istics which we should expect from their now generally recognised constitution. In particular the dark ring, the phenomena of which have been thought by some to be inconsistent with the theory that the rings are made up of multitudes of small satellites, has presented appearances for which no other theory seems able to account. The inferior portion of the dark ring, where it crosses the disc of the planet, loses itself in the planet's light. This ring again is no longer transparent across its entire width, but is denser near its exterior part, in such sort that from about the middle of its width to its exterior edge it does not permit the edge of the planet's disc to be seen through it. Lastly, the matter composing the dark ring is aggregated here and there in small masses, which almost entirely prevent the light of the planet from reaching the observer.

Duplicity of the Solar Dark Line 1474.-Professor Young has made an important discovery by showing that this now celebrated line is double, the components being separated by about 4th of a division of Angstrom's scale, or by about 1th of the distance between the D lines. Only one of the components belongs to the spectrum of iron, and doubtless the corona line which had been satisfactorily shown to correspond in position with 1474, accords with the other component, not with the component belonging to iron. To what element the corona line really appertains has yet to be determined.

BOTANY AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

The Celtic Race of Pears.-An interesting paper to botanists who are lovers of the antique is given in a late number of the "Journal of Botany" by Dr. Masters. The part of most antiquarian interest is that which refers to the Celtic race, to which the Persian, French, and Devonshire forms belong, and is itself a quotation. It says:-"Dr. Phené visited Brittany, to trace practically any connection-if such could be found-between the legends which connect the 'Isle of Apples' of Arthurian repute with that locality, and those which connect it with Britain. King Arthur, it appears. is supposed to have been buried either in the Island of Avalon (Glastonbury), in England, or in that of Aiguillon in Armorica, the equivalent of Isle of Avalon being Isle of Apples. An island in Loch Awe, in Argyllshire, has a Celtic legend containing the principal features of Arthurian story, but in this case the word is 'berries' instead of apples. These particulars were fully given in a paper read on June 10, 1875, by Dr. Phené before the Royal Historical Society, in which he expressed a belief that the legend of the mystical Arthur was derived from the character of Arjuna given in the *Indian poem, “Máhá Bárata.” After closely examining the Island in Loch Awe, and Avalon in Somersetshire, he concluded his researches by a visit to Armorica, Brittany. He there observed a tree which helped him to the apples of Avalon and the berries of Loch Awe, for the apples on the tree were berries. The specimen he has submitted to us is the Pirus cordata of Desvaux, and it is interesting to note, in support of Dr. Phené's argument, that it has been found in Western France-perhaps in South-western

England, if the plant found by Mr. Briggs near Plymouth, and called by Dr. Boswell-Syme 'Pyrus communis, var. Briggsii,' be the same-and nowhere else in Europe. Both countries had their western shores occupied, anterior to the invasion of the Cymry, by a peculiar race of people having strong Oriental characteristics, and which people some authors describe as occupying the country as far north as Argyllshire-the evidences of such occupation having been laid before the British Association at Bristol in September 1875, in Dr. Phené's paper on that subject—while the same tree is found on Mount Elbruz in North-east Persia-a country not remote from that which formed the arena of Arjuna's exploits, and whence it would seem to have been imported to the west of Europe."

On Floral Estivation.—The Rev. G. Henslow read a paper on the above subject before the Linnean Society on June 1. Mr. Henslow referred to his previous paper read before the Society, in which he regarded the opposite as the fundamental arrangement of phyllotaxy in Dicotyledons, and described the various modifications of imbricate æstivation. Starting from the ordinary pentastichous or quincuncial mode, in which two leaves of the cycle are external and two internal, whilst one is half outside and half in, special attention was called to the "half-imbricate" and "imbricate proper" methods, in both of which there are one external, one internal, and three intermediate leaves; the "imbricate proper" is converted into the convolute mode, in which all the leaves are intermediate, by the first leaf of the cycle being overlapped by the adjacent third leaf. The "vexillary" and "cochlear" modes, and those of many other irregular flowers such as Cassia, are to be referred to the "half-imbricate." The author agreed with Professor A. Gray in distinguishing "convolute" from "contorted." A new theory of the nature of cruciferous flowers, which derived them from a primary type by symmetrical reduction of the parts in each whorl, was explained; and chorisis was objected to as an explanation of the pairs of long stamens. The frequency with which the corolla is found to develope subsequently to the stamens was also mentioned in objection to Pfeffer's view of the corolla of Primula being an outgrowth of the androecium.

