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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



CONTRIBUTED BY FLORA WINSTONE. 



La Nature (Paris, April 30th) contains an 

 account, by M. L. P. Clerc, of a new invention for 

 determining the exact position of any foreign sub- 

 stance in a human body. The machine, which 

 comes under the head of a radiometer, was pre- 

 sented to the Medical Academy at Paris by Dr. G. 

 Mergier. The method of working is shown by five 

 illustrations. In the number of May 7th, M. Henri 

 de Parville, the editor of the magazine, describes 

 some excursions proposed under the auspices of 

 " La Nature." These excursions are to take place 

 under the direction of a gentleman of recognized 

 authority in science. They are formed with the 

 object of visiting beautiful places, natural curiosi- 

 ties, mines, etc., of France, and to give oppor- 

 tunities of studying the geology, fauna, flora, 

 hydrography, etc., of different regions. This 

 year it is proposed to visit Decazeville, Figeac, 

 Aurillac, Vic-sur-Cere, Murat, Saint-Flour, the 

 viaduct of Garabit, Mende, the Falls of Tarn, 

 Meyriceis, Mount Aigoual with its observatory, 

 Vigean. The excursion will start early in August, 

 and will be under the direction of M. Marcellin 

 Boule, the well-known geologist of the natural 

 history museum at Paris, who is thoroughly 

 conversant with Central France, the object of the 

 first excursion. In the same number M. E. 

 Deshaves continues his description of the Musee 

 D'Ennery, a Japanese collection presented to the 

 nation by Madame D'Ennery, who has personally 

 collected most of the exhibits. A singular tree, 

 discovered by M. Edouard Blanc during his 

 eastern voyage, is fully described, with two illus- 

 trations by M. J. Poissons. This strange growth 

 is called Saxaoul, the botanical name being 

 Hadoxylon ammodendron. It is found in the south- 

 east of Russia on the Steppes, on the borders of 

 the Caspian Sea, in Persia, and even in Siberia. 

 The writer says that its form is so strange it may 

 well have inspired Callot and Gustave Dore with 

 the idea of the plants of the infernal regions. 

 M. Zaborowski writes on the 'Neolithic haunts on 

 the borders of the Seine, giving illustrations of the 

 flint instruments, and also a photograph of a pit 

 or cave in which instruments of a similar character 

 were found. Commandant G. reviews from a 

 technical point of view the naval forces of Spain 

 and America, dealing in this number only with the 

 American vessels. (May 14th.) M. E. Hospitalier 

 gives an account of a successful experiment in 

 liquefying oxygen recently made by Dr. Linde, of 

 Munich, who has succeeded without having to use any 

 other agents for freezing than air. M . P. Yvon writes 

 on calcium carbide, more especially the amount 

 of absolute alcohol to be obtained from it. Mr. 

 Hart, the Superintendent of Botanical Gardens of 

 Trinidad, has recently been making some experi- 

 ments and observations in the fertilization of 

 flowers by field mice. The results are related in 

 this number by M. H. Coupin, especially those 

 relating to Bauhinia magalandni. This tree flowers 

 in January and a short time after the buds open 



field mice may be seen running from one flower to 

 another. After one of these little animals has 

 visited a flower the white petals fall to the ground 

 and by the following morning there will not be a 

 single blossom left intact. It is supposed that the 

 mice are searching for insects, and fertilize the 

 flowers while doing so by carrying the pollen from 

 bloom to bloom. 



Cosmos (Paris, April 30th). This number 

 contains an article on the "Physical State of Mars," 

 by Lieut. -Col. V. du Ligondes, in which he shows 

 by various arithmetical problems that the heat on 

 Mars on a summer's day is not equal to the warmth 

 of winter here. M. Jaques Boyer contributes some 

 notes with portrait on the work of Aime-Charles 

 Girard, the celebrated agricultural chemist, who 

 died in April last. 



Bulletin de la Sogiete Philomatique de Paris 

 (Paris, Nos. 1-2, 1898). These numbers contain a 

 long and very interesting article by M.E. L. Bouvier, 

 Professor at the Natural History Museum, Paris, 

 upon the "Classification, Origin and Distribution 

 of the Crabs of the Family Dorippideae. It deals 

 with their characters and classification, including a 

 table of particulars, their affinities — more especially 

 with the group Dromia ; and there is added a 

 family tree and the species already known ; there, is 

 also a table of the distribution, suggesting the 

 original centre, and an appendix. Dr. Jousseaume 

 describes the specimens of Triphoridae that he 

 collected from the Red Sea. This article includes 

 amongst those he believes to be new species, 

 India perimensis, Mastonia moenades, M. iniqua, 

 Obesula senilis, Virola morychus, and several others. 

 The remainder of this number is occupied by some 

 unfinished malacological notes, by M. Jules Mabille, 

 on slugs and shells from various countries, in 

 which he describes several new species. 



Nautilus (Philadelphia, August, 1897, to April, 

 1898). We have received a reprint of a series of 

 papers which came out in the above magazine, 

 being a classified catalogue with localities of the 

 land-shells of America, North of Mexico, published 

 by Henry A. Pilsbry and Charles W. Johnson, the 

 editors of " The Nautilus." This is simply a use- 

 ful catalogue with localities, but of course no 

 descriptions. From it we find that there are 375 

 species. There is no introduction, as the authors 

 commence at once with the scientific arrangement, 

 each species being followed by the district in which 

 it has been discovered. The list forms an excellent 

 reference work, independently of its use as indicat- 

 ing the geographical range of different species. 



The Pterophoridae of North America. — A 

 report of the Massachusetts Agricultural College 

 (January, 1898) is devoted to a monograph of the 

 plume moths of the North American Continent. 

 It is by Dr. C. H. Fernald, A.M., Ph.D., and illus- 

 trated by nine plates of drawings of anotomical 

 studies, including the body, legs, wings and geni- 

 talia of different species. The monograph com- 

 mences with some general notes on geographical 

 and geological distribution, the economic import- 

 ance of this group in regard to the injuries caused 

 by their larvae to plants and flowers, the natural 

 enemies of the plume moths, a history of the litera- 

 ture of the subject, structure, habits, etc. Then 

 follows a synopsis of species, with synonomy and 

 technical descriptions of genera and species. It is 

 a most useful paper and one which cannot fail to 

 attract the attention of European lepidopterists for 

 comparative studies. 



