528 



NA TURE 



Oct. 24, 1872 



covered by about fifteen large mammillary bosses. Accompany- 

 ing this specimen there is a distal phalanx, which may belong to 

 the same animal. It is rather less than two inches long. The 

 articular surface is transversely elliptical, i \ inch wide, and 1 1 

 lines deeji, and feebly depressed, so as to indicate a moderate 

 degree of mobility. The upper surface of the bone slopes to 

 the end, and is transversely convex. The extremity is expanded 

 at the borders. Beneath are several vascular perforations. 

 Though the specimens are not sufficiently characteristic to deter- 

 mine positively whether they belong to a mammal or a reptile, or 

 whether they even belong together to the same animal, the for- 

 mer one is so jieculiar that I am dis]iosed to regard it as repre- 

 senting a genus and species, whicli may be named Tyloslciis 

 ornalus. — Mr. Cope made the following remarks on a curious 

 habit of a snake: — "I had for some time a specimen of Cy- 

 clop/ns icstivus, received from Fort Macon, N. Ca., through the 

 kindness of Dr. Yarrow', living in a wardian case. The slender 

 form of this snake, and its beautiful green and yellow colours, 

 have led to the opinion that it is of arboreal or bush-loving 

 habits. It never exhibited such in confinement, and instead of 

 climbing over the caladia, ferns, &c. , lived mostly underground. 

 It had a curious habit of projecting its head and two or three 

 inches of its body above the ground, and holding them for hours 

 rigidly in a fixed attitude." In this position it resembled very 

 closely a sprout or shoot of some green succulent plant, and might 

 readily be mistaken for such by small animals. 

 Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, October 7. — M. Faye, Presi- 

 dent. M. A. Trecul read a paper entitled " Observations on the 

 various parts of tlie Flower of CampniiiilLicccr," and hi* long paper 

 was followed by an account of some " new experiments intended 

 to show that the germs of the ferment which produces wine come 

 from tlie exterior of the skin of the grape," by M. Pasteur. The 

 author prepared forty llasks with long necks, which were twisted 

 and bent in the now so well known fashion first used by this 

 chemist. Ten flasks were partly filled with grape-juice, and 

 allowed to rest ; ten others, also containing juice, had introduced 

 into them a few drops of water, in which a small piece of grape- 

 skin had been washed ; the next ten had juice and water from 

 the skin like tlie last, but were boiled ; and the last ten contained 

 juice and a few drops of the interior of a grape carefully extracted 

 by means of a glass tiibe, mthout bruising the skin. The series 

 containing the unboiled juice and grape-skin washings were soon 

 full of mycelium and beer-yeast, and a few days alter of Afyco- 

 dcrma viin, within forty-eight hours of the appearance of 

 which they were in a state of violent fermentation. 

 None other of the flasks were changed in the slightest 

 degree, even after days ; and the author states that they 

 will remain unchanged for years. M. Fremy replied to this in 

 a note on ferments, in which he states that M. Pasteur con- 

 founds ferments with the spores of mould. M. Fremy believes 

 the ferment to be generated in the fermentable liquor, and that 

 fermentation can also be started by mould spores by a secondary 

 action, hence he considers that M. Pasteur has only proved that 

 this latter kind of fermentation is produced by the grape-skin. 

 M. Pasteur replied that he only intended to prove that the juice 

 of the grape is not of itself alone capable of fermenting, and that 

 neither the albuminous matters of the juice nor the parenchyma 

 cells are developed into ferment|cells by the action of atmospheric 

 oxygen alone. At the request of M. Dumas, M. Pasteur then 

 read an account of some "new facts serving to elucidate the 

 theory of true fermentation." M. Fremy again criticised the 

 paper, and after a reply from M. Pasteur, the subject dropped. 

 M. A. Trecul then read a note confirming several of M. Pasteur's 

 observations, and was followed by M. Faye with a note on a 

 memoir of Mr. Clerk Max acII, "Oh the stability o! the 

 Saturnian Rings." — A note (rom M. Otto Struve, "On the 

 exactness which should be attributed to the constant Co- 

 efficient of Aberration determined at the Pulkovva Ob- 

 servatory," was then read, and next came " Researches 

 on Crystalline Dissociation" (continuation), by MM. P. A. 

 Favre and C. A. Valson. This paper, containing a great 

 number of numerical results, was followed by "Studies on the 

 Echinodermata," by M. S. Loven, and by a paper on the structure 

 of hett rogeneous vegetables, by M. Th. Lestiboudois. — M. de 

 Caligny then read a note on the effects of the communication of 

 a lateral movement to a stream of water traversing a reservoir, 

 and on the sand-banks which thence result. This was an 

 account of some experiments made by the author. He finds 

 that banks are deposited almost parallel to the stream. — M. 



Chevreul then read a note relating to a work on colour, by JI. 

