d is that descriptions, together with drawings or photohs not only of typical instruments but of the important parts em, should be sent. Technical drawings also are requested, tainable, and these very probably could be obtained from makers of the instruments in question. Of course it is not ired that each observatory should send say a description, &c., he transit instrument there in use, but it is hoped that any ument of peculiar construction or special merit should be red to. It is needless to add that all drawings, &c., if reted, will be returned with as little delay as possible, and the rsigners of the circular thank in advance all those who ond towards the completion of this undertaking. The address hich the drawings, &c., may be sent is as follows:-Dr. L. oronn, Göttingen, Kgl. Sternwarte.

OTION OF 8 PERSEI.-Astronomical Journal, No. 277, con#3 a short note calling the attention of transit observers to Jimportance of observation of this variable, to confirm the tagularity in its proper motion. At the present time Algol his neighbouring stars are conveniently situated, and it is med that the following list of stars will be added to working generally where their observation is not inconsistent with er work. The places are for the year 1875 :

'ROPER MOTIONS.-M. Deslandres, in Comptes rendus of Novber 14, communicates the recent work he has been carrying out h regard to the spectroscopic determinations of proper motions. e first part contains a description of the apparatus employed, wing how he has completely altered one instrument specially this work. During the ten months of the year he has obtained eral proofs of stars susceptible of furnishing radial velocity. e following are among some of the important methods of cedure :—(1) The luminous "faisceaux "of the star and of the rce of light have the same aperture, and are thus as identical possible, a condition necessary to the absolute measure of lacements. (2) The displacements of spectra is measured only with the Hy line of hydrogen, but with all the hydrogen, cium, and iron lines. (3) The large surface of the mirror ders the possibility of measuring the velocities of 250 stars. me of the results already obtained show that the work, when shed, will be of a very reliable and accurate kind. For ance, the velocity of Venus has been obtained instrumentally 5 kilometers, while that calculated amounted to 13:55 k.m. velocity of a Auriga on February 5, employing 30 lines of parison, came out as 43'5 k.m., and the velocities of the ponents of 8 Auriga, a spectroscopic double, were obtained he same day as 845 k.m. and + 97 k.m.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

E measurement of an arc of the meridian between Dunkirk he Spanish frontier, which has recently been completed the highest precision by the French Government, that the measurement by Delambre and Méchain in nining the length of the metre was 146.6 feet, or th ort. The new measurement accords very closely indeed he value as deduced from Clarke's ellipsoid. NEW

weekly paper devoted to African geography, the title of Kettler's Afrikanische Nachrichten, was at Weimar in July last, with the object of collecting and ning the most recent information on all matters conwith Africa and the Africans. An ingenious feature is f giving a sketch map of parts of Africa, with a small of a map of some well-known part of Germany on the

same scale below it, for the purpose of ready comparison of dis

tances.

MR. AND MRS. THEODORE BENT have arranged to spend the winter in Abyssinia studying the ancient monuments of Axum. They will leave this country about the middle of December. We understand that Mr. Bent would welcome a scientific man who might wish to work at any of the natural conditions of eastern Abyssinia, and take advantage of the arrangements which have been made for the safety and comfort of the party. It would, of course, be necessary for such a companion to pay his own expenses and provide his own outfit.

A SPECIAL general meeting of the Royal Geographical Society was held on Monday afternoon to consider some alterations in the rules, recently decided on by the Council. It was agreed to raise the entrance fee to the Society from £3 to £5, and to augment the life-composition accordingly, relief being, however, granted by a diminution of the commutation fee to members of long standing. Other changes were made to bring the laws into harmony with the present practice of the Society in several minor matters. The meeting also passed a resolution associating itself with the act of the Council in no longer withholding the Fellowship of the Society from women.

MR. JOSEPH THOMSON'S JOURNEY TO LAKE BANGWEŎLO.

MR. JOSEPH THOMSON read a paper on his expedition to Lake Bangweolo in 1890-91 to the Royal Geographical meeting on Monday night. The paper was not only of a thoroughly scientific character, but also a model of literary grace, Mr. Thomson having the trained eye which enables him to detect and throw into prominence the really important features. The expedition went up the Zambesi by way of the Kwakwa creek, encountering considerable hostility and obstruction from the Portuguese authorities on the way. Mr. Thomson speaks warmly of the great work done by the Scottish missionaries in the Blantyre and Nyassa districts. Under the kind but firm control of the missionaries the warlike Angoni tribes came in thousands to cultivate the fields, which formerly they visited only for plunder, and for the first time in all his African travels Mr. Thomson found a spot where the advent of the white man was an unmitigated blessing to the natives.

at.

