
Marcu II, I915| 
later ae Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene ages. 
Mr. Dawson specially dealt with the ‘* columnar” or 
“prismatic ”’ flints of which the gravel-spreads of the 
neighbourhood is mainly composed. Among these 
flints have been discovered many of the Eolithic type 
forms and some rostro-carinate varieties. 
Zoological Society, February 23.—Prof. E. W. Mac- 
Bride, vice-president, in the chair.—Miss Kathleen 
Haddon: The methods of feeding and the mouth-parts 
of the larva of the glow-worm. External digestion is 
a phenomenon of “fairly wide occurrence among 
various groups of insects, and the mouth-parts are in 
some cases specially adapted to this purpose. The 
larva of the glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) feeds 
on snails, of which it leaves no residue but an empty 
shell; it is unlikely that there is any preliminary 
aneesthetising as asserted by Fabre. The mandibles 
of the larva bite up the food and each mandible is 
pierced by a fine tube, through which a dark-coloured 
fluid is exuded. The bases of all the mouth-parts are 
covered with fine outwardly directed hairs, which are 
bathed in the juices of the snail whilst the larva is 
feeding; the juice is sucked into the oesophagus, 
which is extremely narrow, by the action of a pharyn- 
geal pump similar to that found in other sucking 
insects.—Dr. J. F. Gemmill : Ciliation of asterids and 
the question of ciliary nutrition in certain species. 
The arrangement of the ciliary currents on the various 
surfaces of four widely different species of starfishes 
is described in detail. This arrangement is constant 
for all individuals in each of the species, and, except 
as regards external surfaces, is practically the same in 
all the species. Everywhere the arrangement is 
shown to be explicable by physiological needs. Cilia- 
tion in the perihamal spaces is demonstrated.—R. E. 
Turner ; New fossorial wasps. The wasps were mostly 
collected while on a recent expedition to Australia, 
but include a few received from the Queensland and 
West Australian Museums.—Lt.-Col. J. M. Fawcett : 
A collection of Heterocera made by Mr. W. Feather 
in British East Africa. The bulk of the species was 
taken at light during damp evenings, and perhaps 
the most interesting capture is that of a specimen 
of the celebrated Actias besanti, Rebel, a large and 
most beautiful Saturnid moth distinguished by its 
extremely long tails. This is a well-known rarity of 
the “‘first water,’ and only four specimens were 
previously known to have been taken, two of which 
are in the British Museum and two in Germany. 
Besides the forms described as new species, there are 
a good many previously described forms not as yet 
represented in the National Collection, which of itself 
is evidence of their raritv. Mr. Feather is to be 
especially congratulated upon the very perfect con- 
dition of his specimens and the very accurate record 
he has kept of the dates of their capture and the 
localities. Many of the forms dealt with in this 
memoir were only previously known to science 
through specimens brought from tropical West Africa, 
and were previously unrecorded from British East 
Africa. But this region still remains to be properly 
worked out, and a great field of research is in store 
ee anys who can find time to take the matter in 
and. 
CAMBRIDGE. 
Philosophical Society, February 22.—Prof. Newall, 
president, in the chair.—Dr. Arber and R. H. Goode: 
Some fossil plants from the Devonian rocks of North 
Devon. In addition to the first record of an obscure 
plant specimen from the Lynton beds, some six other 
types are described from the Baggy or Cucullaa beds 
of the Upper Devonian. One of these, Xenotheca, 
NO. 2367, VOL. 95| 
NATURE 
0) 
is an entirely new fructification, consisting of thecz 
with eight teeth, terminating the branches of a dicho- 
tomously branched axis. These thecee are regarded 
as being probably of the nature of cupules. Spheno- 
pteridium rigidum, Ludw., is recorded for the first 
time from Britains The other can only be 
identified generically as Sphenopteris sp., Telangium 
sp., Knorria sp., and Cordaites? sp. These are the 
oldest (in a geological sense) fossil plants of terres- 
trial habit yet known from England.—H. Hamshaw 
Thomas: Some new and rare Jurassic plants from 
| Yorkshire—the male flower of Williamsonia gigas, 
| L. and H. The female strobili of this species were 
described many years ago, but the male sporophylls 
have remained a matter for speculation. When exam- 
ining the seccunens in the Yates Collection in the 
Museum of Natural History at Paris, the author found 
an example showing an undoubted male flower of 
the same general type as Williamsonia spectabilis, 
Nath. Though not attached, there were strong reasons 
for regarding it as belonging to the species WW’. gigas. 
The flower was briefly described, and compared with 
other species in the genus.—Dr. C. E, Moss ; Nomen- 
clature of Pteris aquilina, 
fossils 
Dupin. 
Royal Irish Academy, February 22.—Count Plunkett 
in the chair.—]. A, McClelland and J. J. Dowling: 
Some electrical properties of powders in thin layers. 
A very thin layer of a conducting powder, such as 
graphite, is formed on the surface of an insulator, 
usually paraffin. Tinfoil strips a few centimetres 
apart are fastened on the layer so as to make good 
electrical connection with it, and the conductivity of 
the layer measured. ‘The strips being earthed, a high 
potential is applied to a plate parallel to the layer, a 
few millimetres of parattin intervening between the 
plate and the layer. The conductivity of the layer 
is then found to be very much increased. The points 
of resemblance and of difference between this effect 
and the coherer effect are discussed in the paper, and 
the laws obeyed by the conductivity are studied in 
detail. 
Paris, 
Academy of Sciences, March 1.—M. Ed. 
the chair.—The President announced the deaths of 
George William Hill and G. F. J. Auwers, corre- 
spondants in the section of astronomy.—E. L. Bouvier : 
The adaptative forms of Scyllarus arctus and the 
post-larval development of Scyllarus.—Haton de la 
Goupilligre : The sums of like powers of integral num- 
bers.—]J. Guillaume: Observations of the Mellish 
comet made at the Observatory at Lyons. Six posi- 
tions given for February 20, 23, 25, and 26. The 
comet appeared as a Gireular nebulosity, diameter 
about half a minute of arc, with faintly marked 
excentric nucleus. Was about the 11th magnitude.— 
Perrier in 
M. Coggia: Observations of the Mellish comet made 
at the Marseilles Observatory. Positions given for 
February 20, 23, and 25.— \\’, Sierpinski: A curve of 
which any point is a point of ramification.—André 
Brochet : The catalytic reduction of indigo. In slightly 
alkaline solution indigo is rapidly reduced by hydrogen 
in presence of suspe snded metallic nickel. The indigo 
white obtained has the advantage of being free from 
saline impurities.—J. Caralp: A Permian. melaphyre 
in the Arieége Pyrenees.—Marin Mbolliard: Free 
nitrogen and the higher plants. Experiments are 
described proving that the radish, grown aseptically, 
is incapable of assimilating atmospheric nitrogen.— 

Georges A. Le Roy: The use of low temperatures in 
| toxicological analysis. The fine subdivision of tissues 
, is facilitated by a preliminary solidification by freezing. 
