May 28, 1S74] 



NA TURE 



n 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 London 

 Zoological Society, May 19. — Dr. E. Hatiiilton, vice-pre- 

 sident, in tlie chair. — Mr. Sclater exliibited a skin of the new 

 Japanese .Storl: (Ckotiia boycinna), and read an extract from a 

 letter recived froin M. Taczanowski, relating to its occurrence in 

 the Amoor territory. — Letters were read from Dr. W. Peters 

 relating to the locality of Poriodogaster grayt, and from Dr. 

 Hector containing a correction to his-article on Cnemiornis, pub- 

 lished in the .Society's " Proceedings." — Prof. Newton exhibited 

 and made remarks on two original letter.*, the property of Dr. 

 J. B. Wilmot, written from Mauritius in 1628, and referring to 

 the Dodo. — A communication was read from Mr. G, E. Dobson, 

 containing an account of some experiments made on the respi- 

 ration of certain species of Indian fresh-water fishes. — A com- 

 munication was read from Mr. W. II. Hudson, containing an 

 account of the liabits of the Burrowing Owl [Pholeoptynx ctinicu- 

 larta) of the pampas of Buenos Ayres. — Two communications 

 were read from Mr. W. C. Mclntosli. The first of these was enti- 

 tled " Contributions to our Knowledge of the British Annelida ; " 

 and the second contained the first portion of an account of the 

 Annelida collected during the Porcupine expeditions of 1869 and 

 1870. — A communication was read from Dr. J. E. Gray, F. R. S., 

 containing a list of the species of feline animals (Fe/ida). — A 

 second communication from Dr. Gray contained the description 

 of a new species of Cat from Sarawak, proposed to be called 

 Fe/is badia. — A communication was read from M. L. Tacza- 

 nowski, entitled " Description d'une nouvelle espece de Mustela 

 du Perou Central." 



Geological Society, May 13.— John Evans, F.R.S., presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — The following communications were read : — 

 Note on some of the generic modifications of the Pleiosaurian 

 pectoral girdle, by Harry G. .Seeley, F.L.S. The restorations 

 and interpretations of the Pleiosaurian pectoral girdle given by 

 Conybeare, Hawkins, Owen, Huxley, Cope, and Phillips, were 

 discussed and re.nsons given for dissenting from their views. The 

 old genus Ptdosaurus was divided into two families, the Pleio- 

 sauridrc, containing the genus Plciosaiiriis, and the Elasmo- 

 saurida;, with lirctmosaurus, Colyinbosaunis, and Miinviiosaiinis. 

 A new type was taken for the genus Pleiosaunis, which showed 

 distinct clavicles. Eydmosaurus has neither clavicle nor inler- 

 clavicle, and the scapuire, concave in front, are blended in the 

 median line, and blended laterally with the coracoids. Its type 

 is Pleiosaurits nn^osus of the Lias. Colynibosatirits has for its 

 type Pldosaunis iiiegadeinis of the Kimmeridge clay. It has no 

 inter-clavicle, the scapula; are prolonged forward in a wedge 

 and backwaul, so as to meet the coracoids in the median line, 

 and inclose two coiaco-scapular foramina. Miimnosaurus is 

 founded on a new type from the Oxford clay. It has no inter- 

 claviclc, but the scapulae are prolonged forward to meet in the 

 median line ; they are not prolonged backward to meet the cora- 

 coids, hence but one coraco-scapular foramen is formed. A 

 similar condition marks the pelvic girdle. — Mitranosanriis leedsii 

 Seeley, a Pleiosaurian from the Oxford clay (Part I.), by Harry 

 G. Seeley, F.L.S. All parts of the animal, except teeth, ribs, 

 and hind limbs, were described. The jire-maxillary bones extend 

 bird-like between the nares to the (rontals. The foramen parie- 

 tale is between the parietal and frontal, and directed backward. 

 The cerebral lobes of the brain have a chelonian form, are pro- 

 longed in olfactory nerves, like those of Tdeosmints, and have 

 the optic lobes moderately developed. The exoecipital bones 

 do not enter into the occipital condyle. The basisphenoid is 

 perforated by the carotids, as in Ichihyoiauriis. The hypoglossal 

 nerve does not perforate the exoecipital bone. There are 44 

 cervical, 3 pectoral, 20 dorsal, 4 sacral, and the first 8 caudal 

 vertebra; preserved. — On the xin\mm oi Labyrinthodonta itonx 

 the Keuper Sandstone of Warwick, preserved in the Warwick 

 Museum, by L. C. Miall. The author considered that Laby- 

 riiithodon veiilriccsKS Owen is not a distinct species, and that 

 L. sculu/aliis Owen has not been proved to be a Labyrinthodont. 

 The species as identified by the author are as follows : — Maslo- 

 doiisniinis jtrgcri Von Meyer, IM. fm/tygnathus Owen, Faby- 

 litit/iodcii leflogiiat/iiis Owen, Diadiiir^iiathus (g.n. ) vait'iceiisis, 

 sp.n. 



