JULY 15, 1915] 
NATURE 
553 


tion of flower-size in Nicotiana. During five years 
of study of the inheritance of flower-size in Nicotiana 
it has been found that the flower-size is not so constant 
as it has been assumed to be, but is affected by a 
number of conditions, some of which may not affect 
the length and the spread of the flower in the same 
manner.—I. S. Kleiner and S. J. Meltzer: Retention 
in the circulation of dextrose in normal and depan- 
creatised animals, and the effect of an intravenous in- 
jection of an emulsion of pancreas upon this retention. 
In normal animals the circulation possesses the ability 
to get rid readily of a surplus of dextrose injected 
intravenously. This ability is impaired in the absence 
of the pancreas, but can be temporarily restored by 
intravenous injections of pancreas emulsion. Such 
injections, moreover, are capable of reducing the 
hyperglaemia due only to depancreatisation.—T. 
Goodspeed: Parthenocarpy and parthenogenesis in 
Nicotiana. Mrs. R. H. Thomas found frequent cases 
of parthenogenesis in Nicotiana; but other experi- 
menters have been unable to verify these results. The 
present investigation, conducted upon the particular 
strains of tobacco of which seeds were furnished by 
Mrs. Thomas, shows that in those strains partheno- 
cearpy is a frequent occurrence, and that partheno- 
genesis is also peculiar to this variety—R. H. Lowie: 
Exogamy and the classificatory system of relationship. 
The exogamous factor must have been a real cause 
in moulding the kinship terminology of at least some 
so-called classificatory system. This conclusion is 
reached by a study of the character of two Siouan 
tribes, the Crow and Hidatsa.—F. R. Moulton: Solu- 
tion of an infinite system of differential equations of 
the analytic type. If the number of mutually gravi- 
tating bodies in the universe is infinite, and if beyond 
a finite number of them their initial distances from 
one another increase with sufficient rapidity as the 
number of bodies increases, there is a rigorous, though 
limited, solution of the problem of infinitely many 
bodies.—L. J. Cole and N. F. Kirkpatrick: A seven 
years’ study of inheritance in pigeons leads to the 
conclusion that the normal ratio of the sexes 
of pigeons hatched is 105 males to too females; 
that the number of unisexual broods exceeds 
the number of bisexual broods; that there is 
no tendency for first-laid eggs to hatch males and 
second-laid eggs to hatch females; that there is a 
correlation between the time of hatching the second 
egg and that of laying the first; that the birds con- 
tinue to sit beyond the normal period of incubation 
if the eggs do not hatch.—Alice Rohde; Vividiffusion 
experiments on the ammonia of the circulating blood. 
The genefation of ammonia in shed blood occurs in 
the non-diffusible constituents of the blood.—C. P. 
Olivier: 126 parabolic orbits of meteor streams. 
Although the most important feature of this investi- 
gation is the calculation of 126 parabolic orbits, the 
most interesting result is the final proof of the con- 
nection of the Halley’s and y-Aquarid meteors. It is 
further concluded that radiants are not stationary.— 
C. Schuchert : The basal silurian formations of eastern 
North America. Medina, Cataract, and Brassfield are 
to be retained as names for independent marine faunas 
and formations.—B. M. Davis: A method of obtaining 
complete germination of seeds in Oenothera and of 
recording the residue of sterile seed-like structures. 
By sowing seeds upon pads of filter papers placed 
in Petri dishes and thoroughly soaked, and by keeping 
the culture at constant temperatures, rapid germina- 
tion was obtained.—S. J. Bates: The osmotic pressure 
of the ions and of the undissociated molecules of 
salts in aqueous solution. The author shows how 
the partial osmotic pressures of the ions and of the 
unionised molecules can be calculated by thermo- 
NO. 2385, VOL. 95| 


dynamic principles from the freezing-points and con- 
ductance-ratios at a series of concentrations. The 
results show that in general the osmotic pressure of 
univalent ions is considerably smaller, and that that 
of the undissociated molecules is very much larger, 
than would be required by the osmotic-pressure law 
of perfect solutions.—T. Lyman; The extension of the 
spectrum beyond the Schumann region. The author 
has been able to reach the wave-length A6oo, and finds 
seven or eight lines in the helium spectra between 
Agoo and A6oo, some of the lines being fairly strong. 
—A. S. King: Unsymmetrical lines in tube-are and 
spark spectra as an evidence of a displacing action 
in these sources. The observed effects seem to be 
harmonised by considering as a necessary condition 
the presence of electrified particles moving at high 
velocities, these being produced in the are and spark 
by the strong potential-gradients, and in the tube-are 
by the large consumption of energy.—H. Blumberg : 
The factorisation of various types of expressions. The 
methods of E. H. Moore’s ‘* General Analysis ”’ are ap- 
plied to giving a uniform central theory for factorisa- 
tion of different series of expressions.—G. E. Hale: 
The direction of rotation of sun-spot vortices. Of the 
two spots in the typical spot-pair the preceding spot 
in the low-latitude zone is counter-clockwise north, 
and clock-wise south, of the equator; corresponding 
to the direction of the rotation of terrestrial tornados. 
In high latitudes the signs are reversed, giving a 
result which is likely to prove significant in future 
studies of the sun.—G. E. Hale and G. P. Luckey: 
Some vortex experiments bearing on the nature of 
sun-spots and flocculi. Some of the phenomena of 
single and multiple sun-spots can be imitated by 
simple laboratory experiments, in which vortices are 
formed in a water-tank with an atmosphere of smoke 
above the water. Such experiments may assist in 
accounting for certain characteristic structures and 
motions of the solar atmosphere. 
New SoutH WALgs. 
Linnean Society, March 31.—Mr. A. G. Hamilton, 
president, in the chair.—Esben-Petersen: Australian 
Neuroptera. Part ii. This contribution deals with 
the Australian species of Myrmeleonida, comprised in 
fourteen genera; but the material available was in- 
sufficient for working out two of the large genera, 
Myrmeleon and Formicaleon. One genus and eight 
species are proposed as new.—G. J]. Playfair: The 
genus Trachelomonas (Infusoria: fam. Euglenide, 
Stein). The extra-Australian records of the genus 
amount to a total of twenty-five published species of 
greater or less validity, and eight variations. Aus- 
tralian waters are very rich in forms of the genus, 
exhibiting a great variety of type.—E. Breakwell: The 
anatomical structure of some xerophytic native grasses. 
Grasses of eleven species, all but one from the Nyngan 
district, were studied. 
April 28.—Mr. A. G. Hamilton, president, in the 
chair.—H. J. Carter: Descriptions of six new species 
of Buprestidae (Coleoptera). The species described are 
referable to the genera Chalcoteznia, Buprestis, 
Bubastes (2 spp.), Neocuris, and Stigmodera; all, 
with the exception of one species of Buprestis from 
Dorrigo, N.S.W., from Cue, West Australia.—G. -F. 
Hill : Northern-territory Termitide. Part i. This 
contribution to a knowledge of the Australian Ter- 
mitidze has been prepared from part of a large col- 
fection of Termites, and» many field-notes compiled 
during the past two years, in what may be termed 
the coastal region of the Northern Territory. Fifteen 
species are dealt with in this paper, eight of which are 
described as new. With the exception of one species 
of Eutermes, which builds a very small mound, all 
