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NA TURE 



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iSSo 



or two species of Physalia are, however, more common on the 

 United States coasts thin in the Mediterranean. The only 

 member of the long-stemmed Siphonophor.-e provided with a 

 float or air-bladder found heretofjre on th^ New England waters 

 is A^almopsis cara. Mr. Few kes can no■.^• add A. elegans, and 

 he thinks that extended observation in the southern bays of the 

 country will bring to light some of the well known forms 

 common to all oceans, such as Apolemia, Abyla, Phyfophoraj 

 and Gleba. Some of these have already been taken in the Gulf 

 of Mexico and the Caril:ibean Sea. Rliizophysa, found in the 

 same localities, might also be expected to be brought to the 

 Eastern American coasts by oceanic currents. 



Parasite on the American Blue Pike. — Inthe American 

 Journal of Microscopy for March, Prof. D. S. Kellicott de- 

 scribes a new species of Argulus found on the blue pike [Sdzoslc- 

 thium salmoneum, Jord.). The fiNhermen of the Niagara River 

 at Buffalo say that when the water becomes warm the fish gets too 

 lazy to take food, that it then loses fledi, and through its inert- 

 ness becomes infested with these lice. Having given this subject 

 especial attention. Prof. Kellicott is inclined to thinU the account 

 of the fishermen is correct. The parasite occurs usually on the 

 top of the head of the fish. When there are several they are, 

 as a rule, huddled together often in heaps, so that the knife may 

 remove a number at once ; it occurs also on the fins. None were 

 found in the mouth cavity. As many as twenty were taken from 

 one lean fish. When living specimens of the Argulus were 

 placed in a tank with a small specimen of LcpiJosteus osseus and 

 some minnows, they shortly fixed on them, and the minnows 

 soon died, apparently killed by the parasites. When first put 

 in, the fish would pursue and catch them, but would eject them 

 M'ith a suddenness and a queer expression that was most amusing. 

 In a few moments they were left unnoticed by the minnows. 

 The gar recoiled in evident fear ^^hen one would be seen ap- 

 proaching. A large female once fastened on to the end of the 

 long nose of the gar, where it clung for several days, despite the 

 vigorous efforts of the fish to dislodge it. Cold weather seemed 

 to destroy them : the fishermen assert that after frosts the blue 

 pike become fat, and then no lice are found on them. The species 

 is called A. stizostethii. The author believes — against the asser- 

 tion of Leydig — that the abdominal lobes have a function of 

 respiration above all other parts of the body, and he describes 

 with a good deal of detail the appendages to the several legs. 



Motion in Alg.e. — From some interesting observations re 

 cently made by Herr Stahl, as to the influence of light on the 

 motions of algje ( Verhandl. derphys.-medic. Gcscllsch. in IViirsbiirg, 

 Bd. xiv.) it appears that light has a directive influence on Clostc- 

 riuni moniH/enim, the cell of which tends to place its longitudinal 

 axis in the direction of the light rays, and a certain opposition ap- 

 pears in the two halves of the cell, sucli that one half is attracted 

 to the light and the other half repelled. Further observation 

 showed that the closteria underwent periodic changes, in virtue 

 of which the two halves alternately at successive intervals turned 

 towards the light. These experiments were made with diffuse 

 daylight of little intensity. When the iatensity of the light was 

 increased, the orientation of the closteria was changed ; the 

 position parallel to the light rays was given up, and the cells 

 placed themselves at right angles to the incident light. This 

 cross position could be again exchanged for the parallel one 

 by deadening the light. Whether temperature has much to do 

 A\ ilh these positions of closteria has not yet been determined ; 

 the temperature of the minimum seems to be not without action 

 on the period between two reversals. The foregoing experiments 

 should be made with quite healthy vigorous closteria. Some 

 other phenomena of orientation were observed by Herr Stahl in 

 Micrasterias rotata and in a species of Mesocarpus. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 The fiftieth anniversary meeting of the Geographical Society 

 was held on Monday afternoon, the Earl of Northbrook pre- 

 siding. Apart from tlie flourishing condition of the Society, 

 both numerically and financially, the most interesting feature in 

 the Council's Report was the part relating to the annual grant for 

 scientific purposes. During the past year a plan was put into 

 operation for giving practical instruction to intending travellers 

 in the use of instruments for astronomical observations to fix 

 positions, in surveying, and in the measurement of heights by 

 barometric and hypsometrical methods. This attempt to improve 

 the scientific training of our travellers has already met with 



considerable success, and several of the pujiih w lio have received 

 instruction have left for China, Afghani-tan, Central Africa, 

 Central Asia, &c. In order to facilitate the instraction in 

 astronomical w^ork, an observatory has been built on the roof of 

 the S:)ciety's hou^e. The medals and other awards were after- 

 wards distributed by the President, Count Pifer, the Swedish 

 Mini-ter, receiving for Prof. Nordenskjbld a copy of a special 

 vote of thr,nl;s and his diploma as Honorary Corresponding 

 Member, as well as the royal medal for Lieut. Palander. Mr. 

