advancement of knowledge and the spread of culture among all classes in the city. He had no doubt that the establishment of the university would also afford facilities for the technical training which is now essential to success in every industrial enterprise, and concluded by saying that he should follow the progress of the university with warm interest. It may be mentioned here, as indicating His Majesty's interest in the spread of university teaching, that he has since sent through Lord Londonderry a letter to the Lord Mayor of Sheffield stating that "the opening of the new university buildings was felt by their Majesties to be an occasion of great importance. His Majesty has recognised with pleasure the desire felt in some of the great centres of industry and commerce that universities should take a prominent part in the promotion of scientific knowledge and research. . . . His Majesty recognises that in these days of constantly increased application of science and of scientific method to every department of modern life, it is to the universities that the nation must largely look for maintaining that position in relation to great commercial and industrial problems which is essential to the social well-being of his Empire."

His Majesty has also sent the following reply to the

that wider movement of which this university is but a sign and symbol. The early years of your Majesties' reign must always be remarkable as having witnessed that more general awakening on the part of your Majesties' subjects to the advantages of higher education in all branches of learning and that better understanding of its needs and requirements which is evidenced by the almost simultaneous creation of five independent universities, at Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Sheffield. The distinction conferred upon the inauguration of our university by the gracious presence of your Majesties here to-day is of the happiest omen for its future, and we can only hope and pray that the teaching given within these buildings, the learning acquired within these walls, and the influences that will follow from them, may prove not unworthy of the great honour you have done us, and may be a constant source of profit and of ever-increasing usefulness to all classes of your Majesties' loyal and loving subjects within these districts."

The Duke of Norfolk then addressed the King, and in the course of his remarks, after paying tribute to the men to whom the university movement in Sheffield is mainly due, stated that it was now three years since it had been

address presented to him by the university authorities:-"I view with lively satisfaction the establishment of this and other universities in large industrial centres, and it gives me great pleasure to open the handsome and spacious buildings provided for the University of Sheffield. I have never ceased to watch with great interest the great development of the wide movement for the encouragement of a Sound and liberal education among all classes of my people, and I am well assured that the expectations of those patriotic and enlightened men by whose efforts were established the institutions from which the University of Sheffield derives its origin will be justified by the achievements of those who are educated within these walls."

The opening ceremony was preceded by the reading of the above-mentioned address from the University by the Chancellor-the Duke of Norfolk-from which we extract the fol oying sentences :-" We bear in proud and grateful memory the fact that on more than one previous occasion members of your Royal House have shown an interest in the instructions from which the Univers t; of Sheffield derives its origin, and we gladly recall what has been already achieved in the course of your reign to advance

Photo. by Pawson and Brailsford, Sheffield.

thought necessary to gather into one home the various sources of educational work which the university ought to supply; and the faculties of arts, of pure science, and of medicine have now been gathered together. Applied science is in another very adjacent building. He stated that every class in Sheffield has shown keen interest in the work, and that the sum of 20,000l. is needed to meet the expense of erecting and endowing the university.

Reference having been made to the granting in May last of the charter to the university, the King was handed a key and requested t. declare the university open. This he did, speaking as follows:-"I have great pleasure in declaring these beautiful buildings open; and it is my fervent hope and desire for the long-continued prosperity of the University of Sheffield."

The following is a short description of the new buildings. The illustration (which we are able to give by permission of Messrs. Pawson and Brailsford, of Sheffield) is a view of the university from Weston Park.

The buildings are constructed of red brick and stone in the Tudor style of architecture, form three sides of a quad

rangle, and are situated upon a site overlooking Weston Park. A tower has been erected at one corner of the quadrangle, octagonal turrets at two of the other corners, the site of the third turret together with the fourth side of the quadrangle being left vacant in order to provide for future extensions. The building on the south side, which faces Western Bank, contains the large hall of the University; this hall is to be known by the name of the Firth Hall, after the founder of Firth College. The Firth Hall is designed to accommodate an audience of about 800 persons. In the same building are the administrative offices, the council room, the common rooms and refectories. The building on the west side provides for the departments in the faculties of arts and pure science, that on the north for the departments in the medical faculty. The faculty of applied science is located on a separate site about four minutes away in St. George's Square.

