Notes. 
1879.] 
763 
tible. The violet liquid is then filtered. Its adlion is found very 
satisfactory. 
According to M. Jolly the iron present in the blood globules 
exists exclusively in the state of phosphate. 
MM. Marat and Ortille have observed that in uraemia the 
respiratory power of the blood is not strikingly changed until 
death is imminent. The respective proportions of oxygen and 
carbonic acid present in the arterial blood is also little altered. 
Ammonium carbonate is detected in the stomach, and ultimately 
in the blood also. 
At a meeting of the Anthropological Society of Paris, M. Broca 
gave an account of certain observations made with a young 
Barbary ape. If shown an uncoloured likeness of any ape it at 
once gave signs of recognition. On seeing the coloured picture 
of a Macacus it attempted to search for fleas — the usual mark of 
friendship among apes. Before the figure of an orang-outang, 
whether plain or coloured, it expressed at once fear and curiosity; 
and before that of a sloth, irritation. 
M. Dareste has in some instances found the amnios entirely 
wanting in embryo chickens. 
M. Vulpian has been examining the action of certain “ heart - 
poisons ” upon the escargot ( Helix pomatia). The alcoholic 
extract of the seeds of Strophantus hispidus and muscarin ar- 
rested the action of the heart in this snail in manner analogous 
to what is observed in frogs and mammiferous animals. Upon 
the heart of Crustaceans neither of these substances produced 
any perceptible effect. 
The influence of a change of climate upon plants is pointed 
out by MM. Naudin, of Collioure (Pyrenees Orientales), and 
Radlkofer, of the Botanical Gardens, Munich, who have carried 
out a joint series of experiments on this subject. The mean 
annual temperature of the former station is 14-9° ; that of the 
latter only 5-79°. They conclude that the more northern origin 
of a seed does not necessarily imply greater precocity in the 
resulting plant than if it had ripened in a warmer climate, infer- 
ences deduced from observations on cereals not being generally 
applicable. Seeds from a warmer locality may grow more 
rapidly and strongly in one and the same climate than those 
obtained from a colder source, as Sonchus oleraceus , Solanum 
nigrum , &c. In others, as Calendula arvensis, Malva rotundi- 
folia, &c., the converse holds good. 
Dr. Bureau has communicated to the Zoological Society of 
France a set of plates showing the transformations of the beak 
of certain birds of the family Mormonides. The beak has 
hitherto been considered an organ available for the demarcation 
of genera. The author, however, has shown that after the 
VOL. IX. (n.s.) 3 C 
