Sept. 2, 1880] 



NA TURE 



431 



limbs where it is finally allowed full play, in order to solve with 

 the trunk, to the satisfaction of the writer at least, the riddle of 

 the origin of the group. It seems hnrdly credible that a school 

 which boasts for its very creed a belief in nothing which is not 

 warranted by common sense should descend to such trifling. 



The time for genealogical trees is passed ; its futility can, 

 perhaps, best be shown by a simple calculation, which will 

 point out at a glance what these scientific arboriculturists are 

 attempting. Let us take, for instance, tlie ten most character- 

 istic features of Echini. The number of possible combinations 

 which can be produced from them is so great that it would take 

 no less than twenty years, at the rate of one new combination a 

 minute for ten hours a day, to pass them in review. Remember- 

 ing now that eacli one of these points of stiiicture is itself 

 undergoing constant modifications, we may get some idea of the 

 nature of the problem we are attempting to solve, when seeking 

 to trace the genealogy as understood by the makers of genea- 

 logical trees. On the other hand, in spite of the millions of 

 possible combinations which these ten characters may assume 

 when affecting not simply a single combination, but all the 

 combinations which might arise from their extending over 

 several hundred species, we yet find that the combinations whicli 

 actually exist — tho.=e which leave their traces as fossils — fall 

 immensely short of the possible number. We have, as I have 

 stated, not more than twenty-three hundred species actually 

 representing for the Echini the results of these endless combina- 

 tions. Is it astonishing, therefore, that we should fail to 

 discover the sequence of the genera, even if the genera, as is so 

 often the case, represent, as it were, fixed embryonic stages of 

 some Sea-urchin of the present day ? In fact, does not the very 

 history of the fossils themselves show that we cannot expect 

 this? Each fossil species, during its development, must have 

 passed through stages analogous to those gone through by the 

 Echini of the present day. Each one of these stages at every 

 moment represents one of the possible combinations, and those 

 which are actually preserved correspond only to the particular 

 period and the special combination which any Sea-urchin has 

 reached. The?e stages are the trae missing links, which we 

 can no more expect to find preserved than we can expect to find 

 a record of the actual embryonic development of the species 

 of the present day without direct observation at the time. The 

 actual number of species in any one group must always fall far 

 short of the possible number, and for this reason it is out of the 

 question for us to attempt the solution of the problem of 

 derivation, or to hope for any solution beyond one witliin the 

 most indefinite limits of correctness. If, when we take one of 

 the most limited of the groups of the animal kingdom, we find 

 ourselves engaged in a hopeless task, what must be the prospect 

 should we attack the problem of other classes or groups of the 

 animal kingdom, where the species run into the thousands, 

 while they number only tens in the case we have attempted 

 to follow out? Shall we say " ignorabimus " or "impavidi 

 progrediamus " valiantly to chase a phantom we can never hope 

 to seize ? 



NOTES 



The Second International Geological Congress will be held at 

 Bologna in September, 1S81. It is proposed to award a prize 

 of 5,000 francs for the best international scale of colours and 

 conventional signs for the graphic representation of formations 

 on geological maps and sections. Each scale should be accom- 

 panied by an explanatory memoir and a sufficient number of 

 maps and sections relative to regions of different geological 

 characters ; for the memoirs the French language is recom- 

 mended. The names of the competitors should be inclosed in 

 sealed envelopes, on which should be a motto. The scales and 

 memoirs should be addressed, before the end of May, 1881, to 

 the President of the Committee, Signor J. Capellini, 65, Via 

 Zamboni, Bologna. 



"The Official Guide and Handbook to Sw.insea and its 

 District," prepared at the request of the Local Committee by 

 Mr. S. C. Gamwell, is a really useful little work, which must 

 prove of permanent value as a guide to Swansea. It contains 

 much carefully compiled information on the History and 

 Antiquities of Swansea, its literary and scientific, educational 



and other institutions, industries, places of interest in and around 

 the town, geology of the district, paleontology, and natural 

 history. A considerable amount of space is appropriately 

 devoted to the scientific aspects of the district, the information 

 given is very full, and we believe trustworthy. An excellent 

 map is prefixed, and the work as a whole is creditable to the 

 Local Committee and to the author. 



On Sunday a statue of Denis Papin was unveiled at Blois, 

 where he was born in 1647. 



The late Mungo Ponton, W.S., Fellow of the Royal Society 

 of Edinburgh, whose death was recently announced, Mas known 

 as the discoverer of the peculiar eft'ect of light on gelatine when 

 treated with the bichromates, which was afterwards practically 

 applied in the autotype process. He obtained the silver medal 

 from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1838 for "model and 

 description of improved electric telegraph." He was the first 

 who employed the photographic method for registering automati- 

 cally the fluctuations in thermometers and other instruments, and 

 for this service he received also the silver medal of the same 

 society in 1S45. Several papers of his appeared in the new 

 Philosophical Journal and in the Quarterly Journal of Science. 



The Fifth Annual General Meeting of the Mineralogical 

 Society of Great Britain and Ireland was held at Swansea on 

 August 27, Mr. Jas. S. Merry, F.C.S., in the chair. A favour- 

 able report was presented by the Council and adopted by the 

 meeting. The election of the following new members was 

 announced : — Dr. Jas. Hector, F.R.S., of New Zealand, Mr. 

 Thos. Stewart of Glasgow, Rev. R. Graham, LL.D. , of Errol, 

 Perthshire ; Mr. Jos. Gill of Leadhills, and Rev. Geo. Gordon, 

 LL.D., of Elgin. The following papers were read and dis- 

 cussed : — " On the Chemical 1 ormula of Epidote," by M. 

 I'Abbe Renard ; "On Certain Crystallised Furnace-products," 

 by Wm. TerriU, F.C.S.; "On the Serpentine and Horn- 

 blendic, and Schistose Rocks of Porthalla in Cornwall," by 

 H. Collins. 



On the evening of July 20, about half-past eight o'clock, a 

 remarl;able meteor, said to have resembled a comet, apparently 

 about twenty yards in length, was observed at Vizimgaum and 

 other places in India, traversing the sky from south to north, 

 and remaining visible for about three-quarters of a minute, 

 during which time the whole sky and country were brilliantly 

 illuminated. The meteor then burst, and some time afterwards 

 a loud sound like distant thunder, which lasted two minutes, was 

 heard. 



The rainfall in Southern China appears to have been abnor- 

 mally large in the early part of this summer, for we learn from 

 \}ae. Daily Press of Hongkong that the rainfall in that colony 

 during the month of June was no less than 2S'o6 inches, com- 

 pared with ii '32 inches in June, 1879, I5'36 inches in Jime, 

 187S, and 9-37 inches in June, 1S77. It is stated that so large 

 a rainfall as we have mentioned has never before been registered 

 in Hongkong. 



The Government printer at Brisbane has published three valu 

 able Reports, by Mr. Robert L. Jack, the Geological Surveyor 

 of Nortliern Queensland, who during the last few years has done 

 excellent sen-ice in the cause of both geography and geology in 

 Cape York Peninsula. The first of these Reports deals with 

 the geology and mineral resources of the district between Charters 

 Towers gold-fields and the coast, and is illustrated with a map 

 and several woodcuts taken from photographs, while the second 

 is a preliminary Report on the geological features of part of the 

 coast range between the Dalrymple and Charters Towers roads' 

 The third Report treats of the important Bowen River coal-field. 

 This is accompanied by a map and some large and interesting 

 woodcuts. 



