Sept. 3, 1874] 



NATURE 



373 



tube instead. Nos. (i) (2) and (3) were found to be considerably 

 altered after having been exposed to a high temperature. The 

 instruments were placed in an ordinary fire and repeatedly 

 heated to a red heat, at which they were maintained for several 

 hours. The original resistance was ten units. The following 

 numbers show the increase of resistance : — 



(I) 0-834 (2) i-6oS (3) 1-169 

 These numbers expressed as fractions of the original resistance 

 become (i) '0834 (2) -160S (3) -iieg. 



Equivalent change of temjjerature = (i) 30", (2) 58°, (3) 43°. 

 These measurements show that the change in resistance produced 

 by exposure to high temperatures is so great as to invalidate the 

 usefulness of these instruments. 



No. (4). Resistance increased '046, which expressed as a por- 

 tion of the original resistance — '0046. Equivalent change of 

 temperature = i°'5 The last instrument therefore gives results 

 which are sufficiently constant for industrial application, if not for 

 strictly scientific purposes. 



Prof. Williamson suggested that the change in the resistance 

 might be due to a change in the platinum, as it has been found 

 that platinum in contact with silica, in a reducing atmosphere, is 

 altered at high temperatures. 



Report of i/ii Committee appointed to prepare and print tables of 

 Wave Numbers. 



Mr. G. J. Stoney stated that the work of this Committee 

 was in progress, and that the Committee hoped to be in a 

 position to make a full report at the next meeting of the 

 Association. Under these circumstances they merely asked to 

 be reappointed. 



Second Report on the Siib-Wealden Exploration. By H. 

 Willett and W. Topley. 



This Report gave an account of the progress of the work since 

 the last meeting of the Association. Most of the results attained 

 have been already made public through the Quarterly Reports, 

 and they were lecently summarised in tliese columns. At the 

 time of the Bradford meeting only 300 feet Iiad been reached, 

 and the age of the beds tlien being traversed was unknown. 

 Mr. Peyton and Prof. Phillips discovered Kimmeridge Clay 

 fossils immediately after the Report was read ; since that time 

 a large collection of fossils has been made, including most of 

 the characteristic Englisli Kimmeridge species, and some which 

 are new. An undescribed species of Modiola is very abundant, 

 and so is a small Astartt — the A. Mysis of D'Orbigny. A new 

 species of this genus has been found, and a small Trigonia which 

 Dr. Lycett believes to be also new. 



The Kimmeridge Clay appears to be nearly 700 feet thick ; 

 generally it is a rather sandy clay, but towards the base there are 

 some tliick liands of cement stone. The Coral Rag is apparently 

 absent. Amongst the fossils from the Oxford Clay the following 

 were noticed : — Ammonites fason, Am.Lambcrti, Am. Seds,wiel;i, 

 Pollicipes eoncinnus, Gervillia, and Macrodon. The total depth 

 now reached is 1,030 feet, and 3,000/. has been spent. The 

 Association has voted an increased grant of 100/., and the 

 Government has promised aid to the extent of 100/. for each 

 100 feet completed below 1,000 feet ; but as each 100 feet will 

 cost from 300/. to 400/. (including the cost of lining the hole), 

 the Committee trust that subscriptions will still be forthcoming 

 to enable them to continue the work. 



Report of the Committee on the Influence of Forests on Rain, — 

 It appeared from the very lengthened report that the opera- 

 tions of the committee during the past year had been restricted 

 to the meteorological observations made at Carnwatli, Lanark- 

 shire. In order to carry on the operations at Carnwath, and 

 extend them, a grant fiom the Association of not less than 25/. 

 would be required for next year. They did not propose to com- 

 mence observations at any new station. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The Journal of Mattal Science, July 1S74— Dr. Nicolson pro- 

 ceeds with his Morbid Physiology of Criminals, discussing, on 

 this occasion, prison discipline as a test of mind ; and he finds a 

 large number of prisoners who, tried by this test, he must class 

 together as "weak-minded." In spite of his strong common 

 sense, Dr. Nicolson at times betrays amiable leanings towards 

 the hopeful rather than towards a perhaps unpalatable truth. 

