March 24, 1887] 



NA TURE 



503 



the loess. If the lime had not been short, all soft rocks in the 

 South of England would have been planed down to one gently 

 undulating surface like the plains of Russia and Siberia. Such 

 tundra-conditions may have occurred more than once. — Probable 

 amount of former glaciation of Norway, as demonstrated by 

 the present condition of rocks upon and near the western coast, 

 by Mr. W. F. Stanley. 



Mathematical Society, March lo. — Sir James Cockle, 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — The following communications 

 were made : — A metrical properly of plane curves, by R. 

 Lachlan. — Note on the Weierstrass functions, by Mr. A. G. 

 Greenhill. — Second paper on the change of the independent 

 variable ; with applications to some functions of the reciprocant 

 kind, by C. Lcudesdorf. — A note on knots, by Mr. A. B. 

 Kcmpe, r.K.S. 



Chemical Society, March 3. — Dr. Hugo Miiller, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. — The following papers were read: — 

 Tartaric and racemic acids and the magnetic rotatory power of 

 their ethyl salts, by Dr. W. H. Perkin, F. R.S. — Anhydracetone- 

 benzil, by Mr. Francis R. Japp, F. R. S., and Mr. Cosmo Innes 

 Burton. — Condensation compounds of benzil with ketones, by 

 the same. — Constitution of glycosine, by Mr. Francis R. Japp, 

 F. R.S., and Mr. E. Cleminshaw. — Diphenylglyoxaline and 

 methyldiphenylglyoxaline, by Mr. Franci-i R. Japp, F.R.S. — 

 Dehydracetic acid, by Dr. W. H. Perkin, Jun.- — The colouring- 

 matter of /Jroji-ra Wliiltakcri, by Prof E. H, Rennie. — Further 

 notes on the di-haloid derivatives of Ihiocarbamide, by Dr. 

 George McGowan. 



Anthropological Institute, March 8. — Mr. Francis Gallon' 

 F. R. S. , President, in the chair. — Mr. A. L. Lewis read a paper 

 on stone circles near Aberdeen. In this paper Mr. Lewis 

 described in detail two circles near Dyce and Portlethen 

 respectively, and drew particular attention to the fact that they 

 differ in two important particulars from the circles of Southern 

 Britain. In former papers on stone circles the author had 

 insisted on the presence of a special reference to the north-east, 

 but in these circles the main direction is north and south. 

 They are further distinguished from the southern circles by the 

 existence of an oblong stone flanked by two upright stones, 

 which is indeed their principal feature, and which exists nowhere 

 except in the Aberdeen district, where it is almost universal. 

 Mr. Lewis regarded the Aberdeen circles as having more affinity 

 to the " giants' graves " found in the north of Ireland, than to 

 tha English circles to which it has always been sought to ally 

 then. — The following papers were also read : — Palaeolithic 

 implements from the drift -gravels of the Singrauli Basin, South 

 Mirzapore, by Mr. J. Cockburn. — Stone implements from 

 Perak, by Mr. Abraham Hale. 



Entomological Society,March 2. — Dr. D. Sharp, President, 

 in the chair. — Mr. Slater exhibited, with the object of showing 

 the eftcct of food in causing variation in Lepidoptera, two speci- 

 mens of Aictia cuja, one of which was bred from a larva fed on 

 lime-leaves, and the other from a larva fed on low plants, the 

 ordinary pabulum of the species. — Capt. H. J. Elwes exhibited 

 a large number of Lepidoptera-Heterocera, caught by liim at 

 Darjeeling, in Sikkim, at an elevation of 7000 feet, on the night 

 of August 4, 1886, between 9 p.m. and I a.m. The specimens 

 exhibited represented upwards of 120 species, belonging to 

 Bombyces, Noctux, Geometrse, Crambida;, &c,, many of which 

 were believed to be undescribed. Capt. Elwes stated that Mr, 

 A. R. Wallace's observations on the conditions most favourable 

 for collecting moths in the tropics were fully confirmed by his 

 own experience during four months' collecting in Sikkim and the 

 Khasias. The conditions referred to were a dark wet night in 

 the rainy season ; a situation commanding a large extent of virgin 

 forest .and uncultivated ground ; and a whitewashed veranda with 

 powerful lamps in it. He also made some remarks on the Khasia 

 Hills, the southemslo])cs of which he believed to be the true hal)itat 

 of the greater part of those insects described many years ago Iiy 

 Prof. Westwood and others as coming from Sylhet. A discussion 

 ensued, in which Mr. McLachan, Dr. Sharp, Mr. Champion, Mr. 

