SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



conducted by wilfred mark webb, p.l.s. 



The Anatomy of Marine Gasteropods. — 

 During the past month Mr. S. Pace, F.Z.S., has 

 read several valuable papers upon the somewhat 

 neglected subject of the anatomy of marine 

 gasteropods. First of all he dealt with Voluta 

 invrica before the Malacological Society, his 

 material being some obtained for the late Martin 

 T. Woodward, which arrived just about the time 

 of his lamented death. Other allied forms were 

 dealt with, and several mistakes as to their struc- 

 ture were cleared up in a 'masterly way. A con- 

 tribution to the Linnean Society dealt with a 

 remarkable deep-sea form, which was put with 

 Pleurotow «, and which Mr. Pace summed up as 

 being nearly all snout. 



The Pairing of Limax Maximus. — Mr. Wallis 

 Kew has recently collected together a great deal of 

 information ("The Naturalist," 1901, pp. 241-254) 

 with regard to the pairing of Limax maximits L. 

 The statements and observations of Mr. Lionel 

 Adams, in the "Journal of Conchology " (July 1898), 

 upon the strange and striking methods that prevail 

 in the species in question are well borne out in the 

 paper under consideration. It is also interesting 

 to the present writer to find that the opinions which 

 he expressed to Mr. Adams, and which were pub- 

 lished by the latter, are in accord with those of 

 many previous observers, whose records have since 

 been again brought to light by Mr. Kew's careful 

 researches into the literature of the subject. The 

 chief point in the matter is that sperm cells must 

 be exchanged outside the bodies of the two herma- 

 phrodite individuals during pairing, as the structure 

 of the female ducts appears to preclude any 

 possibility of intromission. This conclusion of 

 the writer was based not only upon a knowledge 

 of the genital organs at rest, and the actual dis- 

 section of examples described by Mr. Adams, but 

 also from personal acquaintance with at least part 

 of the peculiar act of pairing". The writer has not 

 up to the present published his notes upon the 

 latter observation, which he may say Lister's 

 powerful language in no way over-describes. 

 Suffice it to say, however, that it took place on 

 August 14th, 1897, at Brentwood, at 9 p.m. Mr. 

 Adams carried on his work in July and August of 

 t-he same year, and says that pairing took place 

 between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2.30 a.m. Mr. 

 Kew quotes Lister (1678) as giving noontide in 

 August, Werlich (1819) 6 p.m. "in June, while an 

 allied species of Umax maximus itself paired in 

 the month of December, according to Maeysz. 

 There is a great deal to be done in the way of 

 noting the time and manner of pairing among the 

 British slugs, and possibly several among our 

 readers may have already made observations which 

 will throw more light upon the subject, or will be 

 able to do so during the coming year, and com- 

 municate them to Science-Gossip. — Wilfred Mark 

 Webb, " Ochtock." Hanwell, W. 



CONTRIBUTED BY J. M. COBBETT. 



It has been decided to include a quarter of an 

 acre of the parks at Oxford in the Museum pre- 

 cincts, the object being to provide access for 

 wheeled traffic to all departments on the north 

 side of the Museum during the hours when open. 



Signor Bacelli's treatment for foot and mouth 

 disease among cattle continues to meet with 

 success. Having proved that mercurial injections 

 have done no harm to the cattle treated, Signor 

 Bacelli has increased, and even doubled, the doses 

 originally prescribed by him. 



Herr Sieblen Giebler has invented a new 

 method of making hard steel, but refuses to sell 

 his secret, which he proposes to develop for the 

 benefit of his fatherland. The new steel is about 

 140 per cent, stronger and 50 per cent, lighter than 

 Krnpp, Harvey, and Bohler steel, and costs about 

 a third less. 



At Cambridge, on Saturday, December 8th, a 

 testimonial was given to Professor Liveing, in 

 recognition of his long and valuable services to 

 chemical science. It consisted of a subscription 

 portrait of the Professor painted by Sir George 

 Beid, P.B.S.A., which is to hang in the hall of 

 St. John's College A bronze bust by Miss E. 

 Bateson is to be placed in the chemical laboratory. 



The annual dinner of the Pellows and Asso- 

 ciates of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain 

 and Ireland took place on Wednesday, December 

 4th, at the Hotel Metropole, the President occu- 

 pying the chair. The guest of the evening was 

 the President of the Board of Agriculture, who 

 dealt, in an interesting speech, with the services 

 rendered by chemistry to the farming community. 



M. Berthelot, the famous French chemist, has 

 celebrated what may be termed his scientific 

 jubilee, for it is just fifty years since his first 

 scientific publication. The occasion was celebrated 

 in fitting manner by the presentation of a plaquette, 

 for which an international subscription had been 

 opened, by the President of the Eepublic. Pro- 

 fessor Bamsay presented an Address on behalf of 

 the Royal Society of London, and another Address 

 was presented by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 



Dr. J. Larmor has been nominated by the 

 Council of the Royal Society as Secretary, in the 

 place of Professor Rucker. Dr. Larmor is a Fellow 

 and Lecturer of St. John's College, Cambridge, 

 and one of the University Lecturers in Mathe- 

 matics. He was Senior Wrangler, also First 

 Smith's Prizeman in 1880, and afterwards was for 

 some time Professor of Natural Philosophy at 

 Queen's College, Galway. Last year, at the meet- 

 ing of the British Association at Bradford, he was 

 President of the Mathematical and Physical sec- 

 tion, and delivered a striking address on some 

 very difficult questions in mathematical physio. 



