Aug. 13, 1874J 



NATURE 



297 



On some of the parasitic fungi common in the neighbourhood, 

 by Mr. F. J. Warner, F.L.S. ; Notes on new or rare Hampshire 

 insects, by the Rev. W. Spicer ; and an interesting paper on 

 Lapland. 



The Geographical I\Iagazinc, August. — Tliis number opens 

 with an interesting account, illustrated by a map, of the Cameron 

 African Expedition up to the beginning of the present year. In 

 "The Lufiji River and the Copal Trade," some account is given 

 of recent explorations of the delta of this little-known African 

 river. Capt. Davis continues his notes on the voyage of the 

 Challenger, Mr. G. Turner his " Impressions of Jamaica," and 

 Mr. H. P. Malet his " Sign-posts on Ocean's Highway," in 

 which he brings together various theories on the formation of 

 moimtains. " Djetyshahr (Eastern Turkestan), its Sovereign 

 and its Surroundings," is the title of a paper, with a map, by 

 Mr. R. Michcll. In an article on "The Archaeological Survey 

 of India," an account is given of some important discoveries 

 recently made among the Buddhist remains of Bharahut, in the 

 Central Provinces. The number also contains a very interesting 

 account of a recent visit to the Caroline Islands. 



Bullelin de la SoaJle d\4nlhropolos,ie de Paris, t. viii.— The 

 diminution in tlie population of France which had taken place 

 between the census ot 1S66 and that of 1S72, and is far in excess 

 of what may be referred to losses in battle and the annexation 

 by Germany of the Alsace-Lorraine territory, has been made the 

 subject of a series of papers by M. Bertillon. The whole subject 

 of the decrease of the population in France is one that is neces- 

 sarily engaging tlie attention of medical as well as statistical 

 writers. In the discussion which M. Bertillon's paper raised at 

 the ordinary meeting of the Society, M. Lagneau drew attention 

 to the results given in a paper read by himself before the Academic 

 de Mcdecine On the census of 1872 and the condition of the 

 population of France, in which he has attempted to show that 

 the small number of births when compared with the deaths is to 

 be referred, not to any special ethnogenic or climatic relations, 

 but rather to the inlluence of certain laws of succession and 

 subdivision cf property, and to the agency of military enactments, 

 the one inducing late marriages and the other enforcing celibacy 

 on a large proportion of men in the prime of life. — A valuable 

 Report has been drawn up under the direction of the Commis- 

 sioners for Algeria, by M. le General Faidherbe and others, on 

 the anthropology of that province, and has been formally pre- 

 sented to the Anthropological Society of Paris. After a general 

 preliminary dissertation by M. Faidherbe on the different races 

 wliich have occupied or still occupy the Algerine territory. Dr. 

 Topinard considers at great length the ethnological, social, 

 moral, linguistic and other relations of the Arabs and Berbers, 

 who constitute the main branches of the French tributary 

 tribes. — M. Roujou attempts in a lecture, which he de- 

 livered before the Society in the course of last year, to 

 prove that a fair-haired race occupied the GalUc soil before 

 the advent of the Germanic tribes, including Gauls under that 

 denomination. He is of opinion that the ancestors of the 

 Hellenes, the constructors ot those megalithic remains which 

 extend Ironi the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and from Scandi- 

 navia to Africa, and the fair-haired invaders of Egypt, who sixteen 

 or seventeen centuries before our era had reached the Nile from 

 the north-west, all belonged to one ancient blonde race, which 

 long before the appearance of Teutons and Gauls had occupied 

 Western Asia, Northern Africa, and the lands of Europe as the 

 dominant or aristocratic class. M. Roujou discusses the much- 

 vexed question whether the primitive Celtic races were fair or 

 dark, dolichocephalic or brachycephalic, the former opinion 

 being maintained by Dr. Pruner Bey, while the latter view is 

 supported by all the learning that the great anthropologist, Dr. 

 Broca, can advance in its favour. 



' Aiiiiali di Chimica afplieata alia ir,edieiiia, vol. Iviii. No. 6, 

 June. — This part concludes the eighteenth volume and contains 

 the following papers : — In pharmacy, G. Righini furnishes a con- 

 tribution on the iodides of sodium and ammonium and the pro- 

 duction of iodoform in a mixture of these salts. — Dr. Coutinho 

 furnishes a paper on the use of Jaborandi, a tree growing in 

 North Brazil.— There is also a paper in this section on Anglo- 

 Saxon condensed milk, reprinted trom Le Mi'iiveiiient jMedicalior 

 March.— In hygiene, there is a paper by Pietro Carpani On a 

 simple method for determining the quantity of lead contained in 

 pewter vessels. — Action of water on lead, by Fordos. — In 

 dietetics. Dr. F. Turbacco furnishes the concluding part of his 

 paper On cheese and its alimentary use. — In physiology, Dr. G. 



