June 29, 1905] 



NA TURE 



209 



with Osmi lamp, 1-5 watts per candle-power. — Fcry radiation 

 pyrometer : the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company. 

 By means of a concave mirror the image of a hot body or 

 of the inspection hole in a furnace wall is focused upon a 

 copper-constantan thermo-couple connected to a direct- 

 reading gah'anometer on the centigrade scale. The instru- 

 ment was shown working, being sighted upon a disc of 

 hot iron within an electrical resistance furnace. 



Drawings made from combined photographs of the solar 

 corona in 1898, 1900, and igoi : the Astronomer Royal. 

 In igoi a change in the corona on the west side appears 

 to have taken place in the interval (thirty-seven minutes) 

 between two photographs taken at different stations. The 

 drawings were by Mr. W. H. Wesley. — (i) Photographs, 

 maps, curves, and diagrams, in connection W'ith the more 

 recent researches on the astronomical significance of British 

 stone circles. (2) Contact positives showing some of the 

 results taken w-ith the .Solar Physics Observatory spectro- 

 heliograph. Also four enlarged pictures showing disc and 

 disc-and-limb photographs, and a photograph of the instru- 

 ment itself. (3) .A series of curves to illustrate the relation- 

 ship between the flow of the river Thames and pressure 

 and rainfall changes in Great Britain. The close associ- 

 ation between British pressure and the barometric see-saw 

 between the Indian and South American areas was also 

 indicated : Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., F.R.S. — .\ new 

 sundial that tells standard time, designed by Prof. .Albert 

 Crehore : Sir W. H. Preece, K.C.B., F.R.S. The gnomon 

 of the common form of dial is abandoned, and the shadow 

 of a small bead fixed on a wire is cast on the interior of 

 a true cylindrical surface, upon which figure-of-eight curves 

 are drawn marking' standard noon for each day of the 

 year. The cvlindrical surface is inclined so that its axis, 

 upon which the bead is fixed, is parallel to that of the 

 earth. It thus represents the latitude of the place. The 

 shadow of the bead travels across the cylindrical surface 

 parallel to. or on, one of the circles drawn thereon. 

 These circles represent days of the month. Each hour 

 described in the circle is always of the same length, and 

 a scale of minutes engraved on the cylinder enables true 

 mean time to be read off directly to a few seconds. 



Photographs illustrating the annual growth of a deer's 

 antlers ; Mr. H. Irving. The deer photographed was a 

 wapiti, full grown. The first photograph showed the deer 

 on the second day after the antlers were cast. .Succeeding 

 photographs were taken at fortnightly intervals covering 

 four months' growth. The antlers were also show'n with 

 the velvet in strips, and finally clean and hard. The 

 antlers of the previous year were shown for comparison. 

 — Mendclian heredity in rabbits : Mr. C. C. Hurst. A 

 pure-bred "Belgian hare," mated with a pure-bred white 

 Angora, gave all wild-grey rabbits. These, bred together, 

 gave the ten types exhibited, in which appear all the 

 possible combinations of four pairs of coat characters, 

 viz. short and angora, coloured and white, grey and black, 

 self-coloured and Dutch-marked. The breeding behaviour 

 of these types demonstrates clearly the Mendelian prin- 

 ciples of dominance, segregation, and gametic purity. 

 Dominant characters are short, coloured, and grey coat. 

 Recessive characters are Angora, white and black coat. 

 The black and Dutch-marked characters were introduced 

 bv the white Angora. — (i) Individual, local, and ortho- 

 genetic variation in Mexican lizards of the genus 

 Cneinidophorus ; (2) three specimens of Chirotcs caiialicu- 

 latiis from Rio Balsas, South Mexico : Dr. H. Gadow, 

 F.R.S. The former exhibit included : — Cnemidophorus 

 dcppci, showing orthogenetic variation in the number of 

 white dorsal stripes from 7 to 11. Local variation from 

 completelv white to black underparts ; from lateral white 

 spots to double red bands. C. striatus and C. guttatiis. 

 Loading from a sharply striped pattern to the dull-coloured 

 and completely spotted form which is characteristic of the 

 eastern forest region. C. gularis. C. mexicainis, C. 

 hocourti, and other closely allied forms, varying in size, 

 colour, pattern, and scales. — (i) Demonstration illustrating 

 the life-history of wood-boring wasps (Crabronidfe) ; 

 (2) photographs from life of transformations of the brim- 

 stone butterflv (Gonepteryx rhamni) : Mr. Fred Enock. 