 P. Havrez, which he presented to the Academy ; and M. Dumas 

 presented a pamphlet by M. de Jacobi, entitled "On the gal- 

 vanic deposition of iron by a powerful electro-magnetic solenoid." 

 The author hoped by these means to deposit permanently mag- 

 netic iron, but failed ; the dejiosit, however, was composed of 

 agglomerations of crystals, whilst iron deposited in the ordinary 

 way is smooth and amorphous. — M. J. M. Gaugain then pre- 

 sented his second memoir on the induction currents produced in 

 M. Gramme's machine, which was referred to the Physical 

 Section. — A note on the efficacy of lightning conductors, by M. 

 W. de Fonvielle, was sent to the commission on that subject. A 

 note from M. Laborde, on auroras, storms, and waterspouts, 

 was sent to the Physical Section, and the Aerostatic Commis- 

 sion received memoirs from M. Reynal and M. Babe and 

 a letter from M. Braconnier, all on aerial navigation. — A 

 note from Raoult de Couesquelon on a " New System of 

 Masked Batteries " was sent to the Commission on Military Art, 

 and two notes from M. Duclaux, two from M. Cornu, and an 

 article from the Journal La Gironde by M. Laliman, all on Phyl- 

 loxera, were sent to that Commission. — M. de Saint-Venant 

 then presented a note from M. J. Boussinesq on " Lines of 

 Summit (fai'tf) and Thalweg," which was followed by a note 

 from M. Bcchamp " On the action of borax on fermentation." 

 The author demonstrates that the boric acid of the borax is not 

 the cause of the peculiar action of this body, as that acid does not 

 produce the effects of borax. Hydric sodic carbonate, however, 

 acts in a strictly analogous way ; hence the author decides that it 

 is the sodium present in the borax which determines its action. 

 — A note from M. E. Monier "On the determination of the 

 amount of vegetable matters in contaminated potable waters '' 

 then followed. The author uses a method now abandoned by 

 all the best analysts of water in this country, namely, titration 

 with potassic permanganate. — M. E. Gouriet then read a paper 

 " On certain exterior characters which distinguish the different 

 sexes of the River Craw-fish (.islaciis fiiiviatilis)." The author 

 finds the following differences : — If the length of the animal be 

 taken as 100, then the antenna; in the male are 67 '83, andin the 

 female 57 'iS. The weight of the animal being 100, the great 

 claws are in the male 27 'Si, in the female 12 '92 ; moreover, the 

 female abdomen is much more developed than that of the male 

 — A note from M. Brown " On the relations between electricity 

 and mephitic emanations " closed the session. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



English —The Clematis .-IS a Garden Flower: T. Moore and G. Jack- 

 man (Murr.iy) —The Travelling Birds : Cuthbert CoUingivood (C. Bean).— 

 Synopses : Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Palxontology, 

 D. Page(Blackwoods). — Revised List of Vertebrate Animals in the Gardens 

 of the Zoological Society. 



Foreign. — Grundrtss der Chemie gemass der neueren Ansichten : der 

 unorganischen Chemie dritte Auffage : C. Rammelsberg.— Incendio Vesuvi- 

 ano del 2C Aprilo, 1S72: L. Palmieri. — Der Ausbnich des Vesuv vom 

 April 26, 1872 : L. Palmieri. — Vereius fiir Erdkunde zu Dresden, Nos. 8 

 and g. 



CONTENTS Page 



Agassiz at San Francisco 509 



Railways and Science 510 



Ou.^ Book Shelf 514 



Letters to the Editor: — 



London Univer,lty Examinations.- Prof. W. G. Adams, F.R.S. . 514 



Solar Spectroscope Observations— Capt. J. P. JLaci.e.i.r, R N. . 514 



Ad.litional Kotc on American Arrowheads.— Prof. C. C. .AEnoTT . 515 



Merrilield on the Deviation of the Compass — J. Mei;kifield, f.K.S 515 



Earth Currents. — W. H. Preece 515 



Aurora Borealis. — F. J. IJell 515 



Ocean Currents. — J. K. Laughton 515 



Fossif Oyster 516 



The Pennatclid from Washington Territory. By Princii'.\l 



J. W. Dawson. F R.S. . 5,6 



Dr. Hooker's Reply to Prof. Owen 516 



The New Rhinocekos. (IVitli Illustrations). By P. L. Sclater, 



F.R.S : 5,8 



Recent Falls of Meteorites in France and Italy .... 519 

 Dardanelles and Bosphorcs Undek-Current. By Dr. W. B. 



Carpenter, F.R.S 520 



Notes ^^t 



Siebold's New Researches in Parthenogenesis (IL) By E. Ray 



Lankester .... . . . . 223 



On Some New Points in the Mounting of Astronomical 



Telescopes. (With Illustrations.) By Howard Grubb, CE. . 525 



Scientific Serials 527 



Societies and Academies ^zi 



