30 



NATURE 



[July i, 1909 



have been most troubled in the earthquake of June ii, 

 1909 r M. Jullien. — The oxydases of the waters of 

 Chaldette (Loz^re) : F. Garrigrou. 



New South Wales. 

 Linnean Society, April 28. — Mr. C. Hedley, president, 

 in the chair. — The geology and petrology of the Canoblas, 

 N.S.W. : C. A. Siissmilch and Dr. H. I. Jensen. The 

 Canoblas are a group of extinct volcanoes in the vicinity of 

 Orange, N.S.W. The western tableland here has an eleva- 

 tion of about 3000 feet. The surface of the tableland is a 

 peneplain, above which rise residuals of a still older plain. 

 This peneplain was cut out of a series of folded Devonian 

 and Silurian rocks, and has since been elevated to its 

 present altitude (3000 feet). The Canoblas Mountains 

 proper consist of lavas and tuffs, deposited upon the 

 peneplain. — Observations on the development of the 

 marsupial skull : Prof. R. Broom. A fairly complete 

 series of the diprotodont Triclwsiirus vulpecula, and an 

 interesting early stage of the polyprotodont Dasyurus 

 vhcniinis, have been studied. — Notes on the synonymv 

 and distribution of certain species of .Australian Colcoptcra, 

 with descriptions of new species of Tcnebrionidae : H. J. 

 Carter. The paper comprises notes upon the synonymy 

 and distribution of a number of species referable to the 

 three families Buprcstidoc, Tenebrionid.-e, and Ceramby- 

 cid<e, accumulated during a recent visit to Europe, and 

 especially to the museums in Brussels, Paris, London, and 

 Oxford, together with the descriptions of twenty-one 

 species of Tcnnbrionid.-e proposed as new. 



C.'VLCUTT.l. 



Asiatic Society of Bengal, May 5. — A Gonioniya frnm 

 the Cretaceous rocks of soulhcrn India : H. C. Das- 

 Gupta. — Coptis ; L H. Burkill. The author endeavours 

 to determine the source of the roots of Coptis sold hi 

 India. Three kinds are sold, one, as is well known, 

 coming from the Mishmi hills, and being derived from 

 Coptis Tecta, Wall, the other two imported over-seas, and 

 possibly being, respectively, roots of Coptis Tccia, var. 

 chinensis, Fine and Gagnep, and of Coptis anemonaejolia, 

 Sicb. and Zucc. Plants of Coptis Tccta in cultivation at 

 the Lloyd Botanic Garden, Darjeeling, have been studied, 

 and figures drawn from them. — Morphological and physio- 

 logical differences between Marsilea left on dry land and 

 that growing in water : Nibaran Chandra Bhattacharjee. 

 Marsilea qiiadrifolia does not fruit when growing in 

 water, but only on dried earth. — Notes on the history of 

 the district of Hughli before the Mohammedan period : 

 Nundo Lai Dey. — The drug astiikhudus, nowadays 

 Lavandula dcnlata, and not Lavandida Sloechas : I. H. 

 Burkill. It is probable that the importation of Lavcndida 

 dcntata into India began with the Portuguese trade. 

 Before that, Lavcndida Sloechas from .Asia Minor served 

 as the drug astukhudus from the time when the 

 Mohammedans introduced it. — The Manikvala tope : H. 

 Beveridgre. — First notes on Cymhopof:on Martini, Stapf : 

 i. H. Burkill. The two varieties, Motia and Sofia, are 

 to be distinguished from one another by the absence or 

 presence of the chemical body carvon, bv the angle at 

 which the leaves arise, and by different preferences in the 

 matter of climate. 



Capi; Town, 



Royal Society of South Africa, May ig. — Dr. L. Craw- 

 ford in the chair. — The possible existence at Kimberley 

 of oscillations of level having a lunar period : Dr. J. R. 

