4i6 



NATURE 



[Mar. 26, 1874 



is shifted upon the different plates. On first making the 

 discovery, he liad been inclined to thinlc that it must be 

 due to a star seen through the corona, but on further reflec- 

 tion he had been obliged to abandon that idea, for a star would 

 have been represented by a dai-k or opaque point, whereas this 

 must be due to an object darker than the corona, apparently 

 hiding or cutting out some of its light. On a closer exa- 

 mination of the negatives, with suitable lights, three ]iartially 

 transparent circular arcs concentric with the bright point were 

 detected above it. Such forms are totally different from the 

 corona structure visible on other parts of tlie plate, and there 

 seemed no alternative but to suppose that they v/ere due to some 

 partially opaque body situated between us and the sun, cutting 

 out or partially intercepting the light of the corona. The struc- 

 ture is similar to that which has often been observed in the 

 nuclei and concentric coma; of comets, and Mr. Ranyard 

 thought that it did not seem unreasonable to suppose that this 

 was really a photograph of a faint though large comet near to 

 perihelion. I\Ir. Christie said that he had examined the nega- 

 tives and he did not think there could be any doubt about the 

 existence of the structure. It was distinctly to be traced on 

 Lord Lindsay's series, and also on those taken 120 miles away at 

 Ootacamund by Col. Tennant. 



Entomological Society, March 16. — Sir Sidney Smith 

 Saunders, president, in the chair.— Mr. Champion exhibited 

 specimens of Euryporus picipes taken near Chatham. — Mr. Ed- 

 ward Saunders exhibited a box of Biiprestida collected by Prof. 

 Semper in the Philippine Islands ; and read some notes and de- 

 scriptions of the new species. — A paper was communicated by 

 Prof. Westwood on several additional species of Lncaitid.r in 

 the collection of Major F. J . Sidney Parry. 



Geologists' Association, March 6. — Prof. Morris, F.G.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — On the geology of the Nottingham 

 district, by the Rev. A. Irving, F.G.S. The district^ under 

 aonsideration comprises coal-measures, Permian, Bunter, Keuper, 

 and Lias rocks— a .border-land between the Paljeozoic and 

 Mesoroic epochs. No apparent unconformability exists between 

 the Permian and Triassic series here ; while that between the 

 Permian and coal-measures is enormous. (I) Coal Mfasiiirs. 

 There are seven seams of coal at present workable in this 

 field, with many ore of inferior quality. The enormous un- 

 conformability between the coal-measures and the Permian is 

 shown by the fact that at the Shire Oak Colliery near Worksop, 

 1,300 ft. of coal-measures are passed through before the "top- 

 hard" is reached, whilst at Stretley, twenty miles to the 

 south, the magnesian limestone rests directly (according 

 to Mr. G. Fowler, C.E.) upon the "top-hard " seam. (2) T/u 

 y>v-7«mH.— The great unconformability between the Permian 

 rocks and the coal -measures is rendered more significant 

 by the absence of the Lower Red Sandstone (Rothliegende), 

 wtiilst there are clear proofs of continuous deposition of 

 the Permian and Lower Bunter. In this area strati- 

 graphical evidence points to the Permian and Bunter as but 

 portions of one great unbroken sequence of rocks deposited upon 

 highly disturbed and denuded coal-measures. (3) The Bunter. — 

 The Lower Mottled Sandstone is nowhere more than looft. thick. 

 The Himlack stone exhibits thejunction of the Lower and Middle 

 Bunter. Itisniarked byunconformabiUty. A bed of calcareous grit 

 and breccia forms the basement of the pebble beds, or 

 Middle Bunter. This is evidently a shore formation. The 

 author concluded, from its composition and from the general 

 prevalence of current bedding, that it occupied an area of deposi- 

 tion subject to shifting currents, but protected from the open ocean. 

 (4) Kaiper. — Two sections were given where the "water-stones," 

 consisting of alternating beds of sandstone and marls, are seen 

 resting upon the eroded surface of the bunter. In each case the 

 junction is marked by a bed of highly calcareous breccia ; and 

 there is unconformability between the two formations. Foot- 

 prims of Chcirotherium have been observed at Castle Donnington, 

 and recently by the author at Colwick, near Nottingtiam. 

 Ripple marks, &c., are also commonly met with. (5) 

 The Rhaiic beds. — The black paper shales ^^•ere discovered 

 by Mr. Etheridge a short time ago at Elton ; there also the author 

 has found a portion of the bone-bed. (6) The Lias may be ob- 

 served capping the hills on the south side of the Trent Valley. 

