Mar. 26, 1874] 



NATURE 



415 



make the addition of 40 Aq." Tliese numbers only rouclily 

 approximate the truth. On diluting a solution ofcolialt iodide 

 till the red colour appears, the lliermal eflfect must be much 

 greater, as not only does it register several degrees on an ordi- 

 nary thermometer, but it may be perceived by the hand. 



The conclusions indicated by these results are obvious, but it 

 is beyond the scope of this paper to refer to them. The writer 

 hopes before long to complete his experiments with the view of 

 having them communicated to the Royal Society. 



Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun, by J. Norman 

 Lockyer, F.R.S., and G. M. Seabroke. F.R.A.S. 



Note on the Intracellular Development of Blood-corpuscles 

 in Mammalia, by Edward Albert Schafer. 



Linnean Society, March 19. — Dr. G. J. Allmann, 

 F. R.S., in the chair. — The following papers were read: 

 — Observations on Bees and Wasps, by Sir John Lubbock, 

 Bart., F.R.S. (for an abstract of which see another column), 

 followed by an interesting discussion in which the president, Mr. 

 Robert Warren, Major-General strachey, Mr. A. W. Bennett, 

 Trof Newton, Prof Thiselton Dyer, Mr. D. Hanbury, Mr. 

 Elliot of New York, and others, took part. — On Oinscigastc-r 

 itaktfichli, a singular insect from New Zealand, belonging to the 

 family Kphemerida;, with notes on its aquatic conditions, by 

 R. M'Lachlan. 



Zoological Society, March 12. — Prof. Newton, F.R.S., in 

 the chair. — The Secretary called the attention of the meeting to 

 an important addition that had been made to the Society's col- 

 lection on the 7th inst., by the acquisition of a young male Javan 

 rhinoceros [Rhinoceros soitdaicns) from Batavia, believed to be the 

 first example of this rhinoceros that had ever been brought alive to 

 Europe. — Aletter was read from the Rev, S. J. Whitmee, resident 

 at Samoa, stating that he had forwarded, through Dr. G. Bennett, 

 of Sydney, a Didunoulus and two curlews for the Society's 

 collection, and givmg interesting particulars concerning the habits 

 of this bird, and another peculiar Samoan species, Farcudiastcs 

 pacificus. — An extract was read from a letter addressed to tlie 

 Secretary by Dr. George Bennett respecting a Duiuiwidus^ and 

 other birds, he had received from the Rev. Mr. Whitmee, of 

 Samoa, intended for the Society's collection. — Dr. Giintlier, 

 F.R.S. , gave some details concerning the recent introduction 

 into this country, by Lord Arthur Russell, of the Ide (Lcuoiscus 

 melanotus, var. or/us). — Prof Huxley read a memoir upon tire 

 structure of the skull and of the he3.x\.o{ A/aiolinvic/ris /atciu/is, 

 describing the structure of the bony skull in the osteo-cranium, 

 and giving a full account of the primordial skull or chondro- 

 cranium, which has not hitherto been noticed. The chondro- 

 cranium was compared with that of P)oteiis, and that of larval 

 frogs and tritons, and its essentially embryonic character was 

 indicated. The chondrocranium was further shown to be formed 

 by the coalescence of three distinct classes of elements which 

 were termed parachordal, pleural, and paraneural. The heart 

 was described, and the septam of the auricles was shown to be 

 an open network allowing of free communication between the 

 right and left auricular chambers. The structure of the Truncus 

 arteriosus was compared with that observed in other amphibians. 

 — Mr. R. B. Sharpe communicated tlie descriptions of two new 

 species of birds recently procured by IMr. H. T. Ansell, of Ga- 

 boon ; these were proposed to be called Centropus aiisclli, and 

 Dryoscopus corouatits. 



Chemical Society, March 19. — Prof Odling, F.R.S., presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — On Dissociation, by Prof. Dewar. The 

 lecturer premised that as he had but little that was new to tell, 

 he must content himself with conden-.ing and epitomising the 

 results of others. After briefly referring to the theories of 

 Priestly and Hutton, he described the famous experiments of .Sir 

 James Hall, who obtained a substance identical with marble by 

 fusing carbonate of lime under pressure. He next noticed 

 Grove's discovery that water was decomposed at a temperature 

 lower than that produced by the union of oxygen and hydrogen, 

 and then explained the masterly researches of Deville on the 

 effect of heat in causing the dissociation of carbonic anhydride, 

 carbonic oxide, water, &c. Afttr this t'ne lecturer showed that in 

 dissociation the tension of the vapour evolved is constant for a 

 given temperature and independent of the mass, illustrating it by 

 Debr.ay's experiments on the decomposition of carbonate of lime 

 at a regulated heat, and the evolution of water from certain 

 hydrated salts. The lecture, which was illustrated with diagrams 

 of various curves of tension, concludeil with some remarks on the 

 dissociation of the compound of hydrogen and palladium, and 



vath a description of an ajiparatus devised by the speaker for 

 ascertaining the temperature produced by the explosion of a 

 mixture of oxygen and hydrogen under various pressures. 