Chemical Society, April 16. — Prof. Odling, F.R.S., presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Dr. Corfield delivered his lecture On the 

 sewage question from a chemical point of view. The lecturer, 

 after remarking that he was going to consider the question of the 

 value of chemical evidence on the sanitary view of the subject, 



1 compared the various systems for treating sewage, all of which 

 might be reduced to two classes ; the first, that of conservancy, 

 where more or less of the solid matter was retained in the 

 neighbourhood of habitaiious, and the other where the whole 

 of the excretal matter was removed along with the foul water 

 by means of sewers. He emphatically condemned the former 

 as poisoning the wells in the neighbourhood and liaijle to give 

 rise to disease, for it was a fact that the smallness of the death- 

 j rate at any large town was proportional to the efficiency of the 

 I means used for the removal of the sewage. He subsequently 

 discussed the various methods of rendering sewage innocuous, 

 showing that the only one of stny value for this purpose was that 

 of intermittent surface irrigation. 



j Royal Horticultural Society, May 13.— Scientific Com- 

 I mittee. A. Grote, F.L.S., in the chair.— The Rev. M. J. 

 Berkeley exhibited Clmiceps microcefhala, produced by the 

 I ergot of Antho.xanthum, which generally gave rise to Claviceps 

 pirpurm. The former species was rufous when fresh but purple 

 I when dry, and possibly the two species were not distinct. — Prof. 

 [ Thiselton Dyer read the following extract from a letter from 

 j Dr. Thwaites to Dr. Hooker under date March 31 : — " Tiie leaf 

 I disease in our coffee is just now in abeyance in the estates I passed 

 by on my v,-ay to Newcra Eliya, but it is such a treacherous 

 disease in the way of its apjiearance, and disappearance, and re- 

 ajipearance, that one cannot predict with any certainty what it is 

 going or not going to do. There cannot be the least doubt that 

 the disease at Tellicherry is the same as what our oiffee estates 

 are suffering from [Hfiuiliia vastcitrix)." — Col. Beddome^ had 

 heard in India that the leaf disease existed in the Wynaad district 

 (which included Tellicherry), and that it was the same as that of 

 Ceylon. — The Rev. M. J. Berkeley reported that he liad care- 

 fully examined the leaves of ilie diseased plants of Daphne hidica 

 exhibited by Mr. Smee, and that he failed to detect the presence 

 of any organism, vegetable or animal, wdiich could account for 

 the diseased state of the tissues. — Prof. Thiselton Dyer read the 

 following letter from Baron von Mueller : — "From Melbourne 

 will be sent to you by this month's post a dried branch of Coma 

 la-orenciana, with flowers as brilliantly red as any of the show- 

 iest varieties of C. speciom. ... In my recent journey to Mount 

 Kosciusco from the west, I saw only plants of C. la-vrenciaiui 

 with red Howers, whereas on the southern brooks I saw always 

 only the variety with the greenish flowers. Possibly the plant may 

 prove hardy in Britain, as it ascends here to 4,000 feet." Prof. 

 Thiselton Dyer also read the following communication from 

 Mr. Jackson, Curator of the Kew Museum: — "The insects 

 accompanying this were taken from a piece of a trunk of a 

 copal tree (Trac/iylobiuni Iwrnemaiutiamim Heyne), recently 

 received at the Kew Museum from Zanzibar through the Foreign 

 Office. The wood was for the most part riddled through 

 and through with insect borings, evidently the work of vdiite 

 ants. Mr. Frederick Smith, of the British Museum, to 

 whom I sent some of the living insects, replied: — "The in- 

 sect you have found in the copal wood is a species of 

 white ant (Termes). It appears to belong to the modern genus 

 Eiiternies, and to be E. lateralis Walker. It is extremely inter- 

 esting to see a living Tenius, and it is the first time I have done 

 so. There is a European species found in the warmer parts of 

 France and Italy." 



General Meeting. — J. A. Hardcastle in the chair. — The Rev. 

 M. J. Berkeley commented on the effects of the late inclement 

 weather. The crop of peas in the neighbourhood of London 

 was practically destroyed. Messrs. Standish sent cuttings of 

 various Japanese plants grown by them at Ascot wliich had es- 

 caped hitherto without injury, while many of the more commonly 

 cultivated sliiubs had sufferctl severely. 



riiii„\r>Ki.piil-\ 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, Dec. 16, 1S73. — Dr. 

 Carson, vice-president, in the chair. — Remarks on Fossil 

 Elephant Teeth. Prof. Leidy observed that the fossil ele- 

 phant teeth, presented this evening by Mr. Richard Peters, 

 were obtained by him in Mexico. In appearance the fossils re- 

 semble some others, obtained in New Mexico and Chihuahua, 

 referred to in his recent work, "Contributions to ihe Extinct 

 Vertebrate Fauna of the Western Territories." All appear to 

 Have pertained to the coarse-plated variety of molars rcf^rrred to 

 a species by Dr. Falconer with the name of Eleplws colunibi. 

 .Some of the specimens had been found in association with re- 

 mains of the mastodon, the extinct and near relative of the ele- 

 phant. The two genera were contemporaneous, and weie repre- 



