March 6, 1884J 



NA TURE 



r45 



hopes tbat this cheque may be of ashi:>tance to him in continuing 

 the useful extra-official work he has long been can") ing on in 

 that locality." 



The President next handed the Lyell Medal to Prof. W. H. 

 Flower, F.R.S., for transniission to Or. Joseph Leidy, F.M.G.S., 

 and addressed him as follows : — " Prof. F'lower, — The Council 

 has bestowed on Dr. J. Leidy the Lyell Medal, with a sum of 

 25/., in recognition of his valuable contributions to palaeontology, 

 especially as regards his investigations on the Fossil Mammalia 

 of Nebraska and the Sauria of the United States of America. 

 These vast an<l, in comparison with our own country, but little 

 explored territories have for some years past yielded a harvest 

 of fo;sil vertebrate remains of exceeding richness, of which we 

 have no example here. How well this harvest is being garnered 

 by our Transatlantic confrires the flood of memoirs published by 

 them during the last quarter of a century bears witness. Amongst 

 these scientific labourers in the palajontological harvest-field. Dr. 

 I. Leidy has held a foremost place. Careful in observing, 

 accurate in recording, cautious in inferring, his work has the 

 high merit which trustworthiness always imparts. The well-nigh 

 astounding number of papers wiitten by him between 1845 and 

 1873, amounting to 187, his Reports on the ' Extinct Vertebrate 

 Fauna of the Western Territories,' his 'Synopsis of the Extinct 

 Mammalia of North America,' and his 'Cretaceous Rej^tiles of 

 the United States,' testify to the fertility of his pen." 



In pre-enting to Prof. C. Lapworth, F.G. S., the balance of 

 the Lyell Geological Fund, the President said : " Prof. Lap- 

 worth, — The Council has awarded to you the balance of the 

 proceeds of the Lyell Donation Fund in recognition of the value 

 (if your researches into the palaeontology and physical structure 

 of the older rocks of Great Britain, carried on frequently under 

 unfavourable circumstances and to the injury of your health, and 

 to aid you in similar investigation-. Your papers on ' The 

 Girvan Succession,' 'The Moffat Series,' published in our 

 y ourna' , zxiA ' The Graptolites,' and ' The Secret of the High- 

 lands,' contributed to the Geological Magazine, were the outcome 

 of an extremely laborious and detailed exploration of the districts 

 to which they refer — an exploration in conducting which you 

 spared no pains and shrank from no hardships. No one who 

 desires to know the structure of these districts can safely omit a 

 careful study of these very instructive papers." 



The President then handed to Prof. Bonney, F.R.S., for 

 transmission to Dr. J. Croll, a portion of the proceeds of the 

 Barlow-Jameson Fund, and said : "Prof. Bonney, — TheCouucil, 

 in recognition of the value of Dr. James CroU's researches into 

 the ' Later Physical History of the Earth,' and to aid him in 

 further researches of a like kind, has awarded to him the sum of 

 20/. from the proceeds of the Barlow-Jameson Fund. Mr. CroU's 

 work on ' Climate and Time in their Geological Relations,' and 

 his numerous separate papers on various cognate subjects, in- 

 cluding the 'Eccentricity of the Earth's Orbit,' 'Date of the 

 Glacial Period,' the ' Influence of the Gulf Stream,' the ' Motion 

 of Glaciers,' ' Ocean Cmrents,' and the ' Transport of Boulders,' 

 by their suggestiveness have deservedly attracted much attention. 

 In forw arding to Dr. Croll this award, the Coumil desires you 

 to express the hope that it may assist him in continuing these 

 lines of re earch." 



In handing to Prof. Seeley, F.R.S., a second portion of the 

 proceeds of the Barlow- Jameson Fund for transmission to Prof. 

 Leo Lesquereux, F.C.G.S., the President spoke as follows : 

 " Prof. Seeley, — The Council has awarded to Prof. Leo 

 Le quereux the sum of 20/. from the proceeds of the Barlow- 

 Jaraeson Fund, in recognition of the value of his researches into 

 the palieobotany of North America, and to aid him in further 

 investigations of a similar kind. Prof. Lesquereux's ' Contribu- 

 tions to the Fossil Cretaceous and Tertiary Flora of the Western 

 Territories,' published in the 'Reports of the United States 

 Geological Survey,' are works which, for their matter, typo- 

 graphy, and illustrations, leave nothing to desire. In transmitting 

 this award to Prof. Lesquereux, you will convey to him the 

 hopes of the Council that it may assist him in prcsecuting 

 further investigations in the difficult branch of research in which 

 he has already accomplished so much." 



The President then read his Anniversary Address, in which, 

 after giving obituary notices of some of the Members lost by the 

 Society in 1883, he passed in review the principal work done by 

 the Society since the last Anniver.-ary Meeting, and finally 

 referred more in detail to some important results obtained else- 

 where in connection with the comparative osteology of the 

 \'ertebrata, dwelling particularly upon the question of the 



existence in the lower jaw of an unpaired bone occupying, or 

 auterior to, the symphysis— the "os presymphysieu " of M. 