The Hygroscopic Mechanism by which Seeds bury themselves was some time ago the subject of a paper read before the Linnean Society by Mr. Francis Darwin, the son of the celebrated naturalist, and it is thus reported by the "Journal of Botany" (No. 161):-"The seeds observed were those of several grasses and of Anemone montana, but Stipa pennata was specially examined. This has a strong awn, the lower part vertical and twisted with two knees, and a long horizontal upper feathered portion. Moisture causes the spiral portion to untwist and the horizontal part to revolve, the knees disappearing and the whole awn becoming straight; drought reverses the process. In nature the flat feathered portion is readily entangled in vegetation, and the seed rests vertically with its point on the soil. When the spiral untwists with moisture, the horizontal part being prevented from revolving, that motion is transferred to the seed, and to this being added pressure on its point it becomes screwed into the ground. With dryness and the reversal of the screw the seed is not drawn out again, but curiously is thrust deeper down by additional mechanism. Heat acts in the same way as moisture. The cause of torsion as explained by Hildebrandt and Hanstein

the author thinks insufficient, and shows that the power resides in the individual cells of the awn, which when isolated behave precisely as the whole awn, with regard to moisture, heat, and dryness."

A Lichen rare in Great Britain.-The occurrence of Thelocarpon Laureri in Britain is so rare, that its appearance in great quantity is worth recording. Three habitats are given for it in Leighton's "Lichen-Flora," all in Shropshire; and, says Mr. W. Phillips, writing in the "Journal of Botany," No. 161, "I have now to add a fourth, also in the same county. In the autumn of 1874 a plantation on the Arcoll Hill, an outlier of the Wrekin, by some accident was set on fire, and a large portion was destroyed. The undergrowth, consisting of heather, bilberry, brakefern, &c., was so dry that no efforts were able to arrest the flames till the whole area enclosed by the cart-ways for drawing timber was left bare and black; these formed an effectual barrier and arrested the conflagration. The damage extended over several hundred acres. Last autumn a new growth of vegetation began to make its appearance on the charred surface, amongst which were conspicuous Marchantia polymorpha, Funaria hygrometrica (la Charbonnière), seedlings of Pteris aquilina, and a quantity of fungi, such as Agaricus carbonarius, Fr., Peziza trachycarpa, Curr., Rhizina undulata, Fr. On visiting the place this spring I found on the peaty portions a large quantity of Thelocarpon Laureri, in small patches from an inch to a foot across, extending over a very large area. At first sight I mistook it for the early growth of a Lichen-thallus, but when once recognised the eye became accustomed to its peculiar citron colour and scattered mode of growth."

CHEMISTRY.

Errors of the New Catalogue of the Loan Collection.-The "Academy" (August 12) has published a report on this book which has dealt justly, but severely, with the authors, whoever they are. It says:-"While the collection may be justly styled scientific, that term cannot be applied to the method in which the objects are classified in the catalogue, and many of the blunders are of such a character that it is hard to conceive it possible that they could escape the notice of a printer's reader, still less that they should pass unchallenged the scrutiny of a scientific editor." After giving a series of the errata, the article thus concludes:-" In printing the names and addresses of the contributors the same want of accuracy has been shown, and so we read of the 'Physical Institute of the University of Freiberg, Baden.' In many cases the foreign names of pieces of apparatus have not been translated at all, although an English equivalent is to be found without difficulty: we meet, for example, with such words as 'étuve,' 'stativ,' 'bobine,' &c.; others again which have been rendered into English are not in the form familiar to the man of science: such are, 'charcoal sticks' for carbon points, effective substance' for active principle, 'Grove pile,' 'chroïtes crystals,'' rhomboïd of Iceland spar,' &c. The mode of rendering other scientific terms in common use in England is equally unhappy, and of these we may instance 'atterism,' 'apparatuses,' 'a chemical harmonica,' and

'Spee-gear, bottle in case,' whatever that may be ; while the term 'pantigraph' is still retained in the introduction. The blunders appear to be impartially distributed over the various sub-sections; while we have 'wolfram phosphide,'' siliconcalcium,' and 'molibdate of lead,' on the one hand, we meet with 'Kemala' and 'Saborandi' on the other; and among the rocks and minerals, 'Trooshte' for troostite, 'dimyte,' repeated, for dunite, 'Garnet fils,' 'Rosed felsyte,' 'Hokscharowite,' &c. Finally, we will confine ourselves to directing attention to about a dozen of the errors in the names of persons which we have met with during a superficial examination of this revised edition of the Catalogue :- Andrew' for Andrews, Berzélius,' 'Bilstein' for Beilstein, 'Cloës' for Cloez, 'Sir Humphery Davy,'' Eisenrohr' for Eisenlohr, Erltenmeyer' for Erlenmeyer, 'Fritzshe,'' Kakuli' for Kekulé, 'Rutlerow,' 'Rudnen' for Rudneff, Schick' for Schiek, 'Siemgan' for Siemens, 'Smith' for Smithson, and 'Wrohlesky' for Wroblevsky."

