July 25, 1907J 



NA TURE 



3»r 



presence of a complicated gland in the haustcrla of 

 Santalum album not hitherto described in any root-parasite. 

 The gland is present In most, if not all, of the haustoria 

 dealt with. Diagrams were shown of the haustoria of 

 Thesiiim Wightianum, Bucklcya Ouadriala from Japan, 

 Osyris arborea, Cansjera Rhccdii, Xitneuia amcricana, 

 Olax scaiidens, and Opilia amentacea. — Physiology of 

 plants in the tropics : A. M. Smith. (o) The internal 

 temperature of leaves under tropical insolation. In still 

 air, with black bulb vacuum thermometer at from 55° C. 

 to 62° C, the air temperature in the shade being from 

 25° C. to 28° C, and the humidity about 70 per cent., 

 leaves, whether thick and fleshy, or thinner and coriaceous, 

 or thin and pliable, when placed normal to the sun's rays 

 reach a temperature of 15° C. above that of the surrounding 

 air, it temperature often considered injurious to the func- 

 tions carried on in the leaf. In the shade the internal 

 temperature varies from i°-5 below to 4° above that of the 

 .surrounding air. Breezes reduced the temperature in the 

 sun by amounts varying from 2° C. to 10° C. An attempt 

 was made to estimate the magnitude cooling due to 

 transpiration. Two leaves with stomata outwards were 

 consistently lower in temperature than two with their 

 stomatal surfaces facing each other. The difference was on 

 an average 2°-5 C. Investigations into leaves with red or 

 red-brown colouring matters showed that the red pigment 

 raised the internal temperature of the leaf from 2° C. to 

 4° C. above that of similar leaves which were white or 

 nearly so. (b) Periodicity of growth in Ceylon. * Monthly 

 observations showed that there was the largest amount of 

 young growth in February, the driest month of the year. 

 The theory is suggested that only then is there sufficient 

 transpiration to supply the necessary mineral food for 

 rapid growth, (c) Respiration of Hydrilla verticillata, a 

 tropical water-weed. Values for the respiration from 7° C. 

 to 50° C. were obtained. These when plotted produce a 

 curve which shows increase of respiration with tempera- 

 ture according to the van 't Hoff rule, the coefficient for 

 an increase of 10° C. being 2-2. The values go on in- 

 creasing up to the death-point of the plant. — Notes on the 

 parasitism of Botrytis : F. T. Brooks. The conidia of 

 Bolrytis are unable to infect healthy green leaves, whereas 

 if a young mycelium, nourished saprophvtically, is placed 

 upon a normal leaf of such a plant as lettuce, infection 

 rapidly spreads. Experiments have been undertaken to 

 ascertain whether the conidia can cause the infection of 

 weakened plants. Lettuce plants were grown in sterilised 

 sand, watered from time to time with mineral solutions. 

 After these plants had been growing six weeks the conidia 

 had no power of infecting them. By tearing healthy green 

 leaves of lettuce plants direct infection is caused by placing 

 the spores upon the torn portion. The conidia are able 

 also to infect leaves just beginning to turn yellow. — A 

 representation of the exponential function as an infinite 

 product : G. B. Mathews. — Some theorems on integral 

 equations : H. Bateman. — The theory of the rotation of 

 the plane of polarisation by solutions : Prof. Thomson. 



Edineui^gh. 

 Royal Society, June 10. — Dr. Robert Munro, vice-nresi- 

 dent, in the chair. — A contribution to the craniology of 

 the natives of Borneo, the Malays, the natives of Formosa, 

 and the Tibetans : Sir William Turner. The paper con- 

 tained a full discussion of the characters of the skulls of 

 the various peoples and races inhabiting the regions named ; 

 and one fact of gi^neral significance was the prevalence 

 of the dolichocephalic type in the people of the interior 

 of Borneo, Sumatra, Formosa, and the Philippines, and 

 in the inhabitants of eastern Tibet, while the bracfivcephalic 

 skull was characteristic of the sea-board peoples. — The 

 histology of the Ephedrea?, with special reference to the 

 value of histology for systematic purposes : R. J. D. 

 Graham. The primary structures of sixteen species or 

 varieties were examined. The outer walls of the 

 epidermal cells have a middle stratum containing crystals 

 of calcium oxalate. Certain papillose epidermal cells act 

 as ocelli, giving the light-spot and image described by 

 Haberlandt for leaves. The cortex is differentiated into 

 an outer palisade and inner lacunar chlorenchyma. The 

 stcreon system is built on a girder principle, the outer 



NO, T969, VOL. 76] 



flanges of each girder hypodermal, the inner pericyclic. 

