Aug. 17, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



i57 



would be useful to draw up fish-charts, marking the 

 spots where fishes are found in numbers at different 

 seasons, and noting their periodicity or its default. 



Organic Poisons. — It is gene ally supposed that all 

 the poisonous principles found in plants contain nitrogen, 

 and are alkaloidal or basic compounds. This is a mis- 

 take : two poisonous compounds, which have latterly 

 attracted some attention, strophantine (from Strophantus 

 hispidus), and ouaba'ine (obtained from the Ouabiio, the 

 arrow-poison of the Somalis), are both free from 

 nitrogen. Both are powerful poisons, acting especially 

 upon the heart. Though not identical they are very 

 similar in composition, strophantine being what is techni- 

 cally called a "higher homologue " of ouaba'ine. 



The Speed of Carrier Pigeons. — A number of 

 pigeons thrown up experimentally at the Railway Station 

 of Roche-sur-Yon (Vendue) at 5 a.m. reached Beauvais, 

 a distance of 500 kilometres, at 9! a m., and had conse- 

 quently travelled at the rate of 80 kilometres (equal to 

 50 miles) per hour. — La Nature. 



Acclimatisation of Wild Turkeys in Europe. — This 

 attempt, which has little interest for the naturalist, has 

 been made with success by Count Breuner on his estate 

 of Graffeneck, in Austria. The three male and four 

 female birds originally introduced have multiplied to a 

 flock of 580 head, in addition to 150 strays which have 

 been shot on adjacent estates. Some of the birds have 

 reached the weight of 19 lbs. 



Strange Action of a Beetle. — The other day we 

 saw in a lane near Aylesbury a small beetle (Platysma 

 niger) running round in a circle of about 6 inches in 

 diameter. There was no apparent inducement for it to 

 keep in this one track, and no obstacle to prevent it from 

 going elsewhere. After watching the insect for at least 

 ten minutes we left it, still revolving. 



An Enemy of Silpha Ophaca. — Like many other 

 of the less formidable agricultural pests, this Silpha, 

 which has turned vegetarian, is being decimated by a 

 parasitical fly, the exact name and nature of which have 

 not been determined, though it is probably a Tachinus. 

 At Fournes, ninety-six of the larvae of the Silpha have 

 eggs of this parasite attached to their bodies. Would 

 that some parasite would rid the world of the vine, the 

 coffee, and the potato diseases ! 



Changes of Colour in Flowers. — The flowers of 

 Lantana camara, which are of a deep golden yellow, 

 change before fading into orange and scarlet. L. nivea 

 opens white, but turns blue; L. mixta is also white on 

 opening, but becomes successively yellow, orange, and 

 red. 



Sensitiveness of the Eye to Colours. — The Ame- 

 rican Journal of Science notices the experiments of Mr. 

 E. L. Nichols, on the sensitiveness of the eye for low 

 degrees of saturation of colours. Among his results is 

 that in the male sex the eye is relatively more sensitive 

 to red, yellow, and green, and in the female to blue. 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE 

 ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



'"FHE fifty-eighth meeting of this Association will be 

 held this year at Bath, commencing on the 5th, and 

 concluding on the 12th of September, under the presi- 

 dency of Sir Frederick Bramwell, D.C.L., F.R.S., 

 M.Inst.C.E. 



It may first be pointed out that Bath has in its 

 geographical position great advantage for such a pur- 

 pose, and that the railway facilities in connection are fairly 

 good. From London, Bath may be reached in 2^ 

 hours, from Exeter in 2, from Cardiff in ij, from Bir- 

 mingham in 2h, and from Manchester in 5J. The usual 

 cheap-rate arrangements have been made with the 

 various railway companies. 



There being no reception room large enough available, 

 the local executive committee is erecting a large tem- 

 porary building adjoining the Assembly Rooms, where 

 the business of the Association will be transacted. In 

 this, most valuable aid has been and is being ungrudg- 

 ingly and gratuitously rendered by one of the local 

 secretaries, Mr. J. L. Stothert, M.Inst.C.E., who prepared 

 the plans and is really "engineering" the whole matter. 

 The first general meeting will be held on Wednesday, 

 5th September, at 8 p.m. precisely, in the Drill Hall, 

 when Sir Henry Roscoe will resign the chair, and Sir 

 Frederick Bramwell will assume the presidency and 

 deliver an address. On Thursday evening the Mayor of 

 Bath (Anthony Hammond, Esq., J. P.) will give a soiree 

 in the Assembly Rooms. On Friday evening Professor 

 W. E. Ayrton will deliver in the Drill Hall a discourse 

 on "The Electrical Transmission of Power." On Mon- 

 day evening, September 10th, Professor Bonney will 

 give a discourse on "The Foundation Stones of the 

 Earth's Crust." On Tuesday evening there will be a 

 soiree of a microscopical and natural history character in 

 the Assembly Rooms ; and on Wednesday the concluding 

 general meeting will be held in the council chamber of 

 the Guildhall. 



It is anticipated that the Rath meeting will be one of 

 much scientific interest. The eminence of the Presi- 

 dent, in a profession of great practical importance to the 

 country, would alone attract many visitors. Nor will 

 the names of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the 

 sections fail to ensure a good attendance at their meetings. 

 The sections are the following: — 



Mathematical and Physical Science : President, Pro- 

 fessor G. F. Fitzgerald, M.A., F.R S. ; Vice-Presidents, 

 Captain Abney, R.E., C.B., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.C.S., 

 William Esson, M.A , F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.C.S. 



Chemical Science : President, Professor W. A. Tilden, 

 D.Sc, F.R.S., V.P.C.S.; Vice-Presidents, Professor 

 Odling, M.B., F.RS., V.P.C.S., W. H. Perkin, Ph.D., 

 F.R.S., V.P.C.S. 



Geology : President, Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, 

 M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.S.A.; Vice-Presidents, W. 

 Whitaker, B.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., Rev. H. H. Winwood, 

 M.A., F.G.S. 



Biology: President, W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, C.M.G. , 

 M.A., B.Sc, F.R.S., F.L.S. ; Vice-Presidents, Professor 

 E. A. Sch'afer, F.R.S., P. L. Sclater, M.A., Ph.D. 

 F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S., Sec. Z.S. 



Geography : President, Colonel Sir C. W. Wilson 

 R.E., K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.R.G.S.; Vice- 

 Presidents, the Right Hon. Lord Aberdare, G.C. B., 

 F.R.S., V.P.R.G.S., E. Delmar Morgan, F.R.G.S. 



