28S 



NATURE 



[July 23, 1896 



zinc-copper couple in acetic acid solution two unsaturated 

 alcohols are obtained : 



Clla.CII :CM.Cri,,OIl 

 and 



CIl3.CII:ClI.ClI(OH).CH(OH)CII :C[I.CH,,. 



— Rapid estimation of carbon dioxide in the air and confined 

 spaces, by M. Uenriet. The gas is absorbed in potash, and the 

 latter titrated with sulphuric acid, using phenol-phthalein as 

 indicator. — Termination of the muscular sensory nerves on the 

 striated bundles, by M. C. Rouget. — On the electroneuro- 

 muscular circuit, by M. E Solvay. — Cutaneous evaporation in 

 the rabbit. Modifications under the influence of electrical 

 excitement, by .M. Lecercle. Under the influence of galvanisa- 

 tion the cutaneous evaporation is increased. — On the order of 

 succession of the fauna of the Upper Lias near Lu(;on, by ^I^L 

 Chartron and Welsch. — On the topaz crystals of Perak, by 

 MM. A. Lacroix and .Sol. — On the estimation of gluten in 

 flour, by M. Balland. — On the treatment of such diseases as 

 gout and diabetes by high frequency currents, by M. Vigouroux. — 

 On the results furnished by orchitine in the treatment of 

 leprosy, by M. Boufl'e. 



Philadei.phi.\. 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, June 23. — Rev. H. C. 



McCook reported a series of observations on the California trap- 

 door spider, Cteiiiza Ca/i/oriiha, made by Dr. Davidson, who 

 has been able to determine the time required for the construction 

 of the burrow in confinement, and other matters connected with 

 the life-history of the animal. It has taken ten hours to construct 

 the nest with its hinged door, another spider having made a 

 hole large enough to conceal itself in two hours. The method 

 of digging was the same in the main as that described by Dr. 

 McCook for the tarantula. The young, when they emerge, at 

 once build their own miniature nests, which are renewed every 

 spring until they reach the full size. Based on the study of a 

 Lycosid, the speaker had predicted that the enemy of the trap- 

 door spider would be found to be a diurnal wasp. Dr. Davidson 

 had established the fact that such is the case, and that the 

 attacking species is Pampompiltis p/aiialiis, Fox.^Mr. H. C. 

 Mercer made a report on his recent exploration of certain caves 

 in Tennessee, which he had been able to prosecute under the 

 patronage of the University of Pennsylvania, mainly through the 

 liberality of Dr. William Pepper. In Zirkel's cave on Dumpling 

 Creek, Jefferson County, Tennessee, crusts of breccia projected 

 from the walls and hung from the roof. From this material the 

 teeth of the tapir, peccary, &c., projected, while in the cave 

 below were found bones, nuts, two pieces of Indian pottery and 

 fragments of mica, probably indicating Indian burial cave. There 

 were therefore two ages indicated : one ancient,by the breccia, and 

 the other, the cave earth, comparatively recent. All the fossil 

 remains belonged to the breccia, and there was no association 

 between them and the indications of human life. Another cave 

 on the Tennessee River, under Lookout Mountain, Hamilton 

 County, Tennessee, presented a floor of two layers, the black 

 top one, of three or three and a half feet in thickness, composed 

 of Indian remains, and another of yellow earth containing a few 

 animal remains but no indication of human existence. Mylodon 

 and Tapirus fragments, found some time ago close to the bottom 

 of the upper layer, had probably been scraped up from the lower. 

 Neither, therefore, did this cave present any certain data for the 

 advancement of the date of man's antiquity. On the contrary, 

 the evidence supported the belief that pleistocene or paUijolithic 

 man had not existed in that region. On penetrating the for- 

 bidden entrance of Big Bone Cave, near Caney Fork River, 

 Van Buren County, Tennessee, he had found, nine hundred feet 

 in, the bones of Megalony.x still bearing articular cartilages. 

 Fragments of torches were found beneath the sloth bones, pro- 

 bably buried by burrowing rats. Prof E. D. Cope commented 

 on the fossil bones collected in the caves described by Mr. 

 Mercer. The presence of cartilages on the Afegalonyx bones 

 indicated for them an age certainly not more remote than the 

 existence of man on this continent. Other bones belonging to 

 young individuals were larger than corresponding ones found at 

 Port Kennedy, indicating the validity of the two species : 

 JMcgalotiyx Wheatleyi ?i.nA M. /e/fersoiiii. Mr. Mercer had also 

 collected remains of fifteen or twenty species of birds, six fishes, 

 one batrachian, four tortoises, one rattlesnake, and nineteen 

 mammals. The special value of Mr. Mercer's careful work was 



commented on. The peccary is found in Zirkel's cave, although 

 no trace of it appears in the Lookout Mountain cave. Several 

 undescribed species were indicated. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— C-ilaloguc of itie Fossil Hr>ozoa in Ilie Dep.irtinenl of Geology 

 (Nalur.ll History): Dr. J. W. Gregory: The Jurassic Hryo/oa (I^ondon).— 

 Glasgow and West of .Scotland Technical College, Calendar for the Session 

 18967 (Glasgow).— The liiological Problem of To-day : Dr. O. Hertwig. 

 translated by P. C. Mitchell (Heinemann).-Die Kormen der Familie und 

 die Formen der Wirthschafi : E. Grosse (Freiburg, Mchr). 



