July 6, 1888.I 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



15 



Orchids of this group are found in south-eastern Asia, 

 in the Malay Archipelago, Australia, and the islands of 

 the Western Pacific outlying members occur in Southern 

 India, Japan, and the Society Islands. An examination 

 of the accompanying maps shows that the head-quarters 

 of the Dendrobia are in Western Burma and in the 

 Moulmein district. The eastern side of Australia, from 

 the extreme north of Queensland, down to Cape Howe, 

 is also fairly rich in species. New Guinea and Borneo 

 are less abundantly supplied, having, probably, not been 

 sufficiently explored. 



Many of the species are so gorgeous that the careful 

 descriptions here given, joined to the illustrations, fail to 

 convey any adequate idea of their beauty. But many 

 others, though botanically interesting, have no attractions 

 for the horticulturists. 



The closely-allied genus, Bulbophyllum, has also its 

 principal seat in the Eastern Peninsula and the Malay 

 Islands, but it spreads into Africa, and even South 

 America. 



One of the most remarkable species is the gigantic 

 Bulbophyllum beccarii from Borneo. Its flowers emit 

 so loathsome an odour as to exclude it from general 

 cultivation. The function of this evil smell has not 

 been ascertained. 



Transactions of the Manchester Geological Society.— Vol. 

 XIX., parts xviii. and xix. 



Mr. Vaughan Cornish read a paper on the " artificial 

 reproduction of minerals and rocks." Investigations of 

 this kind have chiefly been conducted in France, and are 

 important, not from the commercial value of the pro- 

 ducts obtained, but from the light which they throw on 

 the natural formation of minerals. 



Two communications " on the occurrence of boulders 

 and pebbles in coal seams" were made by Mr. H. A. 

 Woodward and Mr. W. S. Gresley, and were succeeded 

 by a prolonged discussion. No theories in explanation 

 of the presence of these masses were propounded 

 differing in character from those mentioned in the 

 Scientific News, p. 438. Mr. Wild, in the present dis- 

 cussion, suggested that the two theories of the formation 

 of coal, viz., the drift theory and that of its growth in 

 situ are not necessarily exclusive. " If a tract of 

 country, 50 or 100 miles square, had a very rank vegeta- 

 tion upon it, and subsidence began to take place, say 

 over the central half of that tract, water would begin to 

 accumulate, trees there would cease to grow, and their 

 remains would accumulate and decay, being augmented 

 by the growth of mosses of low forms of moisture- 

 loving vegetation. Streams flowing into this depressed 

 area would bring in a lot of drifted vegetation, and a 

 deposit would be formed, say 12 or 15 inches thick; 

 then a flood might bring down a quantity of mud, which 

 would be spread over the already formed deposit. Fresh 

 growth or drift would again go on from the surrounding 

 flattish land, and gradually there would be formed 

 another deposit of moderately pure vegetable matter, 

 which in course of years would be converted into coal." 

 He considers that the boulders and pebbles have been 

 liberated from some floating mass, such as ice or tree- 

 roots, and let fall upon the submerged vegetable matter. 



A curious fact mentioned is the occurrence of a water- 

 worn pebble of lead-ore in a colliery in Shropshire. 



In part xix., we find several papers on 'mine-rents 

 and mineral royalties, of purely professional interest. 



&fegtract$ 

 of papers, Hectares, etc* 



MANCHESTER MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the meeting held on June 14th, the President, Pro- 

 fessor A. Milnes Marshall, in the chair, Signor G. Pla- 

 tania, 4 Acireale, Sicily, secretary of the Italian Microsco- 

 pical Society, sent for distribution amongst the members 

 a quantity of Tripoli, a fossil diatomaceous earth. Mr. 

 W. Chaffers gave a short communication on Tripoli, ex- 

 plaining its character, and exhibited slides of the diatoms 

 he had found after cleaning a small portion of the earth. 

 The Society's annual volume was issued at this meeting. 



At the February meeting of the Society Mr. Peter 

 Cameron read a paper on Parthenogenesis in the Hive 

 Bee, his object being to show that this doctrine, which 

 has heretofore been accepted as correct, must at any 

 rate be considered as open to question if not modification. 

 Professor Marshall, who presided at that meeting, ex- 

 pressed a wish that some members of the Society would 

 take the matter up. 



Mr. E. H. Turner described the present position of an 

 apiary, the owner of which, Mr. Tonge, had consented 

 to make observations in this direction. Briefly the doc- 

 trine of parthenogenesis is this, that in some animals 

 young are produced which are not the result of a sexual 

 act, and in the case of bees that drones partake of the 

 nature of the queen bee irrespective of the kind of 

 drone by which she was fertilised. Consequently, if the 

 doctrine be correct, such a thing as a hybrid drone is 

 an impossibility. In the apiary in question a fertile 

 Carniolan queen was introduced last summer, and from 

 her it is intended to raise pure Carniolan queens, which 

 will be placed in a hive of bees of the ordinary English 

 type. Observations will be made as to the character of 

 the young raised from her eggs. If the worker bees are 

 hybrids, then if the doctrine of parthenogenesis be cor- 

 rect the drones ought to be pure Carniolan in spite of 

 the fertilisation of the queen mother by an English bee. 



An interesting discussion followed. 



Professor Marshall made an interesting communica- 

 tion on Primitive Nervous Systems, illustrated by 

 black-board drawings and preparation shown by means 

 of the microscope. He defined a nervous system as a 

 means of communication between one part of the body 

 and another, and detailed the various uses which it 

 served. Beginning with the Protozoa, the lowest forms 

 of animal life, each individual consisting of a single 

 cell, he took the Amoeba as being typical of the group, 

 and pointed out that although generally considered as 

 being destitute of a nervous system, yet it possessed a 

 certain amount of nervility or " nervousness," although 

 no definite paths can be pointed out along which the 

 impulses pass. In this case the whole surface of the 

 animal is " nervous " as may be seen when examining 

 an individual under the microscope. It moves by means 

 of pseudopodia, long finger-like processes protruded from 

 its protoplasmic body ; and if it comes in contact with a 

 foreign body, evidences of nervousness are given by its 

 action. If the substance be good for food other pseudo- 

 podia are put out, and the animal slowly surrounds and 

 absorbs it. If, however, the substance be unfit for food, 

 the Amceba changes its course and passes it. Here we 

 have the lowest form of nervous action. The nervous 

 system follows the development of the other organs, and 



