I50 



NA TURE 



[December 2, 1909 



Cretaceous bed of the Bushman's River, which have 

 hitherto been placed under Anthodon, are lield to be dino- 

 saurian, and for them the new name Palacoscinctis 

 africaiius is proposed. — L. Peringuey and E. J. Phillips ; 

 Notes on a zoological and botanical collections from the 

 group of islands of Tristan d'Acunha, made by Mr. J. C. 

 Keytel, 1908-1909. The botanical specimens came from 

 Tristan only, while a few birds were obtained from 

 Nightingale Island ; the remainder, however, was collected 

 at Tristan itself. Mr. Keytel collected seven of the twenty 

 species endemic to the island, as well as sixteen plants 

 that have been introduced within the last thirty years, as 

 no mention is made of them by Moseley, of the Challenger 

 e.xpedition ; among the birds was found a cuckoo, a native 

 of South .A.merica, Coccyzus melanocoryphus. .Among the 

 insects, all but one are introductions, mainly from the 

 Cape, but also from extreme South America. The Cape 

 crawfish, Jasiis lalandei, occurs also at Tristan, as well 

 as several fishes found on the Cape Colony coast. — A. W. 

 Roberts : Absorption of light by the atnnosphere. The 

 investigation was undertaken for the purpose of obtaining 

 a value of the coefificient of absorption for South Africa. 

 Taking the means of all the results, Dr. Roberts obtains 

 as the value of the coefficient of atmospheric absorption 

 o'"2o, which, interpreted into other terms, means that 

 17 per cent, of all rays that strike the atmosphere per- 

 pendicularly are absorbed by the atmosphere. — L. 

 Peringruey : The age of Stone (Palaeolithic) in the 

 Drakenstein Valley and the manner in which the imple- 

 ments were made. A large collection of implements of a 

 huge size were exhibited. It was found possible from the 

 material found in that valley to reconstruct the artificial 

 working of those implements from the fractured, water- 

 worn quartzite boulder to implements of a finish equal to 

 the best Acheulean. The division of Chellean, Acheulean, 

 Mousterian, cannot be adopted in South .Africa, as the 

 three typical forms were found together and in all stages 

 of finish. The extreme antiquity of the implements shown 

 was demonstrated by the well-nigh disintegrating sandstone 

 of which they are made, as well as by the abraded edges 

 of many of these palaaoliths. In fact, some that had been 

 long_ exposed seem to be preserved by the patina they 

 acquired through the exposure. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDAY, December 2. 



RoNTGEN Society, at 8.15.— Some Effects of Electrical Discharges on 

 Photographic Plates : Prof. A. W. Porter. 



LiNNEAN Society, at 8.— Nudibranchs from the Indian Ocean : Sir Chas. 

 Eliot, K.C.M.G.— Trichopleia von Mr. Huah Scott, auf den Seychellen 

 gesammelt : Dr. Oeorg Ulmer.— Report on the Brachiopoda obtained 

 from the Indian Ocean by the Sealark Expedition, 1905 : Dr. W. H. 

 Dall.— Narrative of the Stalark Expedition, Part III. : Prof. J. Stanley 

 Gardiner, F.RS.. and others. 



Society of Dyers and Coi.ourists. at 8.— The Testing of Tanning 

 Materials from a Dyer's Standpoint : W. P. Dreaper.— Methods of Testing 

 Dyes for Fastness : Dr. E. Feilmann.— Some Problems in Leather Dye- 

 ing : M. C. Lamb.— The Purchase and Testing of Dyestiiffs : H. P. 

 Pearson. 



FRIDAY, December 3. 



Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8.— The Design of Generating 

 Stations : G. Ineram. 



Institution of Mechanical Engineers, at %.— Resumed discussion : 

 An Internal-combustion Pump, and other Applications of a New Princi- 

 ple : H. A. Humphrey. 



Geologists' Association, at S.— The Volcanic and Alpine Regions of 

 New Zealand : A. E. Kitson. 



SATURDAY, December 4. 

 Essex Field Club, at 6 (at Essex Museum of Natural History, Strat- 

 ford).— Surface Tension and its Relation to Life at the Surface of Water : 

 S. G. Starling and D. J. Scourfield. 



MONDAY, December 6. 

 Aristotelian Society, at 8,— The Subject-matter of Psychology ; G. E. 



Moore and G. Dawes Hicks. 

 Royal Society of Arts, at 8.— Aeronautics : C. C. Turner. 

 Society of Chemical Industry, at 8.— The Artificial Silk Industry : 



W. P. Dreaper. 

 ■Victoria Institute, at 4.30.— The Ivory Islands of the Arctic Ocean : 



Rev. D. Gath Whitley. 



TUESDAY, December 7. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, at 8.— Marine Propulsion by Electric 

 Motors H. A. Mavor. 



WEDNESDAY, Decem 

 ' Arts, at 8.— The ] 



of Plumage Birds : 



NO. 2092, VOL. 82] 



THURSDAY, December 9. 



