was ey ee ae RAS? Ply ve % f =i : yg «kay : ‘ f f ya ve Del hei on =) ope ‘ : i7 . é t + at . 9 J " Y a r ” 4 av { ha Ye ; - . rs ' + en Uh \ ~ ~ K , * i y - od | ‘i “ i ; * ;? . ‘M Poe ‘ein . --. be . fs 4 / +o, ; . - ' i it , , TE " ve fa 4 ‘ : ‘ “= 2 S * > ‘ PN my - : ; i ‘ »¥ F : j 4 : . f a 4 ( } Nid it ‘ . Wes ay of 7" | : . i] vai 4 ¥~ “J ‘ im Ny my / ae SAG Wp ee . 2 ‘ = ’ ‘ ~ ® : 7 - - —_ 4 i $y 4) i . ; ‘ ‘ é . é i 7. ’ : , 4 *. - . ” . : * . : THE EDINBURGH -NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. THE EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL, EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES ANDAMPROW] NTS [Dire TEP + 2X IN THE eosin TE My SCIENCES AND T EDITORS. THOMAS ANDERSON, M.D., F.BRS.E., REGIUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW; Sm WILLIAM JARDINE, Bart., ¥.R.SS.L. ann E. ; JOHN HUTTON BALFOUR, A.M., M.D., F.R.S., Sec. R.S. Epin., F.L.S., REGIUS KEEPER OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, AND PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND BOTANY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, FOR AMERICA, HENRY D. ROGERS, LL.D., Hon. F.BS.E., F.GS., STATE GEOLOGIST, PENNSYLVANIA; PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, JULY ...... OCTOBER 1863. VOL. XVIII. NEW SERIES. EDINBURGH: ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON. MDCCCLXITI, PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH. CONTENTS. . On the Phenomena of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. By THeopore KserutF; with a Notice of the Post- Pliocene Fossils of Southern Norway. By Dr Sars, Professor of Natural History, Christiania, . Note on Lemania variegata of Agardh, By Georce Lawson, LL.D., Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and - Natural History in the Queen’s University of Canada, . Descriptions of New Genera and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. By R. K. Grevitiz, LL.D., wie. H,,, we. ‘(Plate 1), . . On the question, Is Oxide of Arsenic, long used in a very small quantity, injurious to Man? By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.SS. Lond. and Edin., . Illustrations of the Significance of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. By Danisx Winson, LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature, University College, Toronto, PAGE 30 43 51 ll CONTENTS. PAGE 6. On Variation in the Number of Fingers and Toes, and in the Number of Phalanges, in Man. By Joun StrutHers, M.D., F.R.C.S., Lecturer on Anatomy in the Edinburgh School of Medicine. (Plate II.),. 88 7. Extract from Report of the Royal Commission (consist- ing of Professor Lyon Prayratr, C.B., Professor Huxtey, and Lieut.-Colonel Maxwett) on the Opera- tion of the Acts relating to Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland, ‘ dt2 9. The Place and Power of Natural History in Colonisa- tion;. with special reference to Otago (New Zea- land), By W. Lauper Linpsay, M.D., F.R.S. Edin., F.L.S. and F.R.G.S. London, &c. (Concluded from last Number), : : SG PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES ;— Royal Society of Edinburgh, . 148 Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, : . 159 Botanical Society of Edinburgh, —. ; : . 162 SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE :-— ZOOLOGY. 1. Syrrhaptes paradoxus, mae CONTENTS. BOTANY. 2. Botanical Collector in British Columbia, 3. Red Bark in India, MISCELLANEOUS. 4, Dr Hector’s Exploration of New Zealand, ili FAGE . 168 166 . 168 « aye . On Muscular Power. By H. F. Baxter, Esq., CONTENTS. . St Michael’s Mount and the Pheenicians. By R. Ep- Wiis MONDS, Hsq., . Descriptions of New Genera and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. By R. K. Grevitze, LL.D., F.R.S.H., &c. Part II. (Plate IV.), . The. Bee-hive British Dwellings at Bosphrennis and Chapel Euny, near Penzance. By R. Epmonps, Esq., Plymouth, . Notice of Observations by F. Coun, Breslau, on the Contractile Filaments of the Stamens in Thistles. Communicated by Dr ALEXANDER Dickson, § 1. On the Mechanical Power of Muscles exerted during Muscular Contraction. § 2. On the Applica- tion of the Principle of Conservation of Force or Conservation of Energy to the explanation of Physio- logical Phenomena, PAGE . 181 LOE . 190 . 194 . 194 il CONTENTS. PAGE . Collection of the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scot- land. By Arruur Mitcuert, A.M., M.D,, Member of Council of the Scottish Meteorological Society, &c., 212 . On Revolving Storms. By Josren Joun Murpny, Esq., 234 . Description of a Plant-house at Rockville, Blackrock, near Dublin. By Mr James Bewtey, . 240 . The Great Mixed Forests of North America in Connec- tion with Climate. By J. B. Hurtpurt, LL.D. . 244 10. On the Colour of the Salmon. By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S. London and Edinburgh, &c., ; . 247 11. Some Observations on the Eggs of Birds. By Jouwn Davy, M.D., F.R.S. London and Edinburgh, &c., . 249 12. Description of the Fruit and Seed of Clerodendron Thomsone. By Professor Batrour. (Plate V.), . 258 13. Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature, . . 260 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES :— British Association, ’ : . 288 Botanical Society of Edinburgh, . 322 CONTENTS. ill SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE :— BOTANY. PAGE 1. Report on the Bark and Leaves of Cinchona Succirubra grown in India, By J. E. Howarp, Esq., . . 331 MISCELLANEOUS. 2. Coagulation of the Blood. 3. Sir William Armstrong on the Consumption of Coal in Britain, 4. Bones in Drift. 5. Illuminating Power of the Electric Light, . ap hirer SB eR aad PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED, . : : é . 335 ~ Se Saha VpAat os, i ee * - 7 raw oe " - ae Te - kee | as ms 4 + balk . ’ 14 Bwhwiys ue enosan mo 44 Y HM 5 ee te : ayy ae dxluath ce . ¥ " ere * Ww oe bie ita Je Ra AES eae o* * "ee ¢ = si ade 44 seo Lettie, awit ag THE EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. On the Phenomena of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. By THEODORE KyERvuLF; with a Notice of the Post-Pliocene Fossils of Southern Norway. By Dr Sars, Professor of Natural History, Christiania.* [The following paper on the Boulder-clay of Norway, by the well-known Norwegian geologist, Kjerulf, is presented to our readers as likely to be interesting and instructive to the many students of this difficult subject, who may not have access to it in the original Norwegian. — The translator thinks it proper to mention that he has not adhered slavishly to the original text, having thrown two papers of Mr Kjerulf into one, and having omitted all that was of merely local interest. The second diagram here given is not strictly the same as any one of the many supplied by Mr Kjerulf, but isan attempt to reproduce in small compass all the essential features to be gathered from the whole of these. The most important alteration which it presents is the introduction of the small heap of boulder clay, underlying the marl, in a somewhat more distinct shape than it bears in the original diagram. This change is, however, justified, not only in part, by the particular diagram referred to, but still more by many statements in the text, more especially in some of those more local descriptions which have been omitted. In all cases the translator has endeavoured to * Translated from the Danish, for the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, by the Rev. R. Boog Watson, F.R.S.E. NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO. I.—JuLy 1863. A 2 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena reproduce, if not the very words, for which space was often wanting, yet at least always, and strictly, the views ex- pressed by Mr Kjerulf ; and wherever he has felt that the responsibility of a statement or an inference rested with himself, he has put it in the form of a note.— Translator. | It is well known that the surface of our mountains is in many places scoured, polished, striated, and bared, and that at times to a height of 4000 or even 5000 feet above the sea. All over the country such surfaces may be seen; for as the country is covered with mountains, so are the mountains with scratches. These had attracted the attention of scien- tific miners in Sweden, but Sefstrém was the first to study them carefully. He remarked that the strize followed a determinate direction, and bore a relation to the course in which the boulders of the country had travelled. Thus the furrows follow a southerly direction; and in like manner the porphyry blocks of Elfdal have been carried south to Landskab, where they now lie among totally. different for- mations. Hence he inferred that the direction pervading the entire phenomenon was one from north to south. He believed that the agent in all this was a flood—a vast mass of boulders, stones, debris, and sand swept away by water, which had poured across the mountains with incredible rapidity and force, sufficient to make the large stones slide over the surface of the mountains and scratch these, as a grain of sand will do when made to grate along under the finger over a marble slab ; while the smaller masses were ground against each other, and left piled up in the long backed Asar of Sweden, the Raer of our Smaalehn district. Sefstrém’s paper is found in the Kongl. Vetenskaps Akad. Handl., 1836. Hoffmann, Pusch, and Bohtlingk, suggested a different direction for the phenomena. They showed that the erratic blocks are distributed over the flat of Northern Europe in a great circle, of which Scandinavia and Finland form the centre—that in Northern Russia, the blocks are Finnish ; in Poland, are mixed with Swedish; in the Netherlands and North Germany, are Norwegian and Swedish—that beyond these limits the blocks have not travelled—and that of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. ne in Finland, at the White Sea, and on the northern glacial ocean, the striation radiates outwards. If, then, there was a stream, it was not moving in any one direction alone, but must have had, in addition, an outward lateral motion along the axis of its general course; and the question arose whether the motion was from one centre or from several. The utmost attention was now directed to the striations in various localities, and hundreds of observations were collected ; blocks were carefully tracked back to their original site, the weather or exposed, and the lee side of rocks were attentively noted, and the materials accumulated became enormous. These were tabulated on maps by Horbye and Rordam in 1857, &c. As to the direction of the scratelies, there can be now no doubt; but till this was ascertained, the question whence and Ghether the grinding down proceeded could only be determined from the somewhat doubtful indications of the ‘weather and lee sides” and the boulders. Now, however, if we examine the maps, we shall observe spots from which the arrow markings radiate out in different directions. Such spots must have been the centres of motion, and they lie, it will be found, in the higher districts of our mountains; or where, at a lower level, they occur in the form of cross scratches, they may indicate the successive application of friction in slightly different directions. Thus far, then, we have got; the phenomenon itself is no fiction, however erroneous may be the explanation of it by a flood. Innumerable observations with the compass have shown that the scratches and striations are there, that there must further have been various centres whence the pheno- mena originated, and finally, that in some places at least, the force has operated again and again. When now we consider that glacier ice, with the debris which it carries along with it, produces striations on the surface of the rocks over which it is ever, though slowly, advancing ; when we consider, further, that a glacier moves boulders either involved in the debris of the end and side moraines, or in the form of huge, scattered, sharp-angled blocks, which in one way or other have reached the surface of the glacier, and now share in its movements, we may + Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena infer that we have obtained the key to all the phenomena ~ of friction which we have to explain. The comparatively small scale of the glacier phenomena with which we are acquainted, leaves, indeed, many difficulties in our way ; but here, fortunately, we meet with Mr Rink’s valuable ob- servations, prosecuted during the many years of his stay on the west coast of Greenland, of glacier action in that country. From his descriptions, it is obvious that here, as in our own land, we have an enormous stretch of country ; that this country is completely covered with ice, which, on the west coast, is ever slowly pressing outwards to the sea, where it ‘“‘calves;” that immense loads of these ice ‘‘calves” are every year floated away by currents in the same con- stant direction ; and finally, that this ice-cake attains a thickness of no less than 1000 feet. Here, then, all the conditions of our problem are provided for. Let us figure to ourselves a universal ice covering, a complete glaciation instead of mere individual glaciers, and the phenomenon of friction takes its place harmoniously with all the other phenomena of the glacial epoch. In the existing state of Greenland is the very analogy we needed to justify our supposition—a gigantic cake of ice slowly moving outwards, and with the might of its tremendous pressure, stripping, polishing, and striating the rocks over which it glides, just like a common glacier, only in so much greater a proportion as the ice-cake of Greenland surpasses any glacier of Switzerland. I shall endeavour to show that, in explaining the pheno- mena of friction, we know of no better agent than the ice- cake. In respect of the direction of the scratches inferences have been drawn, (1.) From the boulders or erratic blocks. (2.) From the so-called ‘lee and weather sides.” All the ar- rows on the striation maps have been laid down on the supposition that the blocks were moved by the same stream which was striating the rocks, and that all this tallies with the lee and weather sides which present themselves to our notice. Now, here it is important to observe, 1. That the boulders in the lower districts do not indi- cate the direction either whence or whither of the friction. of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. 5 The boulders which we usually call erratic—great, generally sharp-cornered blocks which easily catch the eye—have doubtless been moved, but not always by the same “stream” which seratched. There is here a confounding of quite dif- ferent things. These blocks in the lower districts lie on the top of the boulder-clay banks. How could it, then, be they that scratched the rocks. But it is precisely the erra- tic rocks which most catch the eye, lying as they do on the surface, large in size, sharp at their edges, and easily re- cognised. On the other hand who has ever broken his hammer on the true ‘scratchers,—the stones great and small—crushed, rubbed, rounded, and broken—that lie at the bottom of the boulder-clay banks,—these heaps of debris which rest immediately on the rock ? Things are somewhat different in the higher districts. There one may, indeed, more safely draw inferences from the erratic blocks; but there, what with the vastness of the field and the fewness of the observers, we know too little of the minute lithology to entitle us to assert that any particular foreign block we may meet can only have proceeded from one special bed. If we could do this, we could indeed determine the direction of the moving power; but this we cannot do. Further, the blocks have been moved in various ways, and they cannot therefore be depended on for indi- cating how the arrows showing direction of motion should be laid down in the maps. 2. There has been too much of rash talking about lee and weather sides. In some cases such phenomena really exist ; but such cases are rare; and generally the gentle slope on one side, and the steep break on the other, which have been de- scribed as stances of lee and weather sides, arise simply from the constitution and position of the rock itself. The moun- tains of Eggedal, for instance, all seem to show fine examples of a weather side towards the north, and a lee side towards the south, but this arises merely from the he of the schist strata which dip tothe north. Similarly, the porphyry hillocks in Asker and Barum seem to have weather sides to the north and lee sides to the south; but the cause of this is, that the porphyry beds dip north conformably with the underlying sandstone. When we are told, therefore, that the observer 6 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena has remarked fine examples of weather sides at a distance, we have good ground for distrusting his conclusions. 