Un

efficiency of the mining and metallurgical plant in use. doubtedly the greatest advantage possessed by the United States is that in the Lake Superior region they have the most extensive supplies of cheap and rich iron ores known to exist. It is to the sudden development and unparalleled richness of these deposits that the United States chiefly owe their cheap pig iron. It is, therefore, a matter of extreme satisfaction that an authoritative description of these deposits has been prepared by Mr. Horace V. Winchell for English readers in the form of an admirably illustrated monograph, covering seventy pages of the Transactions of the Federated Institution of Mining Engineers, and dealing with the history, geography, geology, and mining industry of the iron-ore region. Only forty years have elapsed since the first regular mining of iron ore was begun in the dis

1 "The Lake Superior Iron-ore Region." By Horace V. Winchell. (Excerpt from the Transactions of the Federated Institution of Mining Engineers, 1897-)

of eruptive origin; (2) that they are mechanical sediments; and (3) that they are of chemical origin. Under the third head, the chemical action may have been that of original precipitation, or that of replacement or segregation of chemical or clastic materials by the substitution of iron oxides. Mr. Winchell inclines to the theory of oceanic precipitation advanced by him in 1889. He considers, however, that there is no reason to suppose that all the iron-ore deposits were formed in the same way.

From an engineering point of view, the Lake Superior region is remarkable for the manner in which labour-saving appliances are adopted for extracting the iron ore and for loading it into railway waggons and vessels. The result being that at the present time the mining cost is much below that at any previous period. Thus in 1890, when the Iron and Steel Institute visited the Lake Superior iron mines, the average cost of mining was 5s. per ton. At the present time it is 2s. 6d. per ton. In most cases the methods of mining adopted are those usual in under

ground mines. On the Mesabi range, however, some of the largest mines are worked as open quarries, the ore being obtained by steam shovels at a cost of 7d. per ton. The accompanying illustration shows the steam-shovel method of mining at the Oliver Mine on the Mesabi range. The face of iron ore is 50 feet high, and the 90-ton steam-shovel with a 24 cubic yard digger shown, is capable of loading 500 tons of ore per hour. It is difficult to over-estimate the value to the United States of the discovery of ore in the Mesabi Range. A producer for only four seasons, this district has in sight to-day nearly 400,000,000 tons of better ore than the average used in the United States, and perhaps 200,000 tons of ore containing 60 per cent. of iron, o'06 per cent. of phosphorus, and 10 per cent of moisture. Indeed, Mr. Winchell thinks that it is not unreasonable to assert that the range will produce 500,000,000 tons of ore before it is abandoned.

At the present time the cost of a ton of Mesabi ore laid down at a Lake Erie dock is made up of the following items :S. d. to I 5 to 3 14

Royalty

Mining cost

Railway freight

Lake freight

Insurance, commission, and loss...

S. d. O O

o 7

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE. The following is the speech delivered on March 10 by the Public Orator, Dr. Sandys, in presenting, for the honorary degree of Doctor in Science, Prof. Wilhelm Pfeffer of Leipzig, Croonian Lecturer of the Royal Society, 1898 :