Barometric observations made while waiting for porters on the western coast of Lake Nyassa made the elevation of the lake 1430 feet, a somewhat lower result than was formerly arrived On August 23, 1890, the expedition, comprising Mr. Grant, Mr. Charles Wilson, and 153 porters, started from Kotakota and struck westward through unmapped country, a rough and sparsely wooded plateau with little running water. The route lay along a strip of debateable ground, inhabited by an excitable, warlike tribe, and raided equally by Mwasi's people from the north and Mpeseni's from the south. Great tact was required to avoid bloodshed, but the expedition passed safely. Then crossing the fine fertile plain of the Loangwa river, they passed over and climbed the steep Muchinga mountains to the high plateau beyond. So far the rocks had been metamorphic, with intruded masses of granite, overlaid in the valley by sandstones, shales, and marls. At one place great fossil-tree trunks were found. The Loangwa-Kalue plateau was magnificent country, glorious with the tints of early spring on the stunted trees which formed a scraggy forest over most of the surface. But no sign could be seen of the Lokinga mountains, nor was any word heard from the natives of that range so conspicuous on the maps; but on the watershed of the plateau, 5000 feet above the sea, rose the Vimbe hills in a series of isolated domes, perhaps rising 1000 feet higher. A new lake, thirty square miles in area, was found in a dip of the plateau, and named after the Moirs. Then troubles began. Small-pox broke out amongst the porters, and when Chitambo's was reached no trace could be found of the lake, on the margin of which it was supposed to stand. While the white members of the expedition were attending to their sick followers some of the healthy Swahilis marched to Old Chitambo's (which is not in Ilala but Kalinde), now deserted, and twenty miles distant from the present village, finding the tree under which the heart of Livingstone was buried still standing, and the inscription on it legible. In the dry season the Chambeze does not enter Lake Bangweolo at all, but flows direct across the marsh to the Luapula, but in the wet season

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE.-Dr. Hobson, late deputy Lowndean Professor, has been elected a representative of the Mathematical Board on the General Board of Studies.

Plans for a handsome building to serve as the Sedgwick Memorial Museum of Geology have been submitted to the Senate, the estimated cost being £26,000. Four members of the Syndicate appointed to prepare the plans dissent from the report of the majority, chiefly on the ground that the internal arrangements are unsatisfactory, and that the cost, initial and annual, of the proposed building will be excessive. The divergent views held on the subject will be discussed by the Senate on Saturday, December 3.

The Senate have agreed to confer on Sir R. S. Ball, the new Lowndean Professor, the complete degree of M.A., honoris

causa.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.

Physical Society, November 11.-Mr. Walter Baily, M. A., Vice-President, in the chair. -The discussion on Mr. Williams's paper, the dimensions of physical quantities, was resumed by Dr. Burton. He remarked that the idea that so-called "specific quantities," such as specific gravity, are pure numbers was an erroneous one, and liable to lead to difficulties. The specific gravity of a substance was of the nature of density, and was only a simple number on the convention that the density of water was taken as unity. If dimensions be given to specific quantities their interpretation would, he thought, be easy when the rational dimensional formula were found. Referring to Prof. Fitzgerald's comments, he said, although the contention that all energy is ultimately kinetic could not be gainsaid, the distinction commonly drawn between kinetic and potential energy involved nothing contrary to this view, and was useful and convenient in many cases. As to the dimensions of μ and k he was inclined to favour Mr. Williams's views, for several considerations suggest that the two capacities of the medium are essentially different. Arguments to show that μ was probably absolutely constant in the ether, whilst k might be variable, were brought forward. Of the two systems of dimensions for μ and k suggested by Mr. Williams, that which made μ a density seemed preferable.—Prof. A. Lodge said he was greatly interested in propagating the idea that physical quantities are concrete, and therefore welcomed Mr. Williams's paper. thought it desirable to keep some names for abstract numbers, and "specific gravity" should be one. If another name involving dimensions was required "specific weight," or "weight per unit volume," might be used. Speaking of the dimensions of the various terms of an equation he did not think it was usually recognized that in ordinary algebra or Cartesian geometry the principle of directed terms was rigidly adhered to, for if directed at all every term of such an equation was directed along the same line. In this respect ordinary algebra was more rigid than vector algebra. Even if circular

