528 



NATURE 



\_Scpt. 30, 1880 



As confirmatory of Darwin's theory of descent, they pnssess a 

 vahie neither greater nor less than that of all other animal 

 classes. The lecturer's forthcoming work on the Foraminifera of 

 Mauritius will contain much detailed evidence in support of his 

 views. 



In the discussion vyhich followed, Heir Wacker suggested that 

 the point of difference between Carpenter and Moebius lay in tlie 

 fad that Carpenter had regard to the sarcode rather than to the 

 skeleton, to which latter Moebius attached the greater import- 

 ance. 



The second paper was given by Dr. Gabriel, whose subject 

 was " The Classification of the Gregarince." He objected to 

 Stein's classification, hitherto the sole and undisputed one, on 

 the grounds that it no longer fully represented the existing state 

 of our knowledge. This view he w'as able to support, which he 

 did at some length, and submitted to his hearers a new classifica- 

 tion of his own. 



In the Section for Anatomy and Physiology Prof. Tauber of 

 Jena lectured upon "Two New Anesthetics," with which he 

 had experimented upon frogs, rabbits, and dogs. Both anaes- 

 thetics produced a scarcely appreciable change in the pulse and 

 respiration, on which account they might be of great value for 

 surgery. And in demonstration of their action Dr. Tauber pro- 

 ceeded to experiment upon a pigeon and a rabbit. 



On Tuesday, September 21, at the second general sitting, 

 Prof. Moebius of Kiel read a paper "On the Food of Marine 

 Animals." In the sea therefore is generated by far the greater 

 number of animal types, and these again in quantity and in bulk 

 are throughout regulated by the existing supply of noiu'ishment. 

 This in its turn depends upon the organic matter of plants, 

 which in the sea also supply nourishment to its inhabitants. In 

 our own seas, the North Sea and the Baltic, marine grasses are 

 discoverable near the coast, while twenty to fifty metres lower 

 are other kinds of plants ; deeper still, if we search, we shall 

 find few or none. Loose strips of plants that have been torn 

 away from their roots have been brought up from a depth of 

 some hundred metres ; in the Baltic and the North Sea these 

 form a dark, soft, spongy mass. Nothing living is visible in 

 this if placed in a tub ; but if strained through a sieve, tiny 

 mussels, snails, and Crustacea become visible. In the depths of 

 the sea-mud lining the bottom are countless worms, mussels, and 

 little animals which feed upon the spongy mass. Flounders 

 and other fish penetrate into these mud-depths and devour the 

 animals that are there. Where the sea-bottom however is 

 formed of soft clay, nothing beyond a few worms here and there 

 will be found. Thus in the deeper portions of the Mediterra- 

 nean, otherwise so rich in anim.al life, nothing at all is discover- 

 able. The Professor in the course of his remarks went on to 

 show that the supply of nourishment] to the inhabitants of the 

 sea was now and would be hereafter undiminished ; and thus 

 that the propagation of animal life in the sea would continue 

 unchecked, so long as the mighty ocean itself should last. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 Bulletin de VAcadcmie Royale des Sciences (de Belgique), No. 7. 

 — A Hyperoodon captured on the strand at Hillion (C6tes-du- 

 Nord, France) in December, 1S79, by M. van Beneden. — On 

 Mysticetes with short fins, from the sands in the neighbourhood 

 of Antwerp, by the same. — On determination of albuminoid 

 substances of the blood serum by circumpolarisation (modified 

 method of Hoppe Seyler), by M. Fredericq. — Contribution to a 

 study of the rSlc of insects in the pollinisation of heterostylous 

 flowers (Primula elatior), by Mr, MacLeod. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, September 20. — M. Wurtz in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — On the odours 

 of Paris, by M. Sainte-Claire Deville. Pie analysed some of 

 the moist black earth exposed in a trench in the Rue .St. Jacques. 

 The amount of salts in the impregnating liquid indicates con- 

 siderable concentration (which can be easily explained). The 

 dust from horses' shoes and from wheels of vehicles is thought 

 to be the origin of sulphides and protoxide of iron, and of the 

 dark coloration. The escape of gas, estimated at about a tenth 

 of the gas circulating in the pipes, furnishes part of the sulphur, 

 the carbonated hydrogen and the coal-tar which abounds. 

 Through this escape the sub-soil is rendered wholesome (in 

 the author's opinion), and cannot exhale any dangerous odour. 

