so8 



NA TURE 



[September 13, 1906 



oblique, obscurely lobed cotyledons, which are epig^ous in 

 germination, and a long ascending radicle applied to the 

 edges of the cotyledons. 



So far as at present known Juliania is confined to 

 Mexico, and the various species occur in isolated localities 

 between about 17° 40' and 23° N. lat., and 97° and 104° 

 yS! . long., and at altitudes of about 1500 feet to 5500 feet. 



The habitat of the Peruvian Orthopterygium Huaucui 

 is 2000 miles distant from the nearest locality of any species 

 of Juliania. The exact position of the only place in which 

 it has been found cannot be given, but it is in the Province 

 of Canta, in the Department of Lima, between 11° and 

 12° S. lat. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, Scpiember 3. — M. A. Chauveau 

 in the chair. — Observations of the Kopff comet made with 

 the bent equatorial at the .Algiers Observatory : M. F. Sy. 

 Details of observations made on August 24 and 25. The 

 comet appeared as a round nebulosity, with a nucleus, the 

 lustre of which was comparable to a star of the twelfth 

 magnitude. — Observations of the Kopff comet (19060) made 

 with the bent equatorial (32 cm.) of the Lyons Observatory : 

 J. Guillaume. Results for six nights, August 26-31. — The 

 growth of multiform functions : Georges Remoundos. — 

 Description of an autocollimator level with a mercury 

 horizon : MM. Claude and Driencourt. The description 

 is accompanied with a diagram of the apparatus, for which 

 a greatly increased accuracy is claimed. — The determin- 

 ation of the melting points of the alloys of aluminium with 

 lead and bismuth by means of thermoelectric pyrometers : 

 H. Pecheux. The melting points were studied by two 

 couples, platinum 1 10 per cent, platinum-iridium and 

 nickel! copper. The temperatures given by each couple for 

 eight alloys are stated, and the agreement is sufficiently 

 good for the author to suggest that the nickel-copper coupje 

 may render good service for commercial uses. — The action 

 of nascent hypoiodous acid on unsaturated acids. lodo- 

 lactones : J. Bougault. — Starchy material studied with the 

 aid of our knowledge of the colloidal state : G. Malfitano. 

 — The isomorphism of northupite with tychite : A. 

 de Schulten. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, [uly 25. — Mr. Thomas* Siee', pre.'^ident, 

 in the chair. — The botany of north-eastern New South 

 Wales : F. Turnef. The paper gives a general account of 

 the indigenous vegetation and of the exotic weeds of the 

 country comprised between the New South Wales-Queens- 

 land border and 32° S. lat. ; the S. Pacific on the east, 

 and 152° 20' or 151° E. long. From a botanical point of 

 view, the region in question is one of the most fertile and 

 interesting sections of country in Australia, and a census 

 of its semi-tropical flora is estimated to comprehend 734 

 genera and 1767 species. — A review of the New South 

 Wales species of Halorrhagacese, as described in Prof. 

 A. K. Schindler's monograph (1905), with the description 

 of a new species : J. H. Maiden and E. Betche. The 

 paper contains a list of New South Wales species of 

 Halorrhagace;E, showing the important changes made by 

 Prof. Schindler, and gives description of a new species, 

 H. Tjertucosa, from Woodburn, Richmond River, the specific 

 name being given from the character of the fruit. Its 

 nearest ally in Schindler's classification is H. tenuis, and 

 in Bentham's H. micrantha, R.Br. — Notes on the hymeno- 

 pterous genus Megalyra, with descriptions of new species : 

 W. W. Frogrgratt. A general account of the members of 

 this curious genus of parasitic Hymenoptera is given, with 

 notes on the species previously described, their general 

 structure, and the longicorn beetles the larvae of which they 

 parasitise. Eight new species are added to the seven 

 previously described from .Australia. — Description of a new 

 tick of the family Argasidae : W. W. Frogrgratt. The 

 common " fowl-tick," Argas americanus, has been 

 acclimatised in Australia for more than twenty years. An 

 indigenous species is now described. This Argasid is 

 common in the clay nests of the fairy martin, Peirochclidon 

 (Lagenoplastes) arid, and is usually to be found under the 

 lining of feathers and grass resting against the clay in the 

 nests containing the young birds, and for some time after 

 the nestlings have flown. — The life-history of testes hda : 

 R. J. Tillyard. The species is shown to be double- 



NO. 1924, VOL. 74I 



brooded. The male assists the female in the act of ovi- 

 position, seizing her round the neck. The method of 

 oviposition is discussed, and various statements that have 

 been made by different entomologists from time to time are 

 shown to differ from the results of observations on this 

 species. 



