SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



2 3 l 



tailed Arrenuri having obliquely projecting side 

 corners, and with a central free petiole; on the 

 back is a large hump with two points close 

 together, and on either side at the base is a 

 secondary smaller hump. The petiole is chisel- 

 shaped, with almost 

 parallel sides, slightly 

 widened at the distal 

 end ; the two curved side 

 bristles do not extend 

 beyond the petiole. The 



Fin. 3. A. urn .i imic- 



FiG. 4. A. maximus 



hyaline membrane over the petiole is a truncated 

 cone with pretty sharp corners. These details are 

 well shown in Mr. Soar's figures. I have not met 

 with this species in Lincolnshire, and have not 

 seen it alive. Its length, according to Mr. Soar, 

 is 1.70 mm. ; breadth, 1.04 mm. ; first leg, length, 

 1.20 mm. ; fourth leg, length, 1.34 mm. ; length 

 of petiole, 0.12 mm. 



Klrto/t-iii-Liiithr)/, November Wth, 1900. 



The Birds of Yorkshire. — Naturalists and 

 others interested in the subject will be pleased to 

 learn that arrangements have been made for the 

 speedy resumption of the publication of Mr. W. 

 Eagle Clarke's excellent work on the " Birds of 

 Yorkshire," which has been partly issued in the 

 Transactions of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, 

 its continuation being interrupted by Mr. Clarke's 

 removal to Edinburgh. Mr. Clarke and the Union 

 have secured the services of Mr. Thos. H. Nelson, 

 M.B.O.U., of Redcar, to continue and complete the 

 task. Mr. Nelson has now in his possession the 

 voluminous mass of original and unpublished 

 observations which Mr. Clarke had at his com- 

 mand when writing the instalments already in 

 print, including notes, lists, and observations from 

 most of the natualists who have studied and 

 observed Yorkshire birds. In addition to this 

 is the whole of the information amassed by 

 the late Mr. John Cordeaux, relating to the 

 birds of the Hu ruber district, and also the large 

 amount of notes that Mr. W. Denison Roebuck has 

 extracted from the very voluminous literature of 

 the subject, and Mr. Nelson's own accumulated 

 series of notes on the birds of Cleveland and other 

 districts, the whole forming an ample mass of 

 material. Mr. Nelson will be pleased to enlist the 

 co-operation of those who have it in their power to 

 assist him with notes on Yorkshire birds, their his- 

 tory, distribution, migration, nidification, variation, 

 vernacular nomenclature, etc. All assistance will 

 be duly and gratefully acknowledged. Mr. Nelson 

 is now actively at work on the families Turdidae 

 and Sylviidac. which are to be included in the 

 next instalment sent to press. 



ON THE NATURE OF LIFE. 



By F. J. ALLEN, M.A., M.D. 

 i ( 'ontinui d j i ••in p ■■/. i 38.) 



TF Mr. Geoffrey Martin had acquainted himself 

 -*- with the work of the chief investigator: 



vital chemistry, I think he would have been more 

 cautious in expressing his opinions in the October 

 SCIENOE-GOSSIP. These I leave to be estimated 

 by the learned reader ; but his questions I will try 

 to answer, though one or two of them diverge 

 somewhat from our original subject. 



He asks firstly (page L35) : "How could an 

 element as feeble as nitrogen — an element which 

 can only with the greatest difficulty be induced to 

 combine with oxygen, or retain its oxygen when 

 combined — ever rob such an element as carbon of 

 its oxygen ' " This question contains certain fal- 

 lacies, which must be corrected before an answer 

 can be given. Nitrogen, in such forms as ammonia 

 or amides, combines readily with oxygen, fori 

 nitrates ;. and the nitrates retain their oxygen with- 

 out difficulty. The nitrification of ammonia, etc., 

 is performed by the vital action of microbes ; and 

 therefore, on either theory, mine or the older one, 

 the oxygen is possibly derived from a carbon com- 

 pound. Certain microbes can oxidise even atmo- 

 spheric nitrogen, N 2 ; though that is exceptional, 

 the usual source of nitrogen in the organic world 

 being combined nitrogen. 



Nitrogen combines with oxygen without diffi- 

 culty when an electric discharge passes through a 

 mixture of the gases, a part of the energy from 

 the electricity being stored in the oxides formed. 

 Nitric oxide, NO, absorbs atmospheric oxygen with 

 avidity, forming N 2 3 . The N 2 3 can then yield 

 oxygen to other substances, thereby falling back 

 into its previous state of NO, so that the action 

 can be repeated indefinitely. This property is 

 utilised in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. 

 The reaction is believed to be more complex than 

 the above description indicates ; but whatever it 

 may be, it is regarded by physiologists as typical 

 of the "enzyme" actions of nitrogen compounds. 

 It is also a possible prototype of the action 

 of nitrogen as oxygen-carrier in the organic 

 world. 



The astonishing thing is. not that nitrogen 

 should attract oxygen, but rather that carbon 

 should part with oxygen, seeing that the attrac- 

 tion between carbon and oxygen is of the strongest 

 kind. It is rational to suppose that oxygen would 

 never leave carbon (and hydrogen) and escape as 

 elementary oxygen, unless there were a stepping- 

 stone in the form of an element with just a 

 moderate attraction for oxygen. Thus the feeble- 

 ness of nitrogen, i.r. the inconstancy of its com- 

 binations, makes it the determinant of this as of 

 other vital actions. 



