82 



NATURE 



{Nov. 27, 1879 



F.R.S., as editor, in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical 

 Science for October, in reference to my studio and agency for 

 the supply of microscopic organisms. Of course I have to thank 

 him most sincerely for calling the attention of naturalists to my 

 efforts, and so strongly calling on tbem to support me, but he 

 has given me credit in some directions which is due to other 

 naturalists to whom I am under considerable obligations. I wish 

 to correct this view at once by writing to your periodical in 

 preference to waiting till the next number of the Quarterly 

 can appear. Prof. Lankester's language "may lead those who 

 have not seen other reports to put down the actual first finding 

 of several organisms new to the British fauna to me, whereas 

 several of them were first picked up by others. 



The Leptodora was found at Olton during a visit made by a 

 party of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical 

 Society on July 26. Whilst the president, Mr. Graham, the 

 curators, Messrs. Levick and Lloyd, some other members, and 

 myself, were searching the pool from a boat, Mr. Levick's 

 unusually sharp eyes first called the attention of the others to 

 some lively organism in his bottle, which he at first thought to 

 be a larva, and Mr. Graham was, I believe, the first to suggest 

 that it was probably a larval form of an Entomostracan. After 

 this they were collected in large numbers with the net. As soon 

 as possible I asked my friend Mr. Forrest to make a drawing, 

 which I had printed, and drew up a short account of it for my 

 subscribers, describing it as a larval form of one of the Ento- 

 mostraca ; but before I had finished writing this I found one 

 carrying four large eggs in the second segment of the body, 

 which fact I added to my description, and which I pointed out 

 would lead to the supposition that it was no larva, but a mature 

 animal. I sent the specimens out on August I, and the earliest 

 notice I had from my subscribers was from Sir John Lubbock, 

 F.R.S., who wrote by return to say he was much interested in 

 the curious crustacean which he believed to be new to this 

 country, and on August 6 Prof. Lankester wrote to say the 

 crustacean I had sent was the Leptodora hyalina. In looking over 

 the water in which we had taken the Leptodora, I found another 

 Entomostracan which was new to me, and I called Mr. Forrest's 

 attention to it, and gave him some specimens which he took 

 home and studied, and finding no trace of them in Baird's " Ento- 

 mostraca," he made a drawing of it and drew up a description of 

 it for the Midland Naturalist of September, under the name of 

 Daphnia bairdii. With permission of the editor I distributed 

 copies of this plate and description, with living specimens, to my 

 subscribers on August 8, and on the 13th Prof. Lankester wrote 

 me to say " the beautiful Daphnia bairdii of Mr. Forrest is the 

 already described Hyalodaphnia kahlbergensis of Schodler" (see 

 Mr. Forrest's further remarks, Mid. Nat., November, page 281). 

 In looking over Prof. Lankester's remarks, I was surprised to 

 see his account of the new Protozoa, which reminded me that on 

 April 30 he had written to me saying that the Amoebje gathering 

 was only interesting, and asking me to send him a good lot more, 

 as he thought he had fonnd something new, but I could only 

 send him a small tube more, as this, together with the large 

 Amoebse to which he refers, came from a small beaker aquarium 

 in the study of my friend Mr. Levick. 



I mu<t apologise for having taken up so much of your space, 

 but in fairness to Mr. Levick and Mr. Forrest, I could not well 

 let the report pass without comment, giving them full credit of 

 first finding the objects ; but at the same time I cannot help 

 thinking that the discoveries (if ever published) would have been 

 much longer before they had been brought before the scientific 

 world, had it not been for the distribution of the specimens 

 through my agency. As it is, however, my wish not to take 

 more credit than is due, I shall always be glad to point out the 

 first finders of organisms which may be entrusted to me for dis- 

 tribution, and which may aftei wards turn out to be of any special 

 interest. 