Calcutta. 

 Asiatic Society of Btngal, August i. — Bibliomancy, 

 divination, superstitions amongst the Persians : Lieut. - 

 Colonel D. C. Phillott. — Gentiana Hiigelii, Griseb., re- 

 described : Dr. Otto Stapf. In 1835 Baron Karl von 

 Hiigel collected this gentian in Kashmir, and the specimens 

 are preserved at Vienna. They have never been examined 

 by writers on Indian gentians, and because Grisebach did 

 not describe them quite accurately the species has never 

 been fully understood. A new description is therefore 

 necessary, and is offered with illustrations. — Swertia 

 angustifolia, Ham., and its allies : I. H. Burkill. An 

 account of Swertia angustifolia, with piilchella and afjinis, 

 S. corymbosa, S. zeylanica, and the whole of their close 

 alliance, based on an examination of all the material avail- 

 able at the herbaria at Kew, at the Natural History 

 Museum, South Kensington, at the Jardin des Plantes, 

 Paris, and at Shibpur, Saharanpur, Madras, and 

 Peradeniya, Ceylon. Some of the species defined are used 

 medicinally for the true Chiretta. — Notes on some rare and 

 interesting insects added to the Indian Museum collection 

 during the year 1905-6 : C. A. Paiva. Notes on speci- 

 mens, chiefly of Hymenoptera and Hemiptera, collected in 

 Calcutta and the Darjiling and Purneah districts, together 

 with a list of the Hymenoptera received from the Seistan 

 Boundary Commission. — Bulbophyllum Burkilli : a hitherto 

 undescribed species from Burma : Captain A. T. Gagre. 

 A description of a new Bulbophyllum from the Burmo- 

 Siamese frontier, Tenasserim, which has flowered in the 

 Royal Botanic Garden, Shibpur. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Phenomenon of " Dead-Water." By Sir 



W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S 485 



Segregation as a Factor in Evolution. By J. A. T, 486 



Entomological Studies. By F. M 487 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Martin-Duncan : " Insect Pests of the Farm and 



Garden" 488 



Alexander : " Elementary Electrical Engineeiing in 



Theory and Practice "... . . 488 



'* Imnianuel Kants Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der 



Sitten" 488 



Letters to the Editor:- 



The Mixed Transformation of Lagrange's Equations. 



Prof. T. Levi-Civita ; A. B. Basset, K.R.S. 48S 

 The alleged Triassic Foraminifera of Chellaston, near 



Derby.— Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole 489 



While- and Brown-shelled E^jg-;. — L. M. F. . , 489 

 Flashlight Photographs of Wild Animals. {Illus- 

 trated.) By R. L 4S9 



A Search for a Buried Meteorite. By L. Fletcher, 



F.R.S 490 



Prof. H. Marshall Ward, F.R.S. By Prof. S. H. 



Vines, F.R.S 493 



Charles Baron Clarke, F.R.S 495 



Notes 496 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Holmes's Comet (1906/} 499 



Finlay's Comet (19061/) . . 499 



Comet igo6t' (Kopff) 499 



The Planet Mercury 499 



Observations of Satellites 499 



Engineering at the British Association. ByT. H. B. 500 

 Education at the British Association. By Hugh 



Richardson 501 



International Testing Congress 503 



The Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign. By Dr. R. 



Fielding-Ould 503 



Atmospheric Electricity in Algeria. By Dr. C. 



Chree, F.R.S 505 



University and Educational Intelligence 505 



Societies and Academies 506 