The physical laboratories contain a superficial area of 10,000 square feet, and are self-contained on three floors connected by a spiral staircase and apparatus lift, the rooms on each floor being arranged on either side of a central corridor except those on the lower ground floor, which, owing to the slope of the ground, are confined to the quadrangle front. Accommodation is provided for all the various departments of physics, except electrical engineering, which is housed in the buildings for applied science in St. George's Square.

The chemical department occupies the northern half of the top floor in the western block, and has a floor area, including corridors, of 7400 square feet. Two lecture theatres are provided. The larger, 30 feet by 40 feet, is furnished with seating accommodation for 110 students. A preparation room for lecture experiments adjoins this. On the other side of the corridor is a smaller lecture theatre to accommodate 34 students; this will be utilised for tutorial work, and for work with small classes.

There are laboratories for elementary and advanced students, and a small one for research work.

The biological department, which includes the two subjects of zoology and botany, adjoins the chemical department, and occupies the southern half of the top floor of the west wing. A lecture room is also allotted to this department on the first floor, and the whole of the upper part of the tower. There are two lecture rooms, the larger having accommodation for about 80 students. The general laboratory, with a raised platform and table for the purpose of practical demonstrations, and the botanical laboratory afford accommodation for 30 students each; there is also a zoological laboratory for advanced students, besides zoological and botanical research laboratories.

The anatomical department includes a large lecture theatre, a museum, several research laboratories, and private rooms for the professor and demonstrators. Accommodation for microscopes and stereoscopes is provided, also a set of the most modern anthropological instruments, and requisites for students who may desire to do work in modern developments of anatomy.

The physiological department has an area of about 5400 square feet. There are nine rooms in the department, and no corridors, the rooms opening into each other; the three largest of these are the general laboratory, 70 feet by 25 feet, the chemico-physiological laboratory, 50 feet by 25 feet, and the lecture theatre. Another large room in the department is the general research room, 25 feet by 30 feet. The rooms in this department, like all the other rooms on the north front, are lighted with specially large windows in order to facilitate microscopical work, and have several concealed sinks in the floor, which, when opened, reveal supplies of gas, water, and electricity, thus avoiding the necessity of fixed benches, their place being taken by movable tables.

The pathological department occupies the whole of the upper floor of the medical block; the main feature is the large students' laboratory facing north, 70 feet by 26 feet, divided by two partitions. There are adjoining this two laboratories, one large and one small, intended for the bacteriological work to be done in connection with the City Health Department. A special feature consists of an incubating room in the centre of the department, so arranged that it can be kept at a constant temperature; this room

will replace the ordinary incubating ovens. There is a large lecture theatre in the department, a museum with a top and a south light, a special research laboratory, also private rooms, photographic and store rooms-the last two mentioned being in the roof and the turrets above the department.

The new buildings allotted to the engineering department consist of four floors; the lowest floor or basement contains a large extension of the original laboratories. The main engineering laboratory contains a plant which can be used both by mechanical and electrical engineering students. There is also a very complete electrical equipment in the new building to demonstrate the applications of electricity to lighting, traction, and power transmission. The department of metallurgy has had special attention paid to it, seated as it is in a city where the chief national metallurgical industry is carried on. As a natural consequence of this, so far as iron and steel metallurgy is concerned, the metallurgical laboratories of the University of Sheffield are unique. These laboratories are divided into two sections, the scientific and the practical. In the first named there are nine, and in the second two laboratories.

GEOLOGICAL NOTES.