- Veris adventu iam propinquo, dum terra gaudet, dum caelum avet nitescere, et arbores frondescere, nihil auspicatius ducimus quam veris quasi praenuntium quendam trans maria advectum verbis bene ominatis salutare. Salutamus praeceptorem insignem, qui rerum naturae pulcherrimam nactus provinciam, discipulos ex omni orbis terrarum parte affluentes docet, qua lege lilia crocique calyces suos explicent; quo admonitu flores, alii solis calore, alii solis lumine adducti, se aperiant; arte quali mimosa tactum etiam mollissimum reformidet frondesque teneras in sese contrahat; artificio quam admirabili etiam vites, natura caducae, claviculis suis adminicula quaedam tamquam manibus complectantur, et quasi animantes a terra sese altius erigant. Quam dilucide demonstrat, quicquid terra gignit, secundum ea quorum in medio vivit, velut ipsos animantes, naturam suam sensim variare ac mutare. Idem neque per membranam tenuissimam aquae sorbendae rationem, quae osmosis dicitur, neque cellularum motum, qui chemotaxis nuncupatur, inexploratum reliquit. Etiam animalium minutissimorum quae bacteria nominantur motus varios quam subtiliter moderatur, et in ipsum exitium quam insidiose pellicit. Nuper a Societate Regia Londinensi in Britanniam vocatus, propediem (nisi fallor) ostendet, in eis rebus quas terra gignit, quinam sit ipse motus fons et origo; quo potissimum modo sucus ipse quem e terra trahunt, spiritus ipse quem e caelo hauriunt, quasi vim quandam mittat liberam, unde motuum inter se diversorum varietas tam magna exoriatur. Quid est in his omnibus, Academici, (ut Ciceronis utar verbis) quid est, in quo non naturae ratio intellegentis appareat"?

66

Praesento vobis scientiae botanicae praeceptorem illustrem, Professorem Lipsiensem, WILLELMUM PFEFFER.

MR. WILLIAM HOULDSWORTH, Rozelle, Ayr, has just intimated his intention of presenting to the University of Glasgow a sum of 5600/., so invested as to yield an annual income of 150/., in order to endow a research studentship in connection with the Faculty of Science. The sum of 120/. is to be paid annually to the research student on the foundation, the remainder to be used

to defray laboratory expenses and materials in connection with his work, and the fees of such science classes as he may attend. To be eligible for appointment candidates must have studied at least two years in the University of Glasgow, and the appointment is to be made in the manner iaid down by the ordinance regarding research students and fellows. The period of tenure is to be two years, during which the holder must prosecute research studies in the Natural Philosophy department with diligence and regularity. Mr. Houldsworth has taken this method of showing his interest in the welfare of the University and the advancement of science, and his recognition of the distinguished services rendered to scientific research by Lord Kelvin during a professorship of fifty years.

THE London University Commission Bill passed through Committee of the House of Lords on Thursday last. The Duke of Devonshire announced that the names of the Commissioners were the same as those in the Bill of last year with one exception, and were as follows:-Lord Davey (chairman), the Bishop of London, Sir William Roberts, Sir Owen Roberts, Prof. Jebb, M.P., Prof. Michael Foster, and Mr. E. H. Busk (chairman of Convocation). It was agreed that the powers of the Commissioners should continue till the end of 1899 instead of 1898. With the object of securing for the Agricultural College of Wye, established by the County Councils of Surrey and Kent, the advantages derivable under the Bill, Lord Stanhope moved an amendment to the clause referring to the powers and duties of the Commissioners, and he was supported by Lord Ashcombe and Lord Thring. The amendment was not pressed on a promise being given by the Duke of Devonshire that if it were found to be possible without injuriously disturbing the compromise embodied in the Bill he would endeavour on the report to insert words to meet the claims of Wye College.

REPLYING to a question asked by Lord Norton in the House of Lords on Thursday last, the Duke of Devonshire said he hoped the Bill of the Government relating to secondary education would be introduced after Easter. He added: "It is not, and never has been, the intention of the Government to do any thing in the nature of what may be called establishing secondary education all over the country. Any measure which we propose will be solely for the purpose of organising in a better way that which already exists, and, possibly, for supplementing it to a certain extent. That what is being done by county authorities,

or municipal bodies, or private individuals is something to be done by the Government, is not an idea which has ever been entertained by the Government. No doubt a certain amount of the 800,000l. which has been given to be principally expended on technical education may have been at the outset misapplied, and perhaps a certain portion of it has been wasted; but, on the other hand, I believe that a very large portion of it is now being most usefully employed, and with very great advantage, to the various localities. It is not dependent entirely upon the will

and pleasure of the County Councils. Almost every County Council has, for the purpose of administering this grant, established an educational committee, which does not usually consist solely of members of the County Council, or need not consist solely of members of County Councils. Those bodies are gradually acquiring a great deal of experience, and I believe that in a great many centres they are at present doing very valuable work."