 DoUo, the " mento-Meckelian " of Cope, the "inferior inter- 

 maxillary element" of W. K. Parker, — and upon certain cranial 

 and pelvic characters of the Dinosauria. 



The ballot for the Council and Officers was taken, and the fol- 

 lowing were duly elected for the ensuing year :— President : Prof. 

 T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents: W. Carruthers, 

 F.R.S., John Evans, F.R.S. , J. A. Phillips, F.R.S. , Prof. J. 

 Prestwich, F.R.S. Secretaries: W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., 

 Prof. J. W. Judd, F.R.S. Foreign Secretary : Warington W. 

 Smyth, F.R.S. Treasurer : Prof. T. Wiltshire, F.L.S. 

 Council: H. Bauerman, W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., Prof. T. G. 

 Bonney, F.R.S., W. Carruthers, F.R.S., John Evans, F.R.S., 

 Col. H. H. Godwin- Austen, F.R.S., Henry Hicks, Rev. 

 Edwin HiU, M.A., G. J. Hinde, Ph.D., J. Hopkinson, Prof. 

 T. M'Kenny Hughes, M.A., J. W. Hulke, F.R.S., J. Gwyn 

 Jeffreys, F.R.S., Prof. T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., Prof. J. W. 

 Judd, F.R.S., J. A. Phillips, F.R.S., Prof. J. Prestwich, 

 F.R.S., F. W. Rudler, Warington W. Smyth, F.R.S., J. J. H. 

 Teall, M.A., W. Topley, Prof. T. Wiltshire, F.L.S., Henry 

 Woodward, F.R.S. 



Chemical Society, February 21.— Dr. W. H. Perkin, 

 president, in the chair.— The following gentlemen were elected 

 Fellows of the Society :— L. Archbutt, J. H. Burland, D. Bain, 

 W. H. Barr, R. A. Bush, P. S. Chantrell, A. F. Dam.jn, H. 

 C. Draper, T. R. Duggan, V. Edwards, W. T. H. El-ley, G. 

 W. Gibson, F. W. Harris, T. Hildltch, R. E. Moyle, P. 

 Morton, W. J. Orsman, F. R. Power, A. E. Simpson, C. W. 

 Sutton, H. G. Shaw, E. F. Smith, F. W. Tompson, A. Tarn, 

 and E. W. Voelcker.— The following papers were read:— On 

 the composition of the ash of wheat grain and straw grown at 

 Rothamsted in different seasons and by different manures, by Sir 

 J. B. Lawes and Dr. J. H. Gilbert. This Is an extremely 

 lengthy paper giving the details of 253 analyses of ashes from 

 produce w-hose history as to growth, soil, season, and manuring 

 is known. The experiments are given in three series. The first 

 gives the results obtained during sixteen consecutive seasons 

 under three characteristically different conditions as to manuring, 

 and thus illustrates the influence of the fluctuation of season from 

 year to year. The second represents nine different conditions as 

 to manuring obtained in four seasons — two favourable, two un- 

 favourable — and so show s the influence of characteristic seasons 

 under a great variety of manuring conditions. The third series 

 represents the proportionally mixed produce for the ten years 

 1852-61, and again for the succeeding ten years, 1862-71, from 

 ten differently manured plots, and thus brings out the influence of 

 continuous exhaustion or supply of certain constituents. The 

 general results are that the influence of the seison on the compo- 

 sition of the ash is very much more marked tlian the influence of 

 the manure, and that the composition of normally-ripened grain 

 is very uniform and in fact only varies in any maked degree 

 according to manure, wlien there is a very abnormal defici-ncy 

 of one or more constituents ; the amounts of mineral con^tituents 

 in the straw have a very obvious connecti' n with the supply or 

 exhaustion of these constituents in the soil. — On the analysis of 

 Shotley Bridge Spa water, by H. Pelle. This is a chaly leate 

 water containing 0-0155 grm. Fe203 per litre as ferrous bicar- 

 binate, I 73 grm. sodium chloride, calcium salts, some lithium 

 chloride, magnesium bromide and iodide, &c. 



Zoological Society, February 19. — Mr. Osbert Salvin, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair.— Mr. Sclater laid i the table 

 and made some remarks on a copy of the lately Issu. d " Gui le 

 to the Calcutta Zoological Gardens."— Mr. W. T. Blanford, 

 F.R.S., made some observations on the collection of drawings 

 of Himalayan birds lately presented to the Society's libr.nyby 

 Brian H. Hodgson, F.Z.S.— Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell real ihe 

 second part of his contribution to the systemat c arrangement of 

 the Asternidea. In the present communication the author 

 treated of the species of the genus Oreaster.—K communication 

 was read from M. FernamrLataste, C.M.Z.S., containing the 

 description of a new species of Gerbille from Arabia. This new 

 species was founded on specimens living in the Society's 

 Gardens, which had been hitherto referred to Gerbillus ery- 

 thruius. Gray. M. Lataste considered the species to be 

 undescribed, and proposed to call it Meriones longifrons. — A 

 communication was read from Mr. J. Wo.3d-Mason, F.Z.S., in 

 which he gave a description of a new species of the Neuropterous 

 genus CoryJalis. The first example of tills insect (a female) was 