 We must confess ourselves among the " sceptics " from whom 

 "the sight of a class of adult and veteran criminals plodding 



away at their books in the halls of a prison " "would but draw 

 an ominous shake of the head." Granting that the book edu- 

 cation of criminals could be carried further than there is any 

 reason to believe possible, the assumption remains that this 

 would tend more than any other form of discipline to make them 

 less criminal than before— the only thing in which society has any 

 special interest concerning them. The "weak-minded" criminal, 

 being on the border line of sanity, is naturally a perplexing sub- 

 ject to the prison authorities. In dealing with him practically 

 Dr. Nicolson's sagacity might be (ully relied on, though in 

 such expressions as "we can punish badness, but we must 

 treat madness," there is implied a sharp line of distinction 

 v?hich exists only in our phraseology. Madness ought to 

 be punished when that is the best treatment ; and bad- 

 ness ought to be treated when treatment is the best remedy. 

 — In an interesting paper On children fostered by wild 

 beasts, W. W. Ireland, M.D., favours the opinion that there 

 is not a single authentic instance of the kind. — [. H. Balfour 

 Browne, barrister, makes a psychological and ir,edico-legal pro- 

 blem of the character of Lconce Miranda, the hero of Mr, 

 Browning's Red Cotton Night-Capt Country ; and by intensely 

 commonplace standards of measurement concludes that Lconce 

 was mad. We sincerely hope his principles ot judgment will 

 never find place in the deliberations of actual legal tribunals. 

 It would be a teiTible prospect to think that our wdls might be 

 set aside at the instance of greedy relatives on the ground that 

 we were somewhat "anomalous," not exactly like the herd " in 

 our mental constitution;" "to say which," says Mr. Balfour 

 Browne, " is only to say that a man is insane." Perhaps "all 

 the doctrines of Rome will nut make a practical man who pro- 

 fesses its creed believe in a nowadays miracle ; " but what is the 

 worth of the statement ? Strike out the word practical, which 

 here means stupid, and give the sentence definite meaning by 

 substituting bclin'cs for professes, and the proposition becomes a 

 contradiction in terms. But to be logical may be to be insane, 

 according to the wisdom of our practical men who profess instead 

 of believing. — The Morisonian Lectures ; The treatment of in- 

 sanity, abstracted from Drs. Bucknill and Tuke's chapter on that 

 subject ; Clinical notes and cases ; Notes of the quarter, and 

 reviews, make up the number. Dr. Carpenter's " Mental Physio- 

 logy " is the most important review. His defence of the old free- 

 will doctrine is severely handled ; and an attempt, not quite so 

 successful, is made to set aside the theory of unconscious cere- 

 bration. 



jfournal of the Franklin Institute, July. — Among the matter 

 contained in this number is the first instalment of an elaborate 

 paper by Mr. J. A. Henderson, M.E., On the theory of aero- 

 steam engines, which, an editorial note informs us, is the first 

 theoretical treatise on the subject that has appeared to comple- 

 ment the work of the late Prof. Rankine on other heat-engines. 

 The " Principles of Shop Manipulation " is continued by Mr. J. 

 Richards. — Chief Engineer W. PI. Shock, U.S. Navy, under the 

 he.ad of " Strength of Materials," gives an account of a series of 

 very carefully conducted experiments on bolts of various dimen- 

 sions, under the two possible conditions — double cut and 

 single cut — in which they might be used in connection with the 

 bracing of boilers, and for other purposes. — There is a transla- 

 tion of M. Baudrimont's paper. On the tenacity of malleable 

 metals at various temperatures. — Mr. C. J. Wister, in a paper On 

 the moon's figure as obtained in the spectroscope, objects to 

 Gu>sew's deductions from De la Rue's photographs of the moon 

 at the extremes of her librations. — Prof Thurston's paper On 

 the mechanical properties of materials of construction, is con- 

 tinued. 



The American Naturalist, August. — On the Flora of Southern 

 Florida, by Frederick Brandel. The question considered is 

 whether the flora of Southern Florida and the Keys is really 

 North American or South Indian ; and the conclusion reached is 

 that it is not North American, but a link between it and that of 

 the West Indies, and that a portion of those species which are 

 peculiar to the northern portions of the State and the imme- 

 diately adjacent region may have been derived from the 

 south. — The Classification of the Rhynchophorous Coleop- 

 tera, by Dr. John L. Leconte. — Herbarium Cases, by Dr. 

 C. C. Parry. A case is described, with a woodcut, specially 

 designed for being readily moved. — A Key to the higher Alga; 

 of the Atlantic Coast between Newfoundland and Florida, by 

 Prof D. S. Jordan. Part II. Rhodospermex'. Part HI. Chlo- 

 rospermcK. An etymology of names of genera is appended. — 

 Under the section Zoology a new species of North American 