He

functions were involved, as in polar co-ordinates, they ha effect of making the directions of the terms the same. instances of problems bringing out the same fact were tioned. Mr. Boys thought Mr. Madden had been argu circle when he spoke of the astronomical unit of mas deduced the dimensions of mass as L3 T from the e MLT-2= M2/L3, for it was quite impossible that this e could be true unless y, the gravitation constant, was duced on the right-hand side. Mr. Williams's was quite the reverse, for he maintained that unless were introduced in the dimensions of electric and ma quantities, their dimensional formulæ could not indicateter nature of those quantities, and hence were open to ohje Mr. W. Baily, whilst agreeing with Mr. Williams on moste tial points, thought the total omission of L from dime formulæ made the expressions more complicated and lesi metrical. For example, such expressions as XYZ, A XYZ, which respectively represent undirected length, area volume, might with advantage be written L, L3, and L: tively. The restriction of the dimensions of u and t which give interpretable dimensional formulæ for electric a magnetic quantities seemed scarcely justified. Both the s proposed could not be right, and he thought it would be in accordance with our present want of knowledge, if a qu U of unknown dimensions were introduced such that or i=

density and ̄1or μU2. rigidity. This would keep invert fact that the absolute dimensions of quantities involving unknown. A list of the dimensions of the various qu based on this arrangement was given. Mr. Swinburne, m to the conventional nature of many units, said great dife exist between the ideas held by different persons abor units. Starting with the convention that unlike gay could be multiplied together, he might have six amperes ing in an electric circuit under a pressure of ten volts, might say he had sixty volt-ampères. The term "voltar could be regarded as indicating that the sixty was the name result of multiplying a number of volts by a number of a or on the other hand it might be understood as a new watt, compounded of a volt and an ampère. Before Rücker's paper on suppressed dimensions was publishe electrician might have suggested measuring the length bench by sending an alternating current through it and mining its self-induction, which he regarded as a Prof. Rücker, however, would say that this could not right result, for u must be taken into account. He was ir. to think that dimensions were liable to mislead. Referr scientific writers as authorities, he said Maxwell lai careless in some cases, for he had sometimes given dimes formulæ as zero, which really ought to have been L°N 7 unity. In French text-books the errors had been cont Mr. Williams, in reply to Mr. Madden's remarks abo induction being a length, pointed out that the subject looked at in two different ways, depending on whe thinks of the standard of self-induction as the practical s of measurement, or the unit of self-induction as a p quantity. In the former case the standard was a length. the latter the unit was a quantity of the same species as sells tion, the nature of which was as yet unknown. Ifis mical nature was known, then the absolute dimensics other magnetic and electric quantities would also be deter: 1 In answer to Prof. Fitzgerald's remarks he said it was t likely that he should be unacquainted with the comme that kinetic and potential energies were ultimately quan the same kind, for it was a view with which he was familiar. The fact that they have the same dimens... sufficient to show their identity, and the idea that all ent ultimately kinetic was fundamental to his paper. T ever, did not imply that electrification and magnetiz of necessity the same, and the suggestion that they m same was only one of several "probable suggestions which were entitled to consideration. His chief re regarding Prof. Fitzgerald's suggestion as probably was that it led to a system of dimensional formulæ inca rational mechanical interpretation, and containing powers of the fundamental units. Prof. Fitzgerald's would make resistance an abstract number, and μ and quantities, whereas the former was a concrete quantity two latter must be scalar in isotropic media. Williams) had erred in treating electrification and ma tion as different phenomena he could only plead th