Meteorological Society, March 18.— Dr. R. J. Mann, pre- 

 sident, in the chair.— Mr. R. H. Scott, F.R.S., read a paper On 

 an attempt to establish a Relation between the Velocity of the 

 Wind and its Force (Beaufort scale), with some remarks on ane- 

 mometrical observations in general. The author stated that he 

 considered that the existing scales of \vind force were unsatisfac- 

 tory. The highest pressure corresponding to force 6 of the land 

 scale was 36 lbs. per square foot, whereas pressiwes of above 40 lbs. 

 had frequently been registered. He further brought forward 

 proofs ot the irregularity in the distribution of such high pres- 

 sures. He then spoke of the Beaufort scale, and pointed out 

 some of its defects, but stated that speaking generally it might 

 be considered to be a rough classification of the wind force, exact 

 enough for practical purposes, and proceeding by nearly equal 

 degrees. He had recently made experiments at Holyhead and 

 at Yarmouth to test the velocity recorded by the anemometer at 

 each station at the hours when the several figures of the Beaufort 

 scale were reported. The result was a scale which agreed very 

 closely with that given by Schott, as a deduction from theory in 

 his discussion of the observation^ made by Sir F. Leopold 

 M'Clintock in the Fo.x, and published by the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution. Inasmuch as the accordance of practice with theory 

 was very great, he proposed this scale for general adoption — 



Miles per hour. 

 40-5 

 48-5 



56-5 

 65 

 75 

 90 



Force. Miles per fioiir. Force. 



2-5 7 



1 8 8 



2 13 9 



3 18 10 



4 23 n 



5 28 12 



6 33-5 

 The paper then went on to point out from experience gained at 

 Holyhead, Yarmouth, and Falmouth, the very serious discre- 

 pancies which had been proved to exist in the records of velocity 

 for the various points of the compass, especially at Yarmouth, 

 and which showed that the influence of local situation, not only 

 as to the contour of the country, but even the very shape and 

 height of the observatory and the adjacent buildings, exercised a 

 most serious influence on the correctness of the data afforded by 

 the instruments. It therefore seemed very dangerous to reason 

 as to the mean motion of the air over the British Isles from the 

 anemometrical records of one or two stations, as has been done 

 by Dove. — The next paper read was by Mr. G. J. Symons, On 

 the Sensitiveness of Thermometers, in which he gave the re.sults 

 of a series of comparisons of the speed with which thermometers 

 with bulbs of various sizes took up the true temperature to which 

 they were exposed. Three series of thermometers were used, a 

 set with spherical bulbs filled with mercury, and varying in 

 diameter from a quarter to three-quarters of an inch. The result 

 was that the small bulb took up the true temperature in about 

 three minutes, while the large bulb took three times as long ; a 

 second set were similar in form, but filled with spirit ; they were 

 more sluggish, but the small spirit ones were more prompt than 

 large mercurial ones. Lastly, the new patterns of spirit minimum 

 thermometers introduced by Mr. Casella and Mr. Hicks w'ere 

 tested and found as sensitive as ordinary mercurial thermometers. 

 The instruments were all examined by the Fellows at the close 

 of the meeting. — The last paper was by Mr. R. Strachan, On the 

 Weather of Thirteen Autumns. 



Royal Astronomical Society, March 13. — Prof. Adams, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — On an occultation of Neptune 

 observed at Walthamstow on April 24, by Mr. Talmage. The 

 planet was seen to skirt along the moon's limb, and was only 

 occulted for a few seconds. The occultation was also watched 

 for at Greenwich by Mr. Criswick, and although the difference 

 of latitude only amounts to a few miles, the planet was never 

 lost sight of. — On a remarkable structure visible upon the pho- 

 tographs of the solar eclipse of December 12, 1S71, by Mr. 

 Ranyard. In viewing the photographs by transmitted light a 

 minute partially transparent spot can be traced at a height of 

 about 9' from the eastern limb on all the negatives of Lord 

 Lindsay's series, and on four out of the six negatives of Col. 

 Tennant's series. It appears to occupy identically the same 

 place with regard to the dark details of the corona in 

 all the photographs, and cannot therefore be due to any 

 reflection within the camera, for the position of the corona 