3. As to the marking of the arrows on the maps they often convey a false impression. The striations do indeed run towards valleys, and in a general way follow the lines of the valleys; but even the mountain plateaus have their valleys, which do not appear in maps of the small scale ordinarily used ; were these marked, we should at once see that the friction has followed the valleys. 4, Finally, there is this to be laid down as a first principle, that the mere study of the phenomena and direction by com- pass of the scratches, and of the often quite independent boulders, is not sufficient to determine whether the agent which produced them was a stream or a glacier. Brogniart has called the striations the wheel-ruts of the phenomenon ; but we have kept too much to the ruts, and forgotten the carriage and team. The loose masses, which owed their presence to this phenomenon, have passed unobserved. It is these we must study, if we are to understand the pheno- mena of friction; and it is as a name for these, the clay- sand and masses of debris connected with the phenomena of friction, that the term, ‘“‘ the Glacial Formation” has been introduced. And in fact there is more to be learned from the study of a single example of the glacial phenomena, in which all the various members of the formation are ex- hibited, than from thousands of scratches traced by the compass. | I proceed, therefore, to examine the glacial formation in detail as it presents itself in the district around Christiania. The glacial formation includes masses of debris, blocks of stone, varieties of clay, and layers of sand. The term gla- cial is applied to it, partly because the oldest fossil shells found in it are of arctic species, and partly because the debris, the scratched rock surfaces and the boulders, con- nected as these are together, indicate that when they were produced the whole country was covered with ice. The entire formation may be divided into an earlier and a later group, of which the earlier alone is strictly glacial; but since the material of which the later group is composed was also originally glacial, and since the two groups are 4 of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. T very closely connected with one another, the name of the Glacial Formation may, for shortness sake, be applied to both. The older and strictly glacial group consists of, 1. Glacial banks and debris heaps. 2. Glacial sand and marly clay, with the oldest glacial shell-beds. The later and post-glacial group consists of, 1. Shell-clay and shell-bearing sand— the later post-glacial shell-beds. 2. Brick-clay and inland clay. 3. Sandy clay and flood sand. Following these is a third group of still later alluviums, river deltas,* peat mosses, and river sand and gravel, all going on at the present day. I. First, then, as to the older and strictly glacial group. (1.) The first part of this which we have to consider is the glacial banks. They consist of sand mixed with clay or with debris in general (awr), blocks, and the so-called rolled stones, which, however, are not rolled but scratched stones. Fragments of the most varied rocks are here mixed together. The position of these heaps of sand debris and blocks is always immediately on the furrowed rock surface itself. These banks are present everywhere, and everywhere are composed of the same heterogeneous materials. On the hills, at an elevation of 600 or 700 feet above the sea, this is the only formation present. At the lower levels it only appears in banks (Asar, in Swedish; Raer, in Norwegian; Kaims, in Scotch) which rise amidst flat expanses of clay and sand, or sometimes appear in detached hillocks. In this form, which belongs to these banks in the lower districts, they rise toa level above the sea of from 6 to 700 feet. Such lower level glacial banks either stretch in long-backed ridges, which project markedly above the clay and sand flats, or lie com- pletely buried in the interior of elevated sand plateaus, where their form and extension can in general only be in- ferred from the position of small lakes in their bendings, or from the curves which rivers and brooks, unable to cut through them, are compelled to follow. But the higher » level banks, those, that is to say, which are found in the upper parts of the valleys and on the mountain slopes, rise to all elevations, even to a great height, sometimes fring- 8 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena ing the valleys as great heaps of debris, sometimes stretch- ing right across, directly transverse to the course of the stream. All these masses were originally true moraines. It seldom happens that a good section of these banks can be seen; but as a rule they consist of debris (aur), with sand, clay, small and large stones, all irregularly heaped together without any trace of stratification. They rest directly on the surface of the rock, and are obviously the oldest of all the superficial deposits. Besides such masses as have been now described, and which really deserve the name of banks, smaller heaps of debris and blocks exist, generally lying covered up and hidden, or protected by some projection of the rocks. Their origin and composition is exactly the same as those of the banks, from which they differ only in being less likely to attract notice. These are the glacial debris heaps. (2.) There are also found in some places, resting imme- diately on the scratched surface of the rock, thin alternating layers of sand and clay. The sand is chiefly reddish and brown in colour, and sometimes preponderates decidedly over the clay. The sand and clay are occasionally twenty-five feet thick. Accumulations of big stones are at times found at the bottom of this deposit, in places where the form of the ground had afforded them shelter. Such stones are also scattered irregularly through the bed. This marly clay was formed from the destruction of Silurian limestones and schists. It was in all probability carried down by muddy rivers from the inland ice, and deposited as mud wherever the sea presented the necessary conditions of stillness. Freshly dug, this clay is always damp, often dripping with water. Its colour is bluish, seldom brown. ‘Traces of a thin leafy or stratified structure may often be seen. Lime — is pretty uniformly present to the extent of about two per cent. Exposed to the air this marly clay disintegrates more or less, but gets baked together again by rain. Its presence may generally be recognised by the thick clumps of the tussilago which it bears. Balls or knots so round as almost to seem artificial are found in this marl, and have been considered as concretions of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. 9 produced’ by the presence of a larger quantity of lime than usual ; but they are much more probably fragments of the Silurian limestones, rubbed and worn to their present shape during the ice period, by the same agency as broke and scoured and polished and crushed and rubbed all the surface of our rocks, and so prepared the stores of debris that form our boulder-clay. Such rounded lumps or balls are the dis- tinctive characteristic by which to recognise this marl. The marl often contains also extremely thin and small scales of mica, which glitter in the sun,——a proof how slowly this marly clay was deposited, and how still the water in which it was allowed to sink. It was only when they came to rest in the bosom of the deep and quiet ocean that the mud-laden waters which poured from the inland ice could part with their burden; and in harmony with this we find, that the maximum height at which this marl is found is 400 feet above the present sea-level, a height which, as we shall see, corresponds exactly with that of the older marine shell-beds—[both facts thus pointing to the same conclusion,—the greater elevation of the sea in the later part of the glacial period, while our present boulder-clays were being formed in the interior of the land, and deposited along the shores and in the neighbouring shallows of the glacial ocean.— Translator. | Where this marl is absent, the reason will be found to be the absence from the neighbourhood of such Silurian rocks as alone supply the materials from which it is formed. As has been already mentioned, the marl sometimes inter- changes endlessly with thinner or thicker layers of glacial sand, and wherever it does not rest directly on the scratched rock below, it is only separated by glacial sand or debris. In general, no shells are found in the marly clay, the ice- cold fresh glacier water from which it was deposited being unfavourable to molluscan life, which would only develop itself in the salt water of the greater depths, or where at least the fresh water was largely mingled with the sea.— [These localities are still probably hidden from us below the present sea-level. We have, perhaps, instances of them in the Elie bank (p. 27), and the Drobak bank (p. 25).— Translator. | NEW SERIES. —VOL. XVIII, NO. 1.—JULY 1868. B 10 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena The few shells I have met with in the marl, or in the con- temporary glacial sand, have been ascertained by Professor Sars to be either strictly arctic species, or marked by size and other peculiarities, with a distinctively arctic character. Shell-beds, however, are found, which, though not actually in the marl, are yet closely connected with it, both in the strictly glacial character of their shells, and in the range above the sea-level to which they ascend. These beds are loose heaps of entire and broken shells, sometimes without the addition of any other substances, sometimes mixed with sand and sandy clay. They are, in fact, true littoral banks. These shell-beds must not be confounded with the later shell-beds. The latter belong to the post-glacial period, when the sea stood at a lower elevation than before. The true glacial shell-beds, of which we are now speaking, lie at a level of from 400 to 470 feet, and belong to that earlier period, when the land was depressed not less than 500 or 600 feet below the present level of the sea. They are pro- bably contemporaneous, or nearly so, with the glacial banks formerly described, and with the sands and marls which have been mentioned as resting directly on the furrowed surface of the underlying rock. The accompanying diagram may make this more intelli- ible. Old sea-level about 600 feet above the present. Present sea-level. Pig, 1s At the bottom is granite; above this is (1.) Sand and marl, associated with the cotemporary shell beds marked +; (2.) Are the later clays; (3.) Sand. The sand and marl marked (1.), and the shell beds +, belong to the earlier glacial period, during the latter part of which the sea-level of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. Aa stood at least 600 feet higher than at present. Any shells of this period, at the lower levels, will be found deeply buried under later deposits, while at the meter levels they he exposed. _ (2.) and (8.) The clays and sands, and their accompany- ing shell-bed marked @ belong to the later period, when the sea-level had fallen 400 feet. The higher levels being by this elevation of the land protruded above the sea, the shell-beds already found on them were preserved from being buried under later deposits. None of the later shell-beds are therefore to be found at this elevation, but they present themselves at the lower levels, at or near the surface, among the later clays and sands. II. We now come to the second or post-glacial group of deposits —(1.) The first member of which is the later shell- clay to which we adverted above. Like the marl, it is de- rived from disintegrated Silurian strata, but more especially from the clay schists of that age. When freshly dug out, it is generally of a bluish-grey colour, and less wet than the marl. It has been deposited in salt water, and very often contains well-preserved shells of the same species as are still living on our coasts. In position it is superior to the marl and glacial sand ; but it does not rise to so high a level above the sea as these, its maximum height being about 300 feet. In general, it does not ascend above 250 or 270 feet. This shell-clay is sometimes, though not always, mixed with lime. It is frequently worked for bricks. (2.) The brick-clay in the marine beds is identical with the inland clays of the higher levels, from which it only differs in the greater thickness and purity of the banks in which it presents itself. It is generally blue or brown in colour, and these shades sometimes alternate in clods or stripes. No shells are found in the brick-clay. In the course of the valleys this clay is found at all eleva- tions deposited in old lake basins; it disappears, however, in proportion as we advance into the quartzose districts. Above the old sea-level it is very often mixed with sand, and contains layers, more or less thick, of fine sand. Since even at the lower levels it contains no shells, we must infer 12 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena that it has been deposited from streams of fresh water. It overlies the shell-clay. (3.) Sandy clay and stratified flood sand, which alternate with another. The clay is generally light-grey in colour, and more or less mixed with fine sand, in consequence of which it is less plastic, and when dry does not stick to the tongue. The transition from sandy clay to clayey sand is sometimes complete. The sand is brown or grey, and the beds vary much in thickness. Here and there large gather- ings of boulder stones may be found in it, especially towards the top. The source whence this sandy clay and river sand were derived is the old glacial banks of the boulder-clay. It was from these banks that the sands and clays were washed, and the finer the particles the greater the distance to which they were removed. Hence the sand generally lies nearest the boulder-clay banks, while the sandy clay rests further off. Hence, also, we find sandy plateaus so constantly as- sociated with the boulder-clay banks at the lower levels; for there these banks have uniformly been reached and washed by the sea when it stood at its former higher level. In Southern Norway, however, it must be remarked, that the distribution of the sand is especially to the south of the banks, a fact which seems to indicate the influence of fresh- watercurrents pouring out seaward from the landon thenorth. No shells are found in this sandy clay or river sand, which overlie the previously mentioned clays, Nos. (1) and (2). The height to which they rise is, at the lower levels, largely dependent on the original height of the nearest boulder-clay banks. Thus, in the more open country, they have been traced to elevations of from 400 to 600 feet. Up the river courses again they rise to any elevation, so long as the valley slopes exist, and the lake basins continue to present themselves. The accompanying section shows the succession of the various beds. They rest on the underlying granite. On the surface of the granite, where an angle of the rock has afforded shelter, is a heap of boulder-clay with boulders 1.* * Such heaps of boulder-clay below the marl belong to the oldest part of the deposit, and are peculiarly interesting, as the only records of that earlier NBL. BPS tae) = hs eee Noon Vee neceh a — Nias: of the Scratched Lock Surfaces. 