SCIENTIFIC SERIALS.

IN the January number of the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, Mr. E. A. Minchin gives a valuable addition to our knowledge of asconid sponge morphology in a paper on the origin and growth of the triradiate and quadriradiate spicules in the family Clathrinidæ. Mr. Minchin here produces full histological evidence of his discovery of the composite origin of these two kinds of spicules; he shows that the triradiate spicules are formed by trios of dermal cells which immigrate from the epithelium to the interior; by the division of each cell a sextet is formed, and the spicule appears with each of its rays corresponding to two sister cells of the sextet. With regard to the quadriradiate spicules the three basal rays develop exactly as do the triradiate spicules, but the fourth or gastral ray is secreted by a mother cell derived from a porocyte. The spicules are crysstalline as a whole, but the rays are non-crystalline so long as they are distinct from one another, and may remain so for some little time after union has taken place; the crystallisation appears

to start from the secondary deposit which unites the rays at the centre. Much skill and care have been bestowed on the beautiful drawings illustrating these researches, and they are admirably reproduced in an excellent series of plates.-Prof. MacBride, in a paper on the early development of Amphioxus, shows the similarity between the coelomic chambers of Amphioxus and Balanoglossus, and homologises the metapleural lymph canals of the former with portions of the collar pouches of the latter; in consequence of this he revives Bateson's comparison of the atrial folds of Amphioxus with the posterior collar folds of Balanoglossus. Mr. Shipley gives an account of a new Tapeworm from a bird in the Sandwich Islands.-Dr. Willey gives the diagnosis of a new genus of Enteropneusta.-Prof. Haswell describes a Turbellarian from deep wells in New Zealand.-Prof. Ray Lankester, in a note on the development of the atrial chamber of Amphioxus, corrects Prof. MacBride's statements with regard to the well-known researches by himself and Dr. Willey on the development of the atrial chamber.

Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, February. -The number opens with an account of the fourth annual meeting of the Society on December 29, 1897. After the election of the new Council-Prof. S. Newcomb being reelected President-eleven papers were presented; of some of these abstracts are given, and the journals in which they have appeared, or will appear, are named.-Prof. Woodward's paper on the differential equations defining the Laplacian distribution of density, pressure, and acceleration of gravity in the earth presents an improved mathematical method for the treatment of the problem, previous methods being deemed by the author to be lacking in elegance and compactness.-The following are to appear in the American Journal of Mathematics-viz. on some points of the theory of functions, by Prof. Chessin; and point-transformation in elliptic coordinates of circles having double contact with a conic, by Dr. Lovett. A second paper by Dr. Lovett, entitled "Certain invariants of a plane quadrangle by projective transformation," will be published in the Annals of Mathematics. It is a contribution to the theory of a system of 4-coplanar points, and shows among other things how the group theory may be made to yield the details of elementary geometry.-Prof. Newcomb's presidential address, given in extenso, treats of the philosophy of hyperspace. "There is a region of mathematical thought," he remarks, "which might be called the fairyland of geometry. The geometer here disports himself in a way which, to the non-mathematical thinker, sug. gests the wild flight of an unbridled imagination rather than the sober sequence of mathematical demonstration." He defines his hyperspace as being, in general, space in which the axioms of the Euclidean geometry are not true and complete. Curved space and space of four or more dimensions are completely distinct in their characteristics, and must therefore be treated separately. Prof. Newcomb's views have already been stated in our columns, and the present address is an interesting sequel to them up to date.-Another of the papers, viz. orthogonal group in a Galois field, by Dr. L. E. Dickson, is also given here. The term orthogonal, in the present connection, is defined, and a remark of Jordan's shown to be not exact (Traité des Substitutions, p. 169, l. 18-21).-We can merely mention that the second meeting of the Chicago Section was held on December 30 and 31, 1897, at which twenty-one papers were read. Brief abstracts are given. From the Notes we learn that in the year 1897 the membership of the Society increased from 280 to 301, and the total number of papers read

was 88!