 There is a slight smell of sulphuretted hydrogen (not worse than 



that from sulphurous mineral waters), and a smell of healthy 

 empyreumatic products. — M. de Tchihatchef presented a work 

 of his on Spain, Algeria, and Tunis, but treating chiefly of 

 Algeria. Such questions as the material and moral results of 

 the annexation to France, the mode of action of the new 

 administrative and social institutions, the assimilation of the 

 Arab and the Christian elements, &c., are treated ; the author 

 has also studied the geology and botany of the country. — Ob- 

 servations of the new planet Coggia (287) at the Paris Observa- 

 tory (equatorial of the western tower), by M. Bigourdan. — 

 On a new experiment for showing the direction of the rotation 

 communicated by bodies to polarised light, by M. Govi. A 

 pure spectrum is produced with rectilinearly polarised light, and 

 a plate of rock crystal is interposed, giving a dark band ; also an 

 analyser. The spectrum and analyser have a joint movement of 

 rotation (one end of the spectrum being at tlie centre of the cuxle 

 of which the spectrum represents the radius). The dark band 

 moves along the spectrum (during rotation) one way or the other 

 according to the nature of the quartz plate (dextrogjTous or 

 Irevogyrous). If the motion be sufficiently rapid for the impres- 

 sion on the eye to be continuous, one may trace out in space, or 

 on a screen, opposite spirals. Curious variations are obtained 

 by interposing plates of mica, gypsum, &c. — .Study of telluric 

 lines of the solar spectrum (Nice Observatory), by M. Thollon. 

 With his jjowerful spectroscope, he has resolved the telluric 

 groups B, D, and a. of Angstrom into their simple elements, 

 separating these elements from each other, and from the other 

 metallic lines. — On the liquefaction of ozone and on its colour in 

 the gaseous state, by MM. Hautefeuille and Chappuis. They 

 passed some highly ozonised oxygen (prepared by their new process) 

 into a Cailletet apparatus. From ihe first strokes of the piston 

 the J^'capillary tube appeared azure blue. With several atmo- 

 spheres' pressure the gas became of an indigo blue, the mercury 

 meniscus looking steel blue through it. .Sudden liberation from 

 75 atm. produced a mist, indicating liquefaction (300 atm. were 

 necessary in the ca^e of oxygen). Ozone is a little less easy to 

 liquefy than carbonic acid. If the ozonised oxygen be not 

 compressed slowdy and in cold, the ozone is decomposed, giving 

 a strong detonation and a yellowish flash. Thus the mixture 

 contains an explosive gas. — On Brunton's tunnelling machine, 

 by M. Biver. This gives an account of results with the machine 

 as used in the lignite pits in the Fuveau Valley. It appears, 

 inter alia, that of 51 horse-power of the motor only I2"4 was 

 transmitted to the machine, 38'6 being lost. — Telescope with 

 double action for pointing long-range guns, by M. de Broca. — 

 On losses in manufacture of vinegar, by M. Garcin. 



CONTENTS Page 



Landslips , 505 



Arctic News 50S 



Rood's Birds OF Cornwall 307 



Deep-Sea Sounding and Dredging 508 



OuK Book Shelf :— 



Byerly's " Elements 06 the Differential Calculus, with Examples 



and Applications " 509 



Rice and Johnson's *' Elementary Treatise on the Dififerential 



Calculus, f uunded on the Method of Rates or Fluxions "... 509 



Stevenson's " Spirit-Gravities with Tables '* 509 



Letters to the Editor: — 



Supposed New Island in the Azores.— Prof. T. E. Thorpe, 



F.R.S. . 509 



Parthenogenesis in the Coleoptera. — Rev. J. A. Osborne . . . 509 



Observations of Aurorae on August 12 and 13. — Ralph Copeland 510 



Ice at High Temperatures. — Thos. Carnellev 511 



A Peat Bed in the Drift of Oldham— G. H. Morton 511 



Hardening of Steel. — H. J, Johnston-La vis 511 



Mosquitoes. — H. J. Johnston-Lavis .sii 



General Pitt Rivers' (Lane Fox) Anthropological Collection, 



II. (With lllustratious) 5" 



The Mason College, Birmingham 514 



The Proposed Lick Observatory 515 



The United States Weather Maps for October and Nove.mchr, 



1S78 516 



Notes 517 



Biological Notes: — 



Transverse Commissure in Arthropods 520 



The Hsmatopoetic Function 52° 



Development of Lepidosteus S^o 



Visceral Anatomy of Herring 520 



Monstrous Beetles 520 



Digestion in Plants S^l 



Stipules in Onagraciae S^' 



A New Green Ciliated Plant S^' 



Physical Notes S21 



On the Present State of Spectrum Analysis 5" 



Agricultural Chemistry, III. By J. H. Gilbert, Ph.D., F.R.S. . 523 



The German Association 527 



Scientific Serials 5^8 



Societies and Academies 528 