If

e nothing more than follow such authorities as Lord Kelvin, Lodge, and Mr. O. Heaviside in the matter.-The discuson Mr. Sutherland's paper, on the laws of molecular force, reopened by Prof. Perry reading a communication from President, Prof. Fitzgerald. He objected to discontinuous ries, especially when Clausius had given a continuous ulæ much more accurate over a very long range than Mr. terland's discontinuous ones. The introduction of Brownian ons without carefully estimating the rates required and gy represented, and without giving any dynamical explanaof their existence, was not satisfactory. It would, he said, ost interesting if Mr. Sutherland would calculate the law triation of temperature with height of a column of convecess gas, under conduction alone (for Maxwell thought the rse fifth power law of molecular attraction was the only one gave uniformity of temperature under these conditions), if necessary make tests with solid bars. Referring to the ment that molecular attraction at one cm. was comparable gravitation at the same distance, he thought Mr. Boys d question this, and he suggested an experimentum crucis e inverse fourth power law. Both the inverse fourth and se fifth power laws, assumed symmetry which did not exist. also took exception to other parts of the paper. Dr. Glade, referring to the relative dynic and refraction equivalents a in Table XXVIII. of the paper, said he thought it interesting ake a similar comparison between dynic and dispersion and netic rotation equivalents. The result as exhibited in a plete table showed a certain proportionality between the columns but the differences were beyond the limits of rimental error. Mr. Sutherland, however, sometimes oned the dynic equivalent of hydrogen as o°215, and at times looked upon it as negligible. The analogies ben the optical equivalents did not depend on the propor lity of the numbers so much as upon the fact that the tion, dispersion, and magnetic rotation equivalents of a ound was the sum of the corresponding equivalents of its ituent atoms, modified to some extent by the way in which were combined. Whilst a somewhat similar relation held for the dynic equivalents, the effect of " double-linking rbon atoms, so evident in the optical properties, was ely perceptible. The result of calculating the constants M/ instead of from M3/ was next discussed, the effect of was to quite upset the proportionality before noticeable. S. H. Burbury said that on referring to the author's al paper, on which the present one was based, he found uniform distribution of molecules was assumed. On this osition the demonstrations given were quite correct, and potential was a maximum. If, however, the molecules in motion the average potential must be less than the num, and the deductions in the present paper being based rong assumptions were liable to error. Prof. Ramsay ked that many statements in the paper, on the subject of l points, were very doubtful. Separate equations for the ent states of matter were not satisfactory, neither was the ial division of substance into five classes. The predicted nces in the critical points due to capillarity, had not been to exist. Speaking of the virial equation, he said that to R had been taken as constant. Considerations he had y made led him to believe that R was not constant. The question should be reconsidered regarding R as a variable. 1acfarlane Gray said he had been working at subjects to those dealt with in Mr. Sutherland's paper, but from osite point of view, no attraction being supposed to etween molecules. In the theoretical treatment of steam id that no arbitrary constants were required, for all could ermined thermo-dynamically. The calculated results 1 perfect accord with M. Cailletet's exhaustive experixcept at very high pressures, and even here, the theoolume was the mean between those obtained experiy by Cailletet and Battelli respectively. Prof. Herschel out that Villarçeau had discussed the equation of the here the chemical and mechanical energies were not to balance each other. Mr. Sutherland's paper all the existence of such a balance, and he (Prof. Herschel) t understand why this balancing was necessary. n was then closed, and the meeting adjourned.

The

gical Society, November 9.-W. H. Hudleston, President, in the chair.-The following communications d:-A sketch of the geology of the iron, gold, and istricts of Michigan, by Prof. M. E. Wadsworth.

