308 
oides ; the second, by the same fossils, but without R%. Aeyen- 
dorfit, and with two additional species of Spirifera (S. disjuncta 
and S. /enticula); the third has yielded only these two 
Spirifers, and S¢7, productotdes, while the fourth contains also 
Atrypa reticularis and Orthis striatula. Among the Devonian 
rocks of Central Russia, which consist only of limestones, 
M. Venukoff tries to establish the following four subdivisions : 
the Voronesh marls and limestones characterised by the presence 
of Spirifera Anosofi, together with Atrypa reticularis, Strophalosia 
productoides, several Orthoceratites and Corals, the Elets beds, 
where Sf. disjuncta, and a variety of Sp. Archiacz replace Sp. 
Aanosofji, the other leading fossils being : Rhynchonella livonica, 
Athyris concentrica, Productus subaculeatus, P. membranus, 
Strophalosia productoides, Streplorhynchus crenistria (umbra- 
culum), Pleurotomaria, Euomphalus, &c. The intermediate 
beds between these two groups are especially rich in corals 
(Aulopora serpens, Cyathophyllum ceratites, Syringopora abdita, 
S. tabulata, species of Stromatopora, &c.). The Elets beds 
are covered with a series of limestones characterised by the 
presence of Arca oreliana, and these last are followed by the 
well-known group of Murzvuya (in Ryazan) which constitutes a 
passage between the Devonian and Carboniferous systems. The 
correlation of the subdivisions of the deposits of the Devonian 
groups of North-Western with those of Central Russia, and of 
both with those of Western Europe, is beset with difficulties. 
Still it appears that the limestones of Elets and Voronesh, as 
also those of the Duna (especially since M. Antonowitsch’s 
researches), are comparable with the Stringocephalus group of 
the Eifel and Nassau; some resemblance may also be traced 
between the Elets and Voronesh limestones and the higher parts 
of the Middle and Lower members of the Upper Devonian 
system of England. They may likewise represent the ‘‘ Frasnien ” 
subdivision of the Upper Devonian series of the Boulonnais. 
Regarding the Lower Devonian Sandstones of Russia, Murchi- 
son's correlation of them with the [Lower] Old Red Sandstone 
of Caithness and Elgin remains unshaken. The break between 
these sandstones and the Silurian deposits which they cover 
seems also to be confirmed. As to the Devonian rocks of 
Poland, it appears from M. Mikhalsky’s researches (Zzvestia of 
the Geol. Committee, 1883) that the Lower, Middle, and Upper 
Devonian divisions of Western Europe are found there, the 
Upper being akin to the Rhynchonella cuboides group of the Eifel. 
Again, on the other side of the country the discovery on the 
eastern slope of the Ural of a Clymenia closely akin to the C. 
annulata and the C. spinosa (Lzvestia, 1884, 4) is a fresh con- 
firmation of the likeness of the Ural Devonian rocks to those of 
Western Europe. According to M. Tschernyshev the lime- 
stones of the western slope of the Middle Ural chain belong to 
the Lower Devonian, those of the Byelaya River (/zvestia, 1885, 
3) belonging to its lower subdivisions. 
SCIENCE IN BOHEMIA 
THE Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences celebrated, on 
December 6 of last year, the hundredth year of its public 
existence. Occasion has been taken to issue some special publi- 
cations, comprising a historical sketch of the Society and a 
résumé of the principal researches, a list of all papers, and 
another of members, since the commencement. The Society 
originated in a private one for study of science and history 
started in 1770 under the presidency of Ignaz von Born, who 
was not only an able scientist of the time, but an ardent free- 
mason (as were many of his fellows). It is a curious fact, throw- 
ing light on the aims of this Society, that its publications were 
all in German, not in Latin, the usual scientific medium in 
Bohemia at that time. No one thought of using Bohemian for 
science, Vow a considerable portion of papers appear in Bo- 
hemian, not always accompanied by a German 7éswmé, through 
ee some are rendered more accessible to the average linguist 
ere. 
Of the various scientific work recorded in the Abhandlungen 
and Sitsunesberichte for 1883-84 we may first notice that on 
fossil forms. The sponges of the Bohemian chalk formation, as 
represented in the Prague Museum, are being gone through by 
M. Pocta. In the new method of studying such remains, special 
weight is attached to inner structure, the outer form being re- 
garded as of secondary importance ; and following this course 
M. Pocta contributes the first two portions of a careful and 
finely-illustrated monograph dealing with the Hexactinellide and 
NATURE 
{ 
[Fuly 30, 1885 
Lithistide, two of the seven orders of Zittel’s classification. M. 