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES.
LONDON.

Royal Society, January 27.-"On the Zoological Evidence for the Connection of Lake Tanganyika with the Sea." By J. E. S. Moore, A. R.C.S.

The results of the morphological examination of the animals obtained during the author's recent expedition to Lake Tanganyika have made it evident that the fauna of this lake must be regarded as a double series, each half of which is entirely distinct in origin and nature from the other. The remarkable Molluscan shells which were brought home by Burton and Speke, form but a small part of the Molluscan section of the more abnormal of these fresh-water stocks. Besides Molluscs,

the lake was found to contain fishes, Crustacea, Coelenterata, and Protozoa, all of which, like Speke's shells, present the most curious marine affinities, and for distinctive purposes the individual members of this unique assemblage of quasi-marine fresh-water organisms are described as members of the Halolimnic group.

The distribution of the aquatic faunas occurring in Lakes Shirwa, Nyanza, Kela and Tanganyika, all of which were visited and dredged during the expedition, shows (together with what is already known respecting the Victoria Nyanza and the more northern lakes) that the Halolimnic animals are exclusively restricted to Tanganyika. It is thus rendered inconceivable that the Halolimnic forms can have arisen through the effect of ordinary conditions operating upon the population which the lake originally possessed. For the same reasons, it becomes equally clear that the Halolimnic animals cannot be regarded as the survivors of an old fresh-water stock. Since, if we accept either of these suppositions, we are bound by the facts of distribution to believe, also, that the Halolimnic animals have been destroyed in every African lake but one; a suppos ition which may be ingenious, but which, when the number of lakes existing in the African interior is fully realised, becomes grotesque.

Apart from the physical difficulties which the present effluent of Tanganyika presents to the ingress of organisms from the sea, it is impossible to regard the Halolimnic forms as having recently transmigrated thither from the ocean, since none of these animals are exactly similar to any marine organisms at present known. They must, therefore, have been in Tanganyika long enough to modify into their present condition from the living oceanic species which we know, or they retain the characters of a sea-fauna that has elsewhere become extinct.

The delicate nature of the lake Medusa, and the fact that most of the Halolimnic Molluscs are exclusively deep-water forms, renders it impossible that these organisms can have made their way into Tanganyika at any time under the physical conditions which now exist.

The facts of distribution and the general characters of these forms, as well as the geographical conditions of the lake in which they are now found, lead then to the conclusion that the Tanganyika region of Central Africa must have approximated to a deep arm of the sea in ancient times.

This view is finally confirmed by the details of the anatomy of the Halolimnic animals themselves. For some of the individual Molluscs of this group combine the characters of several of the most modern marine genera. The Halolimnic fauna of Tanganyika, therefore, cannot represent an extinct fresh-water stock, since the characteristic fresh-water organisms of the present day (which would in such a case have to be regarded as their linear descendants) possess the anatomy of vastly older types.

To the Halolimnic animals there thus attaches the unique interest that they themselves constitute the few surviving indications of an old sea which once extended far into the Africar interior, and which, judging from the characters of the animals it left behind, must have retained its connection with the ocean at least as late as Tertiary times.

These conclusions, it will be observed, are directly in opposition to the views which were originated by Murchison, and which depict the African interior as never having been below the sea at least since the New Red Sandstone age.

February 17.-"On the Magnetic Deformation of Nickel." By E. Taylor Jones, D.Sc.

The experiments were made with a view to further testing a result arrived at on a former occasion by the author, viz. that the magnetic contraction of a long nickel wire was approximately proportional, when allowance was made for the effects of Kirch hoff's system of stresses, to the fourth power of the magnetisa tion.