After an enumeration of the divisions of the azoic and paleozoic systems of the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, the author describes the mechanically and chemically formed azoic rocks, and those produced by igneous agency, adding a table which shows his scheme of classification of rocks, and explaining it. The divisions of the azoic system are then described in order, beginning with the oldest-the cascade formation, which consists of gneissose granites or gneisses, basic eruptives and schists, jaspilites and associated iron ores, and granites. The rock of the succeeding republic formation are given as nearly as possible in the order of their ages, commencing with the oldest :-Conglomerate, breccia and conglomeratic schist, quartzite, dolomite, jaspilite and associated iron ores, argillite and schist, granite and felsite, diabase, diorite and porodite, and porphyrite. The author gives a full account of the character, composition, and mode of occurrence of jaspilite, and discusses the origin of this rock and its associated ores, which he at one time considered eruptive; but new evidence discovered by the State Survey and the United States Survey leads him to believe that he will have to abandon that view entirely. In the newest azoic formation, the Holyoke formation, the following rocks are met with:-Conglomerate, breccia and conglomeratic schist, quartzite, dolomite, argillite, greywacke and schist, granite and felsite (?), diabase, diorite, porodite, peridotite, serpentine, and melaphyre or picrite. The conglomerates of the Holyoke formation contain numerous pebbles of the jaspilites of the underlying republic formation; a description of the Holyoke rocks is given, and special points in connexion with them are discussed. The author next treats of the chemical deposits of the azoic system, gives a provisional scheme of classification of ores, and discusses the origin of ore deposits. The rocks of the paleozoic system are next described, and it is maintained that the eastern sandstone of lower silurian age underlies the copper-bearing or Keweenawan rocks. The veins and copper deposits are described in detail, and the paper concludes with some miscellaneous analyses and descriptions, as well as a list of minerals found in Michigan. After the reading of this paper, the President noted that it presented three sets of questions of much importance, viz., those bearing on the archæan rocks, the iron deposits and jaspilites, and the copper and gold deposits respectively. As regards the classification of the archæan rocks, some might wonder what the terms used by the author meant. The words laurentian and huronian used in Canada seemed not to be tolerated in Michigan. The officers of the United States Geological Survey have described all the archæan formations noticed by the author; the cascade as the fundamental complex, the republic as the lower marquette, and the Holyoke as the upper marquette. Was each State of the Union going to divide these archæan rocks after its own fashion? With regard to the iron rocks, he would observe that the author, after enumerating all the views in favour of their volcanic origin, now admitted that he was wrong, and that Irving and others were correct. The most important question was how the iron ores were really formed, and to this it was difficult to find a complete answer in the paper. Sir Archibald Geikie remarked that it was hardly possible to criticize a voluminous paper of this nature, in the reading of which much of the detailed statement of facts was necessarily omitted. One of its most interesting points related to the nature and classification of the rocks intermediate between the base of the Cambrian system and the oldest or fundamental gneisses. The plan which Prof. Wadsworth followed of adopting local names for the several subdivisions of the series in each region was no doubt in the meantime of advantage, until some method of correlation and identification from region to region could be discovered. But it unavoidably led to temporary confusion, for the same rock-group might turn out to have received many different names. He thought it would be of service if geologists could agree upon some general term which would denote the whole of the sedimentary groups or systems which intervene between the old gneisses and the Olenellus-zone. Various names had been proposed, such as azoic, eozoic, proterozoic, algonkian, to each of which some objection may be raised. The existence of a number of very thick systems of sedimentary deposits between the base of the Cambrian formation and the gneisses was now well established in this country and in North America. In the upper members of this series fossils had been found, and it might eventually be possible to group the rocks by means of paleontological evidence. But in the meantime it would be convenient to class them under one general name which would clearly mark them off from the true archæan gneisses, &c., below them and the paleozoic rocks

above. Dr. Hicks congratulated Prof. Wadsworth on his important communication; but he strongly objected to the application of the term Silurian, instead of Cambrian, to the lower palæozoic rocks of America. Dr. Hicks did not think that the author had proved his case with regard to the Keweenawan rocks, and he was still inclined to believe that they would prove to be, as suggested by other American geologists, of preCambrian age-the apparent superposition being due to overthrust faults. The term eozoic, now that worm-tracks have been discovered in the pre-Cambrian rocks, is more correct than azoic for the sedimentary rocks of that age. Moreover, other organic remains will certainly be found, for it is inconceivable that ancestors of the forms comprising the rich fauna at the base of the Cambrian should not have been entombed in earlier rocks. Mr. H. Bauerman, considering the three hypotheses as to the origin of the iron ores-namely, dehydration of limonites in sandy beds, transformation from siderite, and the breakingup of highly ferriferous igneous masses into quartz and hæmatite -thought that the first was the most likely, although there were certainly difficulties in connexion with it which made it desirable that the newer views upon the subject should be presented. He was therefore glad that they were likely to have a detailed exposition of the author's views in the journal. As regards the origin of the copper deposits, he believed that Dr. Wadsworth agreed with the views brought before the society several years since. In conclusion, he called attention to the gold deposits, which were of comparatively recent discovery, and interesting from the large number of minerals associated with the auriferous quartz veinstuff. Sir Lowthian Bell and Mr. Marr also spoke.