MONG recent publications of the Geologische Reichsanstalt of Vienna, Herr G. Geyer (Verhandlungen, 1904, p. 363) discusses the nature of the pre-Jurassic floor of Austria, from a study of blocks of crystalline rock embedded in Liassic sandstone, and of the island-like Klippe," formed of granite, which lies N.W. of Weyer, and which has been utilised for the memorial of von Buch. This mass of granite, by-the-by (Toula, ibid., 1905, p. 89), was correctly appreciated as a projecting mass of older land, and not as an erratic block, by von Hochstetter as far back as 1869. Herr Geyer refers to many instances of exotic blocks north of the Alps, and points out the influence of the old gneissic and granitic foundation on the subsequent folding in the region of the Enns. Herr R. J. Schubert (ibid., 1904, p. 461) adds greatly to our knowledge of the Upper Eocene and Oligocene beds of Dalmatia, while Dr. Franz Kossmat (ibid., 1905, p. 71) shows how the Sava began to flow eastward on the uplifted floor of a Miocene gulf, and formed the plain near Laibach by filling in a depression that developed during the latest movements of the Alps. In the department of palæontology, Dr. Katzer (ibid., 1905, p. 45) furnishes an interesting account of the microscopic structure of the Devonian Tentaculite-limestones of Bohemia, which may be regarded as a valuable supplement to Novák's work on Tentaculites (Beiträge zur Pal. Oesterreich-Ungarns, ii. Bd., 1882). Herr Theodor Fuchs (Jahrbuch der k.k. Reichsanstalt, 1904, p. 359) reviews in considerable detail number of recent papers on fucoids, and concludes that these problematic organisms were not washed into the strata after the manner of floating seaweeds, but arose where they are now found. He insists that museum-specimens in such cases are likely to be misleading, and that a study of fucoids in the field shows that some, at any rate, run perpendicularly to the strata by which they are surrounded. Herr G. Stache (Verhandlungen, 1905, p. 100) again investigates the globular Cretaceous organism named by him Bradya, and gives it new interest by showing its resemblance, in structure and mode of occurrence, to Brady's recent genus Keramosphæra, described in 1882 from the deep sea south of Australia. Bradya has long been connected with Steinmann's hydrozoan form Porosphæra; but Stache is now able to revive it, and once more to refer it to the foraminifera. Students of our well known British form Parkeria will find much to interest them in this paper. Herren Hofmann and Zdarsky (Jahrbuch, 1904, p. 577) discuss and illustrate the dentition of Deinotherium, and the abundant remains of a species of antelope, from the Miocene beds of Leoben.

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The Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa for January to April contain several stratigraphical and structural papers by Dr. Molengraaff and others; but general interest will be raised by the illustrated description of the great Cullinan diamond, by Messrs. Hatch and Corstorphine, on p. 26. In the Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society, vol. xvi. (1905), Mr. Rogers

(p. 1) confirms his discovery of a glacial conglomerate, the Pakhuis bed, in the Table Mountain series near Clanwilliam. A thousand feet of sandstones, probably fluviatile, overlies these glacial strata, and the Devonian Bokkeveld beds follow, so that the antiquity of the conglomerate, as compared with the well known Dwyka beds, is put beyond a doubt. Mr. Schwarz (ibid., p. 9) makes a block of gneiss from the volcano of Tristan d'Acunha serve as the text for a dissertation on oceanic islands in general, which he expands further into a treatise on several points in theoretical geology. We confess to a feeling of nightmare, as the one innocent specimen leads us on into enormous fields of speculation, where a considerable area is occupied by the slaying of the slain. When, after twenty-six pages, we reach the question, What, after all, are volcanoes?" we are tempted to turn over the next eight, to where the description of " the rocks of Tristan d'Acunha" nestles humbly as an appendix. Mr. A. L. du Toit (p. 53) furnishes a serious paper on the forming of the Drakensberg, which summarises many recent observations. Stress is laid on the numerous volcanic necks and lava-flows, which are later than the Cave Sandstone. In some cases, the vents contain no igneous matter, but merely masses of exploded sandstone and shale, in a ground of pulverised grit. Dr. R. Broom re-opens (ibid., P. 73) the whole question of the age and affinities of Tritylodon. Those who were present at the memorable meeting in London in 1884, when Owen laid upon the

table what was believed to be the oldest known mammalian skull, will read with some surprise of the doubt which hangs over the locality and horizon of the fossil. Dr. Broom believes that it came, as then stated, from Basutoland; if so, it is from the Stormberg beds, which he regards as of Lower Jurassic age. As was pointed out in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 36, the reference of the reptilian beds of South Africa to the Permian may carry back the Stormberg beds also, and this will make Dr. Broom's defence of Tritylodon as a mammal, and not a reptile, of even greater interest as research goes on.

