404 



NATURE 



\_Feb. 24, 1 88 1 



which are confined to definite horizons, are scattered indefinitely 

 in a vertical range of many thousands of feet. The corals grew 

 in shallow seas, but most of them were not massive limestone 

 builders, but there were occa-.ional fringing reefs, or rather banks 

 of compound forms, which assisted in the development of lime- 

 stones. Many genera of corals which elsewhere are massive are 

 pedunculate in Sind, and the number of species of the family 

 Fungida; is considerable. There are also alliances with tlie 

 Eocene coral fauna of the West Indies. The depth of the 

 coralliferous series and the intercalated unfossiliferous sand- 

 stones, &c., is, according to the Survey, 14,000 feet, without 

 counting an estimated 6000 feet of unf issiliferous strata in one 

 particular group. The subsidence has therefore been vast, but 

 not always continuous. After noticing the numbers of genera 

 and species in this grand series of coral faunas and the remark- 

 able distinctness of each, the author proceeded to discuss the 

 second part of his subject. When president of the Society he 

 had stated in his anniversary address for 187S that he was not 

 convinced of the truth of the theory of the Geological Survey 

 of India regarding the Pliocene age of the last Himalayan uji- 

 heaval. The considerations arising from the position of a vast 

 thickness of sedimentary deposits overlying the Gaj or marine 

 Miocene, and containing Amphicyoii, Mastodon, Dinotherium, 

 and many Artiodactyles of the suppo>ed pig-like ruminant 

 group, lead to the belief that the author was not justified in 

 opposing the theory enunciated by Lyddeker and the direct rs 

 of the Survey. The position of these Manchhar strata on the 

 flanks of the mountain system of Sind was compared with that 

 of the sub-Hinia'ayan deposits. The faunas were compared, 

 and the Sewalik deposits, the equivalents of the Upper Manch- 

 har series of Sind, were pronounced to be of Pliocene age. 

 They were formed before and during the great upheaval of 

 the Himalayas, and in some places are covered with glacial 

 deposits. A comparison was instituted between the^e ossi- 

 ferous strata and the beds of Eppelsheim and Pikermi, 

 and the auihor discussed the question relating to the age 

 of terrestrial accumulations overlying marine deposits. — On 

 two new crinoids from the Upper Chalk of Southern Sweden, 

 by P. H. Carpenter, M.A. Communicated by Prof. P. Martin 

 Duncan, F.R.S. Stem-joints of a crinoid resembling those of 

 Bourgtteticriniis have long been known in the Planerkalk of 

 Streben (Elbe) ; but on the discovery of the calyx it was found 

 to differ considerably from tha. genus. It was then referred to 

 the geiius Antedon by Prof. Geinitz. Stems also resembling 

 Boiirgueticrinus have been found in the upper chalk of Kopinge (S. 

 Sweden), and a calyx resembling that described by Prof. Geinitz 

 has also been found. Prof. Lundgren kindly entrusted this to 

 the author for description. For these two fossils he considers 

 not only a new genus but also a new family required. He 

 proposes for the former the name Mesocrinus, as the characters 

 of its calyx ally it to the Pentacrinidje. The author describes 

 the characteristics of the genus Mtsocrinus and of the species M. 

 suecica (the .Swedish) species, and its differences from M. faclioi 

 (from Streben), and discusses the relatiorsjiips of the genus, 

 which combines the characters of a Pentac?-inus-ca]yx. with a 

 Boiirgiieticrinits-'A^m, — A new species of Comatula (Antcdmi 

 impressa) from the Ignaherga limestone of Scania was abo 

 described, and its systematic position discussed, 



Entotnological Society, February 2. — Mr. H. T. Stainton, 

 president, in the chair. — The pre4dent thanked the Society for 

 electing him to that office, and nominated Sir John Lubbock, 

 Bart., and Messrs. Meldola and Distant as vice-presidents for 

 the ensuin'^ year. Two new members were then elected.^ 

 Exhibitions and communications : — Mr. O. Salvin exhibited two 

 boxes of insects collected by Mr. Champion in Guatemala. — Mr. 

 W. A. Forbes exhibited a leaf from New Britain, having a 

 curious filamentous growth upon it, caused by a Coccus ; and 

 also the larva of one of the Blattidir, from Pernambuco, which 

 presented a remarkable resemblance to an Isopod crustacean. — 

 Mr. R. McLachlan exhibited a coleopterous larva from South 

 America attacked by a fungoid arasite [Spha-fia'), and a 

 NocUia from South Wales similarly attacked by an /casta. He 

 also exhibited Thore concinna, a beautiful new dragon-fly from 

 Ecuador. — Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited Pczomachus distincta, a 

 hymenopterous insect new to Britain ; and a new species of 

 Stibeiitfs. — Mr. F. P. Pascoe exhibited a specimen of Peripatns 

 Nova-Zealandicc, and made some observations on the structure and 

 affinities of this anomalous genus. — Mr. W. L. Distant exhibited 

 a new species of Platypleura from Madagascar. — Mr. W. F. 