13 Overlying, this, but resting generally on the rock, is the marl 2 of No. I. division. To this succeeds the second di- vision: 1. The shell-clay, &c.; 2. The brick-clay; 3. Sand ATT £5 een [ 2. Brick-clay. (No. U. <> ey em cm, —_— me ee ie ee = 1, Shell -clay. | Mar! and sandy clay. stones in shel- tered corner. Granite. | or sandy clay, on which large boulders rest loosely. Through these a valley has been cut, where, however, the section presented in its banks is as often obscured by alluvium. A diminution of the glacial cold, and along with this a great thawing of the inland ice, seems to have occurred be- tween the deposition of the marl with its associated shell- beds and the later shell-clay, for the more markedly arctic character of the Fauna is wanting in the latter clay. Hence the division of the beds into the glacial and the post-glacial groups. 3 This shell-clay was a regular marine formation, deposited in a perfectly orderly and quiet state of things; but after its formation there must have followed a time of floods, during which the many dams, forming basins and lakes in the valleys, were cut through, and the clay, the sand, the period which we possess. They were formed at the same time that the rock surfaces in the lower districts were striated under the general covering of ice. The greatest mass of the boulder-clay, however, formed during that period, seems to have been either thrust into the sea and left at depths still below our reach, or so mixed up with the boulder-clay of a later period as to be undistinguishable from it. That our existing boulder-clays generally belong to a later period is obvious, since they are contemporary with the marls, which are a sea deposit, formed on the submerged land, which had previously been furrowed and scratched by the old ice-covering grinding over its surface, and leaving its detritus only in such places as were protected from the motion of the ice.—[ Translator.] . Boulder-clay & pNo. L 14 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena debris and rolled stones of the interior, were washed further and further down. The striking absence of fossil shells in the brick-clay, and in the sandy clay and flood sand; the complete identity of the brick-clay and the inland fresh- water clays ; the expansion of the plateaus of stratified sand around original banks,—all these strongly indicate such a flood period. III. In regard to the third group (p. 7), consisting of alluvium, peat, and other fresh-water formations, it is un- necessary to say more, than that their extension at certain points indicates that the lakes to which they owe their origin formerly stood at a higher level than that which they now occupy. From an examination then of the whole upper covering of our country, we learn that the older part of this forma- tion has a markedly arctic character, and that the oldest masses of all are moraines. We are entitled, therefore, I think, to conceive of Norway, at the close of the Tertiary period, as being in a true glacial condition. Its ice cover- ing had an outward movement like the present inland ice of Greenland. By this ice “ rolled stones” and debris were borne outwards to the sea-shore, where large and small blocks of stone were floated off, and carried away on ice-floes. Heuce originated those huge moraine masses (far too vast to have been produced by mere separate valley glaciers) which cover the whole of the flat land near the coast, and which may be traced on both sides of the Christiania Fjord. From this universal covering of moving land ice resulted the first great network of scorings and scratches, as well as the moraine masses extending out to the edge of the sea. Then followed a diminution of the glacial intensity. In- stead of a continuous covering of ice, there were separate glaciers, which laboured down from the various mountain slopes into the open valleys at their feet. All the loose material which lay in their way they bore off as moraines, either along their sides or in front, or where two valleys converged as medial moraines. ‘The process of striation thus went on anew in all these valleys ; and in this way two of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. 15 different sets of scratches, lying across one another, might sometimes be produced. In our larger valleys we find masses of debris, stones, and sand, lying like long terraces along the one or the other side, sometimes along both. These are side moraines. Further down, nearer the mouth of the valleys, and also higher up, more among the mountains themselves, the same masses—banks of boulder-clay—te right across the valleys. These are terminal moraines, left where the glaciers pushed out in the lower districts towards the coast, or higher up among the mountains, as the last glaciers shrunk and re- treated. The glaciation ceased by a gradual melting and disap- pearance of the ice. During this perhaps protracted period, the mud-laden glacier rivers were bearing down with them the detritus with which they were charged, depositing it in the sea or in inland lakes, wherever the water was suffi- ciently still to allow it to sink. Hence our marine and lake clays. Running water, too, acted on the moraines, washing out the sand from these masses of debris, and spreading it around and over them. MHence the stratified upper part of the banks and the sand spread far out over the clay around the old banks. On the coast, where the sea received the matter thus brought down, shell-fish made their appearance, partly buried in the clay, partly in the form of entire beds. These beds are found up to a height of 500 feet. To this extent, therefore, the land must have stood at a lower elevation. Let us now see in what order this glacial matter has been sorted and heaped up by the sea :— At the bottom of all we find, except where they have been afterwards swept away, sand and rolled stones. These were the scratching agents. It was they which were dragged by the ice across the rock faces ; and if we are to de- duce from the blocks the direction of the friction, it is these blocks we must examine; but as they are most frequently broken, reduced in size, and often rounded, they are gene- rally called not blocks but rolled stones, though the name is not strictly correct, and they should rather be called ‘‘ scour- ing stones.” They have not been rolled, but have mutually 16 Mr Theodore Kjerulf on the Phenomena crushed one another, and, fixed in the ice like a diamond in a glazier’s cutting-instrument, they have scored the hill side with scratches and furrows. Over these ‘‘ scouring stones” and sand lie the various clays :—Calcareous and marl clays, in such districts as presented Silurian limestones and schists to supply detritus to the glacier rivers. Above this, shell-clay, wherever the height was not too great, or the streams of cold fresh-water too powerful to admit of molluscan life. Then follows brick- clay without shells, belonging probably to the time when the flush of water from the land was at its height. Finally, sand and sandy clay above all. Stones brought from a distance may be found here and there through all these layers ; but most distinctively the erratic blocks are found lying stranded on the top of the banks. (See fig. 2, p.13). All parties are agreed that ice was the agent which brought down these blocks. When moraines had been left stretching across the val- leys, they would often in the upper reaches become, during the time of the glacier’s melting, a dam for an inland lake. The floating particles carried along by the river would be deposited in such quiet basins, and hence come those inland clays which le at heights above that of the marine forma- tion. In such lakes, just as in the sea below, ice-floes might drift about laden with small and large blocks, which thus became erratic. Even in the ice itself, far up in the in- terior, large temporary lakes might be formed when the ice was melting rapidly ; and there blocks might be drifted on floes in a totally different direction from that in which the inland ice itself was moving and tracing its furrows. This _ may serve to explain how in some places the direction in which the erratic blocks have journeyed does not correspond with that of the scratchings. Such phenomena, then, as we have been considering, could not be the work of a flood. A flood strong enough to furrow both hard and soft rock, and even to give their shape to the mountains, with their weather and lee sides— a flood of such incredible force could not have failed to sweep away before it all these loose masses of scratched stones and debris of sand and mud. Yet here we find them of the Scratched Rock Surfaces. 17 set down, sometimes in the midst of a valley, sometimes along its edges, nay, sometimes stretching right across, with only a small opening cut through at one side, obviously by a stream quietly escaping from a lake. Nor can we see whence such a flood could come. The mountain tops would not supply it ; nor would a sea wave in any form pro- duce the regularity and uniformity of the phenomena, nor transport the boulders, nor trace the furrows. Neither is Sir Charles Lyell’s theory of floating icebergs much more satisfactory. Hven were the striations such as icebergs could produce, which is not the case, some traces of the sea and its inhabitants would surely have been found on the higher levels, depressed beneath the sea, as the land, on this theory, was to the extent of 4000 feet at least ; since to that height the scratching has been distinctly traced. Arctic shells are indeed found abundantly among ourclays and sands, but never at a greater height than 600 feet above the sea. Further, it must be remembered that oscillations of the land, of such frequency and extent as this theory imagines, are eminently improbable in Norway, where the entire series of the secondary and tertiary strata are wanting, and where, therefore, the land has been singularly stationary. Shells from the Earlier and Later Beds of the Glacial For. mation. By Dr M. Sars, Professor of Natural History, Christiania. [The only beds here examined are in the southern part of Norway, and even of these the author states that the examination is far from complete. In explanation of the author's headings in the following list, it must be remem- bered that while the beds are to be found at all elevations from the sea-level to # height of 500 feet, yet at the lower levels (up to 200 feet) such shell-beds as present themselves on the surface belong to a later period; while the older beds must be sought either on the surface at the higher levels, or buried deep under the later clays and sands at the lower levels. But while this holds true in general, partial excep- tions to the rule may be expected, as in the case mentioned NEW SERIES,-—VOL. XVIII, NO. I.—JuLy 1863. c 18 Dr M. Sars on Shells from the Earlier and at p. 25, where a current has probably prevented the ac- cumulation of later deposits.—Zranslator. | Note——The lists of shells are printed exactly as given by the author. Where his name is not the one received here, the translator has supplied the other with the mark syn. HIGHER LYING (OLDEST) SHELL BEDS. Killebo in Rakkestadt. Height 400 to 440 feet. This bed rests partly on the solid rock, partly on an inter- vening bed of clay four or five feet thick. Balanus porcatus, da Costa, Darw. _ B. crenatus, Brug., Darw. Ochthosia Stroemi (Lepas), Miill., syn. Verruca strémia, Serpula triquetra, L. §. vermicularis, Miill. Trophon clathratus (Murex), L., syn. Fusus banffius var. major, Loven. Nassa reticulata (Buccinum), L. Natica nitida, Don. Littorinalittorea(Turbo),L. —L.]ittoralis(Nerita), L. Trochus tumidus, Mont. T.magus,L. Puncturella noa- china (Patella),L. Lepeta ceca (Patella), Mill., syn. Propili- dium ancyloide, _Pilidium fulvum (Patella), Mill. Anomia ephippium, L. A. patelliformis, L. Ostrea edulis, L. Pecten islandicus, Mill. Mytilus edulis, L. Modiola modiolus(Mytilus),L. Cardium edule, L. lLucina borealis (Venus), L. Venus ovata,Penn. Tapes pullastra (Venus), Mont. Astarte arctica, Gray. A. compressa, Mont. A. elliptica, Brown. Tellina proxima,Brown, Mya truncata, L. Saxicava pholadis (Mytilus), L., syn. S. rugosa. _S. arctica (Mya), LL. Skjcldalen in Aremark, Height 470 feet. On the rock rests a layer of clay of varying thickness, in which are shells. Above this is the shell-bed ten feet thick, in the midst of which occurs a bed of clay deposited from water. Balanus porcatus, da Costa, Darw. Trophon clathratus (Murex), L., var. major Lovén. Buce- cinum undatum, L. 8B. gronlandicum, Chemn. Natica clausa, Sow. Tapes pullastra (Venus;, Mont. ‘Tellina proxima, Brown. Mya truncata, L., et var. Udewallensis, Forb. Saxicava pholadis (Mytilus), L., syn. S, rugosa. (Five new species since found. Names not given.— Translator. ) Later Beds of the Glacial Formation. 19 “Skullerud in Héland. Height 450 feet. On the top is a layer of sand mixed with shells, below is a sandy clay with shells. At the bottom common sandy clay. Balanus porcatus, da Costa, Darw. Tritonium despectum (Murex), L., syn, Fusus antiquus. Tro- phon clathratus (Murex), L., var, major Lovén. Buccinum gronlandicum, Chemn. Natica clausa, Sow, Pecten islandi- cus, Mill. Mytilus edulis, L. Tellina solidula, L. (Thirteen new species since found. Names not given.— Translator.) Biérum in Asker. Height 460 feet. Tritonium despectum (Murex), L., syn. Fusus antiquus. Buc- cinum undatum, L. Natica groénlandica, Beck. Aporrhais pes pelicani (Strombus), L. —_Littorina littorea (Turbo), L. Dentalium abyssorum, Sars. Pecten danicus, Chemn. Leda pernula (Arca), Mill. Cyprina islandica (Venus), L. Panopea norvegica (Mya), Spengl. OLDEST CLAY UNDERLYING LATER DEPOSITS, Brynd, near Christiana, Height 200 feet and upwards. The shells occur in a sandy marl, with thin layers of sand interspersed. t Siphonodentalium vitreum, Sars. Arca raridentata, Wood, var. major, Sars. Yoldia pygmea (Nucula), Miinst. Somewhat Higher. Pecten danicus, Chemn. Skibtvedt, Height 90 feet. Close beside the church; on the very edge of the River Glommen, and pretty deep below the surface of the clay- flat; in beds of sand, which occur in clay beds. Siphonodentalium vitreum, Sars. Arca raridentata, Wood, var. major, Sars. Leda pernula (Arca), Miill, Pecten danicus, Chemn. Bakkehuus, near Christiania. Nassa reticulata (Buccinum), L. Cyprina islandica (Venus), L. Corbula nucleus, Lamk. 20 Dr M. Sars on Shells from the Earlier and Lekum in Edsberg. Height 220 feet. Here the shell-beds are of small extent and thickness. They lie in the upper part of the clay flat which extends all around. Littorina littorea (Turbo), L. LL. littoralis (Nerita), L. Mytilus edulis, L. Grorud near Christiania, In the sea-weed clay, which takes the place of the shell- clay. Tellina solidula, L. Saxicava pholadis (Mytilus), L. syn. 8. rugosa, Glaeng and Sarpen. Height 80 to 100 feet. Ostrea edulis, L. Pecten danicus, Chemn. _ P. opercularis (Ostrea), L. Cardium echinatum, L. Cyprina islandica (Venus) L., (often perforated by Cliona celata, Grant.) Astarte compressa, Mont. Tellina proxima, Brown. Kaholmen near Drébak. Height 20 to 30 feet. Lowest clay. Tritonium despectum (Murex), L., syn. Fusus antiquus. Pecten maximus, L. Lima excavata (Ostrea), Gmel. Cyprina islandica (Venus) L. Oculina prolifera (Madrepora) L, (also in a mass of clay 20-30 feet and upwards above the sea, south of Drébak). CLAY OF BOTH AGES, EARLIER AND LATER. Lower and Upper Foss near Christiania. Partly in the marl, interspersed with thin layers of sand ; partly in the overlying shell-clay. Turritella communis, Risso. Philine scabra (Bulla), Miill. Dentalium abyssorum, Sars. D. entalis, L. Siphono- dentalium vitreum, Sars. Ostrea edulis,L. Pecten islan- dicus, Mill. P.danicus, Chemn. PP. tigrinus, Mill. P. sinuosus, Turt. Arca raridentata, Wood, var. major, Sars. Nucula tenuis (Arca), Mont. Leda caudata (Arca), Don. L. pernula (Arca), Miill., syn. L. oblonga. Yoldia pygmea (Nucula), Miinst. Cardium edule, L. C, suecicum, Reeve. Isocardia cor (Cardium), L. Syndosmya nitida (Mya), Miill., syn. S. intermedia. Corbula nucleus, Lamk. Saxicava arctica (Mya), L. Later Beds of the Glacial Formation. ot (Highteen new species since found. ‘Those named are echinoderms; Ophiura sarsi, Ctenodiscus crispatus, Tripylus Jragilis, previously unknownin the glacial formation.