CappelU has a communication On the anti-fermentative action of 

 boric acid and its efficacy in certain diseases. — Studies relating 

 to the question of heterogenesis, by Prof. G. Cantoni. — Under 

 the heading " Varieties " there is a paper by Gioachino Curti On 

 the substitution of the earth of the solfatara of PozzuoU for sulphur 

 in the sulphurisation of vines. 



Gazzetta Chimica Italia7ia, fascicolo iv. — This number com- 

 mences with a paper by Prof. E. Pollacci On the mode of action 

 of sulphur on calcium carbonate. Dr. Giuseppe Bellucci fur- 

 nishes also a contribution on the same subject. — Chemical 

 analysis of a marine plant (Posidonia octainca, Koen) used in 

 Liguria as manure, by Fausto Sestini. — Hugo Schifl contributes 

 a paper On some derivatives of phloretine. The author de- 

 scribes in detail the method of preparing this substance, also the 

 preparation of phloroglucine, phloretic acid, phloroglucide and 

 triphloretide. — A. Pavesi and E. Rotondi give an account of the 

 work done in the chemical laboratory of the Agricultural College 

 of Milan. This comprises papers On rice oil ; On the analysis 

 of volcanic ashes which fell at Naples ; die solubility of calcium 

 pho>phatc in sulphurous acid ; On parabussinc, a new alkaloid 

 contained in Puxiis sempirvirens (the sulphate has the formula 

 CjiiHjgNoOSO^Ho) ; On a practical method of determining the 

 degree of acidity of milk ; and, finally. On the quantitative de- 

 termination of tannin especially in the must of grapes and in 

 wine, modification of Flek's method. — The following papers are 

 communicated from the station at Asti : — On the chalkiness of 

 must, by Dr. I. Macagno. — Inlluence of light on vegetation, by 

 the same author. — Experiments on the process of fermentation, 

 by the same author. — The remainder of this part consists of a 

 summary of foreign journals. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Horticultural Society, August 5.— W. A. Lindsay 

 in the chair. — The Rev. M. J. Berkeley called attention to 

 Fuchsia prociimbens, .an interesting species — probably nearly 

 hardy and suitable for rockwork — from New Zealand ; Pavia 

 fiiacrostachya and Clethra arborea were sent from the gardens ot 

 Syon House. — Mr. H. B. Hennel exhibited a large plant of 

 Liiniin auraliim with two stems — one fasciated, bearing iorty- 

 eiglit, and the other seventeen flowers. 

 Philadelphia 



Academy of Natural Sciences, Feb. 3. — Dr. Ruschen- 

 berger, president, in the chair. — Dr. Chapman exhibited a dis- 

 section of one of the hind legs of a musk-rat, Fiber zibelhicus. 

 The tendons .of the tibialis anticus, extensor proprius hallucis, 

 and extensor longus digitorum, pass down a groove in the tibia 

 and under a little process of bone. The extensor longus digi- 

 torum is held down by an additional process. This arrange- 

 ment seems to quicken the extension of the foot, and is of use 

 apparently to the animal in swimming. — Prof Leidy remarked 

 that while it was exceptional to find the same species of the 

 higher sub-kingdoms in the different parts of the world, it ap- 

 peared to be the rule that most species of Protozoa were found 

 everywhere under the same conditions. A large number of our 

 fresh-water forms he had recognised as the same as those de- 

 scribed by European authors. A less number of species are 

 probably peculiar to every region. Among om' fresh-water 

 Khizopods he had observed not only the genera A/z/aba, Areella, 

 Diffliigia, Euglyfha, Trinema, Lagynis, Actiiiophrys, &c., but 

 also most of the species of these as indicated by European 

 naturalists. It is an interesting question whether our fresh- 

 water Protozoa have reached us Irom the same sources as those 

 of Europe and other remote countries. If deiived from the 

 same sources they were probably infused in the waters of the 

 different continents at an early age when the latter were not 

 separated by ocean barriers. 11 thus early infused we have a 

 remarkable instance of a multitude of specific forms retaining 

 their identity through a long period of time. Sucli a view might 

 appear to oppose the doctrine of evolution, but not justly so, for 

 the simplest forms would be the slowest or least likely to vary, 

 while the most complex, from their extended relationships, 

 would be most liable to variation. Perhaps, however, the 

 simplest forms of life, of the same species, may have originated 

 independently of one another, not only in diflerent places, but 

 also at different times, and may yet continue to do so. While 

 the highest forms of life may have been slowly evolved from the 