In furtherance of Prof. Lankester's kind appeal to naturalists 

 for the pecuniary support of my agency, I must really ask them 

 to act upon it, as, so far, my studio is not sufficiently remunerative 

 to induce me to persevere with it much longer, as my receipts 

 for the last year have barely covered my office rent, collecting, 

 and individual expenses. Thomas Bolton 



17, Ann Street, Birmingham, November 19 



Intellect in Brutes 

 The following is a curious instance of discrimination, which I 

 have observed in my bullfinch. He is in the habit of coming out 



of his cage in my room in the morning. In this room there is a 

 mirror with a marble slab before it, and also a very cleverly- 

 executed water-colour drawing of a hen-bullfinch, life-size. The 

 first thing which my bullfinch does on leaving his cage is to fly 

 to the picture (perching on a vase just below it), and pipe his 

 tune in the most insinuating manner, accompanied with much 

 bowing to the portrait of the hen-bullfinch. After having duly paid 

 his addresses to it, he generally spends some time on the marble 

 slab in front of the looking-glass, but without showing the 

 lightest emotion at the sight of his own reflection, or worthying 

 it with a song. Whether this perfect coolness is due to the fact 

 of the reflection being that of a cock-bird, or whether (since he 

 shows no desire to fight the reflected image) he is perfectly well 

 aware that he only sees himself, it is difficult to say. 



Sophie Frankland 



"Asia Minor" in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica " 

 In the article on " Asia Minor " in the new edition of the 

 "Encyclopedia Britannica," in speaking of Tchihatcheff's 

 "Asie Mineure," the writer says: "But those [vols.] which 

 should have contained the geology and the archajology have 

 never been published." As this may mislead some of your 

 readers it may be worth recording the fact that the part on 

 geology was published in 1867-69 ; and the palseontological 

 division in 1866-69. J. B. B. 



Oxford 



ON THE SOLUBILITY OF SOLIDS IN GASES 1 



THIS investigation was undertaken in the hope that, 

 by an examination of the conditions of liquid matter 

 up to the " critical " point, sufficient knowledge might be 

 gained to enable us to determine under what particular 

 conditions liquids are dynamically comparable, in order 

 that the microrheometrical method 2 (which the Royal 

 Society has done one of us the honour of publishing in 

 the Philosopliical Transactions) might be applied to 

 determine their molecular mass and energy relations. It 

 seemed that as the laws relating to gases and liquids 

 merge at what was called by Baron Cagniard de la Tour ' 

 " l'dtat particulier," and by Dr. Andrews 4 the "critical 

 point," an examination of matter up to the limit of the 

 liquid state would be likely to yield us much information. 

 The time we have to devote to scientific work being vers' 

 limited, we found that it was quite impossible to make 

 much advance by using the apparatus devised by Dr. 

 Andrews, as the time required to change from one liquid 

 to another was more than we had at our disposal. We 

 therefore devised a new apparatus, which will be de- 

 scribed in a more lengthy communication, but which, we 

 may state, can be opened, the liquid changed, and again 

 closed for a new experiment, in about one minute. 



The question as to the state of matter immediately 

 beyond the critical point being considered by Dr. 

 Andrews to be at that time incapable of receiving an 

 answer, we imagined that some insight might be gained 

 into its condition by dissolving in the liquid some solid 

 substance whose fusing point was much above the critical 

 point of the liquid, and noticing whether, on the latter 

 passing its critical point and assuming the gaseous con 

 dition, the solid was precipitated or remained in solution. 

 We found that the solid was not deposited but remained 

 in solution, or rather in diffusion, in the atmosphere of 

 vapour, even when the temperature was raised 130° above 

 the critical point, and the gas was considerably expanded. 

 When the side of a tube containing a strong gaseous 

 solution of a solid is approached by a red hot iron, the 

 part next the source of heat becomes coated with a crys- 

 talline deposit which slowly redissolves on allowing the 

 local disturbance of temperature to disappear. Rarefac- 

 tion seems to be the cause of this deposition, because if 



' By J. B. Hannay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., and James Hogarth. Read at 

 the Royal Society, November 20. 

 - "Un the Michrurheometer." Phil. Trans Roy. Soc, 1879. 

 3 Ann. Chim., series 2me, xxi p. 127 : xvii. p. 4ro. 

 * 'Bakerian Lecture." Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 1869, p. 588. 



