JiUy 8, 1880] 



NATURE 



235 



long bones. The expanded portion of the phalanx which bears 

 the nail, claw, or hoof is entirely formed by an outgrowth of the 

 subperiosteal bone, and is not preceded by cartilage. 



A detailed account of the mode of ossification of these phalanges 

 will be shortly published. 



"The Aluminium-Iodine Reaction," by J. H. Gladstone, 

 Ph.D., F.K.S., and Alfred Tribe, F.C.S., Lecturer on Chemistry 

 in Dulwich College. 



"Note on the Discovery of a Freshwater Medusa of the Order 

 Trachomedusx," by E. Ray Lankester, F.R.S. (See Nature, 

 vol. xxii. p. 147.) 



" Note on the Bearing on the Atomic Weight of Aluminium 

 of the Fact that this Metal occludes Hydrogen," by J. W. 

 Mallet, F.R.S. 



Zoological Society, June 15.— Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — The Secretary exhibited the skin of an 

 antelope received __from the Gaboon, and remarked that it 

 appeared to belong to the female of an undescribed species of 

 J ragelapkus, alUed to Tragdaphus spekii, which he proposed to 

 name T. gratus. — Dr. A. Giinther exhibited and made remarks 

 on a series of horns of the Sambm- deer of Borneo. — Mr. W. T. 

 Blanford made some remarks on the proper name of the Hima- 

 layan marmots, now living in the Society's Gardens, which he 

 believed to be Ardomys hoJgsoiti. — Prof. Mivart called attention 

 to the Medusce, now living in the Victoria-Lily house, in the 

 Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park. — Mr. Edward R. Alston read 

 a paper on A}tUchinoi)iys and its allies, in which he described 

 the anatomy of that little-known marsupial. He regarded the 

 four genera, Phascologale, Antcchiinis, Podairiis, and Antechi- 

 >iomys as constituting a sub-family of the DasymiJir, the first 

 and the second, and the third and the fourth, being most nearly 

 related to one another. — Mr. G. E. Dobson read a paper on 

 some new' or rare species of Chiroptera, in the collection of the 

 Gbttingen Museum. Amongst these was a new species of Mega- 

 derma from Au.-tralia, ^hich, on account of its large size, Mr. 

 Dobson proposed to name Megadei-ma gigas. — Mr. \V. A. Forbes 

 read a paper on the anatomy of Leptosoma discolor, and adduced 

 further evidence to show that this bird is related not to Cueulida:, 

 but to the rollers {CoraciiJu:). — A second paper by Mr. Forbes 

 contained remarks on two rare Ploceine birds in the Society's 

 collection (P'taua splendens and Pytclia wieneri). — Mr. Forbes 

 likewise read some notes on the anatomy of a male Denhani's 

 Bustard, lately living in the Society's Gardens, and on its mode 

 of " showing off" when alive. — Mr. Edgar A. Smith read the 

 descriptions of twelve new species of s'nells from various localities. 

 Specimens of all but two were in the collection of the British 

 Museum. — Sir Walter Elliot, K. C.S.I. , read some notes on the 

 Indian Bustard, and its manner of "showing off," as observed 

 by him in India. — Mr. F. H. Waterhouse read a list of the dales 

 of publication of the several parts of Sir Andrew Smith's 

 " Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa." — Mr. A. W. E. 

 O'Shaughnessy read the description of a new species of lizard of 

 the genus Anolis, from Ecuador, which he proposed to call 

 Anolis bu-.kleyi, after its discoverer, Mr. Clarence Buckley. — 

 Mr. Sclater read a paper containing a list of the certainly-known 

 species of Anatidaj, with notes on such as have been introduced 

 into the zoological gardens of Europe. — Mr. Wilfred Powell 

 read some notes on the habits of the Mooroop [Cas»an'ns bennctti 

 of New Britain). 



Anthropological Institute, June 22. — Edward B. Tylor, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Mr Wilfred Powell exhibited 

 a collection of ethnological objects from New Britain and New 

 Ireland. Amongst them was a mask formed from a human 

 skull and a sling which was chiefly remarkable for its great 

 length. — Don Francisco P. Moreno exhibited two skulls from 

 Patagonia (Rio Negro). — Prof. W. H. P'lower, F.R.S., gave 

 the substance of a paper on a collection of crania from the Fiji 

 Islands. The two principal islands of this group are Viti Levu 

 and Vanua Levu ; until very recently |we have had no skulls 

 from either of these islands, all that have reached Europe having 

 come from one or other of the small Eastern Islands. There 

 has been for some time in the Museum of the Royal College of 

 Surgeons one skull obtained from the hospital at Hobart Town, 

 which was said to be Fijian, but this specimen is not at all 

 typical, but rather misleading in its characters. These skulls 

 (fourteen in number) were all foimd by the Baron Anatole von 

 Hiigel in the same cave in the Landongo district, quite the 

 southern end of Viti Levu. No skull has ever been brought 

 from the northern island, Vanua Levu. The most noticeable 



feature is the great similarity between the skulls ; in every 

 essential particular they ate precisely alike, proving that they 

 belong to a pure race. They are the longest and narrowest of 

 any known, the average cephalic index being 66 ; they are also 

 very high skulls. All these skulls are prognathous and 

 platyrhine, the alveolar index being 102 and the nasal index 57. 

