i88a.] 
Notes. 
503 
sufficient, viz., 1*5 inches external diameter. The standard screw 
for objectives authorised many years ago by the Society has been 
almost universally adopted : it is to be hoped that for the future 
eye-pieces will only be made of the specified sizes ; the inconve- 
nience attending the parts of various instruments not being inter- 
changeable is very great, and might in the course of a few years 
disappear if all new instruments were made to the standard sizes. 
With regard to sub-stage fittings, in most instances the 1*5 size 
has been found to be already in use. 
M. J. Dembo (“ Comptes Rendus ”) suggests the existence of 
a physiological relation between uterine excitability in various 
animal species and their fecundity. 
M. Dastre, in a communication to the Academy of Sciences, 
shows that, if the normal rhythm of the heart is disturbed by 
inducing artificially a new contraction after each provoked 
systole, there follows a compensatory repose which re-establishes 
the rhythm. 
The water of the Rio Grande holds in solution a trace of 
ruthenium. 
Dr. Vogel (“ Vienna Akad. der Wissenschaft ”) has demon- 
strated the presence of formic acid in the hairs of the larva of 
the processionary caterpillar. 
Mr. H. Warner, of Rochester, New York, offers a prize of 
200 dollars for any meteoric stone found in the United States 
and containing fossils revealing the presence of animals or of 
plants. A prize of 50 dollars is offered for a specimen of any 
areolite which has been seen falling in 1882. 
According to an American journal, quoted by “ Ciel et Terre ” 
under the insufficient name of the “ Chronicle,” there is a rela- 
tion between atmospheric humidity and the number of con- 
flagrations, any cause affecting the one telling also upon the 
other. 
M. Bouquet de la Grye (Academy of Sciences) contends that 
the temperature of the sea and its degree of saltness are facftors 
to be taken into account in explaining the phenomena of the 
tides. 
At the Soiree of the Society of Chemical Industry, held at 
Owens College, Mr. Fletcher, of Warrington, demonstrated the 
possibility of the combustion of gas without visible flame, the 
heat obtained from a £-inch gas-pipe being sufficient to fuse 
wrought-iron into drops. 
We deeply regret to learn the untimely death of one of our 
most distinguished biological investigators, Prof. Balfour, of 
Cambridge. 