The gold quartz deposits of Pahang (Malay Peninsula), by H. M. Becher.-The Pambula gold-deposits, by F. D. Power Zoological Society, November 15.-Dr. A. Günther, F. R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.-The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the Society's Menagerie during the month of October 1892, and called special attention to a very fine male Ostrich (Struthio camelus) presented by Her Majesty the Queen, and to a specimen of what appeared to be a new and undescribed Monkey of the genus Cercopithecus, obtained by Dr. Moloney at Chindi, on the Lower Zambesi, for which the name Cercopithecus stairsi was proposed. Attention was also called to the receipt of a series of specimens of mammals, birds, and reptiles, brought by Mr. Frank Finn, on bis recent return from a zoological expedition to Zanzibar, and received from several correspondents of the Society at Zanzibar and Mombasa. -The Secretary exhibited (on behalf of Mr. T. Ground) a specimen of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper (7ringa acuminata) killed in Norfolk.-Mr. G. A. Boulenger read a paper describing the remains of an extinct gigantic tortoise from Madagascar (Testudo grandidieri, Vaill.), based on specimens obtained in caves in South-west Madagascar by Mr. Last, and transmitted to the British Museum. species was stated to be most nearly allied to Testudo gigantea of the Aldabra Islands.-Mr. W. Bateson and Mr. H. H. Brindley read a paper giving the statistical results of measurements of the horns of certain beetles and of the forcipes of the male earwig. It appeared that in some of these cases the males form two groups, "high and "low"; the moderately high and the moderately low being more frequent than the mean form in the same locality. It was pointed out that this result was not consistent with the hypothesis of fortuitous variation about one mean form.-A communication was read from Mr. O. Thomas containing the description of a new monkey of the genus Semnopithecus from Northern Borneo, which he proposed to call S. everetti after Mr. A. Everett, its discoverer.-Mr. G. A. Boulenger read a description of a Blennioid fish from Kamtscha ka belonging to a new generic form, and proposed to be called Blenniophidium petropauli. The specimen had been obtained in the harbour of Petropaulovski by Sir George Baden Powell, M. P, in September 1891.

"

The

Royal Meteorological Society, November 16.-Mr. A. Brewin, Vice-President, in the chair.-An interesting aper by Mr. J. Lovel was read on the thunderstorm, cloudburst, and flood at Langtoft, East Yorkshire, July 3, 1892. The author gives an account of the thunderstorm as experienced at Driffield on the evening of this day; the full force of the storm was, how. ever, felt in the wold valleys, which lie to the north and northwest of Driffield, where great quantities of soil and gravel were removed from the hillsides and ca ried to the lower districts, doing a large amount of damage. Many houses in the lower parts of Driffield were flooded, and a bridge considerably

injured. The storm was most severe in a basin of valleys to the village of Langtoft, where three trenches, sixpe yards in length and of great width and depth, were scoope of the solid rock by the force of the water from the clot From the appearance of the trenches it is probable thr were three waterspouts moving abreast simultaneously particular locality seems to be favourable for the formati cloudbursts, as there are records of great floods having viously occurred at Langtoft, notably on April 10, 1657. 1857, and June 9, 1888. The author gives, in an appet number of observations made on similar occurrences, g with particulars and opinions as to the cause of such o by several eminent authorities.—Mr. W. H. Dines also ni paper, remarks on the measurement of the maximum wic sure, and description of a new instrument for indicating recording the maximum. For some years the author ha conducting a large number of experiments with various f anemometer; and in the early part of the present year t mended the adoption of the tube anemometer for generat it appeared to possess numerous advantages. simple in construction, and so strong that it is practicaly structible by the most violent hurricane. The reor apparatus can be placed at any reasonable distance from thele and the connecting pipes may go round several sharp without harm. The power is conveyed from the head loss by friction, and hence he instrument may be made a tive to very low velocities without im, airing its ability the most severe gale. In the present paper the author an arrangement of this form of anemometer which he has do for indicating very light winds as well as recording the ma wind pressure.

The

Linnean Society, November 17.-Prof. Stewart, Prs in the chair. The President having announced a props the council to present a congratulatory address to th Leonard Blomefield (formerly Jenyns) on the occasio seventieth anniversary of his election as a Fellow of the S and in recognition of his continuous and useful labor zoologist, it was moved by Sir Wm. Flower and secont Dr. St. George Mivart, that the address he signed and fer as proposed. This was carried unanimously. In mont resolution, Sir Wm. Flower took occasion to sketch thes career of Mr. Blomefield, who is now in his ninety-third to recapitulate the works of which he is the author earlier and better known name of Jenyns. The address, was beautifully illuminated on vellum, was then signed present.-Mr. George Murray exhibited and made upon a genus of Algæ (Halicystis) new to Britain, the s shown being H. ventricosa from the West Indies, ovalis from the Clyde Sea area. -Mr. Buxton Shillitoees an artificial cluster of the fruit of Pyrus sorbus, as pl ripening by cultivators in Sussex.-A paper was then the Rev. Prof. Henslow on a theoretical origin of e through an aquatic habit based on the structure of the organs. The lecture, which was very fluently delive profusely illustrated, and drew forth some interesting from Prof. Boulger, Messrs. Henry Groves, H. C Patrick Geddes, to which Prof. Henslow replied. -0% % Mr. George Lewes, who was unable to be present, a 14 read by Mr. W. Percy Sladen on the Buprestide of [1.7 which some criticism was offered by Mr. W. F. Kirby,