 They are also mesosemes, having an orbital inr!ex of 85. A 

 great difference is seen between these skulls ani Samoan skull-, 

 and five skulls from Vanua ^^elava, where the two races are 

 brought into contact, show characters between these two 

 extremes : — 



Ai Ni Oi 



102 ... 57 ... 85 

 loi ... 50 ... 88 



9S ... 44 ... 92 



Meteorological Society, June 16.— Mr. G. J. Symons, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair.— T. W. Barry, M.D., A. W. 

 Martin, and C. E. Peek, were elected Fellows, and Seiior A. 

 Aguilar and Dr. H. H. Ilildebrandsson were elected honorary 

 members of the Society. — The follov\ ing papers were read : — 

 Ozone in nature, its relations, sources, and influences, &c., from 

 fifteen yeara' observations ashore and afloat under all condition, 

 of climate, by J. Mulvany, M.D., R.N. The meteorological 

 elements w ith which ozone is most intimat jly associated are such 

 as occa>ion high vapour tension and a high degree of saturations 

 therefore it is promoted by wind passing over a large aqueous 

 expanse and by heat producing rapid evaporation. Hence heat 

 if humid is no bar to atmospheric ozonisation, but no definite 

 relation exi-ts in the atmosphere between XhsX per sc and ozone ; 

 its relation to humidity is more definite and direct, but subject to 

 many exceptions ; in consequence of this relation it most abounds 

 where its chemical qualities render it most useful. It appears to 

 be formed in the upper strata and to be carried downwards by 

 rain-drops, whose office is vehicular. The spherules of W'ater 

 which constitute clouds, and have their origin in radiation and 

 condensation, have a similar office. Ozone does not appear to 

 diffuse readily downwards, so that when the lower strata are 

 robbed of ozone by jungle, &c., a considerable difference in the 

 ozonic condition close to and at 170 feet above the surface may 

 exist. The author is of opinion that no disease can be clearly 

 traced to ozone as met with in the atmosiihere. — The average 

 height of the barometer in London, by Henry Storks Eaton, 

 M.A., F.M.S. — Note on a waterspout observed at MorantCays, 

 Jamaica, March 23, 18S0, by Lieut. Alfred Carpenter, R.N., 

 F.M.S. — Account of a balloon ascent from Lewes in a whirl- 

 wind on March 23, iSSo, by Capts. Jame; Templer and H. 

 Elsdale. — Results of meteorological observations made at 

 Stanley, Falkland Islands, 1875-77, by William Marriott, 

 F.M.S. — A new thermograph, by William David Bowkett. — 

 The winter climate of Davos, by C. T. Williams, M.D., 

 F.M.S. Among the high altitude sanitaria of Europe, Davos at 

 present enjoys the greatest reputation, partly on account of 

 its easy accessibility, and partly on account of certain pecu- 

 liarities of position and shelter. The valley of Davos lies 

 in the canton of the Grisons, between the valleys of the 

 Lower Rhine and the Upper Engadine. The valley runs from 

 N.N.W. to S..S.E. for about ten miles in length, with an 

 average breadth of about a third of a mile, being for the most 

 part of this extent a plain gently sloping towards the north, and 

 varying in elevation from 5,400 to 4,500 feet. Davos Platz is 

 5,105 feet above the sea level. The author discusses the obser- 

 vations made during the four winters of 1S76-7 to 1879-80. The 

 pecuhar effects of Davos w-inter climate seem to depend on (i) 

 the rarefaction of the atmosphere ; (2) its diyness ; (3) the 

 absence of strong currents, owing partly to shelter and partly to 

 the uniform layer of snow spread around ; and (4) the large 

 percentage of the direct solar rays reaching the locality, owing to 

 rarefaction of the air, and also the considerable amount of heat 

 reflected from the extensive snow plain in front of the village of 

 Davos Platz. 



Royal Microscopical Society, June 9. — Dr. Braithwaite, 

 vice-president, in the chair. — The following papers were read : — 

 On the relative visibility of minute structures in solutions of 

 phosphorus, sulphur, &c., by Mr. Stephenson. — On the life- 

 history of the DiatomaceK, illustrated by a large number of 

 coloured drawings, by Prof. Hamilton L. Smith. — On a 

 parabolised gas slide, by Dr. Edmunds. — On the structure and 

 functions of scale leaves of Latltrea squamaria, by Mr. Gilbert. — 

 On the interference-phenomena produced by luminous points, by 