 Sutton. _ The outstanding seismic feature of Kimberley 

 is the diurnal variation of level whereby the crust of the 

 earth rises and falls once a day under the influence of 

 some solar action as yet uninterpreted. This matter was 

 discussed in a paper read before the Royal Society of 

 South Africa last July. The present discussion is con- 

 cerned more with variations of level depending upon the 

 gravitational influence of the moon. The observations do 

 not cover a sufficiently extended period to admit of an 

 exhaustive analysis, but, so far as they go, they imply 

 perhaps that when the moon is south of the equator its 

 attractive force causes the whole of the enormous pro- 

 tuberant mass of the earth's crust forming South Africa 

 to oscillate periodically east and west during the course of 

 the lunar day. This oscillation tends to mask whatever 

 true lunar tide there may be in the solid earth. Only 

 NO. 2070, VOL. 81] 



when the moon is nearest to the earth does the pendulum 

 move in such a manner as to suggest that there is such 

 a tide. — The rainfall of South Africa. The possibility of 

 prediction over the south.west : A. G. Howard. For this 

 investigation, which extended over five complete years, 

 three stations were selected, so as to secure a triangle 

 of observations, and at each the rise or fall of the baro- 

 meter in twenty-four hours was noted, together with the 

 direction of the wind at L'Agulhas. From a consideration 

 of the various conditions, which fell under twenty-six 

 heads, and were worked out daily during five complete 

 years, it was found possible to construct a table for pre- 

 diction purposes. This was applied to the rainfall for the 

 year 1908, and the element of error under each condition 

 of barometer was : — (i) when the pressure was decreasing 

 generally, 5-23 per cent., and (2) when the pressure was 

 increasing generally, about 11 per cent., proving the 

 argument that it is possible to predict rainfall over the 

 district from the date suggested. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



MO,\'DAy, July 5. 

 RovAL GEOGRAPHrcAt. SocrETV, at 8.30. — Captain Tilho's Explorations in 

 ihe Lake Chad Region : Lieut. Meicadier. 



WEDNESDAY, July 7. 

 British Astronomical Association, at 5. 



II 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Imperial Gazetteer Atlas of India. By 



T. H. H 1 



Essays on Leonardo da Vinci 2 



Para Rubber. By L. C. B 3 



Altitude Tables for Navigators . 4 



Our Book Shelf:— 



" Guide to the Whales, Porpoises, and Dolphins 

 (Order Cetacea), exhibited in the Depiitment of 

 Zoology, British Museum (Natural History), Crom- 

 well Road, London, S.W." . . 4 



Bohn : •' La Naissance de ITntelligence." — W. B. . 4 

 Owen: "The Dyeing and Cleaning of Textile 

 Fabrics. A Handbook for the Amateur and the 

 Profefsional." — Prof. Walter M. Gardner . . 5 

 Hildebrandsson and Ilellmann: "Codex of Reso- 

 lutions adopted at International Meteorological 



Meetings, 1872-1907 " 5 



Abbey : " The Balance of Nature, and Modern 

 Condi ions of Cultivation : A Practical Manual 

 of Animal Foes and Friends, for the Country 

 Gentleman, the Farmer, the Forester, the 



Gardener, and the Sportsman." — R. L 5 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Diurnal Variation of Temperature in the Free 



Atmosphere. — E. Gold 6 



Temperature of the Upper Atmosphere. — F. J. W. 



Whipple 6 



The Aeronautical Society. — Eric Stuart Bruce ; 



Prof. G. H. Bryan, F.R.S 6 



The Darwin Celebrations at Cambridge 7 



A New Analytical Engine. I!y Prof. C. V. Boys, 



F.R.S 14 



Prof D. J. Cunningham, F.R.S 15 



Dr. G. F. Deacon 16 



Notes 16 



Our Astionomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in July 19 



Comet I909<; (Borrelly-Daniel) 20 



The Shape of the Planet Mercury 20 



Observations of Sun spots, 190S 20 



Observations of Saturn and its Rings 20 



Tables for the Reduction of "Standard Co-ordinates" 



to Right Ascension and Declination 20 



The Transvaal Observatory, Johannesburg 20 



The Comets of 1907 and 190S 20 



The Royal Society Conversazione 20 



Some Papers on Invertebrates 22 



The Research Defence Society 22 



Is the Association of Ants with Trees a true 



Symbiosis .' By F. A. D 23 



University and Educational Intelligence 23 



Societies and Academies 25 



Diary of Societies 30 



