yan.6, 1881] 



NA TURE 



231 



Similarly, the suppression of the branchiae, the develop- 

 ment of an amnion, and of a respiratory extra-abdominal 

 allantois, and that enlargment of the basioccipital re- 

 latively to the exoccipitals which gives rise to a single 

 skull condyle, is all the change required to convert an 

 Urodele amphibian into a Lizard. It is needless tore- 

 capitulate the evidence of the transition from the Reptilian 

 to the Bird type, \vhi;h the study of extinct animal- 

 remains has brought to light. 



The scheme of arrangement of the Vertebrata which 

 naturally flows from the considerations now brought 

 forward will stand thus : — 



Stages of Evolution. / 



Q. Euthcrici Monodftphia 



O 

 8. Metathcria Marsn/>!ala. 



O 

 7. Proiotheria Monotrcmata 



O 

 f>. Hypothcria ;< 



5. Amphibia Amphibia.... 





 4 Hcrpetichtliyes. Dipnoi 



Represent.ttive Groups. 



.9«««/>«./<.|^^/«/«. 



OstciMhyesyP^l'^JX 



1. Myzichthyes ... Marsipobranchii... X ... X 





 I. Hypichtltycs ... Pharyngobranchii . > ... '■ 



O 



It appears to me that everything which is at present 

 known respecting the \'ertebrata of past epochs agrees 

 with the assumption that the law which expresses the 

 process of ancestral evolution of the higher Mammalia is 

 of general application to all the Yertebrata. If this is 

 admitted, I think it necessarily follows that the V'erte- 

 brata must have passed successively through the stages 

 here indicated, and that the progress of discovery, while 

 it will obliterate the lines of demarcation between these 

 stages, and convert them into a continuous series of 

 small differentiations, will yield no vertebrate form for 

 which a place does not exist in the general scheme. 



NOTES 



Dr. John Stenhouse, F. R. S., died on December 31, in the 

 seventy-second year of Lis age. He was a native of Glasgow, 

 where he was educated and long resided. A pupil of Graham 

 and of Liebig, he devoted all his time to research work in the 

 domain of organic chemistry. He was a Royal Medallist of the 

 Royal Society, LL.D. of Aberdeen, and one of the founders of 

 the Chemical Society. On removing to London he was appointed 

 Lecturer on Chemistry in .St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, 

 but was obliged to resign in 1S57, owing to a severe attack of 

 paralysis. This however did not deter him from continuing 

 his scientific studies, which were a labour of love to him. He 

 was the inventor of the charcoal respirator, of the charcoal venti- 

 lator for sev\ ers, and of a process for rendering fabrics water- 

 proof by means of paraflin. In 1865 he succeeded Dr. Hofmann 

 as noa-resident assayer to the Royal Mint, bnt was deprived of 

 the appointment when the office was abolished by Mr. Lowe in 

 1870. 



On the 3rd inst. Mr. John Thomas Towson died at his residence 

 in Liverpool, in his seventy-seventh year. Mr. Towson was con- 

 nected with the early history of photography, but in 1846 he devoted 

 his thoughts to navigation, especially to determining the quickest 

 routes across the ocean to distant countries. With this object he 

 constructed a set of tables for facilitating the practice of great 



circle sailing, and at the British Association in 1854 Mr. Towson 

 aided Dr. Scoresby in directing the attention of the scientific 

 section to the importance of investigating more fully the subject 

 of the deviation of the compasses on board iron ships. The 

 result of this discussion was the formation of the Liverpool 

 Compass Committee. The ob.iiervations and the deductions 

 resulting from them were embodied in three reports, ** presented 

 to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty." 

 In 1863 Mr. Towson was instructed by the Board of Trade to 

 prepare a manual on the deviation of the compass, which was 

 subsequently pulilished at the expense of the Board, under the 

 title of ' ' Practical Information on the Deviation of the Compass ; 

 for the use of Masters and Mates of Iron Ships." 



We are glad to learn that Prof. MacOwan, late of Gill College, 

 Somerset East, has accepted the post of Director of the Botanic 

 Garden, Cape Town. He will also lecture at the South African 

 College. The appointment of a man whose long and enthusiastic 

 devotion to South African botany has earned him a wide reputa- 

 tion is to the credit of the Cape Government, and is of good 

 omen for the scientific future of the Cape Botanic Garden. This 

 has never yet attained the position which it would naturally 

 derive from the resources of one of the most interesting floras in 

 the world. 



Dr. W. Feddersen of Leipzig is preparing a supplement to 

 Poggendorflf's well-known biographical dictionary. Many of 

 our readers will receive during the next few days circulars asking 

 them to answer a few questions as to their scientific life and 

 labours. As the great utility of such a work lies in the com- 

 pleteness of the information it supplies, we trust that every one 

 will fill up the answers to the questions as completely as is in his 

 power, and that neither false modesty nor carelessness will create 

 a gap in the work. 



Prof. Corfield's lectures on Health to ladies will commence 

 to-day, January 6, by an Introductory Lecture at 3 p.m., and 

 will be continued on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the same hour. 

 Ladies are admitted free to the Introductory Lecture. 



Herr Robert Oppenheim of Berlin announces the forth- 

 coming publication of a " Grundriss der Anatomie des 

 Menscheu," by Prof. Ad. Fanscli of Kiel. 



The Reale Istituto Lombardo has awarded two sums of 1500 

 lire, on the Brambilla foundation, (i) to the Milanese Committee 

 of Animal Vaccination for founding a vaccinogenic establish- 

 ment in Milan ; and (2) to S. Bassolini for establishing in Milan 

 a manufactory of white-lead colours and varnishes. On the 

 Fossati foundation a sum of 2000 lire has been awarded to Dr. 

 Golgi for studies on the fine anatomy of central organs of the 

 nervous system ; and 1000 lire to Drs. Tenchini and Staurenghi 

 for researches in the anatomy of the cerebellum, the Pons Tarini, 

 &c. A list of prizes now open to competition will be found in 

 the Rendicottti of the Institute, vol. xiii. fasc. xviii. The sub- 

 jects have nearly all been previously published. (We note that 

 one is "Studies on the Telephone.") The prizes vary in value 

 from 500 to 4000 lire. Foreigners may compete, and memoirs 

 must be written in Italian, French, or Latin. 



The Transit of Venus Commission has already met at the 

 French Academy of Sciences, as usual under the presidency of 

 M. Dumas, but no resolution was come to. A number of 

 scientific men have already offered themselves as observers. 



Baron Nordenskjold arrived at St. Petersburg on Saturday, 

 and was received at the station by the Swedish Ambassador and 

 delegates from the Russian societies. In the course of the day 

 he was received at the Foreign Office, and is to be feted by the 

 Municip.ilify and the learned societies. 



