124 



NATURE 



[Dec. 4, 1879 



reports on the phenological observations for 1879 were read, 

 the Botanical being by the Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A., F.M.S., 

 the Entomological by the Rev. C. H. Griffith, B.D., F.M.S., 

 and the Ornithological by J. Cordeaux. With the exception of a 

 few days in the earlier parts of February and of March, the 

 whole of the year 1S79 has been characterised by a temperature 

 almost invariably below the mean, accompanied with much wet 

 and little or no sun ; the effect on vegetation has been conse- 

 quently very great. Foliage has, as a rule, been excessively 

 luxuriant and dark, "forming the most remarkable feature of the 

 year;" but rarely has fruit been able to ripen, and the second 

 shoots have frequently been weak and unhealthy. Flowering 

 has invariahly been very late, as n uch as a month in some 

 districts, the hay harvest often not completed till nearly the end of 

 August, some still in "cock" in the Moorland district of 

 Staffordshire, as laieas September 30 ; and the corn harvest not 

 only extremely late, hut the corn in very poor condition, not 

 properly ripened. \Vith regard to insects the two mo-t notable 

 occurrences of this most dismal sea-on have been the swarms of 

 Pyrameis cardui and Phtsia gamma ; both these species have 

 been wonderfully numerous, especially the latter, which has 

 absolutely swarmed. The great severity of the pa^t winter 

 caused an almost unprecedented mortality amongst birds, great 

 numbers of various species succumbing to the cold. This mor- 

 tality was perhaps mo?t apparent amongst the Turdida: and the 

 starlings. Spring brought little or no improvement, birds 

 nested much beyoi d their average time, and in a vast number of 

 instances the first eggs have been addled and destroyed by cold 

 rains and an abnormally low and continuous temperature. The 

 scarcity of young partridges is probably unprecedented, on some 

 manors not a young bird is to be found, and it will take several 

 good nesting seasons to bring up the stock of their old numbers. 

 — A paper on the meteorology of Zanzibar, by Dr. John Robb, 

 was also read. The average annual rainfall is rather more than 

 61 inches, or only about double the average yearly fall in 

 England ; and the average number of rainy days is 120. The 

 greater rains fall in March, April, and May, the lesser rains are 

 from mid-October to the end of the year. The driest month is 

 September, with an average rainfall of i"86 inch; no month 

 is rainless. The mean temperature of five years is So°'6, and 

 the average yearly range, from highest maximum to lowest 

 minimum, is I7°'3. The hottest months of the year are 

 February and March, with a mean temperature of 83°! and 

 83°'4 re-pectively ; the cool months are July and August, 

 averaging 77°'S and 77 0- 7. This gives a small amplitude of the 

 yearly fluctuation, rather less than 6°, and to this limited range of 

 temperature is largely due the debilitating nature of the climate 

 of Zanzibar, particularly as affecting the nervous system. The 

 heat is constant ami moist, and even gentle exercise is usually 

 attended with excessive perspiration. 

 Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, November 24. — M. Daubree in the 

 chair.— The following papers were read : — On the heat of forma- 

 tion of ammonia, by M. Berthelot. He was led to doubt pre- 

 vious data. The action of chlorine on ammonia cannot rightly 

 be u'ed (as it has been) for the purpose, nor that of hypobromites, 

 though preferable. M. Berthelot resorted to direct combustion 

 of ammoniac gas by means of free oxygen. He arrives at 

 + 2l'o and + 1 2 2 cal. for the heat of formation of dissolved 

 and gaseous ammonia respectively. Between + I2'2 and + 26'7 

 (the number previously adopted) there is + 14-5 difference (the 

 largest experimental error hitherto made in thermochemistry).— 

 On crystallised chlorophyll, by M. Trecul. A claim of priority ; 

 he described crystals of chlorophyll in 1865.— Geodetic junction 

 of Algeria with Spain ; international operation executed under 

 the direction of Gen. Ibaiiez and M. Perrier, by M. Perrier. 

 Science has now a meridian arc of 27 , the largest that has been 

 measured on the earth and projected astronomically on the sky. 

 M. Perrier gives interesting details of the work, which included 

 transport of steam-engines and Gramme machines, &c, to four 

 mountain tops, Mulahacen and Tetica in Spain, Filhaoussen and 

 M'Sabiha between Oran and the frontier of Morocco. Mili- 

 tary guards were required, and the parties watched for signals 

 from August 20 till September 9, without success. The obser- 

 vations, commenced on the latter date, terminated October 19. 