Royal Society, at ^.^o.— Probable Papers: The Hexosephosphate formed 

 by Yeast-iuice from Hexose and Phosphate : W. J. Young.— On the 

 Presence of Ha;magglutinins, Haem-opsonins, and Hjemolysins in the 

 Blood obtained from Infeciious and Non-infectious Diseases in Man (Thi-d 

 Report): L. S. Dudgeon and H. A. F. Wilson.— Gametogenesis of the 

 GM-^y Neurotei-us letiticularis (Spathegaster baccartiiii) : L. Doncaster. 

 — Preliminary Note upon the Cell Lamination of the Cerebral Cortex of 

 Echidna, with an Examination of the Fibres in the Cranial Nerves: 

 Dr. E. Schuster — Cortical Lamination and Localisation in the Brain of 

 the Marmoset: Dr. F. W. Mott, F.R.S., Dr. E. Schuster, and Prof 

 W. D. Halliburton, F.R.S.— The Caudal Fin of Fishes (Preliminary 

 Paper): R. H. Whitehouse.— Some Experiments with ihe Venom of 

 Causus rhoinbeatus-. H. E. Arbuckle.— On the Comparative Action of 

 Stovaine and Cocaine as measured by their Direct Effects upon the 

 Contractivity of Isolated Muscle: Dr. V. H. Veley, F.R.S., and Dr. 

 A. D.Waller, F.R.S.— A Critical Study of Spectral .Series. Part 1., 

 The Alkalies, H and He: Prof- W. M. Hicks, F.R.S.— On the Distri- 

 bution of the Ri.ntgen Rays from a Focus Bulb : G. W. C. Kaye.— 

 On the Nature of the lonisation of a Molecule by an n Particle : R. D. 

 Kleeman. -Conduction of Heat through Rarefied Gases: F. Soddy and 

 A. J. Berry. — Harmonic 1 idal Constants for Certain Chinese and New 

 Zealand Ports : T. Wright. 



Mathematical Society, at 5.30.— Exhibition of an Instrument for Solv- 

 ing Cubic Equations: T. H. Elakesley. — The Connection between the 

 Theories of the Singularities of Surfaces and Double Refraction : A. B. 

 Bas.set. — On the Representation of a Group of Finite Order as a Group 

 of Linear Substitutions wilh Rational Coefficients: Prof W. Burnside.— 

 of the Equations of Four Quadric .Surfaces : A. L. Dixon. 

 Electrical Engineers, at 8.— Notes on Methods and 

 e German Electrical Industry: L. J. Lepine and A. R. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30. — The Punjab ; Sir Ja 



FRIDAY, December 10. 

 Physical Society, at 8.— Annual Exhibition. 



Wils. 



Soci 



Malacological Society, at 



Genus Humphreyia : G. A. Si 



DilTerences between the Gem 



A New Mexican Genus of PI. 



on a Collection of Terrestrial Land Shells from Angol; 

 of New Species : H. B. Preston.— Notes on the Gel 

 Ponsonby. 



Note on the very young Stage of the 



1. — A Further Note on the Anatomical 



Cyprica and Trivia : H. O. N. Shaw.— 



Prof. H. A. Pilsbry.—Notes 



^ith Description 



Libera: J. H. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



John Dee. By Sir Edward Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. . 121 



The Precious Metals. By W. G 122 



Flower Culture 123 



British Cattle 124 



Geographical Manuals and Guides. By O. J. R. H. 125 

 Our Book Shelf:— 



Kallance : " Weather Indicator " 126 



White : "Science and Singing." — J. G. M 126 



Kirby : " Butteiflies and Moths of the United 



Kingdom 126 



Letters to the Editor : — 



A New Oceanographical Expedition. — J. Y. 



Buchanan, F.R.S 127 



Gametogenesis of the Sawfly Neniatus ribesii. A 



Correction. — Leonard Doncaster 127 



Are the Senses ever Vicarious? — George Irons 



Walker; Prof. John G. McKendrick, F.R.S. 127 

 Movements of the Red Spot Hollow on Jupiter. — 



Scriven Bolton 128 



Secondary Kathode Rays. — Charlton D. Cooksey . 128 

 An International Map of the World. By Sir 



Duncan A. Johnston, K.C.M.G 128 



Tuberculosis among the Indians of North America. 



(Illuslralcd.) 130 



Low-Temperature Research at the Royal Insti- 

 tution 131 



Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Society .... 131 



Notes 135 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in December 140 



Halley's Comet, igogc 140 



Observations of Mars 140 



Perrine's Comet, igog/j 140 



The Design of Spectrographs 140 



The Astronomical Society of Wales 140 



British Astronomical Association I40 



Researches in Radio-telegraphy. (IlliislrateJ.) By 



Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S 141 



Two Reports on Marine Investigations 145 



University and Educational Intelligence 145 



Societies and Academies 146 



Diary of Societies 150 