— Trans.) LATER SHELL-BEDS, BELONGING TO THE LOWER LEVELS. Hévig near Christiania. Height 100 te 150 feet and upwards. In sand, resting directly on the rock with clay around. Tritonium despectum (Murex), L., syn. Fusus antiquus. Nassa reticulata (Buccinum), L. Cerithium reticulatum, da Costa. Aporrhais pes pelicani (Strombus), L. —__Littorina littorea (Turbo), L. L. littoralis (Nerita), L. Rissoa membranacea (Turbo), Ad. syn. R. labiosa. Trochus cinerarius, U. Denialium entalis, L. Ostrea edulis, L. | Pecten varius (Ostrea), L. Nucula margaritacea, Lamk., syn, N. nucleus. Cardium fasciatum, Mont. C. pygmeum, Don. Tapes decussata (Venus), L. Astarte elliptica, Brown, A. com- pressa (Venus), Mont. Corbula nucleus, Lamk. Saxicava pholadis (Mytilus), L., syn. S. rugosa. S. arctica (Mya), L. Heistadt near Eidanger Fjord. Height 100 to 150 feet and upwards In digging a well, shells found in the sand exactly as at Hovig. Nassa reticulata (Buccinum), L. Cerithium reticulatum, da Costa. Rissoa parva, da Costa. Emarginula reticulata, Sow. Acmza virginea (Patella), Mill. Venus ovata, Penn. Lwucina borealis (Venus), L. Ravnsborg near Christiania. Height 50 feet and upwards. In sand resting directly on the rock. Ostrea edulis, L. Cardium echinatum, L. Astarte com- pressa (Venus), Mont. Lucina borealis (Venus), L, Aafoss near Skien. Height 100 feet and upwards, At the bottom is sand and sandy clay, above this lies a bed of shells more than ten feet thick. Balanus crenatus, Brug., Darw. Buccinum undatum, L. Purpura lapillus (Buccinum), L. Natica nitida, Don. _Littorina littoralis (Nerita), L. _La- cuna vincta (Turbo), Mont. Trochus cinerarius, L. — Patella pellucida, L. Anomia patelliformis, L. A, aculeata, 22 Dr M. Sars on Shells from the Earlier and Mill. Pecten islandicus, Miill. Cardium fasciatum, Mont. Venus ovata, Penn. Tapes pullastra (Venus), Mont. Tellina proxima, Brown. Saxicava pholadis (My- tilus), L., syn. S$. rugosa, Thracia villosiuscula, Macgill. (Twenty-seven new species found. Names not given. Another bed found, about 30 feet lower, containing thirty- two species, all now living in the neighbourhood, among which are Hehinus drobachiensis and an Hchinocyamus angu- losus.— Translator. ) Léveidet near Skien, Height 120 feet and upwards. Shell-bed rests on the rock. Balanus porcatus, da Costa, Darw. _ B. crenatus, Brug., Darw. Buccinum undatum, L. Nassa incrassata (Buccinum), Strom. Natica nitida, Don. Velutina levigata (Helix), LL. Littorina littorea (Turbo), L. —_L. littoralis (Nerita), L. Patella vulgata, L. Acmeza virginea (Patella), Miill. Pilidium fulvum (Patella), Mill. Dentalium abyssorum, Sars. Anomiaephippium,L. A. patelliformis, L. Pec- ten islandicus, Mill. PP. striatus, Mill. P. danicus, Chemn. P. tigrinus, Mill. P. sinuosus, Turt., syn. P. pusio. Mytilus edulis, L. Leda pernula (Arca), Mill. Venus striatula, Don. V.Ovata,Penn. ‘Tapes pullastra (Venus), Mont. Astarte sulcata, da Costa. A. compressa, Mont. Mactra elliptica, Brown. — Tellina proxima, Brown. Mya arenaria,L., Thracia villosiuscula, Macgill. Pholas can- dida, L. Echinus drobachiensis, Mill. Ommedalsstrand near Skien. Height 100 feet and upwards, Sandy clay, and fine sand mixed with shell fragments, in all some 50 feet thick. Balanus porcatus, da Costa, Darw. _B. crenatus. Brug., Darw. Serpula triquetra, L. _ S. polita, Sars. Buccinum undatum, L. Nassa incrassata (Buccinum), Strom. Natica nitida, Don. Velutina levigata (Helix), L. —Lit- torina littorea (Turbo), L. L. littoralis (Nerita), L. Rissoa parva, da Costa=v. R. interr. JR. striata (Turbo) Ad. Emarginula reticulata, Sow. Capulus hungaricus (Patella), L. Patella vulgata, L. Acmea virginea (Pa- tella), Mill. Pilidium fulvum (Patella), Mill. | Den- talium abyssorum, Sars. Anomia ephippium, L. A, patelliformis, L. Pecten islandicus, Mill. P. danicus, Chemn. P. tigrinus, Mill. P. striatus, Miill. P. sinuosus, Later Beds of the Glacial Formation. 23 Turt., syn. P. pusio, Mytilus edulis, L. Nucula marga- ritacea, Lamk., syn. N. nucleus. Leda pernula (Arca), Mill., syn. L. oblonga. Cardium echinatum, L. —Lucina borealis (Venus), L. Cyprina islandica (Venus), L. Venus ovata, Penn, V. striatula, Don. Astarte sulcata, da Costa. A. compressa, Mont. Mactra elliptica, Brown. Syndosmya alba (Mactra), Wood. Solen ensis, L. Saxicava pholadis (Mytilus), L., syn. 8. rugosa. Cochlodesma praetenue (Mya), Pult. Pholascrispata,L. P.candida,L. Waldheimia cranium (Terebrat), Miill Echinus drébachiensis, Mill. EE. esculentus, Linn. (Twenty-one new species found. Names not given.— Trans.) Remarks— 1. Tritonium despectum (Murex), L., syn. Fusus antiquus K. Forbes.—Distinctively arctic ; common in extreme north of Norway, Russia, Greenland ; very rare and small at Chris- tiansund ; Lat. 63°10. 2. Trophon clathratus, L., syn. Fusus bangius, i. Forbes. —Arctic and circumpolar; diminishes in size as it goes south. as far as Ireland. In north of Norway from 12, to 15™ in length, Greenland 24™™, Spitzbergen 32™" Fossil, fre- quent ; 40™™ in length. 3. Buccinum grelandicum, Chemn.—Arctic and circum- polar; frequent in Finmark, but not further south, size there 53™; fossil, very frequent, and up to 67™™ in length. 4. Natica clausa, Sow.—Arctic and circumpolar, size there 26™"-; common in Finmark up to 20"; south as far as Bergen, but dwarfed and rare, 4 to 5™-; fossil, frequent and full sized, up to 80™ in length. 5. Natica grenlandica, Beck., syn. N. pusilla.— Arctic and circumpolar ; common in north of Norway, becoming rarer and smaller towards the south, reaching the coast of Britain ; fossil differs sighly from the common living Natica greenlan- dica, but approaches the form of the full-grown specimens of these. 6. Trochus magus, L.—Canaries and Mediterranean, and north as far as Shetland; not living in Norway ; fossil, one specimen, agrees exactly with living species. 24 Dr M. Sars on Shells from the Earlier and 7. Suphonodentalium vitreum, Sars.—Only found in Fin- mark, north coast of Norway; rare; fossil pretty frequent in the oldest beds. This fact, and its present rarity, seem to indicate that it is dying out. 8. Pecten islandicus, Mull.—Distinctively Arctic ; found on north coast of Norway and Russia, Greenland and east coast of America; goes south as far as the Christiania fjord and Bohuslin, but does not reach Britain; diminishes in frequency and size as it comes south ; fossil frequent, agrees in size with the northern specimens. 9. Lima excavata (ostreea), J. C. Fabr.—A large species, well known on our west coast, and probably to be reckoned as Arctic, though found to the south as far as Bohuslan ; it lives only in the region of the deep-sea corals, at from 150 to 300 fathoms ; fossil, in the lowest clay, also found amongst the innumerable dead masses of Oculina prolifera (which see, p. 25), at a depth below the sea of from 10 to 15 - fathoms on the Drébak bank, which must therefore have been elevated at least 185 fathoms, or 800 feet. 10. Arca raridentata, Wood. Pectunculoides, Scacchi. ——Common along our whole coast; extends south to Gib- raltar and even to the Aigean Sea, but in the far north attains a much larger size than to the south, and may there- fore be considered as arctic ; varies very much in form, both in length and depth, and in the projection of its umbo. The hinge teeth increase in number with age. It is both in its living and fossil state covered with a hairy membrane, though Forbes and Hanley state the contrary. Fossil, it is very frequent in the lowest clay, where the shells are found in pairs. It is so much larger than, and different from, the living specimeus, as at first to appear specifically distinct, but the transitions between the two prove their identity. The great projection backwards of the ventral margin, and the great number of cardinal teeth—two respects in which the difference between the fossil and the living form is most marked—appear to be merely the effects of age and growth. It is a curious fact, that this species, which extends back into the newer Pliocene of Apulia and Sicily, and the Coralline Crag of England, appears there in the smaller form which it bears in its more southern habitats at the Later Beds of the Glacial Formation. 25 present day, while the Post-pliocene specimens of the species, the descendants of the small Pliocene race, and the ancestors of the small living race, excel them both in size in the proportion of three to one. 11. Astarte arctica, Gray.—Arctic and circumpolar ; extends south as far as Bergen, but is there exceedingly rare; does not reach Britain. (It is very rare in Britain, see Forbes and Hanley.—T'ranslator.) 12. Tapes decussata (Venus), L.—A Mediterranean species; extends to England, on the south coast of which it is common, in Wales and Northumberland very scarce; not found further north. (Forbes and Hanley speak of it as very rare in north Britain, but as found buried in gravel in Skye and Shetland.—Zanslator.) Fossil, found in the later shell-beds of the lower levels, and is as large as the largest Mediterranean living specimens. 13. Panopea norwegica (Mya.), Spengler.—Arctic and circumpolar; extends to the Cattegat and England, but there, as on our own coast, is exceedingly rare. Fossil, © much more frequent than in the living state. 14. Pholas candida, L.—Extends from the Mediterranean to Scotland, and perhaps Norway. Fossil, frequent in the later shell-beds of the lower levels. 15. Oculina prolifera (Madrepora) Li. ; Lophella prolifera, Kdw. and Haime.—This coral is found on our western and northern coast, at the vast depth of from 150 to 300 fathoms,—never less than this,—and forms pretty large bush-shaped masses of 2 feet in diameter. Fossil, it is found in the lowest clay, and also in vast quantities on the shoal which hes out in the Fjord to the west of Drobak, and which has been already stated to be from 10 to 15 fathoms (60 to 90 feet) deep. It cannot have been washed thither by a stream or tide, for it is firmly attached to the solid rock just as it grew; of course, however, it is dead, and stripped bare of the formative polyp which could not survive the increased temperature of the shallower sea. We have thus the best possible proof of an elevation of the land in this upheaval of a portion of the sea-bottom, and that to the extent of at least 135 fathoms, or 800 feet; and with this evidence it is interesting further to compare NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO, I.—JULY 1863. D 26 Dr M. Sars on Shells from the Earlier and the fact of Balanus shells being found on the solid rock by Brogniart at Udevalla, 200. feet above the sea; by Lyell 14 miles north of Kured 100 feet above the sea; and by Keilhau near Hellesaa, in Aremark, 450 feet above the sea. The above sketch is very imperfect, scarcely any of the places mentioned having been satisfactorily examined by any zoologist ; hitherto it has been geoiogists alone who have paid any attention to the subject, and they, occupied with many other matters, have given little time to the laborious task of collecting the numerous species which exist. On such imperfect data, therefore, it would be rash to generalise ; one or two inferences are however obvious. 1. We are assured that we are really dealing with Post- pliocene formations, since all the organic remains which have been found belong without exception to living species. 2. The fossiliferous strata of this period are distinguishable into two classes. The first class, both from stratigraphical position and organic contents, is obviously older. It includes those masses of shells which ascend to 470 feet above the level of the sea, and the deepest situated clay, which rises to a height of 240 feet above the sea. The second class belongs to a later period, and consists of the lower lying shell-beds, which rise to a height of 200 feet above the sea, and the surface clays, which rise to 350 feet above the sea. 3. Among the fossil. species of the older beds there are some which no longer inhabit our southern coast, but have their true habitat on the north coast of Norway, and some or all of the other arctic coasts. Such are Zritonium despectum (which, however, appears also in the later beds), Buccinum islandicum, Natica clausa, Siphonodentalium vitreum, Astarte arctica. 7 4, Other species also present in the older beds are more frequent, and generally larger than those of the same species now inhabiting our southern coasts, and specimens rivalling the fossils in frequency and in size must be sought in the far north. Such are Zvrophon clathratus, Natica greenlandica, Pecten islandicus (which is also found in the later beds), Lima excavata, Arca raridentata, Panopea norvegica. 5. Those in the later beds, on the contrary, with few Later Beds of the Glacial Formation. ral exceptions, agree perfectly with those now inhabiting our southern coasts. 6. From the fossil species we may infer that in the ear- lier post pliocene period a more northern fauna occupied our southern coasts than now prevails there ; in other words, such a fauna as now exists only in the arctic zone. On the other hand, in the later period indicated by the newer beds, the arctic species gradually retired to the far north, and were replaced by the more southern forms, which now con- stitute so large a part of our marine fauna. Loven, in his “Ofversigt af Ventensk. Akad. Forh., 1846,” p. 204, has also arrived at a similar conclusion from an examination of the fossil mollusca in the neighbourhood of the west coast.of Sweden ; with this difference, however, that, according to him, “ the arctic species present them- selves at those spots which are furthest from the coast, while the nearer any locality is to the shore, the rarer are the arctic species, these being gradually replaced by more southern species.” Whereas, with us, mere distance from the coast does not afford a test of the age of a fossil, and the older or arctic species are found in the shell-beds at the greatest heights above the sea, and in the clay furthest below the surface, independent of distance from the coast. [This view is remarkably confirmed by the Hlie shell-bed described by the Rev. Thomas Brown, F.R.S.E., in his paper read before the Royal Society Edinburgh, March 2, 1863. Translator. | 7. Finally, two species have been noticed, viz. Trochus magus (in the older beds), and Tapes decussata (in the later beds), and to these, perhaps, should be added Pholas candida, which no longer inhabit our coasts, but are dis- tributed from the Mediterranean to England. In regard to these species, we can only conjecture that in the Post- pliocene epoch they reached Norway, not from England but from the Mediterranean, between which and the North Sea a communication existed to the east of the Alps. Nor does this fact stand alone. I have already else- where called attention to two other indications of such a connection between these seas at an earlier period, vizi— the well known fact that some of the characteristically 28 Dr M. Sars on Shells from the Earlier and arctic species are found as fossils in Italy and Sicily (For- handl. i Vid. Selsk, ¢ Christiana, 1858, p. 78); and further, the very remarkable fact, that in both these seas perfectly identical species are found living which are absent on the intervening coasts of the Atlantic. Such are, Nephrops norvegicus (Cancer), L. Lotaabyssorum (Nilss.),( = Elongata, Risso. L.), Sebastes impertalis (Cuv.), and Macrourus (Lepi- doleprus) ccelorhynchus (Risso). ‘To these I have recently | (J. c. p. 86) added two shells discovered by me in the sea at Bergen, viz.—Cerithium vulgatum (Brug.), and Monodonta limbata (Phil.), whichare found living in the Mediterranean, but on none of the intermediate coasts between that sea and Norway. To explain, then, the presence of these species in the Mediterranean and in Norway, with their absence from the intervening coast, we must, as I have already elsewhere remarked (see Bemer lninger over det adriatiske Havs Fauna, Magaz. f. Naturv. 7 B. 1853, p. 395), suppose, either that nature, which has so often produced analogous but distinct species, in localities far remote from one ano- ther, has in this instance, created perfectly identical species at two so distant points, a fact of which we have absolutely no other instance ; or, which is far more probable, that the existence of these species dates from a period—viz., the Post-pliocene, when towards the east a connection existed between the Mediterranean and the North Sea, which at a later period was interrupted by the elevation of the Alps. In a paper since communicated to the “ Nyt Magazin,” Dr Sars distinguishes the fossil-bearing beds of the glacial formation into four kinds, different in age and constitution. © 1. The older shell-beds, which lie at from 300 to 500 feet above the sea. Loose heaps of entire or broken shells, the bivalves seldom in pairs. The mass of shells sometimes pure, sometimes mixed with fine sand. These facts prove that such beds are of littoral origin, formed in bays, where their sheltered position preserved them from being swept away and scattered by the waves during the subsequent elevation of the land. That they ‘Later periods of the Glacial Formation. 