 — Experimental researches on a new property of the nervous 

 system, by M. Brown- Sequard. Certain parts of the nervous 

 system, when under irritation, cause suddenly, or nearly so, a 

 notable increase of the motor or sensitive properties of other 

 parts of the system. Thus transverse section of a lateral half of 

 the base of the brain increases the motor properties of the parts 



of this centre before the section, while the opposite is produced 

 on the opposite side; the same with section of the sciatic 

 nerve, or a lateral half of the dorsal or lumbar cord. — Re- 

 searches on nitrification, by MM. Schkesing and Muntz. They 

 appear to have isolated the organism which effects the oxidation 

 of nitrogen, tin nitric ferment. The corpuscles are abundant, 

 very small, and slightly elongated . The ferment is killed in- 

 fallibly by a temperature of 100°, and 90 seems to stop its 

 action. Deprivation of oxygen and desiccation are unfavourable 

 to it. In media rich in organic matters, mucor is its chief 

 enemy. It is not found normally in air ; mould is its most 

 favourable medium. — Observations on the egg-laying of winged 

 phylloxeras in Languedoc, by M. Mayet.— On quadratic forms, 

 by M. Poincare. — Determination of curves and surfaces satisfy- 

 ing the conditions of double contact, by M. Zeuthen. — Specific 

 heat of solutions of hydrochloric acid, by M. Hammerl. He 

 tabulates his results, and modifies M. Marignac's formula so as 

 to make it applicable to concentrated solutions. — On a new 

 mode of separation of nickel, and of cobalt, by M. Dirvell. This 

 consists in mixing n ith a solution containing cobalt and nickel, a 

 (cold) saturated solution of salt of phosphorus, mixed with a solu- 

 tion of bicarbonate of ammonia, no longer giving any ammoniacal 

 odour. — Constitution of dibromised ethylene, by M. Demole. — 

 Nevvmethod of analysingw ith precision the potashes of commerce, 

 by MM. Corenw inder and Contamine. This method (very rapid 

 and exact) relieves the operator of the necessity of first separating 

 the sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, and silica, which form with 

 soda insoluble combinations in alcohol. — On the alterations of the 

 epidermis, in affections of the skin, or of mucous membranes, 

 which tend to the formation of vesicles, pustules, or pseudo- 

 membranous productions, by M. Leloir. — Observations on the 

 salivary glands of the Echidna, by M. Viallanes. The parotid 

 glands, so constant in mammalia, have in this case escaped 

 the attention of Cuvier and Owen, and the latter denies their 

 existence in Echidna ; but the author found them well developed. 

 Instead of being in front of the auditory canal they are far 

 behind it, at the level of the middle of the neck. On either side 

 there are two sub-maxillary glands, one deep, the other super- 

 ficial, and the latter seems also to have escaped attention. — M. 

 Chasles pre ? ented, from Prince Boncompagni, a portion of 

 " Researches on the Manuscripts of Pierre le Fermat followed 

 by unpublished Fragments of Bachet, and of Malebranche." — 

 M. Larrey presented a Portuguese work by M. Ennes, " The 

 Medical Life of Nations." 



CONTENTS Page 



Yale College and American Pal.eontology iox 



Chrono'logical History of Plants. By Prof. A. H. Sayce . . 104 



Challis's " Practical Astronomy" 105 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Morton's "Carboniferous Limestone and Cefn-y-Fedw Sandstone 

 of the Country between Llanymynech and Minera, North 



Wales."— J. YV. J 105 



" Magnetism " .... io5 



Letters to the Editor: — 



To Astronomers. — Lord Lindsay 106 



TheCresswell Cave Exploration, 1876.— Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, 



F R.S 106 



" The Society for the Encouragement of Literature and Science." 



—YV. S. Dallas Prof. St. Gkorgb Mivart, F.R S. ... 107 



Does Sargassum Vegetate in the Open Sea?— Dr. J. J. Wild . . 107 

 The Paces of the Horse.— V. B. Barkington'-Kennet (With 



Diagram) 107 



Force and Momentum. — E. G 108 



Change in Apparent Position of Geometrical Figures— Wm. 



Ackroyd (With Diagrams) 108 



Mutual Attraction of Spectral Lines. — C. S. Peirce 108 



Exploration of Timor. By Dr. A. B. Meyer 108 



Land Shells of the Austral Islands 108 



Distinguishing Lights for Lighthouses 109 



Thb Turkomans. By A. H. Keane no 



Discovery of a Gaseous Nebula. By Rev. T. W. Webb . ... in 



A New Planetarium Ilx 



A MlCROScoric Serenade. B. Jacob F. Henrici 112 



John Allan Broun. By Prof. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S. ... 112 



Notes . XI -* 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



A Seventh Star of the Orion-Trapezium "7 



Lunar Eclipses lt 7 



Parallax of a Small Star "7 



New Nebulse in Eridanus JI 7 



Physical Notes 2I 7 



Geographical Notes 1J ^ 



The Royal Society • , • ■ ■ ■ Ilb 



Experimental Determination of the Velocity or Light, II. 

 By Albert A. MlCHELSON. Master, U.S. Navy (With Iliustia- 



tions) • ■ ■' ' 12 r ° 



Scientific Serials J " 



Societies and Academies 12 3 