In order to vary, if possible, the conditions of the experiments some preliminary measurements were made to find out whether temperature had any marked influence on the magnetic contrac tion. The temperature of the specimen was raised by allowing warm water to flow through the water-jacket of the magnetising coil. It was found that at low field-strengths (up to about go C.G.S.) the magnetic contraction was greater at 56° C. than at 19° C.; at higher fields the contraction was greater at the lower temperature, the difference being about 6 per cent. at the field 330 C.G.S.

Repeated measurements showed that the contraction at any

temperature and field was not constant, but diminished as time went on. In order to eliminate this effect as far as possible the subsequent measurements were made in the following order :(1) The change of magnetisation accompanying a certain increase of tension, and the magnetisation at the mean tension (at 10° C. and 55° C.).

(2) The magnetic contraction at the mean tension (at 10° C. and 55° C.).

(3) The measurements of (1) repeated.

(4) The magnetic contraction at 10° C. Values of the expression deduced from Kirchhoff's theory were calculated from (1) and (3) for both temperatures, and the mean compared with the observed contraction (2). The results are shown (for 10° C.) in the accompanying diagram. The calculated contraction is much Temp. 10°C.

Contraction in millionths of length of wire.

2

20

2

30

35

50

H.c.gs.

100

130

200

250 300 350

Expressions are investigated for the constraining force and for the ratio of the energy of the system (consisting of an unlimited number of particles) to the energy of the constrained particle. The second part of the paper deals with pendulums. (1) Sympathetic pendulums, such as two equal pendulums suspended from the same support. (2) Double pendulums, i.e. one simple pendulum suspended from another. In each case the investigation consists in seeking a mode of vibration in which the two bobs have either identical or opposite phases, so that their displacements are in a constant ratio, positive or negative. In every case there are two such modes, one with a positive and the other with a negative ratio. As regards the sympathetic pendulums: when they are equal in mass and length, the periods for the two modes are approximately equal, and the displacement of each pendulum follows the law of a curve of beats," the excursions are largest for one pendulum when they are smallest for the other. As regards the double pendulum : when the lower mass is much less than the upper, there exist, in like manner, motions following the law of beats, provided that, to start with, one bob is at rest in the zero position, and the other at rest in an extreme position. If the lengths of the two strings are decidedly unequal, one fundamental mode has approximately the period of the upper, and the other the period of the lower pendulum. In the former, the displacements of the two bobs are comparable; in the latter, the displacement of the upper is small compared with the lower. The bearing of these conclusions is pointed out, first, on Lord Kelvin's conclusions respecting a suspended clock; and, secondly, on Lord Rayleigh's assertion (frequently quoted in connection with anomalous dis persion) respecting the influence on a heavy pendulum of a much lighter one suspended from it. To obtain the phenomenon of beats in perfection, the upper string must be slightly longer than the lower, and the ratio of difference to sum of lengths must equal the ratio of lower mass to upper. The beats thus obtained explain the experiment described in the second edition of "Rayleigh on Sound," § 62. Sellmeier's application of the beats of double pendulums to explain fluorescence is briefly described. Stokes explains fluorescence by the analogy of the chain of equal particles discussed in the first part of the paper. Forced vibrations quicker than the critical frequency are produced by the action of the vibrating ether on the fluorescent body; and when the body is left to itself, its subsequent motion is made up of S.H. components, all of which are below the critical frequency.-Prof. R. A. Lehfeldt then read a paper on the properties of liquid mixtures. In a previous communication (Phil. Mag. vol. xl. p. 398) the 5, author followed out the consequences of a certain thermodynamic relation between the composition of a liquid mixture and that of the vapour in equilibrium with it, and the saturation-pressure of the system. More stable compounds are now chosen, viz. benzene and toluene mixed with carbon tetrachloride, as types of normal organic compounds; and benzene and toluene mixed with ethyl alcohol as types of a so-called "associated" liquid. These experiments have been carried out in the Davy-Faraday laboratory. The measurements come under two distinct groups: (1) vapour-pressure, (2) composition of vapour. They were made separately, on material from the same source, prepared identically. To measure the vapour-pressure of the mixtures, the "dynamic" method was adopted. An experiment consists in weighing out a mixture, taking its refractive-index by a Pulfrich refractometer, placing it in a boiling tube, and after adjusting temperature and pressure, taking observations at different temperatures on a rising scale, and then on a falling scale. The refractive-index of the residue is again measured; this is always used for checking the composition of the mixtures. For determining the composition of the vapour over liquid mixtures, the method used is to distil a little of the mixture and analyse the distillate. The apparatus is arranged so that the distillate can be drawn off by a tap, as required. The author criticises the results of Linebarger (Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc., vol. xvii.), and also those of Margules (Wien. Ber., vol. civ.). Linebarger states that the partial pressure of benzene and toluene in mixtures, is simply proportional to the molecular percentage present. This conclusion, the author considers, is only roughly true; the partial pressure of the hydro-carbon vapour is not necessarily linear in mixtures; hence, the rule proposed by Linebarger for determining the molecular weight is incorrect.-The President proposed votes of thanks to the authors, and the meeting was adjourned until March 25.