29 have not been carried to their present position is obvious, from the frequency of the littoral Balanus, still entire, adher- ing to the shells and stones, and even to the rock itself. Further, the shells found in these masses are, without ex- ception, of littoral (for the most part) or laminarian species, the latter, as is the case on existing sea-beaches, having been washed up from the lower zone. Not one deep-water species has ever yet been found in these shell-beds. The arctic character of these beds is still further confirmed afresh by the specific nature, the numerical proportions,* and the actual size and shape of the shells which form them. The elevation of the land seems to have taken place gradu- ally and without violence, accompanied by a corresponding diminution in the arctic character of the fauna. 2. The older clay containing shells rarely aggregated in any number, generally sporadically dispersed or thinly spread, usually entire and well preserved, and the bivalves in pairs. This is plainly a deep-water formation, the shells and Echinoderms found in it belonging to the deep-sea zone. Dentalium abyssorum, Yoldia pygmea, Y. lucida, Arca gla- cialis, &c., are frequent. Srphonodentalium vitreum, Iso- cardia cor, &c., are rarer. Serpula polita is frequently found attached to the erratic blocks which abound in this clay. The fauna of this clay is markedly arctic. Thus Arca glacialis lives now only in Finmark, Spitzbergen, and Mel- ville Island: Yoldia intermedia, discovered by Dr Sars in Finmark at 100 fathoms deep, and Siphonodentalium vitreum, a rare Finmark species, living from 40 to 100 fathoms deep, and apparently approaching extinction, are much more fre- quent in the clay-beds. The evidence of the Echinoderms supports that hitherto obtained from molluscs alone. Ophiwra Sarsit lives along the whole coast of Norway, at from 20 to100 fathoms andupwards, but is more frequent and larger in the far north. Ctenodiscus erispatus, distinctively arctic, comes south to Christiansund, Lat. 63°10, at from 40 to 200 fathoms. Tripylus fragilis, peculiar to Norway, is larger and more frequent in the north, but comes south to Bergen at from 30 to 120 fathoms. * Thus Saxicava rugosa, Mya truncata, and Pecten islandicus, form from 50 to 80 per cent. of the whole shells. + ae . oa yt —— ‘J a) F Stas, a 8 r eae ei ks ee Sie ia 4 Ls) Mir ey BS awe Liss ssakta VAS hs ee ¥ Paz * eit Note on Lemania variegata of Agardh. By Conan Law-_ ) son, LL.D., Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Natural — History in the Queen’ s University of Canada* Utes In the first part of the second volume of Bishop Agardh’s * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 9th April 1863. Ta Dr George Lawson on Lemania variegata of Agardh. 31 “Species Algarum,” published in 1828, an alga said to have been found “in fluvits Americe borealis,” was described under the name of Lemania variegata. Agardh’s original descrip- tion of the plant appears, however, to have been published in the Stockholm Transactions in 1814, to which I have no means of access at the present time. The specimen upon which the species was founded had been given to Agardh by Olaf Swartz, his first master in Algology, who obtained it from the collector, the Rev. Dr Muhlenberg of Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. Not having been met with by subsequent observers, Lemania variegata has been looked upon as a long-lost plant. In a parcel of specimens of cryptogamic plants sent tome in August 1862, by MrJohn Macoun of Belleville, Canada West, a most zealous and successful explorer, I at once recog- nised a Lemania, remarkable for its extremely rigid, promi- nently moniliform, curved filaments, attenuated towards the base and apex, and regularly marked throughout by alternate bands, dark and white,—agreeing, in fact, very well with Agardh’s description of LZ. variegata. I doubt not that the Belleville plant is conspecific with that of Agardh, and it is probably the identical form described in the “ Species Algarum.” Lemania, Bory. Generic character.—Fronds bristle-like, rising in clusters from a common adherent base, cartilaginous or corneous, continuously tubular, more or less nodose (brown, dull-green, blackish or parti-coloured), the tube-membrane composed of two distinct closely adherent strata of cells, those of the outer stratum minute, irregularly polygonal, closely united pavement-wise in radiating groups, those of the inner stratum rounded and not conformable, much larger than the others. Spores (so called by authors) in seriated stalked _ tufts, inside the swollen joints of the tube, and arising either from a central axis (according to Dr W. J. Thomson), or from the inner peripheral layer of cells, or from both. This genus is named Lemania by Bory, in honour of M. Lemain of Paris, ‘‘ a modest naturalist not less learned in 32 Dr George Lawson on Lemania variegata of Agardh. botany than in the other branches of science,” embraces three species of aquatic alge of very remarkable aspect and structure, which grow attached to stones, rocks, wood, &c., in the bottoms of shallow, rapid, fresh-water streams. Un- like most fresh water alge, they have dense compact tissue, giving them firm consistence ; they are rich in nitrogen, and when burned yield ammoniacal vapours. The plant usually consists of a little tuft of stiff erect or curved bristle-like fronds, which adhere by a common discoid root to sub- merged objects. The minute structure of these plants has been illustrated very fully by authors at different times, from Vaillant (1727) downwards, with singularly conflicting results. The most recent, and perhaps most valuable con- tribution that has been made to the history of Lemanie, is the remarkably lucid description of Dr W. J. Thomson, in the Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, vol. vi. page 2438, to which I would refer observers as an excel- lent basis for further inquiry, although I have been unable (probably from my specimens being too matured) to con- firm some of Dr Thomson’s results. Mr Thwaites of Ceylon has carefully studied the early development of the frond, and states that the spores at first vegetate into slender con- fervoid filaments, with long joints containing spirally-ar- ranged endochroms. The filaments constitute a sort of pro- thallus or pro-embryo, the initial state of the plant. After a time thick branchlets, the germs of the perfect and per- manent frond, spring from the cells of the confervoid fila- ment; they are at first wholly dependent upon the cell from which they rise, but soon acquire rootlets at their base, and, rapidly elongating, grow into the densely cellular, opaque, car- tilaginous bristle-like tubes, so characteristic of the mature plant in this genus. L.variegata.—F ronds tufted, of simple bristle-like tubes, rigid, corneous, attenuated towards the base and apex, moniliform, with black or dark-brown swollen elliptical nodes, and pellucid, colourless, constricted internodes of equal length. “ Hippuris fluviatilis petrea nuda Virginiensis, Pluk. pp p 9 , Phyt. tab, 193, fig. 7.” (Agardh.) Dr George Lawson on Lemania variegata of Agardh. 33 “ Lemania variegata, Agardh, Act. Holm., 1814, tab. 2, fig. 3.” (Agardh.) “ Lemania variegata” (Agardh), Species Algarum, vol, 1. page 7, In the bed of the Moira above Belleville, Canada West, on rocks, rare (August 1862), John Macoun, sp. “‘ In fluviis Americe borealis. Specimina a Muhlenbergio missa com- municavit Swartz” (Agardh). The following eight forms of this extremely interesting genus have been described by Agardh :— 1. L. fluviatilis = (Conferva fluviatilis lubrica setosa, Equiscti facie, Horse-tail River Conferva, Dillenius, Hist. Musc., tab. vii. fig. 47. Conferva fluviatilis, Zinn., Mohr, Roth., &e. Polysperma fluviatilis, Vauch. Chantransia fluvia- tilis, DC. Lemania corallina, Bory. Nodularia fluvia- tilis, Zyngb.) This is the more common British species * which I gathered in quantity in a stream on the Ochil Hills, near Stirling, in 1857. It has also been recorded as growing near Bangor (Duillenius), in Winterbourne Stream, Lewes (W. Borrer); at Hamsell, and at the waterfall at Harrison’s rocks (H. Jenner); Aberdeen, abundant (Professor Dickie, M.D.); Ireland, frequent (D. Moore); Scandinavia, Germany, France, Corsica. 2. 6. tuberculosa = (Nodularia fluviatilis ramosa, Lyngb.) Denmark, 3. y. media = (Conferva fluviatilis, Dillw., E.B., t. 176 3). England. 4, 6. fucina = (Lemania fucina, Bory. Chantransia dichotoma, DC. France, chiefly in Bretagne. 6. s. subtilis = (Lemania subtilis, Agardh (in Act. Holm. 1814, t. 2, f. 4, Kiitzing.) Sweden, &c. 6. L. torulosa = (Conferva fluviatilis nodosa Fucum emulans,. Sea Horse-tail-like Conferva, Dill. Hist. Muse. tab. vii. fig 48. Conferva torulosa, Roth., Mohr., Dillw.,&e. Le- mania incurvata, Bory.) Recorded as occurring in moun- tain streams near Ludlow, Salop (.Dillenius), Anglesea (Rev. H, Davies); also in France, Germany, Kentucky, United States (Dr Short in Harvey, Nereis), 8. usneoides = (Conferva usneoides, Wallr.) Saxony. . L, variegata = (Hippuris fluviatilis petreea nuda Virginiensis, Pluk.) Belleville, Canada West (JJ. Macoun,) United States, Pennsylvania? (Miihlenberg). aaa Probably L. fluv., ¢. subtilis, and L. torulosa, 8. usneotdes, NEW SERIES,—VOL. XVIII. NO. I.—JuLy 1863. E 34 Dr George Lawson on Lemania variegata of Agardh. may be found, on investigation, to be well-marked species. The various forms deserve a careful examination, and I would beg to direct the attention of British botanists to the subject. Descriptions of New Genera and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. By R. K. Grevitie, LL.D., F.R.S.E., &.* (Plate I). The diatoms described in the present communication were all obtained from dredgings made on various coasts in the South Pacific, and kindly placed in my hands by my obliging correspondent Dr Roberts of Syduey. Many other novelties, of equal interest, contained in these dredgings, will (D.V.) form the subject of future papers. STICTODESMIS, nov. gen., Grev. Frustules elongated (sessile?), in front view linear, rec- tangular, with two conspicuous rows of puncta disposed in pairs ; side view linear, with terminal and central nodules, median line, and numerous transverse pervious septa. It is difficult to indicate the systematic position of this curious diatom. The transverse septa, as shown in the lateral view, and very elongated form, are suggestive of some affinity with Climacosphenia : but from that genus and the other, Licmophore, it differs in the linearity of the frustules, and in the presence of nodules and a median line, as well as in the different nature of the septa themselves. With the Fragillarie it might be compared in its pervious septa, conjoined with the similarity of both ends of the frustule ; but Stictodesmis is not compressed in the lateral view; and here also the median line and nodule, and position of the septa, indicate a different structure and different relations. The genus, in fact, cannot be referred to any of the families as at present constituted. Stictodesmis australis, n. sp., Grev.—(Pl. I. figs. 1-4). Hab. Harvey Bay, Queensland, and at Port of France, New Caledonia ; in dredgings communicated by Dr Roberts of Sydney. * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 14th May 1863, SS a SS SS ee = —————$$S$——S == Se a So so New Serves, Vol. XVI. PLT. v rr Ta A NN 8 Ton TON aa A (Up (UH a a RX : ae ie = Jedin® New Phil. Journal WH MS Fatlane Lith? Edin® Dr Greville on New Genera and Species of Diatoms. 35 Frustules much elongated, from ‘0055” to 0100", the breadth scarcely more than ‘0004". Front view linear, rectangular, with two longitudinal rows of brilliant puncta in pairs, at some distance from the margin, the space between the rows and the margin very finely striated, while that between the rows forms a smooth, blank line. Lateral view linear, slightly dilated at the middle, and generally, also, more or less at the rounded ends, with a median line, aud terminal and central nodules, the line being situated slightly nearer to one side than the other ; transverse septa pervious, strong, subequidistant, numerous, upwards of twenty in the shorter frustules, nearly double that number in the longest; very fine transverse striz also cover the whole space. Besides the above front and lateral views, the valve must be noticed separately, being distinguished by the median line and nodules and the fine striz only, and is so thin and transparent that it is easily overlooked. The septa belong to an internal arrangement, being per- ceived in the front view to be placed at about a third of the entire breadth of the frustule from each side, or, in other words, from the valve. The puncta, which shine like brilliant points of light, are of course the sutural ter- minations of the septa viewed vertically. The shorter figures are from the Harvey Bay dredging, the long one from New California. PLAGIOGRAMMA. Plagiogramma costatum, n. sp., Grev.—F ront view with nearly straight sides and sharp angles; valves lanceolate, with two centrical vitte; strie costate, pervious, 10 in 001”. Length about -0030" (figs. 5, 6). Hab. New Caledonia ; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. This species is well distinguished by its clear costation and central pair of vitte. It is by no means unfrequent in the dredging. Plagiogramma spectabile, n. sp., Grev.— Valves constricted in the middle, then dilated and slightly lyriform ; vitte - numerous (about twelve), with intermediate transverse lines of minute puncta. Length about 0080". (fig. 7). 36 Dr Greville’s Descriptions of New Genera Hab. New Caledonia ; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Very rare. Of this diatom I have only seen two examples; but the characters are so remarkable, that there can be no doubt of its novelty as a species. The central constriction, it now appears, is not uncommon in this genus. Plagiogramma constrictum, un. sp., Grev.— Valve con- stricted in the middle, then suddenly dilated and lyriform, with terminal and central vitte ; strize moniliform, inter- rupted, 11 in 001". Length about ‘0025” (fig. 8). Hab. New Caledonia; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Allied to P. lyratum, but differing in the smaller size of the frustule, in the relatively much broader valve, more abrupt constriction, more approximated central vitte, and much fewer strie. Plagiogramma Atomus, n. sp., Grev.— Very minute; valve with terminal and central vitte ; the intermediate spaces spherically dilated ; striae few, pervious. Length, 0005" (fis, 9). Hab. Woodlark Island; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. The smallest of the genus hitherto discovered, distin- guished by the very deep constriction and spherical form of the dilated portions, each of which contains about half a dozen strize. OMPHALOPSIS, nov. gen., Grev, Frustules united into a filament; lateral view cruciform, with central nodule, terminal vitte, and interrupted trans- verse strie. } This genus is allied on the one hand to Plagiogramma, on the other to Glyphodesmis. From the former it differs in the absence of central vitte; from the latter, in the presence of terminal vitte, as well as in difference of struc- ture, the remarkable clathrate cellulation being wholly wanting. In the cruciform lateral view it resembles Odontidium, (?) Harrisonit of Smith, and O. speciosum of Brightwell (both placed by Ralfs in his genus Dimere- and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. 37 gramma), but is far removed in structure by its vitte and central nodule. Omphalopsis australis, n. sp., Grev.