Jan. 6, 1 88 7] 



NA TURE 



259 



■ referred to the true Rays, and not to tlie Ceslraciont sharks, 

 ilijugh the precise family to whicli Ptychotins belongs was more 

 • lifticult to determine. On the whole the writer was disposed to 

 assign it a place either amongst the Myliobatidas or in their 

 neighbourhood. The microscopic structure of the teeth was 

 shown to be insufficient, by itself, to show their affinities. — On a 

 molar of a Pliocene type of Equus, from Nubia, by R. Lydekker, 

 B.A., F.G. S. A small collection of Mammalian remains from 

 near Wadi Haifa had recently been placed in the author's 

 hands ; some of the bones were mineralised similarly to those of 

 the Upper Pliocene of the Val d' Arno, or the Lower Pleistocene 

 of the Narbadda valley. Amongst others, the most interesting 

 is a right upper cheek-tooth of Equus but little worn. It 

 evidently does not belong to any of the late Pleistocene or recent 

 species of the genus, but to the more generalised group com- 

 [irising E. sivalcnsis, &c. ; though, bearing in mind the im- 

 possibility of distinguishing many of the existing species of the 

 genus by their teeth alone, its absolute sp -cific identity is not 

 asserted. We may infer, then, that the ossiferous beds of Wadi 

 Haifa are not improbably of Pliocene age, since this group of 

 horses, both in Europe, Algeria, and India, had totally dis- 

 appeared after the period of the forest-bed. Moreover, it is of 

 interest, in view of previously expressed opinion, to find in the 

 Tertiary of Nubia aispecies of this primitive group of Equus, 

 which is apparently more nearly allied to the Siwalik than to the 

 European species. 



Royal Microscopical Society, December 8, 1886. ^Rev. 

 Dr. Dallinger, F. R.S., President, in the chair. — Mr. J. Mayall, 

 Jun., called attention to a micro.scope, exhibited and made by 

 Mr. Hilger after the designs of Sir A. Campbell, for measuring 

 with great accuracy the divisions ruled upon a diffraction-plate. 

 A special feature was the application of electricity, so that, by 

 means of a weak batteiy and a galvanometer, it could be 

 arranged that a contact should be made when passing every line, 

 such contact being shown instantly by a deflection of the gal- 

 vanometer-needle. In this way, end-measurements could be 

 made with great accuracy. — Mr. Mayall also exhibited and de- 

 scribed a new form of heliostat (made by Mr. Hilger) for use in 

 tolar photomicrography. The pencil of sunlight reflected from 

 the first mirror could, by means of the second, be directed in 

 any desired direction, affording to the worker the very great 

 advantage of being able to place his microscope and camera in 

 any position he pleased. — Mr. F. R. Cheshire exhibited and 

 described an improved form of inoculating needle for use in 

 connection with Bacterium culture-tubes. It was mounted in a 

 wooden handle having a square ferrule which prevented it from 

 rolling when placed upon an unlevel surface ; in this was in- 

 serted a piece of silver tube, at the end of which was the plati- 

 num wire. A circular disk of silver was fixed on the tube, 

 which, when placed in the flame of a lamp, rapidly became hot, 

 and communicated the heat to the needle, while the small size 

 of the tube enabled it to be introduced into the culture-tube 

 more easily than the glass rod usually employed. — Prof. Bell 

 called attention to some specimens exhibited of TcDiia nana, 

 the smallest of the human tape-worms, originally found by 

 Bilharz in Egypt in 1850. Though extremely rare, it had the 

 gre.at advantage, to the physiologist at least (though not perhaps 

 to the patient), of being found in considerable numbers. In the 

 present instance the worms had bee,r found in quantities in the 

 duodenum of a girl aged seven years, at Bellegarde. The 

 largest specimen met with was only 15 millimetres long. — Mr. 

 J. D. Hardy called attention to a paper, by Dr. O. Zacharias, 

 in which it was stated that Rotifers could never be revived after 

 desiccation. He thougl(t a protest should be entered against 

 this, as it was within his knowledge that revivification had taken 

 place over and over again. He had frequently tried the experi- 

 ment, and had found that, when the dried mud was moistened, 

 the Rotifers constantly revived. Prof. Stewart pointed out that 

 a good deal must turn on what was meant by " desiccation." It 

 was exceedingly difficult, under ordinary circtmistances, to produce 

 a condition of complete desiccation, and it was therefore very 

 probable that in all cases of revivification there was sufficient 

 moisture retained to preserve life. Prof, Bell said this explana- 

 tion had usually been accepted as the real one when this subject 

 perennially came to the front. The most curious part of Dr. 

 Zacharias's paper, however, was that he did not in any way 

 attempt to criticise the observations of his predecessors on the 

 facts, but simply declared them to be fables, not inquiring at all 

 into the conditions under which the revivals took place, so as to 

 ascertain whether or not they were desiccated in the same sense 



in which his oljjects were when dried up in a granite basin. A 

 discussion ensued, in which the President, Mr. Crisp, Mr. 

 Michael, and Mr. Lewis joined. — Colonel O'Hara's note on the 

 dissimilarity of appearances of crystals of blood as examined by 

 him, and the illustrations in te.xt-books, was read. — Mr. P. H. 