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Dr. A. E. Salter (Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. xix. p. 1) produces a large amount of original evidence bearing on the sources of the superficial deposits found above the Jurassic and Cretaceous strata to the south, north-west, and west of London. The area studied is a wide one, and Dr. Salter traces fluviatile action in it to an epoch before the deposition of the "Boulder-clay.' Among his interesting conclusions, note that a large amount of "drift" material in the lower basin of the Thames is of southern origin, suggesting that "the southern slope was formerly more extensive than at present," the distribution of such material having been probably aided by earth-movements. In support of this latter contention, it is shown that Lower Greensand chert from the Wealden area occurs 650 feet above the sea at Goring Gap. The Lower Thames Valley is thus held to be of recent geological age (pp. 17, 25, &c.). Other evidence is adduced of the modification of the general direction of drainage by earth-movements since the higher gravels were deposited.

Dr. O. Mann begins, in the Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Isis (1904, p. 61), what promises to be a detailed account of the tin-deposits of the Erzgebirge, including a microscopic examination of the veins of quartz, tourmaline, and cassiterite.

Dr. J. W. Spencer further emphasises his views as to submerged river-channels and continental shelves in two notices of the work of Hull and Nansen (American Geologist, vol. xxxv. pp. 152 and 222). He provides us also with a useful bibliography of the subject in relation to America (American Journal of Science, vol. xix. p. 341). A preliminary note on the geology of the provinces of Tsang and U in Tibet, by H. H. Hayden (Records, Geol. Survey of India, vol. xxxii. p. 160), forms a pleasant outcome of the recent political expedition. Marine Cainozoic beds are found north of the Sikkim border, and there is evidence of a former considerable extension of glaciers northward from the Himalayas. The granite near Lhasa is intrusive in a wide area of Jurassic strata, which have suffered much from crushing and metamorphism. The country does not appear rich in minerals, and even the gems are imported. G. A. J. C.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE.-Amongst the list of donations to the university benefaction fund which was recently published by the Vice-Chancellor the following sums may be mentioned :the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, 5000l.; the Right Hon. Lord Iveagh (further donation), 1000l.; C. J. Heywood, Esq., 100l.; J. Lumb, Esq., 100l. Besides these a number of smaller sums have been received, some of which are especially allocated to the Huddersfield lectureship in pathology. In addition to these sums the Cambridge University Association has collected more than 6000l. towards the fund for the university library. The success of this is due almost entirely to the energy of the registrary. The Schuter scholarship in St. Bartholomew's Hospital has been awarded to Mr. R. B. S. Sewell, late scholar of Christ's College.

DR. T. G. PINCHES has been invited to join the staff of the institute of archæology of the University of Liverpool as assyriologist.

THE resignation of Mr. H. J. L. Beadnell from his position on the Geological Survey of Egypt is announced. Mr. Beadnell has been connected with the survey since 1896, i.e. from the time it was established.

FROM a long list of recent changes we extract the following appointments to professorships at technical colleges :Prof. M. Disteli at Dresden, for descriptive geometry; Mr. Camillo Körner and Prof. K. Zsigmondy at Prague, for machine construction and mathematics respectively; Dr. Leo Grünmach at Berlin; Dr. Gustav Rasch at Aachen; Dr. Clarence Feldmann at Delft, for electrotechnics; Dr. A. Tobler at Zurich, for applied electricity; Prof. F. Schilling at Charlottenburg, for geometry. W. König, of Greifswald, has been appointed professor of physics at the University of Giessen, and Dr. Karl Stöchl professor of mathematics and physics at Passau.

