304 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



upon a white screen fifteen feet square, and the beauty of these monads, which 

 sometimes resembled the most exquisite plants, cannot be described. Prof. Dal- 

 linger said they were evidently created to work over dead matter, and prepare it 

 for use by living organisms. Sometimes one of these strange forms would begin 

 to constrict around the center, while both ends would become an animal, and 

 then each would begin to pull in opposite directions, and ' with a long pull and a 

 strong pull and a pull all together ' they would break the ligament binding them 

 together, and both spin off in their new orbits. Dr. Dallinger's investigations 

 have utterly disproved spontaneous generation. 



After a most busy week, in which results were put on record of the recent 

 work of a great number of savants in numerous departments of investigation, the 

 Association closed up the business of its first meeting in America, at Montreal, 

 September 3. The number of papers read and the discussions were always inter- 

 esting, but there have been no such wonderful discoveries announced or original 

 theories advanced as stand out so prominently in the Transactions of the Brit- 

 ish Association of many former years. It would not be just, however, to assume 

 that on this account the work done indicates any less keenness in scientific re- 

 search. 



Among the papers read in the mathematical and physical science section 

 that excited considerable attention, was one by Prof. O. J. Lodge, as to the 

 seat of electromotive force in the voltaic cell. Sir William Thomson said he re- 

 garded the paper as a landmark on the subject. Then Sir William threw some 

 light on the matter from his own observation and experience, and he was followed 

 by Profs. Fitzgerald, Silvanus Thompson, Dr. Fleming, Prof. Gibbs, and Drs. 

 Schuster and Macallister. 



In the chemical section, Prof. Frankland, the well known author, took up 

 the subject of the batteries for the storage of electrical energy. While admitting 

 the great loss of power in these batteries when not in use, he was disposed to 

 think from his experiments that they have a brighter future than many electri- 

 cians are wiUing to admit. After him came Prof. George F. Barker, who called 

 attention to the shortcomings of the batteries, which, according to his calculation, 

 do not return over 6 per cent of the energy put into them. 



A paper before the geological section, by W. F. Stanley, F. G. S., had the 

 following points : ' ' The theory of Dr. Croll, accepted by many geologists, is 

 that the former glacial periods in the northern hemisphere were due to greater 

 eccentricity of the earth's orbit and to this hemisphere being at the time of glaci- 

 ation in winter perihelion. This theory is supported upon conditions that are 

 stated to rule approximatively at the present time in the southern hemisphere, 

 which is assumed to be the colder. Recent researches by Ferrel and Dr. Han, 

 with the aid of temperature observations, taken by the recent Transit-of- Venus 

 expeditions, have shown that the mean temperature of the southern hemisphere is 

 equal to, if not higher, than the northern, the proportions being 15.4 southern, 15.3 

 northern. The conditions that rule in the south at the present time are a limited 

 frozen area about the south pole not exceeding the sixtieth parallel of latitude, 



