. Sang read a paper on the problem of the lathe band, and on 

 problems therewith connected. — Prof. Tait read a note by the 

 Astronomer-Royal for Scotland, on Brewster's line Y in the 

 infra-red. The object of the note was to point out that this line, 

 which had been ascribed by some recent observers to air, and 

 therefoi e omitted from the spectrum, is a true solar line, which 

 has been found to be due to sodium. — Mr. John Murray read a 

 communication by Mr. P. H. Carpenter, on the Crinoidea of 

 the North Atlantic between Gibraltar and the Fariie Islands ; 

 with notes on the Myzostomidas, by Prof. T. von Graff, Ph.D. 

 — Mr. R. W. Felkii', F.R.G.S., gave a very interesting account 

 of the Madi or Moru tribe, from which ihe flower of the Egyptian 

 army has been drawn. — A paper was also read, on the structure 

 of the pitcher in the seedling of Nepenthes, as compared with 

 that in the adult plant, by Prof. Alexander Dickson, M.D. 

 Prof. Dickson gave the results of his examination of Nepenthes 

 seedlings lately raised in the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden. 

 One of the most important points to which he drew attention was 

 in connection with the annulus or rim of the pitcher orifice. In 

 the seedlings this structure is seen even in the pitcher leaf imme- 

 diately succeeding the cotyledons, and a row of cushion- or 

 button-like glands is to be found just within its inflexed edge. 

 From observing these glands. Prof Dickson was led carefully to 

 examine the annulus in the adult plant, with the result of bis 

 discovering their representatives in a remarkable series of gigan- 

 tic glands. If the inflexed rim be examined, there is to be found, 

 just above its free edge, a single line of small orifices, alternating 

 with the ridges of the corrugated annulus and with their tooth- 

 like prolongations, when these are pre-ent. On dissection, each 

 of these orifices is seen to be the outlet of a canal-like fossa, 

 from the bottom of which a cellular, nipple-shaped body or 

 mammilla projects. This uiammilla is the free apex nf a gland, 

 the great bulk of which is immersed in the parenchymatous sub- 

 stance of the annulus. These glands vary in length, according 

 to the species, from 1/37 (N. atnpullaria) to the enormous 

 measure of 1/12 of an inch {N. destillatoria, N. phyllamphora, 

 &c.). Prof. Dickson could not speak definitely as to the func- 

 tion of these glands, but thought that they probably secrete 

 honey, affording to the insect the last drops just as it is on the 

 brink of destruction ! Sir J. D. Hooker, in his address on 

 insectivorous plants delivered at the Belfast meeting of the 

 British Association, had spoken of the pitcher rim as secreting 

 honey, but without making any reference to these remarkable 

 marginal glands. 



Birmingham 



Philosophical Society, December 13, 18S3. — PecuHar 

 absorption of a compound of iodine by aluminium, by Dr. G. 

 Gore, F. R.S. This paper contains a statement of the discovery 

 of a peculiar fact by the author, viz. that when a sheet of 

 aluminium was simply immersed in a solution composed of 

 '72 grains of pure iodic acid dissolved in 3^ ounces of distilled 

 water, it absorbed as much as 16 per cent, of its weight of a 

 foreign substance, and emitted a strong odour of iodine. It 

 retained its metallic appearance, although it had become pecu- 

 liarly rough by corrosion. When struck by a hard substance it 

 emitted a less metallic sound. In several similar experiments 

 the plates gained much more in weight by absorption than they 

 lost by corrosion. By examining the edges of the sheets undir 

 a microscope, the sheets were found to be partly disintcgi-ated 

 into thin layers. A variety of other methods were tried, in- 

 cluding electrolytic ones, to produce the same effect, but in no 

 instance did the metal emit much odour of iodine, or appear to 

 have absorbed freely a foreign substance. With aluminium 

 immersed in dilute hydriodic acid containing dissolved iodine, 

 similar though much less conspicuous effects of disintegration 

 and emission of odour of iodine were, however, observed. By 

 immersing a sheet of the metal in a solution of bromic acid, the 

 metal did not appear to absorb much bromine. A partial in- 

 vestigation was made of the phenomena. By washing the sheets 

 with water, the water became strongly coloured by iodine, and 

 continued to do so after many washings. Although, after having 

 been washed and dried, they continued to emit a strong odour of 



