286 



NA TURE 



[Jl'lv iS, 1907 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Zoological Society, June i8.— Mr. G. A. Boulenger, 

 F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.— The growth-forms 

 and supposed species in corals: Dr. F. W. Jones. Ihe 

 author showed that the growth-form of the colony was the 

 outcome of the conditions of the environment, and was 

 not a specific character. The growth-form was largely 

 the result of the method of division of the zooids of the 

 colonv and different external conditions produced different 

 methods of division, so that almost any coral could show 

 almost any method of division.— The lizard of the Ionian 

 Islands which had been named Laccrta ionica by Herr 

 Philip Lehrs : G. A. Boulenger. The author stated his 

 opinion that this lizard was not entitled to specific rank, 

 and that it was merelv a varietv of Laccrta taurtca, Pallas. 

 —Neotropical Lycsenida; : H. H. Druce. A large number 

 of new forms were described, and the synonymy of many 

 others discussed.— Descriptions of I'c/f/dr hypselopterus and 

 of a new fish of the genus \-elifer : C. T. Began.—! he 

 anatomv, classification, and systematic position of the 

 teleostean fishes of the suborder Halotriognathi : C. T. 

 Regan. The paper showed that the Lamprididae, Veli- 

 feridte, Trachvpterida, and Lophotidse formed a natural 

 group 'closelv related to the Beryciformes, from which they 

 differed espe'cially in the structure of the mouth.— Monkeys 

 of the genus Cercopithecus : R. I. Pocock. All the known 

 forms of this genus may be arranged into groups typified 

 by the following species -.—palas, aclhiops, pctaiinsta, 

 c'cphiis. nictitans, leticampyx, albigularis, mona, neglectus. 

 I'hocsti. and diana.—Some African species of Felis, based 

 upon specimens exhibited in the society's gardens: R. I. 

 Pocock. Special attention was directed to some interest- 

 ing points connected with F. nigripes, F. scrval and 

 servalia. and F. aiirata { = chrysothrix). A specimen of 

 the last-named species from Sierra Leone changed from 

 red to dusky grey while living in the gardens, thus proving 

 that the differences in colour between individuals of this 

 species were not of specific or subspecific value. — The 

 jelly-fish of the genus Limnocnida collected during the 

 third Tanganvika expedition : R. T. Gunther. The 

 material was obtained on four distinct dates in September, 

 November, and February, by Dr. W. A. Cunnington, and 

 therefore during the season of the great rains. The greater 

 number of specimens in all the collections showed a 

 vigorous growth of voung medusa-buds on the manubrium, 

 and that therefore ' the theory that asexual reproduction 

 occurred during the dry season only, which was propounded 

 by Mr. Moore, must be abandoned. Dr. Cunnington 's 

 material threw new light upon the order and succession 

 in which the tentacles developed, and had enabled the 

 author to record all the stages of tentacle development as 

 exhibited by individuals ranging from 2 mm. to 22 mm. 

 Certain variations in the arrangement of radial canals 

 and of sense-organs were discussed. So large a percentage 

 as 24 per cent, were found to possess five or more radial 

 canals, the greatest number being seven instead of the 

 normal four. The Victoria Nyanza form of Limnocnida 

 collected by Sir C. Eliot, which was also dealt with in the 

 paper, was believed to be a variety, which differed from 

 the Tanganvika form in that the tentacles were more 

 deeply embedded in ridges of jelly of the exumbrella than 

 in the Tanganyika form. All the individuals in a collec- 

 tion from the Victoria Nyanza were females. The result 

 of a re-investigation of both Limnocnida and Limnocodium 

 led the author" to the conclusion that both genera were to 

 be referred to the Trachomeduss, in spite of the fact that 

 no other known trachomedusan had gonads on the manu- 

 brium. Reasons for this view were given, as also for the 

 association of both fresh-water medusas with the Olindiadrc. 

 It was considered exceedingly doubtful whether either 

 Limnocodium or Limnocnida ever passed through a hydroid 

 stage at all. 



Geological Society. June 19.— Dr. Aubrey Strah^n, 

 F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — The Inferior Oolite 

 and contiguous deposits of the Bath-Doulting district : L. 

 Richardson. In this paper a detailed description is given 

 of the Inferior Oolite of the country between Doulting and 

 Bath. It is shown that there is within the area no Inferior 

 Oolite deposit of earlier date than the Upper Trigonia Grit 



NO. iq68, vol. 76I 



— a deposit of Garantiana; hemera. In one appendix Mr. 