 Gosse's paper, on twenty-four new species of Rotifera, was read, 

 and two plates, drawn by Mr. Gosse in illustration, were handed 

 round for inspection. 



Anthropological Institute, December 14. — Francis Galton, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — The election of Mr. J. A. 

 Otonba Payne, of Lagos, as an Ordinary Member, and of Dr. 

 W. J. Hoffmann as a Corresponding Member, was announced. • 



— Dr. E. B. Tylor read a paper by the Rev. G. Brown on ^ 

 Papuans and Polynesians, in which Mr. Brown contended that, 

 notwithstanding physical differences, the similarity of their 

 languages and customs prove the Papuans and the inhabitants of 

 all the Pacific Islands have a common origin. — The following 

 papers were also read : — Notes on songs and song-makers of 

 some Australian tribes, by A. W. Howitt, F.G.S. — Music of 

 the Australian aborigines, by G. W. Torrance, Mus.D. — On 

 the aborigines of Western Australia, by R. H. Bland. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, December 27, 1SS6. — M. Jurien de 

 la Graviere, President, in the chair. — The proceedings were 

 opened with an eloquent allocution by the President on the 

 progress and triumphs of science during the past year, with a 

 touching allusion to the loss sustained by the Academy in the 

 death of its distinguished members, MM. Tulasne, de Saint- 

 Venant, Laguerre, and Paul Bert. — The allocution was followed 

 by the announcement of the prizes awarded during the year to 

 the successful competitors in the various branches of the physical 

 and natural sciences : — Prix du Budget (Mathematics), Edouard 

 Goursat ; Prix Francceur (Geometry), Emile Barbier ; Extra- 

 ordinary Prize of 6000 francs (Navigation), Capt. G. Fleuriais 

 4000 francs, Capt. de Bernardieres 2000 francs ; Prix Montyon, 

 2500 francs (Mechanics), M. Roze ; Prix Plumey (Naval En- 

 gineering), M. de Bussy ; Prix Poncelet (Mathematics), Emile 

 Picard ; Prix Lalande (Astronomy), M. O. Backlund ; Prix 

 Damoiseau (Astronomy), M. Souillart, and to M. Obrecht 

 1000 francs; Prix Valz (Astronomy), M. Bigourdan ;Prix 

 Bordin (Optics), M. R. Radau ; Prix Montyon (Vital and Social 

 Statistics), M. Victor Turquan, with honourable mention of Dr. 

 Mireur, Cazin, and Socquet ; Prix Jecker (Chemistry), divided 

 equally between MM. Colson and Oechsner de Coninck ; Prix 

 Vaillant (Geology), the members of the French Mission to 

 Andalusia, MM. Michel Levy, Bertrand, Barrois, Offret, 

 Kilian, and Bergeron, and 1000 francs to M. de Montesson ; 

 Prix Barbier (Botany), M. Eugene Collin; Prix Desraazieres 

 (Botany), MM. H. van Heurckand A. Grunow ; Prixde la Fons 

 Melicocq (Botany), divided equally between MM. Gaston Bon- 

 nier, G. de Layens, and E. G. Camus ; Prix Montagne (Botany), 

 Dr. Quelet ; Prix Thore (Entomology), M. Peragallo ; Prix 

 .Montyon (Medicine), Drs. Leon Colin, Dejerine and Landouzy, 

 and Ore, 2500 francs each, besides honourable mention with 1500 

 francs to MM. Cadeac and Malet, Masse, and Ollivier ; Prix 

 Breant (Medicine), Dr. Duflocq 2000 francs, M. Ad. Guerard 

 1500 francs, and M. Thoinot 1500 francs; Prix Godard (Sur- 

 gery), M. Bazy ; Prix Lallemand (Surgery), M. W. Vignal ; 

 Prix Montyon (Experimental Physiology), iL Grehant, with 

 honourable mention of M. Assaky ; Prix Gay (Physical Geo- 

 graphy), M. Ph. Hatt ; Prix Montyon (Unhealthy Industries), 

 \l'Sl. Appert Brothers, and M. Kolb 2500 francs ; Prix Tre- 

 mont (Magnetism), M. Moureaux ; Prix Gegner, M. Valson ; 

 Prix Delalande-Guerineau (Terrestrial Physics), i\I. Hyades ; 

 Prix Jean Reynaud (Therapeutics), M. Pasteur ; Prix Ponti 

 (Aerial Navigation), MM. Renard and Krebs ; Prix Marquise 

 de Laplace, M. E. A. Brisse. — Prizes proposed for the year 

 1S87 : — Francceur, 1000 francs, discoveries or works useful to 

 the progress of pure and applied mathematics ; Extraordinary 

 Prize of 6000 francs, works tending to increase the efficiency of 

 the French naval forces ; Poncelet, 2000 francs, for the most 

 useful work for the advancement of the pure and applied mathe- 

 matical sciences ; Montyon, 700 francs, mechanics ; Plumey, 

 2500 francs, improvement of steam-engines, or any other inven- 

 tion contributing most to the progress of steam navigation ; Four- 

 neyron, 500 francs, theoretical and practical study of the progress 

 made in aerial navigation since 1880 ; Lalande, 540 francs, Valz, 

 460 francs, and' Damoiseau and Janssen, gold medals, works con- 

 tributing to the advancement of astronomy ; Grand Prize of the 