THE proposal made by the Emperor of Germany for the temporary interchange of professors with America for a course of lectures is leading to a number of important results. Harvard University has invited Prof. Ostwald, of Leipzig, to give a half year's course, Columbia University has secured lectures from Prof. V. F. Bjerknes, of Stockholm, on "Fields of Force,' and from Prof. H. A. Lorentz, of Leyden, on "Extensions of Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theory. Is Great Britain with its usual insularity going to keep aloof from the new movement? It is hardly likely that any proposal from our country would fail to obtain hearty support either in Germany or in America.

This paper contains a complete study of an earthquake from the point of view of the rate of transmission. The time and place of origin are known with a sufficient degree of accuracy, and the shock was of sufficient power to give distinct records even at 160° from the origin. Three phases of wave motion are recognised, the third phase including all those which are distinguished in Japan by the symbols P... P, as the author believes that it is doubtful whether there is any real difference in the character of the wave motion, or whether, in these so-called phases, we have not waves of essentially similar nature, but varying rates of propagation. The first and second phases are, however, of distinct character, being mass-waves, differing from each other not only in rate of propagation but in character of wave motion. Of these, the first phase shows a continuous increase in the apparent rate of propagation as the distance from the origin becomes greater, and seems to emerge almost simultaneously at all points more than 145° from the origin. The second phase shows an increase in the apparent rate of propagation up to 100°, and a decrease beyond this; the result is unexpected, but the author, while remarking that it must not be rejected on that

account, also points out that the second phase is much less well marked in the distant records than in the nearer ones. From the figures given in the paper, it appears that the times taken by the three phases of wave motion to travel from their origin to its antipodes are respectively about 20, 50, and 100 minutes.

Physical Society, June 30.-Dr. R. T. Glazebrook, F.R.S., past-president, in the chair.-The comparison of electric fields by means of an oscillating electric needle: D. Owen. This paper describes experiments which show how an "electric needle" may be used to measure electric fields in a manner similar to that in which a magnetic field is measured by an oscillating magnetic needle. The needles used were cylindrical in form, of aluminium or of brass, and were suspended by quartz fibres three or four inches in length. The couple on the needle when disturbed from the direction of the field is proportional to the square of the field strength. For small displacements the needle vibrates isochronously, the frequency being proportional to the electric force. It may be used in alternating as well as in steady fields, and may be applied to illustrate many of the laws of electrostatics. The disturbing effect of the needle upon the field is considered; in particular its effect when placed in a uniform field. It is shown by experiments that the disturbing effect falls off rapidly with the distance from the needle, and is inappreciable (in the case of a needle 1 cm. long) at a distance of twice the length of the needle. With regard to the effect of the dimensions of the needle upon the frequency (for given field), while the restoring couple decreases rapidly with decrease of size, yet the moment of inertia decreases more rapidly, so that the smaller the needle the greater the frequency, and also the smaller the disturbing effect. The shielding effect of some dielectric materials was examined in the following way :-A needle was suspended centrally in the uniform field between a pair of parallel plates. A thin-walled cylinder of the dielectric was placed around the needle, and the shielding action denoted by a fall in frequency of the needle. Glass and mica were found to effect perfect shielding. Ordinary paper shields; but when thoroughly dried by heat the electric field is transmitted undiminished only to fall off to zero after a minute or two's exposure to the air. Dry paper soaked in melted paraffin-wax transmits the field perfectly and for an indefinite time. The paper concludes by pointing out that an electric needle suspended between a pair of parallel plates forms a simple means of measuring high voltages, since the frequency of vibration is simply proportional to the voltage between the plates.-The magneto-optics of sodium vapour and the rotatory dispersion formula: Prof. R. W. Wood. It has been shown in a previous paper that the vapour of metallic sodium is an ideal substance for investigating the effect of a strong absorption band on the magnetic rotation of the plane of polarisation. The preliminary work was not very satisfactory, as the method employed did not admit of very accurate determinations of the wave-lengths. Improvements in the methods of observation and design of the apparatus have been accompanied by an increase in accuracy, and accurate readings have been obtained for as many as nine different values of A between D, and D. Rotations as great is 1440° (four complete revolutions) have actually been observed, and this with a 10 cm. column of not very dense vapour in a field of 2000 C.G.S. units. In the present paper the magneto-optics of the vapour for light travelling along the lines of force are discussed. The sodium was heated in a tube of thin steel, the ends of which projected from the helices of the magnet. It was found that the field strength within the steel tube did not differ greatly from that obtained when glass tubes were used. A short piece of small brass tubing is brazed into one end of the steel tube, through which the steel tube is exhausted. A good vacuum is essential, all traces of rotation disappearing in hydrogen or nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. Light from an arclamp made parallel by a lens is passed through a Nicol's prism, the steel tube, and a second Nicol, after which it is brought to a focus upon the slit of a spectroscope by means of a second lens. In the present case, a concave grating of 14 feet radius was used instead of a spectroscope, the observations being made both visually and by