Royal Microscopical Society, November 1Braithwaite in the chair.-Mr. T. F. Smith rea on the character of markings on the Podura S account of Mr. W. West's paper on the fresh of the English lake district was given by Mr Bennett, who thought it was an exceedingly imper. tribution to our knowledge of the alge of tha Mr. F. Chapman gave a résumé of Pt. 3 of his desc the foraminifera of the Gault of Flkestone.—Mr. C ! Gill read a paper on a fungus internal y parasitic a diatoms, illustrating his subject with specimens and e graphs. Mr. Bennett said that he had obs rved struct might be of a similar character in desmids. He sh enquire if by the term "spores" Mr. Gill dis zoo-pores? Had he observed them to be possessed. cilia? And could he form any idea as to how they inside the diatoms? It was possible that they me mitted in some way by inheritance, and if so that mig for their great abundance in particular species. Mr.

the question how these things got into diatoms was one still er consideration. As to the movements of the spores he was at present perfectly certain that they moved at all more than ry short distance from the orifice of the beak, but he had not had time to examine them sufficiently to be able to answer question as to whether they were ciliated. Diatoms were by leans the tightly shut-up boxes which they were supposed :; they could not live or absorb nutriment unless there was : sort of passage, and he thought there was very likely a is of penetration all over them to admit of the diffusion of throughout. Mr. E. M. Nelson called attention to the fine stment of Messrs. W. Watson's Van Heurck microscope, h he said had been wrongly described as being on Zentr's plan; he found that Messrs. Watson's adjustment was ded with spring stops, which obviated all the evils comd of in Zentmayer's system; the adjustment-screw was also anded, so that the apparent and real motions were made to ide, which was a great advantage when working with high

⚫rs.

OXFORD.

niversity Junior Scientific Club, November_9.-The dent, Dr. J. Lorrain Smith, in the chair.-The President an exhibit to illustrate the relation of ventilation to ratory products, after which he called on the Rev. F. J. h for his paper on the inductoscript and spark photography. paper, which was illustrated with experiments, and a large varied selection of lantern slides, dealt with the recent rches of the writer and others in an exhaustive manner. is shown how impressions of coins, &c., could be taken hotographic plates and paper by means of the electric and the various results produced by changes of pres&c., in the atmosphere. The second part of the paper more with the instantaneous photography produced by the ic spark, and the exhibits included photographs of bullets ther rapidly-moving objects, which had been taken by the r of the paper.-Mr. G. C. Bourne read a paper on hli's researches on protoplasm, which was followed by an ited discussion in which Prof. Burdon-Sanderson and others part.

CAMBRIDGE. ilosophical Society, November 14.-Prof. T. McKenny es, President, in the chair.-The President exhibited (1) tarantula, (2) quartz crystals of unusual form. The ing communications were made :—(1) Preparations were ited showing the division of nuclei in the sporangium of cies of Trichia, one of the Myxomycetes. The nuclei ⚫ throughout the sporangium, with clearly recognizable kinetic figures, immediately before the formation of the , by J. J. Lister. (2) On the reproduction of Orbitolites. I. B. Brady has described specimens of Orbitolites, which tained in Fiji, showing the margin of the disc crowded oung shells. Mr. Brady's material was worked at in the ite, and it was at his suggestion that the author collected ens preserved in spirit from the Tonga reefs. Examinaf this material shows that large brood chambers are at the margin of the disc during the later stages of .These are at first lined with a thin layer of protoplasm. ter stage the central region of the disc is found to be and the whole of the protoplasm is massed in the brood ers in the form of spores. The spores have the structure primitive disc," which during the early stages of growth Orbitolites occupies the centre of the shells. They are d by absorption of the walls of the brood chambers, h becomes the centre of a new disc, which is built up by is of successive rings of chamberlets at the margin. The ction of Orbitolites therefore takes place by spore formale spore contains a single nucleus, lying in its primordial r." After several rings of chamberlets have been added, s reached at which the nucleus appears to be represented ers of irregular, darkly staining masses scattered through oplasm of the central part of the disc. imbers of oval nuclei are found in the protoplasm, often I in pairs, and in favourable preparations they may be e undergoing amitotic division he fragmentation of er n nucleus in certain ova, by S. J. Hickson.—-On cism in the Labiata (second paper), by J. C. Willis. servations made in 1890-91 on Origanum (see Reporter, , June 7, 1892) were continued, chiefly on female Six of these, derived from seed of the hermaphrodite 1890, were observed, and their variations noted.