 W. Giles received the other royal medal for his cousin, Mr. 

 Ernest Giles, and Mr. R. N. Cust the gold watch awarded to 

 Bishop Crowtlier for his services on the Niger. A copy of 

 a resolution of the Council, eulogistic of his "History of 

 Ancient Geography," was also read and handed to Mr. E. H. 

 Bunbury. The gold and silver medals having been given to the 

 successful candidates in the recent public schools prize examina- 

 tion, the ballot was taken for the new council, resulting in the 

 election of Lord Aberdare as President, and Mr. John Ball, 

 F.R.S., Sir Fowell Buxton, Mr. J. K. Laughton, Sir George 

 Nares, Lord Reay, and Sir Richard Temple, in the place of the 

 retiring members of council. In the course of his annual address 

 Lord Northbrook summed up the results of recent explorations 

 in the Arctic regions, in Asia, and in Africa, as well as of 

 Admiralty surveys in various parts of the world. 



Herr von Bogusl.\wski publishes, in the Annahn der 

 Hydrop-aphie, the conclusions to which he has been led by recent 

 observations on ocean temperatures : — i. The waters of the North 

 Pacific are in general colder than those of the North Atlantic. 

 2. The \\aters of the South Pacific are warmer than those of the 

 South Atlantic, to a depth of 1,300 metres; beyond that they 

 are colder. 3. The bottom temperatures are generally lower in 

 the Pacific than in the Atlantic at an equal depth and in the 

 same degree of latitude ; but we do not find any part of the 

 temperature in the former as low as those of the Antarctic 'part 

 of the South Atlantic between 36" and 38° S. lat. and 48° and 

 30° W. long., where in seven places temperatures of — o°*3 to 

 - o°'6 were found. 4. In the west part of the Pacific and in 

 the neighbourhood of the Indian Archipelago, the temperature 

 of the water reaches its minimum at depths which vary from 55° 

 to 2,750 metres, and remains the same from that depth down- 

 wards. In all the Atlantic the temperature from 2,750 metres 

 lowers slowly but regularly. 



The Council of the German African Society has now arranged 

 with the King of Belgium, as president of the International 

 African Association, that, instead of carrying out their former 

 intention of establishing a German station on the southern bank 

 of Lake Tanganyika, their expedition, which is now at Zanzibar, 

 preparing for their tour into the interior, shall first establish a 

 station at Mangasa ; that, however, the right to found a sec 3nd 

 station near Lake Tanganyika shall be reserved to them. Dr. 

 Pogge of Mecklenburg, already well known through his African 

 travels, will become the director of this second station, which 

 will now perhaps be established at Mussumba, the capital of 

 Muata Tamwo. This station will form a link in a complete 

 chain of small settlements which are to extend all over the Dark 

 Continent. 



A LETTER in the Deulschc Zcitung announces that, after five 

 months of unremitting toil, the Austrian African traveller Marno 

 has been able to break through 'the obstacles on the White 

 Nile caused by the unchecked growth of twenty months, and has 

 re-opened the navigation for trade and passenger traffic. Accom- 

 panied by the photographer Buchta, also an Austrian subject, 

 JIarno had made a trial trip on a smjll steamer belonging to the 

 Egyptian Government, penetrating as far as Ladova, and 

 returning safely. 



A LIST of 25,000 geographical terms in most frequent use has 

 been drawn up in Chinese by Li Fi^ugpao, Chinese Minister at 

 Berlin, with the assistance of Dr. Kreyer and Dr. Allen. This 

 list is the basis upon which a large atlas of the world on 

 Mercator's projection has been prepared and photolithographed 

 at Berlin. It al-o represents the nomenclature employed by Dr. 

 Kreyer in a translation of Daniel's Geography, a large standard 

 work in sixteen Chinese volumes. 



We regret to learn that Pere Homer, who has been a true 

 friend to many an African explorer, died at Bordeaux on May 20. 

 He had but recently returned from Zanzibar, where he had 

 resided for many years, and had taken an active interest in all 

 attempts to put down the slave-trade in Eastern Africa, and in 



