May 



1913] 



NATURE 



: /o 



relationships with the well-known Balmer series. 

 Some of these "cosmic hydrogen" lines have lately 

 been produced by passing a strong condenser dis- 

 charge through a mixture of hydrogen and helium. 

 Prof. H. H. Turner: Diagram of sun-spot analysis. 

 Wolf's sun-spot numbers 1750-1910 can be closely 

 represented by the harmonics of a period of 156 years, 

 the coefficients of which rise and fall in a regular 

 manner. The familiar ill year period is the fourteenth 

 harmonic, and has the maximum amplitude; but 

 periods near it, especially thirteen and fifteen, are also 

 important. All the chief harmonics were determined 

 approximately, and their sum is compared with the 

 numbers showing that the residuals are small. 

 Capt. 11. G. Lyons: An ancient Egyptian astro- 

 nomical instrument. The original of this instrument 

 was found in Upper Egypt, and is now in the Royal 

 Museum at Berlin. By means of the wooden "sight- 

 vane," one observer aligned the plumb-line, which 

 was held by a second observer, on the pole-star. The 

 second observer then noted the passage of certain 

 stars over the first observer's head, and thus deter- 

 mined the divisions of the night. 



The National Physical Laboratory : Specimens illus- 

 trating the hehaviour of metals at relatively high 

 temperatures. (Dr. Rosenhain and Mr. Ewen.) In 

 researches on the intercrystalline cohesion of metals 

 their behaviour at temperatures near their respective 

 melting points has been examined, both by heating 

 in vacuo and by mechanical tests. The volatilisation 

 which occurs in many metals at temperatures below 

 their melting points results in the formation, on pre- 

 viously polished surfaces, of patterns corresponding 

 to the structure of the metal. This constitutes a pro- 

 cess of vacuum etching. Prof. W. J. Pope : A collec- 

 tion of artificial crystals. A number of large crystals 

 of various salts prepared by slow crystallisation of 

 aqueous solutions ; most of the crystals are well- 

 proportioned, and peculiarities of face development, 

 &c, can be observed upon them. 



Prof. E. B. Poulton: All-female families and mixed 

 families of Acraea encedon, bred by Mr. W. A. Lam- 

 born in the Lagos district. These researches indicate 

 the existence of two castes of females, one of which 

 produces mixed families and the other all-female 

 families. Both require fertilisation. Mr. L. Don- 

 caster : The moth Abraxas grossulariata : inheritance 

 of tendency to produce unisexual broods. In six suc- 

 cessive generations families consisting wholly of 

 females have appeared. Dr. S. F. Harmer : Polyzoa 

 of waterworks. (See Nature, May 8, p. 260.) 

 Dr. II'. 5. Bruce, Scottish Oceanographical Labora- 

 tory : Collection of deep-sea animals taken by the 

 Scotia, Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902, 

 1903, and 1904. While a few of the animals shown 

 are representative of shallow-water antarctic fauna, 

 the greater number are from depths down to 2645 

 fathoms, or about three miles. An important feature 

 of the scientific results of the Scotia lies in the fact 

 that the Scottish expedition was the only antarctic 

 expedition which has been completely fitted for deep- 

 sea research in high southern latitudes. Marine 

 Biological Association of 'he United Kingdom : 

 Living crabs and their allies arranged to show 

 some of the various modifications of form and 

 structure found in this group, and the rela- 

 tion between such modifications of structure 

 and the mode of life of the animals. Mr. 

 Conrad Beck: Marine Coscinodiscus showing- 

 filaments, shown under the microscope with high- 

 power dark ground illuminator (mounted by H. J. 

 Waddington). The filaments radiating from these 

 diatoms were discovered by Mr. Siddall of Chester, 

 and some controversy has arisen as to whether they 



NO. 2272, VOL. 91] 



are protoplasmic, pseudopodia, or silicious .spines. 

 They are readily seen with a low power, but require 

 very oblique dark ground illumination, as used for 

 high powers, to demonstrate them. Mr. C. B. 

 Williams : British Protura. The Protura, first 

 described by Silvester from Italy in 1907, and 

 first recorded from England last year by Mr. Bagnall, 

 are a group of primitive Arthropods the systematic 

 position oi which has been the subject of much dis- 

 cussion. Their chief affinities are with the [nsecta 

 or with the Myriapoda, and they have been considered 

 by various authorities as members of these groups 

 and as a separate class intermediate between the two. 

 Mr. H. G. Plimmer : Blood parasites- new, or Irom 

 new hosts. 



Dr. S. Watson : Skull, mandible, shoulder girdle, 

 and forelimb of Dicynodon, sp. nov. female individual. 

 Dr. D. H. Scott: Sections of Upper Devo- 

 nian plants showing structure. Keeper of Geo- 

 logy, British Museum (Natural History): Re- 

 mains of a Palaeolithic human skull and mandible, 

 with flint implements and mammalian teeth, 

 from a gravel at Piltdown, Fletching, Sussex. This 

 collection was made by Mr. Charles Dawson, and is 

 described by Messrs. Dawson and A. Smith Wood- 

 ward in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological 

 Society for March, 1913. The skull and mandible are 

 regarded as representing a new genus and 

 species of Hominidae, named Eoanthropus da-wsoni. 

 Prof. <!. Elliot Smith: The brain-cast obtained from 

 the Piltdown skull, and other specimens for com- 

 parison. The cranial cast obtained from the Piltdown 

 skull was shown alongside a series of specimens and 

 drawings illustrating the form and constitution of. the 

 brain in primitive men, anthropoid apes, and other 

 mammals supposed to be near the line of human 

 ancestry. The objects of this comparative series are 

 (1) to illustrate and help in the interpretation of the 

 distinctive features of the most primitive human brain 

 to which we have access at present, and (2) to elucidate 

 the nature of the evolutionary process by which the 

 human brain has been derived from that of an early 

 mammal. A specimen was shown representing an 

 attempt at the restoration of the features of 

 the Piltdown man's brain. Mr. Henry Bal- 

 four : Stone implements of Early Palasolithic 

 types from South Africa. A selected series 

 of stone implements from South Africa, exhibiting 

 marked similarity in form and technique to the 

 Chellian and Acheulian implements of the Lower 

 Pleistocene river-gravels of England and western 

 Europe. The implements exhibited were collected 

 partly in the neighbourhood of Kimberley and partly 

 on the Zambezi (Victoria Falls) and the Maramba River. 

 Mr. C. Forster-Cooper : Remains of fossil mammals 

 from the Early Miocene deposits of Dera Bugti in 

 Baluchistan. The bone beds around Dera Bugti are 

 interesting from the fact that they contain the earliest 

 remains of mammals as yet discovered in the East. 

 From their situation on the probable line of migration 

 from or to Europe and Africa, it is hoped that in- 

 ter,, ling comparisons may be made with the earlier 

 or contemporaneous faunas of Europe and Africa. 

 Mr. H. Peake and Mr. E. A. Hooton : Skulls and 

 grave furniture from Saxon graveyard at East Shef- 

 ford, Berks, explored 1912. This graveyard was dis- 

 covered in 1890 during the construction of Lambourne 

 Valley Railway. It was carefully explored in Sep- 

 tember, 1012, when twenty-six graves were found. It 

 seems to date from the early part of the sixth century. 

 Prof. E. Hull: Coloured map of the North Atlantic 

 and borderinf regions to show the submerged terraces 

 and river valleys as determined by the soundings of 

 the Admiraltv charts. 



