39o 



NATURE 



[June 12, 1913 



his experiments, were that, in accordance with 

 Mile. de Chauvin's experiments, and contrary 

 to those of Dr. Powers, the axolotl will 

 with a few exceptions, transform if placed 

 under special conditions which force it to 

 breathe air more frequently than usual; that starva- 

 tion, irregular feeding, and temperature have no 

 influence on the metamorphosis; that the elimination 

 of oxygen from the water has likewise no bearing on 

 the point, as the animal will not, in the circum- 

 stances, rise to the surface and make use of its lun^s 

 at more frequent intervals than animals placed under 

 normal conditions.-G. E. Bullen : Some cases of 

 blindness m marine fishes. Work hitherto performed, 

 e.g. that of Hofer, de Drouin de Bouville, and others 

 upon the pathology of fishes has been directed lanrelv 

 upon species of fresh-water habitat. The present 

 author has found, in certain specific cases of blind- 

 ness in marine fishes, pathological conditions similar 

 to those described, and others with slight modifica- 

 tions, in several fresh-water species. The examples 

 dealt with in detail are traumatic corneal opacitis 

 in a conger-eel, corneal opacitis, &c, in a -i 

 weaver, and corneal opacitis and cataract in a 

 pollack. Dr. R. W. Shufeldt : The patella in the 

 Fhalaerocoraeidae. From a studv of the patella in a 

 number of species of this family, the author had 

 found that in adult individuals that bone was com- 

 posed of the true patella solidly fused with the 

 proximal portion of the cnemial process of the tibio- 

 tarsus, which became dissociated from the latter early 

 in the life of the bird. Late in life this fusion 

 obliterated the tendon of the ambiens muscle which 

 heretofore had been described as passing through 

 the patella and persisting through life. 



Royal Meteorological Society, May 21.— Mr C J P 

 Cave, president, in the chair.— E. Gold : Determina. 

 tion of the radiation of the air from meteorological 

 observations. The theory of the cooling of the air 

 during the night hours was developed and applied to 

 observations made near the earth's surface and 130 ft 

 above it, in order to obtain an estimate of the radiat- 

 ing power of the atmosphere. The results obtained 

 show that even on calm, clear nights, when the air 

 at the higher level is warmer than that near the 

 surface, the cooling of the air is affected by convec- 

 tion, and the observations available do not suffice for 

 the determination of the correction to the value of 

 the radiating power necessary on this account.— S. C 

 Russell : Results of monthly and hourly cloud-form 

 frequencies at Epsom, 1903-ro. The" author had 

 made hourly records of the varieties of cloud observed 

 each day throughout the eight years, and these he 

 has grouped under fifteen forms of cloud. The total 

 number of individual records approximates to 100,000. 

 The cumulus cloud yielded the greatest number of 

 daily values (1622), the stratus coming next (1155). 

 The upper clouds, which include the cirrus, cirro- 

 stratus, and cirro-macula, showed a marked preva- 

 lence during the summer with minima during the 

 winter. Morning and evening maxima, with a mid- 

 day decline, are common to all these varieties. The 

 intermediate clouds, which include cirro-cumulus, 

 alto-stratus, alto-cumulus, and cumulo-stratus, are 

 also more prevalent in the summer than in the winter. 

 The lower forms, which include strato-cumulus, 

 nimbus, fracto-nimbus, fraeto-cumulus, stratus, and 

 fog^ attain their maxima in the winter months, their 

 minimum frequency being in the summer. The 

 clouds of diurnal ascending currents, cumulus and 

 cumulo-nimbus, are independent of any seasonal varia- 

 tion in hourly frequency, the maxima at noon and 

 3 p.m. respectively, taking place at these hours in 

 every month of the year 



NO. 22/6, VOL. 91] 



Geological Socieh. May 2S.— Dr. Aubrey Strahan, 

 president, in the chair. — P. G. H. Bosvvell : The age of 

 the Suffolk valleys, with notes on the buried channels 

 of drift. The main watershed of Suffolk follows 

 generally the Chalk Escarpment. Suffolk forms a 

 plateau, dissected by a valley-system which is palmate 

 in form. The strata cut through by the valleys, and 

 the mantle of glacial deposits which more or less 

 covers the whole county, are described briefly. 

 Reasons are given for thinking that the Contorted 

 Drift does not extend far south of the Waveney. 

 The valleys, although they may have been etched 

 earlier, are on direct evidence post-Pliocene in age ; but, 

 by analogy with the Waveney and the Norfolk rivers' 

 they may be younger than the Contorted Drift. The 

 Upper Boulder Clay covers much of the plateau, and 

 wrap, down into the valleys. The Glacial Sands,' &c, 

 below it also appear at times to lie on the valley- 

 slopes. Intense glacial disturbances are found to be 

 situated always on "bluffs" or "spurs" of the 

 plateau, which were in existence before the advent 

 of the valley-glaciers to the action of which the 

 disturbances have been attributed. In each of the 

 main valleys occur one or more buried channels of 

 drift; borings made recently allow these to be de- 

 scribed in detail, and the deposits filling them to be 

 discussed. These buried channels were prob- 

 ably eroded by sub-glacial water-streams The 

 evidence indicates that the pre-Glacia! or early 

 Glacial contours of Suffolk were in the main 

 much as they are now. — D. E. Innes : The internal 

 structure of Upper Silurian rugose corals from the 

 Grindrod collection, Oxford Museum. 



Physical Society, May 30.— Prof. A. Schuster, F.R.S 

 president, in the cha'ir.— Prof. A. W. Bickerton : The 

 origin of new stars. The author gave an account of a 

 theory which he has held for many years. He points out 

 that the energy developed by mutual fall of colliding 

 suns is so great that shearing must ensue. Hence 

 the problem of oblique impact of all suns is taken in 

 two divisions— first, the actually colliding parts that 

 are torn away and coalesce, and, secondly, the parts 

 that escape the collision but are profoundly influenced 

 by it. The impact of meteoric swarms, nebula;, and 

 sidereal systems may similarly be taken in two parts. 

 The coalesced part is called the third body. The pro- 

 perties of this new body are best studied 'in the third 

 star resulting from grazing suns. The third star is 

 thermodynamicallv unstable, and selectively sorts its 

 atoms into ensphering shells. It rotates, and has at 

 its formation a special distribution of its elements. 

 It will produce a new star. Its deduced properties 

 correspond with the three criteria of thermodynamic 

 intensity, complex light curve, and the physical pecu- 

 liarities shown in each series of the spectrograms of 

 nova?.— Dr. W. H. Eccles : Electro-thermal phenomena 

 at the contact of two conductors with a theory of a 

 class of radio-telegraph detectors. The paper deduces 

 mathematically the laws connecting the current and 

 the applied E.M.F. in a circuit containing a light 

 contact of two conductors. When an electric current 

 passes across a light contact of two different sub- 

 stances, heat is liberated or absorbed in accordance 

 with the law of Peltier, heat is generated in accord- 

 ance with the law of Joule, and, in the regions of the 

 conductors where there is a temperature gradient, 

 heat is liberated or absorbed in accordance 'with the 

 laws of the Thomson effect. These thermal actions 

 are very noticeable in contacts made of badly con- 

 ducting natural oxides or sulphides on account of the 

 high resistivity and the large thermoelectric effects in 

 these substances. The low thermal conductivities of 

 these substances exalt the electrical conseouences bv 

 conserving the heat. The bulk of the wireless tele- 