In the later

It

seems possible that some of the six, at any rate, were derived not from the normal, but from the abnormal (female) flowers of the parent. Attempts were made to determine if the occurrence of female flowers or flowers with one, two or three stamens only, on hermaphrodite plants, was due to lack of nourishment. A string was tied tightly round the main stalk of an inflorescence, about the middle, and it was found that more variations (12: 1) occurred above than below. Analysis of the three years' observations shows that the abortion of the stamens tends to occur symmetrically rather than not, i.e. most commonly all four abort, and next in frequency is the abortion of the two anteriors: then of the two posteriors. These observations are still in progress, and it is hoped to publish full details in 1896 or later.

PARIS.

Academy of Sciences, November 21.-M. d'Abbadie in the chair.-Observations of the minor planets, made with the great meridian instrument of the Paris Observatory, from October 1, 1891, to June 30, 1892, by M. Tisserand.-Determination of the centre of the mean distances of the centres of curvature of the successive developments of any plane line, by M. Haton de la Goupillière.—Observations of Holmes' comet (November 6, 1892) made at the great equatorial of the Bordeaux Observatory, by M. G. Rayet. -Exploration of the higher regions of the atmosphere by means of free balloons provided with automatic recorders, by M. Gustave Hermite. Small balloons were filled with coal gas and provided with recording barometers and minimum thermometers. The former consisted of metallic aneroid boxes on Vidi's system, recording the pressure by the motion of a smoked plate in front of a glass style. These aneroids weighed less than 100 grs. The writer hopes to reduce their weight to 10 grs. Some of the balloons were lost or destroyed, but most of them were returned, after a journey exceeding in many cases 100 km. Two successful registrations of temperature have been made so far, giving a fall of 1° C. for every 260 m. and 280 m. respectively.-Observations of Holmes' comet made at the Algiers Observatory (equatorial coudé), by MM. Trépied, Rambaud, and Sy.-Observations of Holmes' comet (November 6) made with the equatorial coudé of the Lyon Observatory, by M. G. Le, Cadet.-Elliptic elements of Holmes' comet of November 6, 1892, by M. Schulhof (see our Astronomical Column).-On the calculation of inequalities of a high order. Application to the long-period lunar inequality caused by Venus, by M. Maurice Hamy.-Distribution into four groups of the first n numbers, by M. Désiré André.-On electric oscillations, by M. Pierre Janet. A gap in a circuit containing a high resistance of some 20,000 ohms is bridged by another containing a coil resistance with self-induction and a bridge resistance without. The terminals in the same gap are also connected with a condenser, and a Mouton's disjoncteur is introduced in the circuit, rotating at a high speed. The differences of potential between the terminals of the two resistances are measured by an auxiliary condenser and a ballistic galvanometer. It is thus possible to determine the form of the oscillations. On suddenly breaking the short circuit in the gap, it was found that the ends of the resistance without self-induction reached a constant difference of potential in a series of oscillations which were always of the same sign, whereas those of the other showed a series of positive and negative oscillations.-On some results furnished by the formation of soap bubbles by means of a resinous soap, by M. Izarn. Very thin and permanent bubbles are obtained by pounding together 10 gr. each of colophonium and potassium carbonate, adding 100 gr. of water and completely dissolving by boiling. For use, it must be diluted with four times its bulk of water.-Action of piperidine upon the haloid salts of mercury, by M. Raoul Varet.-On the exchanges of carbonic acid and oxygen between plants and the atmosphere, by M. Th. Schloesing, jun -A new case of living Xiphopage, the Orissa twins, by M. Marcel Baudouin.-Notes on the feet of batrachians and saurians, by M. A. Perrin.-On asymmetric growth in polychatous annelids, by M. de Saint Joseph.-Influence of moisture on vegetation, by M. E. Gain. Experiments with soils kept in a given state of humidity have led to the following conclusions: For each plant there exists a certain proportion of moisture most favourable to its growth. A high comparative moisture in the soil accelerates the growth, especially of the stem and leaves. The air being dry, fructification is slower with a dry than with a humid soil. Inflorescence is retarded either by dry soil or by moist air, and is hastened by the reverse con