102 
POPULAK SCIENCE KEVIEW. 
Esq., F.R.S. ( Treas . G. 6'.); Sir J. Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., F.G.S.; Sir C. 
Lyell, Bart., F.R.S., V.P.G.S.; G. Maw, Esq., F.G.S. ; J. C. Moore, Esq., 
F.R.S., F.G.S. ; J. A. Phillips, Esq., F.G.S. ; J. Prestwich, Esq., F.R.S. 
Y.P.G.S. 5 F. G. H. Price, Esq., F.G.S. ; G. P. Scrope, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. ; 
Sir W. C. Trevelyan, Bart., F.G.S. ; H. Willett, Esq., F.G.S. ; S. Y. Wood, 
Esq., F.G.S. Names of intending subscribers, and of societies and institu- 
tions that will purchase the “ Record” for 1874, will be gladly received by the 
editor, W. Whitaker, Geological Survey Office, Jermyn Street, London, S.W. 
Gyrogonites in the London Clay. — Professor Rupert Jones, F.R.S., has 
written a letter on this subject to the Editor of the “ Geological Magazine ,r 
[for October, 1874]. He says: “ Believing that Gyrogonites (fossil seed- 
vessels of Chard) have not been hitherto noticed in the London clay, I beg 
to mention that Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S., of Belfast, has lately favoured 
me with some specimens found in the London clay of Copenhagen Fields, 
Islington, by Mr. John Purdue, when the Great Northern Railway cuttings 
were being made. These Gyrogonites, obtained by washing the clay, were 
associated with thousands of Foraminifera and many Entomostraca (see 
“Geologist,” vol. vii. p. 85; Monogr. Tert. Entom., Pal. Soc., p. viii). 
They are referable to two species ; one is dark brcwn, ovoidal, and like 
Chara helicteres (Brongniart), as figured in the Memoirs Geol. Surv. Gt. 
Britain, Isle of Wight, etc., 1856, pi. 7, figs. 3, 4, but relatively longer ; the 
other is light brown, spherical, and like Chara Lyellii, ibid. fig. 7, but rather 
more globular. There are five or six specimens of each species. From the 
same source, and by the kindness also of Mr. Wright, I have Cythere plicata 
(Munster), to add to the known fauna of the London clay.” 
MEDICAL SCIENCE. 
Wooden Hospitals and their Advantages. — An interesting paper on this 
subject has been written by Mr. John Gay. It appears in a recent number 
of the “Proceedings of the Medical Society of Victoria, N.S.W.” The 
conclusions arrived at are as follow : 1. That, instead of requiring constant 
purifying and disinfecting as other hospitals do, they purify and disinfect 
themselves. 2. That peroxide of hydrogen, the disinfecting agent they 
generate, contains oxygen — Nature’s disinfectant — in a highly condensed and 
active form, which, moreover, is intensified in the presence of either blood 
or pus — a property which renders it pre-eminently adapted for hospital 
disinfection ; for it is beyond doubt that pus-cells, in combination with 
other organic matter, are largely concerned in the causation of those septic 
diseases which are so destructive to life in ordinary hospitals. 3. That, in 
consequence of the above-named conditions, the inmates of wooden hospi- 
tals enjoy almost, if not perfect, immunity from hospital gangrene, 
erysipelas, and puerperal fever. 
The Rate of Growth in Man. — “ La Revue Scientifique,” in a recently pub- 
lished notice of the life and writings of A. Quetelet, gives the following : 
“ The most rapid growth takes place immediately after birth ; the infant in 
the space of a year grows about two decimetres. The increase in size 