less than the observed, and the difference is approximately proportional to the sixth power of the magnetisation. A similar result was obtained by comparing the mean observed contraction at 10° C. (2) and (4), with the calculated value deduced from (3). All the quantities measured showed a diminution as time went on, especially the influence of tension on magnetisation at low fields. The calculated values of the contraction deduced from (1) are indicated in the diagram by the points +++...; those deduced from (3) by the points ... At the field 275 C.G.S. the magnetic contraction was about 16 per cent. less than it was four months earlier.

nomena.

com

Physical Society, March 11.-Mr. Shelford Bidwell, President, in the chair.-Prof. J. D. Everett gave a munication on dynamical illustrations of certain optical pheThe first part of the paper deals with the properties of a series of equal particles attached at equal intervals to an uniform stretched elastic weightless string. Their free simple-harmonic modes of wave-motion are first investigated. The highest frequency occurs when the wavelength is double that of the common distance a. As the wavelength increases from 2a to infinity, or diminishes from 2a to a, the frequency tends to zero. To every wave-length A, between 2a and infinity, there corresponds a wave-length A, between 2a and a, such that a/λ1 + a/λ = 1. The frequency is the same forλ, as for λ. Further examination shows that the difference of wave-length between these two solutions is only apparent, and that, so far as the movements of the particles are concerned, waves of length A, travelling in one direction, are identical with waves of length A, travelling in the opposite direction. The same is true if a/λ, + a/λ, instead of being unity, is equal to any integer. On the other hand, if the difference between a/λ, and a/λ, is an integer, the two sets of waves travel in the same direction. Any simple-harmonic wave-motion of the system of particles may thus be regarded as having any one of an infinite number of wave-lengths. When one particle of the system is constrained to a S.H. motion, of frequency not exceeding that which corresponds to λ = 2a, the whole system will ultimately vibrate in equal waves. When the frequency of the constrained particle exceeds that due to λ = 2a, the ultimate state will be S.H. motion with exact opposition of phase between successive particles. The simultaneous displacements of the particles at any instant, as we travel away from the constrained particle in either direction, form a diminishing geometrical progression with signs alternately plus and minus.