 Kirby, and others took part. — The Rev. W. \V. Fowler exhibited 

 a specimen of Calhormiocerus sociiis, taken at Sandown, Isle of 

 Wight.- -Mr. S. Stevens exhibited specimens of Cathormiocerus 

 marilimus and Platytarsus hirtus. — Mr. F. Grut said he was re- 

 quested by M. Pt-ringuey, of Cape Town, to announce that the 

 latter was engaged on a monograpli of the genus /////(j>-<-///w»,r, and 

 that he would be glad to receive specimens and other assistance 



from British entomologists. — Mr. Gervase F. Mathew, R.N., 

 communicated a paper entitled " Descriptions of new species of 

 Rhopalocera from the Solomon Islands." — Mr. G. T. Baker 

 communicated the following papers: "Description of a new 

 species of the Lepidopterous genus Carama, together with a few 

 notes on the genus" ; and "Description of a new genus of 

 Rhopalocera allied to Thala." 



Institution of Civil Engineers, February 22. — Mr. 

 Edward Woods, President, in the chair. — A paper was read on 

 irrigation in Lower Ejypt, by Mr. William Willcocks. 



March i. — Mr. Edward Woods, President, in the chair. — A 

 paper was read on dredging-operations and appliances, 

 by Mr. John James Webster. The author described the objects 

 for which dredging-operations are generally carried out, and 

 spoke of the advantage of obtaining the aid of natural scour, 

 when possible, for supplementing or dispensing with dredging. 

 The various kinds of appliances used were fully described. 



March 15. — Mr. Edward Woods, President, in the chair. — k 

 paper was read on the treatment of gun-steel, by Colonel 

 Eardly Maitland, R.A. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, March 14. — M. Janssen, President, 

 in the ch,iir. — Reply to M. Houzeau's additional note, by M. 

 Loewy. It is argued that M. Houzeau's mistake lies in the 

 arrangement proposed by him in 1871, which is practically 

 that of a sextant with fixed opening. The principle of the 

 sextant is based on the combination of two mirrors, which in 

 virtue of known optical conditions must give it an undoubted 

 superiority over M. Houzeau's apparatus, which is provided wiih 

 only one mirror. — On a problem relating to the theory of minima 

 surfaces, by M. G.aston Darboux. To the different solutions 

 of the problem given in vol. cii. of the Coinptes rcndus (18S6), 

 is here added another which rests on a new genesis of 

 minima surfaces proposed in an important memoir by M. Ribau- 

 cour. — On the great movements of the atmosphere, and on M. 

 Colladon's note of March 7, by M. 11. Faye. The paper deals 

 with M Colladon's suggestion, based on M. Weyher's recent 

 experiments, that rotatory movements with vertical axis may have 

 both an ascending and a descending direction, thus presenting a 

 middle term between the extreme views of M. Faye and his 

 opponents. — On the artificial production of the ruby, by M. 

 Fremy. Some remarks are presented on the two processes 

 elaborated by MM. Fremy and Fell, in connexion with the 

 recent death of M. Fell. A third method is referred to which 

 has since been brought to great perfection with the co-operation 

 of M. Verneuil. A paper followed, by MM. Fremy and 

 Verneuil, on the action of the' fluorides on alumina in con- 

 nexion with the same subject. — The small Ursus spelccus of 

 Gargas, by M. Albert Gaudry. A description is given of this 

 species of cave-bear, a skeleton of which, made up with the 

 bones of several individuals, has ju«t been mounted in the new 

 room for palaeontological specimens in the Natural History 

 Museum.- — Details collected from various sources on the earth- 

 quake of February 23, by M. F. Fouque. An account is given 

 of the vibrations recorded at the Observatories of Lisbon, 

 Wilhelmshafen, and Seville ; the general conclusion being that 

 the magnetic disturbances were not the cause, but rather the 

 efiect, of the shocks. — Report on MM. Guyou and Simart's 

 memoir on the development of naval geometry as applied to the 

 question of the stability of vessels, by the Commissioners, MM. 

 Phillips, Levy, .Sarrau, and de Jonquieres. The report speaks 

 favourably of MM. Guyou and Simart's studies, which greatly 

 reduce the ehaborate calculations hitherto required to be worked 

 out in determining questions of stability from the theoretical and 

 practical stand-points. — Experiments on the effects of the trans- 

 fusion of blood into the heads of decapitated animals (second 

 note), by MM. G. Hayem and G. Barrier. The experiments show 

 that the time is limited to about ten seconds, during which it is 

 possible by transfusion of arterial blood to momentarily revive the 

 action of the sensor and motor cortical centres. — On a correlation 

 between earthquakes and the declinations of the moon, by M. H. 

 de Parville. A systematic study of lunar and terrestial phenomena 

 continued for a quarter of a century leads the author to infer a 

 distinct relation between lunar declination and earthquakes, the 

 general law being that the disturbances occur either at the 

 equilune, the lunistice, or exactly when the sun and mo3n have 

 the same declination. — On the variations in the absorption- 

 spectra of didymium, by M. Henri Becquercl. Fresh experi- 

 ments here described confirm the previous conclusion of the 