means of photography. The paper then describes the phenomena which are presented when the sodium vapour is formed in the magnetic field. In the case of very dense vapours the rotation has been measured over a considerable range of wave-lengths, namely, throughout the region comprised between λ=5840 and λ=5922. The rotation constant of D. was found to be about double that of D,. Drude, in his Lehrbuch der Optik,' has given two formula for the magnetic rotatory dispersion, the first of which, developed from the hypothesis of molecular currents, calls for an anomalous effect on crossing the band, and does not apply to sodium vapour. The second, developed from the Hall-effect hypothesis, predicts rotations of similar sign and equal magnitude for wave-lengths symmetrically situated in the spectrum, with respect to the centre of the absorption-band. It seems likely that the molecular currents play some part, and that the formula built up on the hypothesis of the Hall-effect is incomplete. However, the latter formula represents the rotation outside of the D-lines with great accuracy, while between the lines it gives in some cases a curve which is elevated somewhat above the experimental curve. The paper concludes with an account of the bright-line spectrum produced by magnetic rotation which presents itself when the Nicol's prisms of the apparatus are crossed. The spectrum, which at first could only be seen with difficulty, was finally obtained of such brilliancy that it could be photographed with a 14-feet concave grating. A good vacuum was found to be an essential condition, the presence of inert gases causing a faintness of the lines.-The fluorescence of sodium vapour: Prof. R. W. Wood. The fluorescence of sodium vapour has been investigated by allowing light of various wave-lengths to illuminate the vapour, and then studying the light emitted with a spectroscope. Approximately homogeneous light of any desired wave-length is obtained by means of a monochromatic illuminator. Some sodium is placed in a horizontal steel tube fitted with steel ends, in one of which is a circular aperture bored just above the centre. The tube is heated and the vapour rises until it reaches the hole. The light from the monochromatic illuminator passes through the hole and falls upon the vapour. The fluorescent light is then observed by means of a spectroscope either visually or by photography. It is essential that the incident light should not traverse an appreciable amount of the vapour, or the fluorescent effects are masked by those of absorption. The bright lines of the fluorescent spectrum are by no means the exact complement of the absorption spectrum. Very remarkable effects have been observed when the vapour is illuminated with a very narrow band of approximately homogeneous light, the lines in the fluorescent spectrum changing their position and appearing to dance about with the slightest change in the wave-length of the exciting light. The motion is of course only an illusion, lines disappearing and others re-appearing, like the sparks of a spinthariscope. Stokes's law is violated in a most flagrant manner, bright lines coming out on both sides of the excited region. The behaviour of the spectrum indicates that we are dealing with a number of groups of electrons, each group containing a large number of vibrators. The excitation of one of these vibrators sets the whole group going, but does not start disturbances in the other groups.