 Belvoir Castle crowns an escarpement of the Middle Lias (marl- 

 stone), abounding in KliYiii. tdrahcdra and '1 ci: punclala. (7) 

 Drift and Alluvium.— KXvi greater part of the former appears to 

 have been long since carried down into the valley of the Trent, 



where extensive gravel-pits are worked, as e.g. at Saveley and 

 Beeston. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, March 16. — M. Bertrand in the chair. 

 The following communications were read : — Note on the em- 

 ployment of flexible laminre for the tracing of arcs with curvature 

 of large diameter, by M. Resal. — Researches on symmetrical 

 isomerism and on the four tartaric acids, by MM. Berthelot and 

 Jungfleisch. The authors have determined the heat of solution 

 of dextro-tartaric acid, lasvo-tartaric acid, racemic acid, and in- 

 active tartaric acid. The authors think it probable from their 

 researches that water decomposes the inactive acid into its two 

 active constituents during the act of solution. — On the crystalline 

 hydrates of sulphuric acid, by M. Berthelot ; also a thermo-che- 

 mical communication. — Experimental researches leading to a 

 determination of the sun's temperature : a letter from P. Secchi 

 to the perpetual secretary. The author has compared the solar 

 radiation with that of the electric arc from a battery of 50 Bunsen's 

 elements, using for this purpose his " thermo-heliometer. " After 

 making necessary corrections for atmospheric absorption the re- 

 sult obtained is 133780°, but the author considers this number 

 only an approximation, and considers it possible that it may have 

 to be raised to 169680°. — Report of the geodesic work relating 

 to the new determination of the French meridian, by M. Elie de 

 Beaumont. — Memoir on the swim-bladder from the point of view 

 of station and locomotion, by M. A. Moreau. — On an application 

 of the theory of substitutions to linear differential equations, by 

 M. C. Jordan. — On the heat of combustion of different varieties 

 of red phosphorus ; a note by MM. Troost and Hautefeuille. — 

 On the conditions which determine the movements of chlorophyll 

 granules in the z€i\s oi Elodea canadensis ; note by M. E. Pril- 

 lieux. By a microscopical examination the author has sought to 

 distinguish clearly in the example chosen the movements which 

 are affected by light from those produced by lesion of the tissues 

 during the act of preparation for microscopic examination. — The 

 blocks and rolled Hints in the Red Sandstone ot the drift of Saint- 

 Brieuc ; note by M. T. Hena. These flints appear to have been 

 brought from Erquy, 24 kdometres to the north-east of Saint- 

 Brieuc by means of floating ice. — On the laws of the plane dis- 

 tribution of pressures in the interior of the i.sotropic bodies in the 

 state of limited equilibrium ; note by M. J. Bossinesq. — On the 

 friction of glaciers and the erosion of valleys, by M. C. Grad. 

 The author expresses his belief that neither the Alpine valleys, 

 the Italian and Swiss lakes, nor the fjords of Norway and Green- 

 land owe their origin to glacial erosion. — Chemical nature of the 

 sulphide of iron (troilite) contained in meteoric irons, by M. S. 

 Meunier. A reiteration of the view, formerly expressed by the 

 author, that this substance is a variety of pyrrhotine (Fe.Sj) and 

 not simply a ferrous sulphide (FeS). — On a phosphate of cerium 

 containing fluorine, by M. F. Radominski. Ihis mineral contains 

 cerium, lanthanum and didymium, calcium, magnesium, iron, 

 fluorine, phosphoric acid and traces of water. It was found 

 near Fahlun in Sweden. During the meeting M. Gosselin was 

 elected into the section of medicine and surgery to supply the 

 vacancy caused by the death of M. Nelaton, 



CONTENTS Page 



The Science Commission's Museum Report 397 



Todhunter's " Mathematical Theories of Attraction," II. By 



R. Tucker 399 



Training 401 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Herbert Spencer versus Thomson and Tail. — Prof-TAIT, F.R.S. E. 402 



Animal Locomotion. — A. R. Wallace, F.Z S 403 



Tli= Newfoundland CnVl.\<^-Y\i\i(Mc^aloteuthis har-jeyii. Kent). 



W. Saville-Kent, F.L.S 403 



Lord Lindsay's Expedition. — Capt. S. P. Oliver 403 



Quetelet .403 



Scientific Results OF THE Ptf/rtn'j Arctic Expedition .... 404 

 The Common Frog, XIL By St. George Mivart. F.R.S. (Wth 



Illustrations^ 406 



The Hadits of Bees and Wasps. By Sir John Lubbock, IS.irt. , 



F.R.S 408 



The Cavfndish Labokatorv 4ro 



Notes 410 



Celestial Chemistry, L By J. Norman Lockver, F.R.S. ... 411 



Societies and Academies 414 