Pami'Iilkts.— Teside Fisica e Meccanica : G- Casaz/a (Milano).— Field 

 Columbian Museum, Annual Report for the V'ear 1894-95 (Chicago). — 

 Fiftieth .Aiuiual Report of the Director of the .Astronomical Observatory of 

 Harvard College : E. C. Pickering (Cambridge, Mass.).— Die Saturniiden : 

 A. R. Grote(Hildesheim). 



Serials. — Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. xxix. Part 2 

 (Calcutta).^Indian Museum Notes, Vol. 3, No. 6 ; Vol. 4, No. i (Calcutta). 

 —Science Progress, July (Scientific Press).— Journal of the Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society, June (Williams).— Annals of the Astronomical Observatory 

 of Harv.ird College, Vol. xl. Part 4 ; Vol. xli. No. 3; Vol. xxxiv. (Cam- 

 bridge, M.1SS.).— Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia. 2nd series, Vol. x. Part 3 (Philadelphia).— Lloyd's Natural History. 

 Cats, Civets, and Mungooses : R. Lydekker, Part i (Lloyd).— Psychological 

 Review. July (Macmillan).— Bulletin de I'Acadiimie Royale des Sciences de 

 Belgique, 1896, No. 5 (Bruxelles).— Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 

 June (Stanford).— Journal of the Franklin Institute, July (Philadelphia).— 

 American Journal of Science, July (New Haven). — American Naturalist, 

 July (FhiLadelphia).- Zeitschriftfiir Wissenschaftliche Zoologie, Ivi. Band, 

 3 Heft (Leipzig, Engelmann). —Strand Magazine, July (Newnes).— Quarterly 

 Re\iew, July (Murray). — Proceedings of the Physical Society, Vol. 14, 

 Part 7 (Taylor). — Lean's Royal Navy List, July (Witherby). — Engineering 

 Magazine, July (Tucker).- Annates de I'Observatoire Astronomique de 

 Moscou, deux .sirie Vol. 3, Livr. 2 (Moscou).— Journal of Anatomy and 

 Physiology, July (Griffin) —Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 

 June (New York, Macmillan).— Memorie delta Hociet.a Geografica Italiana, 

 Vol. vi. P.arte Prima (Roma).— Lloyds Natural History. Cats, &c. : R. 

 Lydekker, Part 2 (Lloyd).— Zeitschrift fur Physikalische Chemie, xx. Band, 

 2 Heft (Leipzig, Engelmann). — Transactions of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh, Vol. xxxvii. P.arts 3 and 4 ; Ditto, Vol. xx.wiii. Parts i and 2 

 (Edinburgh, Grant). — Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 

 Vol. xxi. No. I (Edinburgh).— Archives of Clinical Skiagraphy, No. 2, 

 Vol. I (Rebman). 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Geology for Students 265 



Boulenger's Catalogue of Snakes 266 



The Management of Public Works in the United 



States 267 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Crawford: " Wild Life of Scotland " 268 



Loader : " A Cosmographical Review of the Universal 



Law of the Affinities of Atoms" 268 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Position of Science at Oxford. — Oswald H. 



Latter; C. I. Gardiner 269 



Capture of a Sjwcimen of " Lepidosiren '" in the River 



Amazons. — DT. Albert Giinther, F.R.S. . . . 270 

 Eskimo Throwing-Sticks. {Ilhislratcd.)—X>r. Otis T. 



Mason 271 



The Salaries of Science Demonstrators. — O. J. L. . , 271 



A Curious Rainbow. — C. O. Stevens 271 



Efiect of Lightning. — Worthington G. Smith . . 271 



A Biilliant Meteor.— C. H. H. Walker 271 



The International Catalogue Conference 272 



Archaeological Studies in Mexico. (Illtislrated.) By 



Alfred P. Maudslay 274 



Measurement of Cloud Heights and Velocities. 



{Illustrated.) 276 



Notes 277 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Double Star Orbits 280 



Kot.ation Period of Jupiter 280 



Telluric Lines 280 



Eriplanation of Solar Phenomena 281 



New Form of Apparatus for the Production of 



Rontgen Rays. [Il/iistratrd.) By Benjamin Davies 281 



The Roborovsky Expedition 282 



Evaporation. By Prof. Cleveland Abbe 2S3 



London University Commission Bill 284 



University and Educational Intelligence 285 



Scientific Serials 285 



Societies and Academies 286 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 288 



NO. 1395, VOL. 54] 