EDINBURGH.

Royal Society, June 19.-Dr R. H. Traquair in the chair. -A comparative study of the dominant phanerogamic and higher cryptogamic flora of aquatic habit: George West. The paper referred to three loch areas of Scotland, namely, Loch Ness, the district between Nairn and Forres, and the Island of Lismore. In the first district the waters were peaty, in the third they were heavily charged with lime and were free of peat, while in the second district the waters were neither limey nor peats but were turbid and unwholesome in appearance, due to the presence of marsh gas. These characteristics influenced in a marked degree the habit of the aquatic flora, the distribution and growth of which were also dependent on the direction of the prevailing winds. Interesting details were given.-Les concrétions phosphatées de l'Agulhas Bank (Cape of Good Hope): Dr. Léon W. Collet; ave

une description de la glauconie qu'elles renferment, par Gabriel W. Lec. The work was undertaken under the direction of Sir John Murray, whose large collection of phosphatic nodules had been greatly enriched by the concretions dredged off the Cape of Good Hope by the steamer of the Department of Agriculture, and presented by Dr. Gilchrist, the Government biologist. The concretions were found beyond the 100-fathom line down to depths of 800 fathoms. Their occurrence, as already pointed out by Sir John Murray, is closely connected with the oceanographical question of the variability of temperature in certain regions. The mingling of two currents of different temperature is necessarily attended by a great mortality among the creatures living in these waters, and their dead bodies falling to the bottom produce ammonia and phosphate of lime. There can be little doubt that the glauconite and phosphates found in geological strata have been formed under similar conditions. In the material from the Agulhas Bank two kinds of nodules were found: (1) those with Foraminifera and other calcareous organisms; (2) those without carbonate of lime and with the glauconite grains cemented together by phosphatic matter. These implied different modes of formation. Mr. Lee recognised two kinds of glauconite in the phosphatic nodules, the occurrence in the one kind being in the form of grains with definite contours, in the other in the form of a diffused pigment.-Note on some of the magnetic properties of demagnetised and annealed iron: James Russell. The iron was demagnetised by one of three methods, namely, by decreasing reversals of magnetic force co-directional with the field to be afterwards applied in the study of the permeability, by decreasing reversals of a transverse force, or by annealing. The permeabilities after these processes of demagnetisation were carried out were then compared, and various interesting conclusions arrived at. One very remarkable result was that, however much the values of the permeability differed under these varied conditions, the value of the coercive force (as defined by Hopkinson) was almost exactly the same in all cases. Certain mathematical

instruments for graphically indicating the direction of refracted and reflected light rays: J. R. Milne. These simple devices were not only useful in demonstrating the course of reflected and refracted rays, but could also be effectively used in graphically solving problems in geometrical optics the algebraic solution of which presented insurmountable difficulties in the way of carrying out the necessary eliminations.-On the hydrodynamical theory of seiches: Prof. Chrystal. This paper contained the mathematical solution of problems suggested by the phenomena of seiches in lakes, and showed how the periods of the various possible seiches and the positions of the nodes were affected by the contour of the lake bottom.-On a group of linear differential equations of the second order, including Chrystal's seiche-equations as special cases: Dr. Halm. This formed an important sequel to the foregoing paper, giving a mode of arriving at a solution of a case in which the direct method led to a slowly converging series, ill-suited for numerical determinations.A monograph on the general morphology of the myxinoid fishes, based on a study of myzine, part. i., the anatomy of the skeleton: Frank J. Cole. By controlling the dissections by charts reconstructed from serial sections, the author obtained many results of importance in working out the micro-anatomy of the skeleton. Previous descriptions have thus been much extended, and the phylogenetic origin of the myxinoid skeleton may now be shown to be much simpler than has been hitherto supposed.