 The Crabroni'dfE, or wood-boring wasps, excavate (with 

 their mandibles) deep burrows in decaying tree trunks, 

 palings, &c., their work being carried on day and night 



NO. 1 86 1, VOL. 72] 



until a sufficient depth has been reached. The female 

 wasp then flies off in search of prey to stock her cells 

 with food for the larvae. A number of species inhabit 

 Great Britain. Each selects its prey from certain insects, 

 and invariably keeps to the species so selected. The intelli- 

 gence exhibited by the wasp when " collecting " is 

 marvellous, a momentary glance as the insects dart past 

 being sufficient to identify the right one. — The membranous 

 labyrinth of man and some animals : Dr. .Albert A. Gray. 

 The exhibit represented the membranous Labyrinths of man, 

 illustrating normal and pathological conditions ; the mem- 

 branous labyrinth of the seal showing otoliths ; the mem- 

 branous labyrinths of the mouse, the rat, the rabbit, the 

 sheep, the cat, the lemur, the duck, the hen. The brain 

 of the haddock, with the otoliths in their natural position. 



(i) Restoration of a British Jurassic thcropodous Dino- 

 saur of the genus Strcptospondylus from the Oxford Clay, 

 Oxford; (2) British armoured Dinosaur: Dr. Francis Baron 

 Nopcsa. The bipedal dinosaurian reptile shown in the 

 first exhibit is the most complete representative of the 

 genus discovered in this country. The type exists in the 

 Paris Museum, but is very imperfect. The specimen from 

 w^hich Baron Nopcsa 's restoration is prepared is in the 

 private museum of Mr. J. Parker, of Oxford, and is about 

 to be described by the exhibitor. The restoration was 

 executed under the direction of Dr. Francis Baron Nopcsa 

 bv Miss Alice B. Woodward. Diagram reconstruction of 

 skeleton and bonv dermal armour of Polacaiithus Foxi. 

 Hulke, from the' Wealden of the Isle of Wight. Re- 

 constructed bv Dr. Francis Baron Nopcsa, under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Arthur Smith Woodward, F.R.S., and set up 

 in the geological department of the British Museum. 



Ethnological specimens from southern Mexico : Mrs. 

 Gadow. The specimens comprised embroidered leather 

 dancing dress ; decorated cotton huipiles, from eastern 

 Oaxaca and South Guerrero ; white cotton shifts, em- 

 broidered with beads. South Guerrero ; dancing masks, 

 from Coacoyulichan, South Guerrero ; clay and stone idols 

 and sacred vessels ; clay w-histles, kitchen utensils, ancient 

 and modern ; copper, flint, and stone implements ; and 

 duck-shaped water vessels. 



Photographs of the White Nile and its tributaries, taken 

 by the Survev Department of Egypt, 1003 : Captain H. G. 

 Lyons, (i) Bahr el Jebel. The stations of Gondokoro, 

 Lado, Mongalla, and Kiro ; in this part the valley floor 

 is about 2-4 feet above low-water level ; at Ghaba Shambe 

 and Hellet Nuer it is only 1-2 feet above it, and in this 

 reach the greatest development of the marshes occurs, as 

 well as the blocks of vegetation (Sudd). (2) Bahr el 

 Ghazal and Bahr el Zaraf, showing their flat flood plains. 

 (3) Sobat River in flood near its junction with the White 

 Nile. (4) The White Nile. (5) Shilluk Negroes of the 

 White Nile and Sobat.— Photographic views illustrative of 

 the scenerv of Tibet : the Royal Geographical Society. 



SUBMARINE NA VIGATION.'^ 



SUBMARINE navigation has engaged the attention of 

 inventors and attracted general interest for a very 

 long period. Its practical application to purposes of war 

 was made about 130 years ago. Under the conditions 

 which prevailed a century ago in regard to materials of 

 construction, propelling apparatus, and explosives, the con- 

 struction of submarines necessarily proceeded on a limited 

 scale, and the tvpe practicallv died out of use, almost 

 at its birth. Enough had been done, however, to demon- 

 strate its practicabilitv and to make it a favourite field 

 of investigation for inventors, some of whom contemplated 

 wide extensions of submarine navigation. Every naval w^ar 

 gave fresh incentive to these proposals, and led to the 

 construction of experimental vessels. This was the case 

 during the Crimean War, when the Admiralty had a sub- 

 mariiie vessel secretly built and tried by a special com- 

 mittee, on which, amongst others, Mr. Scott-Russell and 

 Sir Charles Fox served. Again, during the Civil War in 

 America, the Confederates constructed a submarine vessel, 

 and used it against the blockading squadron off Charles- 

 town. .After several abortive attempts, and a considerable 

 I Abstract of a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, 

 June 9, by Sir William H. While, K.C.B., F.R.S. 