 Kirby announced the death of Dr. Gabriel Koch, of Frankfort- 



on-the-Main, the auihor of several works on the geographical 

 distribution of Lepidoptera. — Mr. R. Meldola read a letter from 

 M. Andre in reply to some criticisms made at a former meeting 

 of the Society respecting the publication of new species on the 

 wrapper of a periodical work. — The Secretary read a cutting 

 from an Australian newspaper, communicated by Mr. G. Giles, 

 relative to the death of a child, in consequence, as was supposed, 

 of the bite of a small spider. — Papers read : — Mr. A. G. Butler 

 corrimunicated a paper entitled " Descriptions of new genera and 

 species of Heterocerous Lepidoptera from Japan." — Mr. R. 

 Mcl.achlan read some notes on Odoiiata of the sub families 

 Cordtdhna, Calopterygincc, and Agrioniniv ( Legion Pseudostigma) 

 collected by Mr. Buckley in the district of the Rio B.ibnnaza in 

 Ecuador. — Mr. W. F. Kirby read a list of the Hymenoptera of 

 New Zealand, in which eighty-two species were enumerated, five 

 being described as new. — Mr. Joseph S. Baly communicated a 

 paper entitled descriptions of new species of Galenuida:. 



Victoria (Philosophical) Institute, February 21. — A paper 

 on the imj^lements of the Stine age as a primitive demarcation 

 between man and other animals, by Dr. Thompson, LL. D., of 

 Harvard University, was read ; after which a second brief paper 

 on the caves of Devonshire was read by Mr. Howard, F.R.S., 

 in which the author, as a chemist, pointed out the important 

 bearing that the new investigations into the mode of formation 

 of the cave floor had upon the whole question at issue. 



Vienna 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences, February 17. — V. Burg in 

 the chair. — Prof. Schmarda presented a paper by Henry B. 

 Brady, F.R.S. , on Arctic foraminifera from soundings obtained 

 on the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition of 1872-74. 

 It will be published in the Deukschriften dcr Academic. — F. 

 Steindachner, ichthyological materials (part 10). — F. Wald, 

 studies on chemical processes producing energy. — E. Briicke, 

 supplement to his communication of January 7 on an uncrystal- 

 lisable acid obtained by oxidation of egg albumen. It is not 

 a pure substance, but a mixture. — E. Weiss, on the com- 

 putation of the differential quotients of the radius vector and the 

 apparent anomaly in orbits of great excentricity. — T. V. Rohon, 

 on Amphioxus lanccolatus. — Dr. Td. H. Skraup, on synthetical 

 experiments in the Chinolin series. 



CONTENTS P;,GB 



Professor Max Mueller at University College 381 



Atlas of Histology 382 



OoR Book .Shelf :— 



" Urania ** 383 



Letthks to the Editor :^ 



Infusible tee.— Prof A. S. Herschkl 383 



Dust, Fogs, and Clouds. — John Aitken 384 



GeologicalClimates.— Prof. Samuel Haughton, F.R .S 385 



Climateof Vancouver Island.— Dr. George M. Dawson .... 385 



■■The New Cure for Smoke "—J. A. C. Hay -fsSe 



On the Space Protected by Lightning-Conductors. — Prof. John 



Le Conte .' 386 



Localisation of Sound.— H. B. Jupp 386 



Mieration of the Wagtail.— Prof. E. W. Claypole 387 



Subsidence of Land caused by Natural Brine-Springs. — Thos. 



Ward 388 



Chlorophyll.— William Carter 388 



Squirrels Crossing Water. — F. A. Jentink ^88 



Flying-Fish.— R. E. Taylor 388 



The Transit of Venus 388 



Dr. J. J. Bigsby 389 



On Tidal Friction in Connection with the History of the 



Solar System. By G H. Darwin, F.R.S 389 



Indigo 390 



Microscopic Structure OF Malleable Metals. By J. Vincent 



Elsden 391 



Island Life, II. By Prof. Arch. Geikie, F.R.S. {With Maps) . . 391 



Honour to Mr. Darwin 393 



Degkees TO Women 394 



Notes 39+ 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Encke's Comet in 1881 396 



Cincinnati Measures of Double Stars 39^ 



The Minor Planets in 1881 39^ 



Chemical Notes 39^ 



Physical Notes 397 



Gbograihical Notes 398 



AnN0RM,vL Variations of Barometric Pressure in the Tropics 

 and their Relations to Sun-Spots, Rainfall, and Famines. 



By E. Douglas Archibald and Fred. Chambers 399 



Standard Thermometers 4°° 



University and Educational Intrlltgence 4°^ 



Scientific Serials 40i 



Societies and Academies 40z 