July 3.-Prof. Geikie in the chair. The plant remains in the Scottish peat mosses, part i.: Francis J. Lewis. The paper contained a detailed account of the botanical stratification of peat mosses in the Scottish southern uplands, the discussion being in every case based upon evidence derived from freshly cut holes or from borings. The geological horizons were determined in most cases by the fact that the mosses rested on moraines which were known to belong to one of the Glacial periods. The conclusions were in full accord with the views originally put forward by Prof. James Geikie, and demonstrated the existence of the third, fourth, and fifth periods of glaciation in Scotland, those, namely, which are dis

tinguished as (3) the district ice sheets, (4) the mountain valley glaciers, (5) the corrie glaciers.-Dissociation of the action of the auricles and ventricles: Dr. W. T. Ritchie. The paper contained an account of curious cases of heart block, a subject first studied scientifically by Gaskell. The graphs of the various pulse rhythms were obtained side by side, enabling the eye at a glance to contrast them and so prove the absolute independence of the action of the auricles and ventricles.-Cape hunting dogs (Lycaon pictus) in the gardens of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland: Prof. D. J. Cunningham. The chief interest attached to these dogs was that they had been for the first time reared in captivity. The parents had been got from Holland, and during the four years 1896 to 1900 there had been four litters, but only three of the puppies had been brought to maturity. The peculiar colouring of the adult dog with its yellow and white patches was absent in the puppy stage, but gradually appeared as the animal grew older; also the dark band down the forehead became more marked with age. The animals were very intractable in captivity. An attempt to obtain a cross with a collie failed, the collie when introduced into the cage showing symptoms of excessive fear, while the male Lycaon paid not the least attention to her. The period of gestation in the case of the Cape hunting dog was found to be eighty days, somewhat longer than in the case of the domestic dog.-The Alcyonarians of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Prof. J. A. Thomson and James Ritchie. The collection contained six new species, and specimens of three forms previously obtained by the Challenger. These were found in various latitudes, the furthest south specimen having been obtained in S. lat. 74°, off Coats Land. Our knowledge of the geographical distribution has been thus much extended. Of the beautiful Umbellula durissima the Challenger obtained one young specimen from the south of Yedo, while Mr. Bruce was fortunate in obtaining about a score of specimens, some of which are larger, older, and of more vigorous growth than that which Kölliker described in the Challenger reports.-The theory of determinants in the historical order of development up to 1852: Dr. Thomas Muir.-On the action of radium bromide on the electromotive phenomena of the eyeball of the frog: Prof. McKendrick and Dr. W. Colquhoun. It has been known since 1871 that when the fresh excised eye of a frog is connected by unpolarisable electrodes with sensitive galvanometer an electric current may be detected, and that definite variations take place in that current when the retina is exposed to the action of light. It is also well known that salts of radium are luminous in the dark, and that when a tube containing radium is pressed against the closed lid of the eyeball a luminous effect is produced. It was of interest to ascertain whether this luminosity was due to the radium causing fluorescence of any of the structures of the eyeball, or whether it was due to the direct action of the radium emanations on the retina itself. The radium employed was kindly lent by Dr. Hardy, of Cambridge. The conclusions were follows: (1) The light emanating from radium bromide affects the electromotive phenomena of the living retina of the frog in a manner similar to that of light, although to a considerably less degree; (2) its action is not due to fluorescence of any of the structures of the eyeball, but to direct action on the retina; (3) the retina of the frog will respond to emanations of radium passing through cardboard, blackened paper, thin glass, and aluminium foil, emanations which, when allowed to fall on the human eye in a perfectly dark chamber, do not give rise to a luminous sensation; (4) the frog's eye is sensitive to the feeble light emitted from the surface of fluorescible minerals and fluids rendered fluorescent by radium; (5) the B rays are responsible for most of the effects observed, but after they have been largely excluded by thick glass a slight effect still persists, due presumably to the rays; (6) monochromatic light employed in a photographic chamber may still affect the electromotive phenomena of the living retina of the frog; (7) no satisfactory evidence could be obtained of the action of the ultra-violet rays of a lamp filtered through a Wood's screen. The slight movement of the galvan meter observed with light "off" might possibly be

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