—(Figs. 10, 11). Hab. Woodlark Island ; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Not unfrequent. Frustules varying considerably in size, but generally about 0022" in length, rectangular, the angles slightly rounded, and the striz forming a very narrow marginal border; valve cruciform, about ‘0012” in breadth in the middle; nodule large, prominent, circular; strie 11 in 001", strong, submoniliform, somewhat oblique, radiating in the centre, where a short one usually occurs at the outer margin, interrupted, leaving a narrow blank median space which terminates at the vittee which cut off the rounded ends. At first sight, the large boss-like nodule and robust strie convey an impression that the valve may belong to a species of Glyphodesmis, but, as already remarked, the terminal vitte and different structure essentially separate it. AMPHITETRAS, Amphitetras parvula, n. sp., Grev.— Lateral view with the sides slightly convex, the angles rounded, containing a large pseudo-opening ; centre marked by two cruciform lines of cellules which intersect each other in the middle and give off radiating lines of minute puncta. Breadth between the opposite angles ‘0015” (fig. 12). Hab.—New Caledonia; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Very rare. _ Frustule very small, quadrangular, the sides very slightly convex, the rounded angles being formed by the pseudo- openings which are very conspicuous, the true margin, con- tinued on the inner side of the openings, strong and dark, outside of which the edge of the connecting zone appears constituting a secondary margin, which passes to the apices of the pseudo-openings. ‘The internal space is equally divided by two lines crossing in the middle, composed of two contiguous rows of cellules, which are mostly visible in consequence of the shadow they produce, while from each side of these rows pass inclined lines of very minute puncta. 38 Dr Greville’s Descriptions of New Genera - This exceedingly distinct little species is about the same size as A. crucifera of Kitton, and resembles it to a certain extent in the internal cruciform arrangement. But in the last-named species there are no pseudo-openings, the pro- duced rounded angles being simply an extension of the internal surface. There is a difference also in the cruciform appearance, which in A. crucifera is produced by the position and larger size of puncta, similar to those which fill up the rest of the space, and which do not cause the line of shadow above mentioned. Although the form is exceedingly rare, I have seen and examined several specimens, AMPHIPRORA, Amphiprora eximia, n. sp., Grev.—F ront view elongated, oblong, rounded at the ends, deeply constricted at the middle, one supplementary wing convex and widely overlapping the constriction, a second passing over the nodule where it is somewhat constricted, and within the nodule a short clevated longitudinal ridge. Length about :0060" (fig. 18). Hab.—Curteis Straits, Queensland; in a dredging com- municated by Dr Roberts. A singularly graceful species. Nothing can be more beautiful than the harmony of the various intersecting lines. As far as I can make them out, there are two sup- plementary wings, the largest very broad, arising at the terminal angles of the valve, and with a gentle curve over- lapping the constriction so much as to bring the convexity of the supplementary wing almost into a line with the widest part of the frustule. The second supplementary wings (if they be truly wings) also arise from the same point, soon curve outwards, and then, becoming constricted | at the nodule, have a somewhat lyrate appearance. Lastly, there is just within the nodule a little ridge (or abortive wing ?) which is parallel to, and follows the curve of the second supplementary wing, and disappears at less than half way between the nodule and the ends. I have not been able to resolve the strie. Ampliprora lata, n. sp., Grev.—Front view very broad (breadth more than half the length), truncate at the ends, | a and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. 39 with the corners very widely rounded, rather deeply and acutely constricted ; supplementary wing narrow, con- vex, not reaching the constriction; central portion with faint lines or folds. Length about ‘0040’, breadth -0028” (fig. 14). Hab.—Curteis Straits, Queensland; in a dredging com- municated by Dr Roberts. It was not until I had seen a number of examples of this diatom that I began to regard it with any confidence. There can be no doubt that some of the Amphiprore are liable to considerable variation ; and the very broad, squat appearance of the frustules now before me made me suspect that they might turn out to be a variety of some large species. All the specimens, however, present precisely the same characters, and I am consequently prepared to offer it asa genuine species. From 4. maxima of Gregory it differs not only in form, and in the much narrower supplementary wings, but very strikingly in the more truncated ends. The striz are readily brought out. Amphiprora delicatula, n. sp., Grev.— Minute, hyaline ; front view oblong, with rotundato-truncate ends and deep lateral constriction; supplementary wing very narrow, slightly overlapping the nodule; lateral view lanceolate, the apices. slightly produced and minutely truncate. Length about °0025" (figs. 15, 16). Hab.—Woodlark Island ; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Not uncommon. A most delicate and graceful species, easily overlooked on account of its small size and hyaline character. I have been unable to make out the strie. Amphiprora? superba, u. sp., Grev.—Very large; front view elongated oblong, slightly constricted, widest part . about half way between the ends and middle, each extremity gradually converging to the angle of the connecting zone, which is truncate ; supplementary wings rather broad, linear, directed inwards with two longitudinal lines between them andthe margin. Length -0108" (fig. 17). Hab.—New Caledonia; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Extremely rare. This fine diatom may perhaps be regarded as belonging 40 Dr Greville’s Descriptions of New Genera doubtfully to the present genus. In some respects it is not unlike a gigantic Amphora ; but the position of the nodules, and the apparent existence of what I have called supple- mentary wings, are opposed to its being referred to that genus. ‘There are, however, some very aberrant forms dis- covered by my friend the late Professor Gregory, and several more recently observed by myself, which render the generic discrimination of Amphiprora, in the absence of the valvular view, somewhat difficult. The panduriform outline in some instances disappears altogether, the constriction is occa- sionally scarcely perceptible, and the wing inconspicuous. The striz in the present diatom are transverse, 27 in ‘001’, and sufficiently evident. Amphiprora nitida, n. sp., Grev.—Small; front view panduriform, broadly rotundato-truncate at the ends, rather deeply and sharply constricted, margin with a row of minute puncta; supplementary wings linear, forming a nearly straight line, which passes within the constriction ; another ridge-like line converging towards the middle at each end. Striz conspicuous. Length from ‘0020" to :0035” (fig. 18). Hab.—Curteis Straits, Queensland; in a dredging com- municated by Dr Roberts. A beautiful and apparently very distinct small species, characterised at once by the lines of the supplementary wings and the superficial ridges. The supplementary wing is linear, passing on each side from end to end in a very slight curve just within the nodules. At the ends it turns almost at a right angle to join the middle portion, and thus a sort of parallelogram is produced, which, when focussed for itself, is very striking. Another very characteristic line seems to be caused by an elevated ridge, commencing on each side at the angle of the middle portion or connecting zone, curves outwards until it reaches the margin of the supplementary wing, which it then follows for about a third of its length, when it leaves it and curves in a similar way towards the middle portion at the opposite end. The surface is thus much undulated, as is shown by the different direc- tions taken by the striz. Amphiprora lineata, n. sp., Grev.—Front view oblong, FiMias <. y oe Wee. : and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. 41 broadly rounded at the ends, and moderately constricted at the middle, with a marginal row of very minute puncta ; surface marked with straight longitudinal lines or folds (about seven); striation obscure. Length about -0038" (fig. 19). Hab.—W oodlark Island ; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. Rare. In this species we find no distinct trace of supplementary wings, but in their place a few equidistant longitudinal lines or folds, which cannot be prominent as they cast very little shadow. Amphiprora? Clepsydra, n. sp.,Grev.—Front view oblong, rotundato-truncate at the ends, much, but not sharply con- stricted at the middle; strie coarse, forming a narrow intra- marginal band, and two inner ones still narrower, the two outermost following the curve of the margin, and converg- ing at the ends. Length :0034” (fig. 20). Hab.—Curteis Straits, Queensland; in a dredging com- municated by Dr Roberts. Very rare. | Here, again, we have a diatom very different indeed from what has been regarded as typical of Amphiprora. It will be perceived that the system of striation is quite unlike, the outer band being distinctly radiate. The inner bands may be regarded as supplementary wings. The constriction is not sharp, as in most of the preceding species, but rather deeply concave. Ampliprora ? paradoxa, n. sp., Grev.—F ront view quad- rangular, with truncated ends, and rounded corners very slightly and gradually constricted at the middle; supple- mentary wings broader than the primary ones, and also constricted opposite the nodule; striz robust, moniliform, 10 in 001". Length :0035” (fig. 21). Hab.—Curteis Straits, Queensland ; in a dredging com- municated by Dr Roberts. In the. robust and distinctly moniliform strie of this diatom we have another deviation from the ordinary struc- ture of Amphiprora, so strongly marked as to render it evident, that although it may be convenient in the mean- time to refer some of these forms to that genus, a re-arrange- ment will soon become necessary. The possession of the NEW SERIES. —VOL. XVIII, NO. 1.—JULY 1863. F 42 Dr Greville’s Descriptions of New Genera valve might serve to show more exactly their relations ; but the probability of obtaining a side view of the frustule is so remote, that I prefer giving figures of these interesting objects at once, to laying them aside for an indefinite period. It only requires to be understood that their posi- tion in the genus is provisional. There is no reason why the same latitude should not be allowed in the publication of Diatoms as in that of other plants; and especially of other alge. Forexample, while engaged in the description of these Amphiprore, the 49th Part of my friend Professor Harvey’s admirable “Phycologia Australica” has appeared,in which, under Cryptonemia dectpiens, he remarks, “ In now referring it to Cryptonemia, I must be understood to do so provisionally, until the discovery of its fruit enable us to assign it its proper place in the system.” ‘This is a most reasonable privilege. It may be observed, with regard to the frustules now before me, that there is all the ap- pearance of a distinct wing, which becomes narrower as it approaches the constriction, as in the known Amphr- prore. Amphiprora? undulata, n. sp., Grev.—Small; front view quadrangular, with rounded angles, and nearly straight sides, and a slight, somewhat notch-like constriction ; sur- face rather coarsely striated, and undulated with longitudi- nal ridges, the two principal ones curving outwards, and passing just within the constriction. Length about -0030" (fig. 22). Hab.—Curteis Straits; in a dredging communicated by Dr Roberts. This species is as rectangular in its outline as A. pusilla of Gregory. The two outer prominent ridges or folds evi- dently occupy the place of supplementary wings, while the inner ones are merely undulations, sufficiently decided, however, to throw the striz which cross them out of focus. I have examined a number of examples, but have not succeeded in finding a valve. The latter would no doubt assist in determining the genus in the case of aberrant forms; but I apprehend that in most instances the specific character will be best obtained from the front view. and Species of Diatoms from the South Pacific. 48 DESCRIPTION OF PLATE I. Fig. 1. Stictodesmis australis, . front view. Ae Aa: a a side view. 4. in valve. 5. Plagiogramma costatum, front view. 6. ‘5 i side view. 7 ss spectabile, side view. 8. Pe constrictum, side view. 9: fa Atomus, side view. 10. Omphalopsis australis, front view. 11. x - side view. 12. Amphiteras parvula, . side view. 18. Amphiprora eximia, . front view. 14, i lata, front view. 15. a delicatula, front view. 16. 3 % side view. LT. - 2? superba, . front view. 18. x: nitida, . front view. 19. b lineata, . front view. 20. » £Clepsydra, front view. 21. » 2paradoxa, front view. 22. » undulata, . front view. All the figures are x 400 diameters. On the question, Is Oxide of Arsenic, long used in a very small- quantity, mmjurious to Man? By Jonn Davy, M.D., F.R.SS. Lond. & Edin.* The facts which led me to propose the above question were the following :—In Cumberland, within a stone’s cast of the Coast’s Railway, between Whitehaven and Broughton, is the little church of the parish of Whitbeck, and also the farm-house of Whitbeck-head,—names these derived from the small mountain stream which descends from Black Comb, and so rapidly as to be an almost white line of foam. The hamlet, situated at the foot of the hill, consists of the farm-house just mentioned, and of five cottages, each occupied by a family dependent for water on the rivulet, “the Beck,” their inmates using no other. The same water is drunk by the cattle of the farm, and by the poultry, fowls, geese, and ducks; and, as regards all, with one excep- * Read at the Meeting of the British Association in 1862. 4A Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsenic. tion, its wholesomeness has never been called in question. The one exception has been in the instance of ducks, which, according to report, never could be reared there. No attempt that I am aware of was made to account for this exceptional effect until about two or three years ago, when the water was examined by Mr Arthur H. Church, and was found by him, it was said, to contain arsenic,—an alkaline arseniate, and in a determinate quantity. The first notice of this gentleman’s results that I saw was in an extract from the Whitehaven Herald, in which it was stated that “the arsenical water is habitually used for every pur- pose by the inhabitants of the little village of Whitbeck, and with beneficial results so apparent that one might be justified in paradoxically characterising it as a very whole- some poison, the deadly elements in solution being pro- ductive of the most sanatory effects.” It is immediately added, ‘“‘ It is true ducks will not live if confined to Whit- beck; and whilst trout abound in the neighbouring rivulets, no fins are ever found in this arseniated stream.” Further, it is said, that ““ when the railway was being carried past Whitbeck, the first use of the water produced the usual marked effects on the throats both of the men and horses employed on the works. The soreness of mouth from which they first suffered soon however disappeared, and in the’ horses gave rise to that sleekness of coat assigned as one of the principal effects produced by the administration of minute but repeated doses of arsenic.” This notice, which I have since found is nearly a travesty of Mr Church’s, published in the ‘‘ Chemical News” for August 25, 1860, exciting my curiosity, I paid a visit to the stream on the 27th August of last year, ascending to one of its sources, probably 700 feet above the level of the sea, where it issues from the gallery of a forsaken mine, and . thence followed it in its descent to the village. In this its course, of about a mile, it was joined by other small streams, and by one from a lateral valley equal in size to that which it meets. The temperature of the water close to the mine- gallery was 48° at the time that the open air was 60°; lower down, just before entering the village, it was 58°. I then collected a portion of water for examination, and had other Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsente. 