Chemical Society, March 3.-Prof. Dewar, President, in the chair. The following papers were read :-Preparation of anhydrous hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, by J. Wade and L. C. Panting. On dropping a mixture of equal volumes of sulphuric acid and water on to 98 per cent. potassium cyanide, hydrogen cyanide is evolved in nearly theoretical amount; with concentrated sulphuric acid, nearly pure carbon monoxide is evolved in almost theoretical quantity.-Preparation of some nitro- and amido-oxylutidines, by J. N. Collie and T. Tickle. The authors have prepared mononitro- and monamido-derivatives of pseudolutidostyril and ethylic pseudolutidostyrilcarboxylate by the ordinary methods.-Production of some nitro- and amido-oxylutidines. Part ii., by Miss L. Hall and J. N. Collie. Nitrolutidone is obtained by nitrating lutidone with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids; the platinichloride of amidolutidone, when warmed with hydrochloric acid, seems to yield a salt of propine diamine, CMe(NH): CH(NH).—Ón benzene hexabromide, by F. E. Matthews The author was unable to prepare the second benzene hexabromide described by Orndorff and Howells, and could not prepare either the hexachloride or hexabromide of bromobenzene.-Note on the action of bromine on benzene, by J. N. Collie and C. C. Frye. The authors have succeeded in proving the presence of ortho-compounds in the product of the action of bromine on benzene in presence of sunlight.Note on manganic salts, by C. E. Rice. The author shows that the decomposition of manganic chloride in solution into manganous chloride and chlorine is reversible. Some chemical properties of concentrated solutions of certain salts. Part i. Potassium carbonate, by W. C. Reynolds. By crystallising a concentrated solution of potassium carbonate containing the chloride, nitrate, or acetate of various metals, the author has obtained crystalline double salts of the following compositions: CuK2(CO3), CuK,(CO3)2, H2O, CuK(CO3)2,4H2O, MnK2(CO3)2, 4H2O, FeK2(CO)2, 4H2O, CaK2(CO3)2, Bi2OK (CO3),,HO, COK, (CO3)2,4H,O, NiK,(CO)2,4H,O, MgK (CO3)2,411,O, and AgKCO. The colouring matters of the Indian dye-stuff Delphinium zalil, by A. G. Perkin and J. A. Pilgrim. The dried flowers and stems of Delphinium zalil are used in India under the name of "asbarg" for producing a yellow colour on alum-mordanted fabrics. Three colouring matters exist as glucosides in the plant, namely isorhamnetin, quercetin, and a third which was not obtained pure.-Some metallic salts of natural yellow colouring matters, by A. G. Perkin and P. J. Wood. Quercetin, morin, fisetin and myricetin decompose potassium acetate in alcoholic solution with formation of sparingly soluble metallic derivatives; luteolin, apigenin, chrysin and gentisin do not do so. The interaction of magnesium and solution of copper, sulphate, by E. Divers.

Royal Microscopical Society, February 16.—Mr. A.D. Michael, Vice-President, in the chair.-Mr. J. E. Barnard said that when he gave his demonstration at the November meeting, on the application of the electric arc to photomicography, Mr. Nelson suggested that it would be of interest if he would show some lantern slides taken in that way; he had accordingly brought a few examples for exhibition on the screen. These included a series showing ringworm fungi, which he thought would have some interest apart from the method by which the photographs had been produced. A number of slides were then shown, illustrating the appearance of the fungi in various stages and under conditions in which the external portions, or internal structure of the hair of man and animals had been attacked, and their appearance when cultivated artificially. The photographs were from microscopical preparations lent by Dr. T. Colcott Fox. Other slides were shown of the bacilli of anthrax, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, bubonic plague, &c. Dr. Hebb concluded some remarks by saying that he did not know that he had ever seen these subjects so beautifully illustrated as he had that evening. Mr. T. Charters White said he could endorse all that fell from Dr. Hebb. For high amplification he did not know that he had seen anything so sharply defined, especially in the case of the Podura scale magnified 6000 diameters. The Chairman said no one could fail to be struck by the clear manner in which these minute objects had been shown. [Two of the pictures, with a short account of the light used in their production, have already appeared in these columns (p. 448). -Mr. T. Charters White read a paper on microcrystallography, which he illustrated by the exhibition on the screen of a number of slides of the crystals described. He had selected them to show how large a number of beautiful forms might be obtained

The

from the same salt by causing it to crystallise under different conditions. Mr. White further illustrated the subject by exhibiting the formation of crystals under the microscope. Chairman thought it quite possible that when they came to examine these crystals very carefully they would find that the ultimate form did, after all, agree with the typical form, but it was remarkable to see how other forces could modify these forms.-The Chairman said they had another paper on the agenda, on Foraminifera taken chiefly from shallow water in the Malay Archipelago, by Mr. Durrand.