 Tannin sacs occur in the pith and cortex. The stelar 

 system resembles somewhat that of Equisetse, but differs 

 in each leaf having two bundles which extend through 

 two stem internodes. The characters which the author 

 regarded as of use in determining subgeneric groups and 

 in distinguishing varieties were the stereon distribution 

 and degree of development, the distribution of the tannin 

 sacs, and partially the character of the stelar system taken 

 at a given level (the second internode below the apical 

 bud). — The variation of Young's modulus under an electric 

 current : H. Walker. Wires of steel, iron, platinum, and 

 copper were heated by an electric current of gradually 

 increasing and decreiising strength, and corresponding 

 measurements of Young's modulus made. In steel, iron, 

 and copper there was a decrease in the modulus for weak 

 currents, then an increase to a maximum as the current 

 increased and the temperature rose, finally falling off again 

 as higher temperatures were reached. The return for de- 

 creasing currents followed a somewhat similar course, but 

 not coincident with the course of the change during the 

 increasing current. In the case of platinum, there was no 

 initial decrease of the modulus for weak currents. 



June 17. — Prof. A. Gray, F.R..S., vice-president, in the 

 chair. — At the request of the council. Baron Kikuchi gave 

 an address on Japanese national development, more 

 especially with reference to education. The main purpose 

 of the address was to show that the Japanese national 

 spirit, which consisted of intense love of country and rever- 

 ence for the Imperial house, had remained intact through 

 the long centuries of change and growth, largely influenced 

 as these had been by Chinese literature and philosophy, 

 Indian religion, and in later days by Western learning. 



June 24. — Dr. R. H. Traquair, F.R.S., in the chair. — 

 The evolution of the eyebrow region of the forehead, with 

 special reference to the significance of its excessive develop- 

 ment in the Neanderthal race : Prof. D. J. Cunningham. 

 The usual types of supra-orbital arch in recent man are 

 what are seen in the baboon. The Neanderthal type, which 

 approximates to that of the anthropoid apes, is also to be 

 found, but rarely in a highly developed state, in individual 

 members of certain r.ices such as the Aboriginal 

 Australians and New Guineans, and the Maories. These 

 facts, which have an important bearing on Schwalbe's 

 recent theories, were fullv demonstrated from specimens bv 

 means of ordinary photographs and Rontgen-ray photo- 

 graphs. — The origin of the amniotic and allantoic fluids : 

 Prof. D. Noel Paton and Dr. B. P. Watson. Anatomical, 

 pathological, and experimental evidence was brought for- 

 ward in support of the view that both fluids are derived 

 from the foetus and not from the maternal blood vessels, 

 and as a result of an extensive series of chemical examin- 

 ation of the fluids it was concluded that they are both 

 derived from the facial kidneys. — The application of a 

 differential densimeter to the study of some Mediterranean 

 waters : J. J. Manley. The instrument is an adaptation 

 of Hare's hydrostatic method for comparing the densities 

 of two liquids, and was found to be capable of great 

 accuracy. A series of results showed the effects of 

 variation of temperature upon the relative densities of 

 normal sea water. — The electric conductivity and angles 

 of minimum deviation of ninety samples of sea water, and 

 a comparison of these with the salinity and density : Prof. 

 E. G. Hill. The purpose of the comparison was to see 

 if these physical properties could be used for measuring 

 the salinity and density. The conclusion was that, though 

 the physical properties were not exact measures of the 

 chlorine in sea waters, the differences between the values 

 for chlorine calculated from the physical constants and 

 that measured by titration were so small that for purposes 

 of oceanography it may be assumed that the values are 

 identical. 



July 2. — Prof. Crum Brown, F.R.S., in the chair. — 

 Address on the work at the solar observatory, Kodaikdnal, 

 S. India : Prof. C. Michie Smith. The address began 

 with a discussion of the conditions which must be fulfilled 

 by a good solar observatory, and of the practical diflicul- 

 ties in the way of realising these conditions. Kodaikrlnal, 

 from its steady climatic conditions and its elevation, was 

 probably on the whole as well fitted for this kind of work 

 as any other single observatory. In some years there was 



