NA TURE 



[May .3, 1906 



ment commenced some years ago, which has given interest- 

 ing results. The removal of mussels from overcrowded 

 beds and the laying down of new grounds and the re- 

 stocking of old ones has proved eminently successful, and 

 the increased rate of growth of transplanted individuals is 

 very marked. 



From the report on the sea-fish hatching at Piel we 

 learn that more than a million plaice larva? and nearly 

 twelve million flounder larvao were liberated during the 

 breeding season, and a similar report upon the sea-fish 

 hatching at Port Erin shows that five million plaice larva; 

 were liberated off the Isle of Man, but we look in vain 

 for any word which will show us that the liberation of 

 these fry during several years has produced any effect upon 

 the fisheries of the district. 



An interesting paper upon trawling observations, by Mr. 

 James Johnstone, contains a section upon the food of plaice, 

 dabs, and other fishes, and we gather that the results so 

 far obtained tend to show that the plaice and the dab are 

 not competitors for food, although living upon the same 

 ground ; that whereas the former feed chiefly upon molluscs, 

 the latter prefer Ophiurids and Crustacea, although they 

 are less particular as to the nature of their food than are 

 the plaice. Mr. Todd's observations as to the food of these 

 species in the North .Sea seem to bear out the omnivorous 

 tendency of the dab, but they also seem to show that the 

 chief food of both species in that region consists of 

 molluscs. 



Mr. Johnstone also contributes a paper on the marked 

 fish experiments, in which he sets out the migrations of 

 the plaice in the district, as shown by the re-capture of 

 marked specimens. He finds that the fish tend to move 

 along the shore lines during the winter months, and to 

 migrate off-shore during the summer months, which facts 

 appear to agree with the results so far determined as to 

 the migrations of this species in the North Sea. 



Mr. Andrew Scott's report on the tow-nettings for the 

 year contains a large amount of material, but the author 

 has not drawn conclusions therefrom, so that the paper is 

 somewhat heavy reading. 



Prof. Herdman's paper upon the oligodynamic action of 

 copper, dealing with the possibilities of purifying infected 

 shell-fish by immersion in distilled water which has been 

 in contact with copper-foil, is extremely interesting, but is 

 in the nature of a preliminary statement, as he is about 

 to investigate the whole question in conjunction with Prof. 

 B. Moore. 



The volume is illustrated, including a useful series of 

 plates of copepods, trematodes, &c., in connection with 

 Mr. Andrew Scott's " Faunistic Notes." 



Frank Balfour Browne. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF MENTAL 

 ACTIONS. 

 T^HE most recent number of the Bcitrage zur Psychologic 

 ^ utid Philosophic (Band i.. Heft 4) contains two 

 articles, one by the editor. Prof. Martius, on the theory 

 of the Influence exerted on pulse and respiration by mental 

 stimuli, while the other, by Mr. C. Minnemann, discusses 

 pulse and respiration as studied in the subjects of genuine, 

 first-hand emotion. Prof. Martius starts with pointing out 

 the contradictory opinions held by other investigators re- 

 garding the effect of attention, of joyful or painful 

 emotions on pulse and respiration. This diversity he re- 

 gards as partly due to the neglect of several precautions, 

 and he proceeds to study, amongst other points, those 

 fluctuations of the pulse which are in direct correspondence 

 with respiration periods. He then examines the plethys- 

 mographic method, and comes to the conclusion that 

 variations of volume registered by it are partly due to 

 movements of the limb under investigation, and that the 

 method cannot be used at present to secure any definite 

 results regarding the circulation of the blood. 



Elaborate details and analyses are next given of his 

 experiments on five human subjects ; they are classed 

 thus: — (i) effects on the pulse of artificial alterations in 

 respiration (eg. deepening, acceleration, retardation of 

 breathing) ; (2) effects of bodily activity on pulse and 

 respiration ; (3) effects of mental activity : (4) effects of 



NO. 1905, VOL. 74] 



bodily pain ; (5) effects of taste and smell (Vyhether pleasant 

 or unpleasant ; (6) effects of moods (of joy and depression) 

 artificially induced, e.g. by hearing witty stories, recalling 

 the contents of certain poems, or the like. 