45 portions sent me; one in October, when the stream was of moderate size; another, in January, when it was lower than usual, after a frost of many days continuance ; anda fourth I collected myself when I last visited the stream, viz. on the 3d of August of this year, when it was of its average height, and when the water of the mine-branch was 51°'5, and of the lateral branch 50°'5. Before mentioning the results of my trial of these speci- mens of water, I shall give a brief summary of the infor- mation which I obtained from the inhabitants of the village. The statement about the ducks was verified; and also that no fish had ever been seen in the stream. Nothing was known of its having had any of the effects attributed to it when first used by the labourers and horses employed on the railway; indeed, there was a positive contradiction given by the mother of a young family of children who had come to reside at the village after the line was opened. Nor could I learn that any of the inhabitants thought that any special good effect on their health was due to their habitual use of the water. My chief informant was Mrs K., a widow of about 60, of Whitbeck-head, residing in the farm-house, the mother of twelve children, all of whom were born and brought up in the same place, and had good health. She was not a native of the spot, but had lived there uninterruptedly about forty years—that is, from the time of her marriage; and when I saw her she was active for her age, was in good health, and said she always had been healthy. According to her, so fruitless had been all her attempts to rear ducks that she had given them up as hopeless. Their death, she stated, was preceded by a wast- ing; and that, on examination after death, their stomachs were found “ unusually crammed” or distended; all other poultry doing well. I shall now speak of the water of the Beck. It had the general character of the mountain-streams of the Lake _ District, was perfectly clear, and colourless and tasteless. Of the several specimens obtained, I found the specific gravity the same, and the same as that of distilled or rain-water. When evaporated to dryness the residue was very small, a pint yielding about ‘25 of a grain—and, from the different 46 Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsenic. specimens tried, not varying more than one-tenth of a grain. In each instance this residue was found to consist chiefly of common salt; it tasted of this salt, and in solution was copiously precipitated by nitrate of silver. Mixed with the common salt was a little magnesia and lime, both probably in combination with sulphuric acid, as sulphate of lime and of magnesia, the presence of the acid being denoted by nitrate of barytes; a trace, too, of oxide of arsenic was detected in each, and it may be inferred, in combination with potash, a trace of which also was obtained. The arsenic was detected not only by the test of the ammoni- aco-nitrate of silver, but also by reduction to its metallic state by sublimation, after mixture with ferro-cyanide of potassium. Of the several specimens of water tried, that procured in October, when the stream was about its ordinary size, afforded a. somewhat stronger trace of the metal than either the earlier or later, the one in August 1861, taken when the stream was swollen after rain; the other in Jan- uary 1862, during a frost of several days’ duration, when probably the water was frozen at its sources,—the stream then lower than common. In noticing, however, the later, I should except the last, that taken in August last, when the stream was of about its average volume, and the indica- tions of arsenic nearly the same as those of October. In the instance that the trace was strongest, judging from com- parative experiments with oxide of arsenic,—experiments of reduction by sublimation,—the quantity of oxide con- tained in the pint was only about ‘008 grain, or ‘064 grain to the gallon. Before concluding this part of my subject I may mention that in the second visit which I made to the stream, then in company with Dr Robinson of Newcastle, we paid par- ticular attention to the herbage and plants growing close to or in the water, and were unable to observe anything in their appearance indicative of a noxious influence on them, with the exception—if it be an exception—of a single tree, a maple (Acer campestre), growing where its roots were washed by the descending stream; of its branches many were dead, and such was its general aspect that it might well represent a poisoned tree; yet, that it was poisoned, is Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsenic. 47 very doubtful, judging from the circumstance that its fructifying power was not apparently impaired, seed-vessels being abundant on it. At my last visit I saw sheep browsing on the grass that grew at the edge of the stream : and then I was struck not only by the variety of the kinds of plants, but also by the freshness and healthy appearance of those so near as to be in the way of being sprinkled with the spray of the little torrent. At the same time that I had the advantage of the company of Dr Robinson, we sought for larve in the sediments of a little pond, which had been formed as a reservoir for the purpose of working a mill belonging to the farm, but without success. The only living things we saw, and these were not in the water, were some small spiders, which were actively skimming its surface. In a portion of the sediment which I brought away, subjected to the microscope, I found a few remains of Infusoria. It may be worth mentioning, that when the bottom of the pond was stirred much air was disengaged. Dr Robinson was so good as to have a portion of it collected and sent tome. I found it to be almost entirely azote ; it was not diminished by agitation with milk of lime, and hardly perceptibly by phosphorus; nor was it inflammable. As the deposit had an ochrey hue, perhaps the separation of the oxygen, which most waters contain, was owing to the action of a protoxide of iron in process of conversion into the peroxide. To revert to the arsenical impregnation. If it be asked whence it was derived, we have not far to seek: the obvious inference is, that the very minute quantity of arsenic in the water is owing to the water flowing over mineral substances of which arsenic is a constituent part, such as arsenical pyrites, which I am informed was abundant in the mine,— (a vein that was worked for cobalt), and is of common occur- rence in the side of Black Comb. Dr Robinson, who had collected some specimens of it, favoured me with a portion of them ; and from water, in which they had been immersed a few hours, traces were detected of oxide of arsenic, and also of iron and copper; and in confirmation, I may state, that when, at my last visit, I tested on the spot the two streams before adverted to, which by their junction form 48 Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsenic. the Beck, I found the indications of arsenic in the one, of about the same degree of distinctness as in the other. As regards the question proposed,—Is arsenic in very small quantity, long continued in use, injurious to man?—do not the results described and the experience related justify an answer in the negative? To me they seem to warrant this conclusion, and also the conclusion equally, that no appreciable good effect is produced in the instance of man, or in that of the other animals mentioned, by its long-con- tinued use ; and in confirmation of this I may state, that one of the inhabitants of the village, a blacksmith, who on taking up his abode there some years ago, was subject to attacks of asthma, assured me that his complaint had from year to year been becoming worse rather than better, In a recent number of the Journal de Médecine et Chi- rurgie Pratiques,* there is a notice of a thermal spring (its temperature that of 106° Fahr.) in the regency of Tunis, called Bon-Chater, the water of which, from the analysis made of it by M. Guyon, contains a large proportion of arsenic in the state of arseniate of potash and of soda, larger indeed than any other yet known, being as much as four grains to the gallon; and yet we are assured, that it was used not only by the natives with impunity, but also by M. Guyon and his party. If, then, not noxious, used as above described, is there not another inference to be drawn,—viz., that arsenic, especially in combination with either of the alkalies, is not one of those substances which accumulate in the system; is, on the con- trary, as commonlyadmitted, one of those which are got rid of by excretion,—its elimination varying, probably, in different persons and in different animals as to rate, and varying, it may be, proportionally in the measure of its tolerance ? Analogy seems to favour this view. The tolerance of cer- tain substances taken in slowly increasing doses is very remarkable. I was assured by the medical man under whose care “ The Opium-Eater,” the late Mr De Quincey placed himself, that at the height of his indulgence he took half a pint of laudanum daily. The same practitioner as- sured me that another patient of his, a lady whom I knew, * Tom. xxxii. 369. Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsenic. 49 took daily two drams of solid opium, but not without injury to her fine mental faculties, I may mention another in- stance, and one more extraordinary, which came to my knowledge at Constantinople, of a Turk who took daily, and for fifteen years, two drams of solid opium, with half that quantity of corrosive sublimate. My informant knew the man well,—he was a porter at the arsenal (of which my friend was an official), and though in shattered health, was capable of his easy duties. I obtained a specimen of what was used as corrosive sublimate, and, testing it, found it to be this compound, of ordinary purity. The main motive for its use, he said was, that it improved—increased, the effects of the opium. This instance, according to the apothecaries in Pera, is not a solitary one of its kind; their experience having taught them that the opium-eater has recourse to it when the narcotic has ceased to have its original effect. The tolerance of certain substances, in connection with their elimination, has not, I am disposed to think, had all the attention which it deserves. Why is it that individuals living under the same circumstances, using the same kind of diet and the same drinks, are some of them subject to gout, whilst others are free from it? Is it not because the latter possess in their organisation a greater power of elimi- nating the causa mali—lithic acid? Why is it that nitrate of silver long used, in some persons (the very few) becomes —that is the metal—lodged in the cutis vera, occasioning there its peculiar discolouring effect, whilst in the majo- rity, after long use, no effect of the kind is witnessed ? Is not the rationale of the difference the same ? We have had it confirmed that the water of Whitbeck is, in the solitary instance of the duck, injurious; ultimately it would appear to be fatal. This may be owing, it may be conjectured, to the duck seeking its food so much more in water, and to a delicacy, an idiosyncrasy rendering it pecu- liarly susceptible of the effect of arsenic ; a peculiarity itself which may be connected with a feeble eliminating power, especially of the kidneys, its urine, like that of birds in general, approaching to a solid. A somewhat similar instance of great susceptibility of the effects of arsenic occurs, I believe, in the charr, one of the NEW SERIES,—VOL. XVIII. NO, I.—JULY 1863. G 50 Dr John Davy on Oxide of Arsenic. most delicate, the most sensitive of noxious influences of all the Salmonide. It is an established fact, that in the two or three instances in the Lake District, that mines have been opened in the vicinity of lakes, their drainage entering the lakes, the charr has either entirely disappeared, as at Ulswater, or has become very scarce, as at Coniston-water, the trout, a hardier fish, remaining. J have examined the water flowing from the Coniston copper mines into the lake of the same name, and have detected in it distinct traces of arsenic ; and I have obtained a like result from the examin- ation of the water flowing into Ulswater, which receives the drainage of an adjoining lead mine. Recently, much alarm has been felt from apprehension of arsenic-poisoning, owing to the great use made of some of its compounds, especially of Scheele’s green—the cuprio- arseniate—in colouring paper and articles of dress. Pro- bably the apprehension is an exaggerated one; but yet there ~geems some foundation for it, especially in the case of women employed in making artificial flowers, and in that of ladies wearing those flowers in ball-dresses, coloured by the arsenic compound. If there were only a risk of injury, and that there certainly is in these instances, of a poisonous effect, ought it not to act powerfully as a prohibition to the further use of articles so coloured? Even the most insen- sate votaries of fashion who may defend crinoline, asserting that, with caution, they are safe from combustion, will hardly venture to defend the use of a poisoned dress, from the slow effects of which, undermining health and spoiling beauty, no ordinary precautions can be effectual. When we reflect on the abundance of arsenical pyrites in most of our mining districts, and the numerous springs issuing from mineral strata, the water of which is used by the inhabitants, it may be asked how is it that arsenicated water is not of common occurrence, and its poisonous qualities well established? The answer to this, I appre- hend, is not difficult, resting on two facts—one, the slight solubility of the oxide of the metal in cold water; the other, its harmlessness in very minute quantities. As to the first, so slowly is it soluble at ordinary temperatures, that we learn, on good authority, it may be digested for many days with Professor D. Wilson on Ancient British Skull Forms. 51 100,000 times its weight of water, and yet not be entirely dissolved. This, its slowness of solution, is probably owing to its comparatively high specific gravity, in consequence of which the oxide falls to the bottom, and to the strong co- herence of its particles, resisting its disintegration. What- ever the explanation may be, the property is a fortunate one for animal life; for were it readily soluble, were it more than very slightly soluble, how direful might have been the results! May we not view it as one of the many happy adaptations which are so common in the economy of Nature, and an instance of the limitation of the noxious, or its neutralization, or even more, of its transition into positive good ? this last, on the supposition that arsenic used in a very minute quantity may really be beneficial. lllustrations of the Significance of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. By Danizrt Witson, LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature, University College, Toronto. During a recent visit to Washington, I availed myself of the facilities afforded me by Professor Henry, the learned secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to examine with minute care the ethnological collections preserved there, including those formed by the United States Exploring Expedition ; and especially a highly interesting collection of human crania. The latter includes those of Esquimaux and Tchuktchi, a number of compressed and greatly distorted _ Chinook and other Flathead skulls, as well as examples of those of other Indian tribes, both of North and South America ; and of Fiji, Kanaka, and other Pacific islanders. On my return I spent a short time in Philadelphia, chiefly for the purpose of renewed study of the valuable materials of the Mortonian collection ; and while there enjoyed the opportunity of examining, in company with Dr Aitken Meigs, a series of one hundred and twenty-five Esquimaux crania obtained by Dr Hayes in his Arctic journey of 1854. The materials for craniological investigation which such collections supply can scarcely be surpassed in some of their ~ ae. GPoo 52 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance departments, and invite to very diverse researches by the illustrations they are calculated to afford. It chanced, how- ever, that my attention had been recently recalled to an old subject of speculation, relative to the possible modification of the forms of ancient British crania by some of the very causes which so materially alter those of many American tribes; and this accordingly influenced me in part, in the notes I made of the collections both at Washington and Philadelphia, and will now give direction to some remarks bearing on the same inquiry. Among the most prized crania in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia is the cele- brated Scioto Mound skull. But though on a former visit I made the ancient mound crania an object of special study, this most remarkable example of the series was not then included among them; and I now examined the original for the first time. The result of this examination was to satisfy me that the remarkable form and proportions of that skull are much more due to artificial influences than I had been led to suppose from the views published in the ‘‘ Smith- sonian Contributions to Knowledge.”’