Nitrogen and Albumen in the Milk of Women and Cows.-Dr. Leo Liebermann states in Liebig's Annalen (Bd. 181, Heft. 1), that both in Brunner's and in Hoppe-Seyler's method a considerable part of the albuminoids escapes precipitation. Haidler's method, on the other hand, gives the total amount of the lacteal albuminoids, which may also be entirely thrown down by means of tannin. In addition to casein and albumen a third and distinct albuminoid body is present, but there is no nitrogenous body found in milk except such as belong to the albuminoid class.

American Chemical Society.-The "Chemical News" of July 14 says that at a meeting of American chemists, held lately at the New York College of Pharmacy, it was resolved to form a society to be called "The American Chemical Society," and at a subsequent meeting the following officers and committees were appointed:-President-John W. Draper. Vice-Presidents -J. Lawrence Smith, Frederick A. Genth, E. Hilgard, J. W. Mallet, Charles F. Chandler, Henry Morton. Corresponding Secretary-George F. Barker. Recording Secretary-Isidor Walz. Treasurer-W. M. Habirshaw. Librarian-P. Casamajor. Curators-Edward Sherer, W. H. Nichols, Frederick Hoffmann. Committees on Papers and PublicationsAlbert R. Leeds, Herrmann Endemann, Elwyn Waller. Committee on Nominations-E. P. Eastwick, M. Alsberg, S. St. John, Chas. Fröbel, Chas. M. Stillwell.

The Action of certain Filters has been gone into by Mr. Alfred Wanklyn, who reports as follows in the "Chemical News" (July 14) on the action of the " Silicated Carbon Filters," which, as we have already reported in a former number of this journal, are unquestionably the best species of filter. A solution of hydrochlorate of morphia in common London water was prepared by taking 1-320 grms. of hydrochlorate of morphia, dissolving it in water, and diluting the solution to 10 litres. In this manner a solution containing 0.132 grm. of the hydrochlorate per litre of water was obtained. Submitted to the ammonia process, this solution was found to yield 2.60 m.grms. of albuminoid ammonia per litre. Five litres of this solution were then allowed to run through the same silicated carbon filter which had been employed for the experiments on quinine, described before, and the 5 litres of filtrate were then thrown away. In this manner the most simple displacement of the liquid occupying the pores of the filter was ensured.

About 5 more litres of the solution were next run through the filter, and the filtrate was examined with the following results:-Milligrams of albuminoid ammonia per litre of liquid-No. 1, 0·06; No. 2, 0·04. Showing how completely the filtration had removed the morphia from the solution. As a further corroboration, advantage was taken of the reducing properties possessed by morphia, which decolourised standard solution of permanganate, and which may be titrated with such a solution. Before submitting it to filtration, 100 cubic centimetres of the solution of morphia reduced 8.5 c.c. of decinormal permanganate solution. After filtration, 100 c.c. of the liquid did not reduce any appreciable quantity of the permanganate. Thus it has been proved that one single filtration through a thickness of 6 inches of "silicated carbon" is sufficient to remove morphia from a solution containing 132 m.grms. of the hydrochlorate of morphia in 1 litre of water (or 9-24 grains per gallon).

GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY.

The Geology of the Carrara Marbles.—Mr. G. A. Lebour makes the following observations on this subject in the "Geological Magazine" (July). The statuary marbles of Carrara have in turn been referred to the

1. Eruptive series. 1829, Savi.

2. Cretaceous. 1833, Savi.

3. Oolite (without further specialization). 1843, Savi.
4. Palæozoic, probably Carboniferous. 1845, Coquand.

5. Jurassic and Liassic. 1845, Pilla.

6. Infra-Lias and Rhætic. 1847, Pilla.

7. Lower Lias. 1851, Savi and Meneghini; 1856, Cocchi; 1862, Savi. 8. Base of Verrucano (Trias or Permian). 1862, Capellini.

9. Lower Carboniferous. 1864, Cocchi; 1875, Coquand. Generally admitted.

Let us hope that these ill-treated beds have now found a permanent rest. Still it is painful to see how long it has taken for the truth to prevail in this case. Had not the unlooked-for discovery of fossiliferous carboniferous beds taken place, the very clear stratigraphical evidence adduced by Coquand in 1845, strengthened by his determination of triassic beds at Spezia, would have gone for nought against the preconceived theories of high authority. The Glaciers of the North Slope of the Alps.-At the meeting of the Geological Society (May 24), reported in the "Geological Magazine" (July), Professor Alphonse Favre, F.M.G.S., read a paper on the above subject. The author illustrated his remarks by a map on a scale of 250000, showing the space occupied by the old Swiss glaciers at the time of their greatest extension, and founded in part upon evidence obtained since 1867, when he, in conjunction with Professor Studer and M. L. Soret, issued an “Appel aux Suisses" for the preservation of erratic blocks. He said that in existing glaciers two parts may be recognised—an upper one, the reservoir or feeding glacier, and a lower one, the flowing glacier. Applying this division to the old glaciers, it appears that in the glaciers of the Rhone and Rhine the

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