Pocta describes elsewhere the varieties of isolated sponge spicules 
met with in the chalk. Some sponge remains from the Lower 
Silurian strata of Bohemia resemble (according to M. Feistmantel) 
the species Acanthospongia Siluriensis, described by MacCoy in 
1846, and found at Cong, near Galway. We further notice 
accounts of fossil flora of the anthracite formation in Central 
Bohemia (M. Kusta), and of remarkable stem remains of Avau- 
caroxylon from the same (M. Feistmantel), &c. M. Novak 
shows from Bohemian trilobites how the form and markings of 
the hypostome offer good generic characters which may be taken 
as decisive where the other parts of the body agree. 
Among interesting fossils brought before the Society is a 
scorpion from the ‘‘ Moravia” coal-pit at Rakonitz. This is 
one of the little known order of Pedopalfi, and is the 
first fossil representative of a still living genus, Zhelyphonus, 
and probably of the order. Its great similarity to present 
forms is noteworthy, showing persistence of type in this genus 
from the Carboniferous period. The same pit has yielded four 
new spiders, and the number of known Palzozoic arachnida 
is now (according to M. Kusta) 34. A fossil cockchafer was 
found in a mass of Tertiary quartz received from France at a 
millstone manufactory in Prague. The body stood nearly free 
in an oyal hollow of the stone, doubtless corresponding to the 
cocoon. M. Fric has sent it to the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. 
From a chemical examination of the dark colouring matter of 
ebony, M. Belohoubek concludes that it is to be regarded as 
coal, and the case is a striking one, as being that of carbonisa- 
tion of plant material occurring physiologically in a living plant. 
The author not having sufficient young ebony could not exactly 
determine the mother-substance. M. Celakovosky finds in 
certain anamorphoses of the ovulum of Raphanus sativus, L., 
and in abnormal leaves of Croton, evidence in support of the 
foliolar theory of the ovulum. M. Palacky furnishes two instal- 
ments of his valuable, though necessarily incomplete and tentative 
sketch of the geographical distribution of plants. The formation 
of serial buds is studied by M. Velenovsky. M. Hansgirg extends 
the knowledge of Bohemian algze (imperfectly studied hitherto), 
and there are yearly reports on the additions to Bohemian 
botany. 
The organs of excretion of Aivudinee are to be regarded 
(according to M. Vijdovsky) as modified ‘‘ segmental organs ” 
of the Oigocheta ; as the former worms may be considered as 
Oligochzeta degenerate through parasitism. The same author 
furnishes an account of the freshwater sponges of Bohemia ; he 
finds five well-characterised species with some varieties belong- 
ing to the three sub-genera, Zwsponzilla, Ephydatia, and Trocho- 
spongilla. Of freshwater Bryozoa M. Kafka finds in Bohemia 
, thirteen species, two of them new. M. Bayer shows how widely 
apart Pelobates and Bombinatoy are in the structure of their 
skeleton, and offers a new classification of the Anoura. 
Considering the nature of steel-hardening from the electrical 
standpoint, in connection with the corresponding behaviour of 
some silver alloys, MM. Strouhal and Barus arrive at the result 
that neither the mechanical nor the chemical hypothesis as to 
steel hardening suffices alone to explain the phenomena, and, 
while the proportion of carbon is the principal factor for deter- 
mining the behaviour of steel, this behaviour must be explained 
by a combination of chemical and mechanical influences. The 
authors offer a definition of steel on the basis of the electrical 
behaviour of iron with increasing proportion of carbon. M. 
Kolacek makes a contribution to the theory of the Gramme 
machine. M. Seydler investigates the application of the prin- 
ciple of energy to the pondero-motive and electro-motive actions 
of the electric current, also the theory of tension of electrostatic 
phenomena from the standpoint of the theory of elasticity. There 
are various papers in mathematics, crystallography, &c., which 
we must not stop to notice. Tables of rainfall at different stations 
of Bohemia are furnished by M. Stodnicka. 
To this brief account, indicating some directions of recent 
Bohemian science, we will add a word about the great work of 
Barrande. That eminent geologist, who died on October 5, 
1883, left his collections, &c., to the Bohemian Museum ; he 
also left directions and funds for the completion of his ‘‘ Systeme 
Silurien du Centre de la Bohéme,” of which twenty-two volumes 
had appeared between 1852 and 1881. Drs. Waagen and 
Novak now undertake, at Barrande’s request, the further work 
required. The text and plates relating to the Gasteropods and 
Echinoderms were found in a nearly finished state, but the 
Polyps, Graptoliths, and Bryozoa have still to be worked out for 