Royal Meteorological Society, February 16.-Mr. F. Campbell Bayard, President, in the chair.-Mr. E. Mawley gave a report on the phenological observations for 1897, from which it appeared that there had been a marked absence of very exceptional weather during the past phenological year, the most noteworthy features affecting vegetation being the persistent rains in March and the three dry periods of May, July and October. Until about the middle of May wild plants appeared in blossom in advance of their usual time, but throughout the rest of the flowering season they were all somewhat behind their average dates in coming into bloom. The heavy rainfall in the early spring favoured the hay, which proved the only really abundant farm crop of the year, but greatly impeded the sowing of spring corn. The cereals were, however, much benefited later on by the warm, dry and brilliant weather of the summer. Taking the country as a whole, oats proved a good crop, barley an average one, while the yield of wheat was somewhat under average. There were also fair crops of roots and potatoes. It was owing more to the dry spring and summer and the sunless autumn of the previous year, than to the moderate frosts and cold winds of the spring of 1897, that the fruit crop was such a very light one. Apples, pears and plums, and especially the latter, yielded badly, while the small fruits were in most districts only average crops.-Mr. Hopkinson read a paper on monthly and annual rainfall in the British Empire 1877-96. In this the author gave particulars of the mean monthly and annual rainfall, and the number of rainy days, at the following twelve stations in the British Empire, viz. London, England; Port Louis, Mauritius, Calcutta and Bombay, India; Colombo, Ceylon; Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada; Kingston, Jamaica; and Malta. Linnean Society, February 17.-Dr. A. C. L. Günther, F. R.S., President, in the chair.-Dr. Kakichi Mitsukuri, Professor of Zoology, Imperial University, Tokyo, was admitted a Foreign Member.-Prof. G. B. Howes, F. R.S., exhibited specimens of Dog-fishes: (1) Scyllium canicula from the egg-case, and (2) Scyllium catulus prematurely hatched, which he had received from Mr. C. W. L. Holt, of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Plymouth. The specimens showed the dorsolateral and caudal placoids which led Filippi to propose the species Scyllium acanthonotum, shown by Dr. Günther to be based upon a developmental character, and had in recent years been the subject of some interesting speculations by Paul Meyer. For comparison he exhibited also an embryo from the purse of Callorhynchus antarcticus, showing a similar set of organs, and gave reasons for surmising that they are not merely transitory vestiges, but of service to the animal while encapsulated within its egg-case. Some additional remarks were made by the President. Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited a nearly white variety of Mus rattus recently obtained in Carnarvonshire, and made some remarks on the difference of haunts and habits in the two species M. rattus and M. decumanus, and on their usual antagonism. In reply to Mr. H. J. Elwes on the question of occasional hybridism, he stated that no well-established case of the kind had been recorded, although some years ago Mr. Barrett Hamilton had described (Zool., 1888, p. 141) a suspected hybrid which was partly brown in colour, partly black, and exhibited some other intermediate characters. He referred to the so-called Irish rat, Mus hibernicus of Thompson, which was now regarded as a permanent black variety of Mus decumanus not confined to Ireland.-Mr. F. N. Williams read a paper on Arenaria, one of the larger genera of Caryophyllaceae, which now includes a considerable number of species. Alsine and others, usually included as sections of the genus, he thought should be regarded as distinct genera; Alsine and Arenaria being distinguished by the same cardinal character which separates Lychnis from Silene.-Mr. G. S. West read a paper on the histology of the salivary, buccal, and Harderian glands of the Colubrida, with notes on their tooth-succession and the relationship of the poison-duct.