With regard to many points Prof. Martius thinks that 

 definite conclusions are at present impossible ; all that he re- 

 gards as established is the presence of a series of types of 

 general emotional or " affective " states, and especially the 

 distinction of the two types of activity artd rest. But the 

 methods described are insufficient to characterise definitely 

 for us special emotions like those of fear or sympathy. 

 It seems established, too,- that joy and sorrow do not 

 possess definite complexes of symptoms by vifhich they 

 can be separated from one another, an^ further, bodily 

 and mental activity produce the same appearances. Hence 

 while the will and the intellect are not to be regarded as 

 one, they cannot be separated, and we can never analyse 

 the products of intellect merely into sensations and feel- 

 ings. The other article follows the same lines and reaches 

 a similarly safe conclusion, that we can read out of the 

 experiment curves nothing but the most general character- 

 istics of emotional states, viz. excitement or repression. 



DISCOVERY OF SEVEN THOUSAND ROMAN 



COINS. 

 A COARSE earthenware jar containing upwards of 

 ■^ seven thousand " third brass " Roman coins was 

 recently unearthed by the ploughshare on the farm of Mrs. 

 Wheatley, Stanley, near Wakefield. In very early times 

 the bed of the river Calder, which has a remarkable sweep 

 at this point, was deepened by the ancient Britons or 

 Romans, and an embankment made with the sand ; in this 

 the jar, with its contents, was deposited 1500 years ago. 



The coins all belong to the Constantinian group ; to 

 Constantine the Great, to his mother Helena, his step- 

 mother Theodora, his four sons, Crispus, Constantine, 

 Constantius, ojnd Constans, Licinius his brother-in-law, 

 with his wife Constantina and their son Licinius, and to 

 Delmatius. The reverses are chiefly of the " Gloria 

 Exercitus " type. 



One-half, of nearly five thousand coins, which I have 

 carefully examined is, in about equal quantities, of the 

 " Urbs Roma " t^'pe, with wolf and twins on the reverse, 

 and " Constantinopolis," with a Victory on the reverse 

 with spear and shield, standing on the prow of a vessel ; 

 these latter were struck to commemorate the founding of 

 Constantinople a.d. 330. 1 here are twelve represented of 

 the twenty-four mints of issue known to us, among which 

 are Carthage, Alexandria, Antioch, Rome ; but most are 

 from Treves in Germany, the residence of the governor of 

 the west, Lyons, and Constantina, now Aries in France. 



Very few of them, if any, have ever been in circulation. 

 They are most likely a portion of a military chest con- 

 cealed during a threatened raid or invasion. It is remark- 

 able that ten or twelve years ago a find of seventeen 

 thousand was made in the Forest of Dean, covering the 

 same period, of exactly the same types, with a similar 

 redundancy of certain coins and a scarcity of others. ,\ 

 series of the Stanley coins has been presented to the 

 museum of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, 

 and are now on exhibition. Aquila Dodgson. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — The date of the fellowship examination in 

 chemistry at Merton College has been altered from 

 September 25 to September 18. Candidates are asked to 

 send their names to the Warden on or before September i, 

 and to call on him on September 17, by which date they 

 should submit to him any dissertations or papers, or 

 evidence of research they have done. 



During the vacancy of the Linacre chair of comparative 

 anatomy, Mr. Edwin S. Goodrich, fellow of Merton 

 College, has been appointed to act as deputy-professor. 



New College has resolved to raise the college contribu- 

 tion to the stipend of the Wykeham professor of physics 

 to 650/. a year, thereby increasing the total income of the 

 professorship to 800/. a year. - 