 S. S. Buckman indicates the deposits in Dorset equivalent 

 to those studied; in another the late Mr. J. F. Walker 

 and Mr. Richardson deal with the Brachiopoda of the 

 Fullers' Earlh, naming seven new species; and in a 

 ihird Mr. Richardson describes a new .-\mberleya and 

 Spirorbis. The micro-fauna of the upper coral bed is 

 dealt with by Mr. C. Upton, who obtained from material 

 furnished him from .Midford and Tinisbury Sleight most 

 iif the micro-brachiopoda such as were found by Charles 

 .Moore at Dundrv Hill. — The Inferior Oolite and contiguous 

 deposits of the district between the Rissingtons and Bur- 

 ford : L. Richardson. This paper is presented with the 

 preceding, because there are several points of similarity 

 between the two districts described. Both are near lines 

 of country along which movements of upheaval were 

 frequent during the time of formation of the Inferior 

 Oolite rocks. — The llora of the Inferior Oolite of Brora 

 (Sutherland) : Miss M. C. Stopes. This paper is to place 

 on record the discovery of a bed containing impressions 

 of plants, which represent a flora bearing a strong likeness 

 to that of the Inferior Oolite of the Yorkshire coast. 

 Previously, but one species and a second doubtful one 

 were known from these coal-bearing beds. The bed in 

 which the plants were found was a thin shale-band 

 cropping out below high-tide level on the coast, about 

 ij miles south of Brora. — The constitution of the interior 

 of the earth as revealed by earthquakes (second communi- 

 cation) : some new light on the origin of the oceans : R. D. 

 Oldham. The attempts which have been made to account 

 for the oceans and continents are all subject to an uncer- 

 tainty, in that we have had no means of knowing whether 

 it is a mere irregularity of form that has to be accounted 

 for or whether this irregularity is but the expression of 

 a deep-seated difference in the constitution of the earth. 

 The paper is an attempt to clear up this uncertainty by 

 a comparison of the European records of the San Francisco 

 and Colombian earthquakes of April 18 and January 31. 

 1906. The general conclusion is drawn that oceans and 

 continents are not mere surface irregularities of the earth's 

 form, but are accompanied by, and probably related to, 

 differences in the constitution of the earth beneath them, 

 which extend to a depth of about one-quarter of the radius. 

 It is not possible to state exactly in what this difference 

 consists, beyond that it causes the rate of propagation of 

 the second-phase waves to be less, in comparison with 

 that of the first-phase waves, under the oceans than under 

 the continents. — The Swansea earthquake of June 27, 

 1906 : Dr. C. Davison. With the exception of the Here- 

 ford earthquake of 1S96, the Swansea earthquake was the 

 strongest which has been felt in this country for more 

 than twenty years. It disturbed an area of 66,700 square 

 miles, reaching from Rochdale on the north to Penzance 

 on the south, and from beyond Maidenhead on the east to 

 Waterford on the west. The centre of the isoseismal .S 

 lies about three miles west of Swansea, the longer axis of 

 the curve being directed E. 5° N. and W. 5° S. At 

 Swansea, Neath, &c., the total number of chimneys thrown 

 down or damaged must have amounted to several hundred. 

 The shock consisted of two distinct parts, the first part 

 being much weaker than the second, except at places within 

 an oval area lying some miles to the east of the Swansea 

 epicentre. The existence of a secondary focus beneath this 

 area is also indicated by the relative positions of the iso- 

 seismal lines, the isoseismal 8 being much nearer the 

 isoseismal 7 at the western than at the eastern end. 

 Observations, fifty-three in number, were obtained from 

 thirty-nine pits, distributed over an area forty-nine miles 

 in length, from near Kidwelly to near Pontypool. The 

 shock was, as usual, less strongly felt in pits than on the 

 surface, and, the sound was more uniform and monotonous 

 underground. Both shock and sound were observed in 

 pits over about the same area. The originating fault in 

 the neighbourhood of Swansea must run from E. 5° N. 

 to W. 5° S., heading to the south, and passing not far 

 from the line joining Llanelly to Neath, which is five or 

 six miles to the north of the great east-and-west fault under 

 Swansea Bay.— The Ochil earthquakes of September, 

 1900, to April, 1007 : Dr. C. Davison. During this 

 interval a series of slight shocks was felt chiefly in the 

 villages of Blairlogie, Menstrie, .\lva, and Tillicoultry, 