* The vertical view, especially, is very inaccurate. In the original it presents the peculiar characteristics of what I have before designated as the truncated form; passing abruptly from a broad flat- tened occiput to its extreme parietal breadth, and then tapering with slight lateral swell, until it reaches its least breadth immediately behind the external angular process of the frontal bone. The occiput has been subjected to the flattening process to a much greater extent than is apparent from the drawings; but at the same time it is accompanied by no corresponding affection of the frontal bone, such as inevitably results from the procedure of the Chinooks and other Flathead tribes; among whom the desired cranial de- formation is effected by bandages crossing the forehead, and consequently modifying the frontal as much as the parietal and occipital bones. On this account, great as is the amount of flattening in this remarkable skull, it is probably due solely to the undesigned pressure of the cradle-board acting * Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, pl xlvii. and xlviii. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 53 on a head of remarkably brachycephalic proportions and great natural posterior breadth. The forehead is fully arched, the glabella prominent, and the whole character of the frontal bone is essentially different from the Indian type. The sutures are very much ossified, and even to some extent obliterated. So early as 1857, when discussing Dr Morton’s theory of one uniform cranial type pervading the whole ancient and modern tribes of North and South America, with the single exception of the Esquimaux, I remarked, “J think it extremely probable that further investigation will tend to the conclusion that the vertical or flattened occiput, instead of being a typical characteristic, pertains entirely to the class of artificial modifications of the natural cranium familiar to the American ethnologist alike in the disclosures of ancient graves, and in the customs of widely separated living tribes.”* This idea received further confirmation from noticing the almost invariable accompaniment of such traces of artificial modification, with more or less inequality in the two sides of the head. In the extremely transformed skulls of the Flathead Indians, and of the Natchez, Peruvians, and other ancient nations by whom the same barbarous practice was encouraged, the extent of this deformity is frequently such as to excite surprise that it could have proved compatible with the healthful exercise of any vital functions. But the aspect in which it is now purposed to review the subject of artificial modifications of the human cranium, in relation to ancient British skull forms, was suggested, in the same paper above referred to, when pointing out the mistaken idea adopted by Dr Morton, that such unsymmetrical con- formation, or irregularity of form, is peculiar to American crania.t The latter remark, I then observed, is too wide a generalisation. JI have repeatedly noted the like unsym- metrical characteristics in the brachycephalic crania of Scottish barrows, and it has occurred to my mind, on more than one occasion, whether such may not furnish an indi- cation of some partial compression, dependent, it may be, * Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, n.s,, vol. vii. p. 24. Canadian Journal, vol. ii. p. 406. + Crania Americana, p. 115. Types of Mankind, p. 444. o£ Professor D. Wilson's Illustrations of the Significance on the mode of nurture in infancy, having tended, in their case also, if not to produce, to exaggerate the short longi- tudinal diameter, which constitutes one of their most re- markable characteristics. The idea thus expressed, in a paper read before the American Scientific Association at Montreal, as well as at the Dublin meeting of the British Association in 1857, was the result of observations made before leaving Scotland in 1853. One chapter of the ‘“ Prehistoric Annals of Scotland” is devoted to a discussion as to the ethnological significance of the crania of Scottish tumuli; and after its publication I availed myself of every favourable opportunity for adding to the rare materials illustrative of that interesting depart- ment. In pursuing such researches my attention was re- peatedly drawn to the unsymmetrical proportions of ancient brachycephalic skulls, and to their peculiar truncated form, accompanied, as in the mound skull of the Scioto Valley, by an abrupt flattening of the occiput, which I soon began to suspect was due to artificial causes. Since then the facilities derived from repeated examinations of American collections have familiarised me, not only with the extreme varieties of form of which the human head is susceptible under the influence of artificial compression, but also with the less marked changes undesignedly resulting from such seemingly slight causes as the constant pressure of thé Indian cradle-board. The examination and measurement of several hundred specimens of American crania, as well as of the living head in representatives of various Indian tribes, have also satisfied me not only of the existence of dolichocephalic and brachycephalic heads as tribal or na- tional characteristics, but of the common occurrence of the same exaggerated brachycephalic form, accompanied with the vertical or obliquely flattened occiput, which had seemed to be characteristic of the crania of the Scottish tumuli. There are indeed ethnical differences apparent, as in the frontal and malar bones, but so far as the posterior region of the head is concerned, both appear to exhibit the same undesigned deformation resulting from the process of nursing still practised among many Indian tribes. The light thus thrown on the habits of the British of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 55 mother of prehistoric times, by the skull-forms found in ancient barrows, is replete with interest, from the sugges- tions it furnishes of ancient customs hitherto undreamt of. But it has also another and higher value to the craniologist, from its thus showing that some, at least, of the peculiar forms hitherto accepted as ethnical distinctions, may be more correctly traced to causes operating after birth. The first example of this peculiar cranial conformation which attracted my attention, as possibly traceable to other causes than the inherited characteristics, or natural devia- tions from the typical skull-form of an extinct race, occurred on the opening of a stone cist at Juniper Green, near Edin- burgh, on the 17th of May 1851. Soon after the publica- tion of the “ Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,” in which the special characteristics of the crania of the Scottish tumuli were first discussed, I heard of the accidental discovery of an ancient tomb in a garden on the Lanark road, a few miles to the north-west of Edinburgh, and immediately proceeded to the spot. The cist occupied a slightly elevated site, distant only a few yards from the road ; and as this had long been under cultivation as a garden, if any mound originally marked the spot it had disappeared, and no external indi- cation distinguished it as a place of sepulture. A shallow cist formed of unhewn slabs of sandstone enclosed a space measuring three feet eleven inches in length, by two feet one inch in breadth at the head, and one foot eleven inches at foot. The joints fitted to each other with sufficient regu- larity to admit of their being closed by a few stone chips inserted at the junction, after which they appeared to have been carefully cemented with wet loam or clay. The slab which covered the whole projected over the sides, so as effectually to protect the sepulchral chamber from any infil- tration of earth. It lay in a sandy soil, within little more than two feet of the surface; but it had probably been covered until a comparatively recent period by a greater depth of earth, as its site was higher than the surround- ing surface, and possibly thus marked the traces of the nearly levelled tumulus. Slight as this elevation was it had proved sufficient to prevent the lodgment of water, and hence the cist was found perfectly free from damp. With- Bates oiled Sean 56 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance in this a male skeleton lay on its left side. The arms ap- peared to have been folded over the breast, and the knees drawn up so as to touch the elbows. The head had been supported by a flat water-worn stone for its pillow; but from this it had fallen to the bottom of the cist, on its being detached by the decomposition of the fleshy ligatures; and, as is common in crania discovered under similar circum- stances, it had completely decayed at the part in contact with the ground. A portion of the left side is thus want- ing; but with this exception the skull was not only nearly perfect when found, but the bones were solid and heavy; and the whole skeleton appeared to me so well preserved as to have admitted of articulation. Above the right. shoulder, a neat earthen vase had been placed, probably with food or drink. It contained only a little sand and black dust when recovered, uninjured, from the spot where it had been de- posited by affectionate hands many centuries before, and is now preserved along with the skull in the Scottish Museum of Antiquities. As the peculiar forms of certain skulls, such as are de- scribed by Dr Thurnam, from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Stone, in Buckinghamshire,* and another, described by me, from an Indian cemetery at Montreal,t as well as those of numerous distorted crania, from the Roman site of Uriconium and other ancient cemeteries, have been ascribed to posthu- mous compression, the precise circumstances attendant on the discovery of the Juniper Green cist are important, from the proof they afford that the body originally deposited within it had lain there undisturbed and entirely unaffected by any superincumbent pressure from the day of its inter- ment. ‘Two, if not three, classes of skulls have been re- covered from early British graves. One with a predomi- nant longitudinal diameter, in the most marked examples differs so essentially in its elongated and narrow forehead and occiput from the modern dolichocephalic head, that I — was led to assign it to a separate class under the title kum- becephalic.{ Another has the longitudinal diameter little — * Crania Britannica, Dec. i. p. 88. + Edin. Phil. Journal, n. s., vol. xvi. p. 269. ¢ Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, p. 177. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. ov in excess of the greatest parietal breadth, and is no less strikingly distinguished from the prevailing modern head, whether of Celtic or Saxon areas, by its shortness, than the other is by its length, when viewed either in profile or verti- cally. The Anglo-Saxon type of skull appears to be inter- mediate between those two forms, with a more symmetrical oval, such as is of common occurrence in modern English heads. If cranial conformation has any ethnical significance, it appears to me inconceivable that the two extreme forms above referred to can both pertain to the same race; and the circumstances under which the most characteristic examples of the opposite types have been found, confirm me in the belief which I advocated when the evidence was much less conclusive, that the older dolichocephalic or kumbecephalic skull illustrates the physical characteristics of a race which preceded the advent of the Celtz in Britain, and gradually disappeared before their aggressions. As, however, the opposite opinion is maintained by so high an authority as Dr J. Barnard Davis, the comparison of the following measurements, illustrative of the three types of head, will best exhibit the amount of deviation in opposite directions from the intermediate form. The measurements are taken from those furnished in the ‘‘ Crania Britannica,” and include the longitudinal diameter, frontal, parietal, and occipital breadth, parietal height,and horizontal circumference. No. 1, like the majority of the same class, is derived from a megalithic chambered barrow, and has been selected by Dr Davis as a characteristic example of the class to which it belongs ;* though, according to him, that is one of aberrant deviations from the typical British form. No. 2, obtained from a barrow at Codford, in Wiltshire, has also been selected by Dr Davis as one of three typical British crania. It is of the same type as the Juniper Green skull, and its strongly marked characteristics are thus defined. by him: “ Its most interesting peculiarities are its small size, and its decidedly brachycephalic conformation. This latter character, which commonly appertains to the ancient British cranium, and even to that form which we regard as _ typical, * Proceedings of the Acad. Nat. Sciences, Philadelphia, 1857, p. 42. NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIIJ. No, I.—JuLY 1868. H = eet 58 Professor D, Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance is seldom met with expressed in so marked a manner.”* No. 3, is a skull from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Lit- lington, Sussex, one of two of which Dr Davis remarks,— ‘‘ There is a general indication of good form in these fine capacious skulls, which is apparent in every aspect. ... . On a review of the whole series of Anglo-Saxon crania which have come under our notice, we are led to conclude that this pleasing oval, rather dolichocephalic form, may best be deserving the epithet of typical among them.”} All the three examples are male skulls :— a | L,'D. | ¥.'B. | P, B. 10, Bs) A: |e. { 1. Uley Chambered Barrow Skull....,8°1 | 47/57 )|5> | 5:1 |21-7 | 2. Codford Skull.. Acti | 6:8) 46/57 | 51) 47 \20- | 3. Litlington = Utama |75|47) 53) 46/49 209 Kach of the above examples presents the features of the type to which it belongs with more than usual prominence, so that if the mean of a large series were taken, the ele- ments of difference between the three would be less strongly defined. The differences are, however, those on which their separate classification depends, and they thus illustrate the special points on which any craniological comparison for ethnological purposes must be based. Of the three skulls, the era and race of one of them (No. 3) are well de- termined. It is that of a Saxon, probably of the seventh or eighth century, of the race of the South Saxons, de- scended from Ailla and his followers, and recovered in a district where the permanency of the same ethnic type is illustrated by its predominance among the rural population at the present day. Another of the selected examples (No. 2) is assumed by Dr Davis, probably on satisfactory grounds, to be an ancient British, z.e., Celtic skull. It is indeed a difficulty, which has still to be satisfactorily ex- plained, how it is, that if this brachycephalic type be the true British head-form, no such prevalence of the form is to be found, on modern Celtic areas, as'in the case of Saxon * Orania Britannica, Dec. ii. pl. 14. t Ibid. Dee. iv. pls. 39, 40. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 59 Sussex connects the race of its ancient pagan and Christian cemeteries with the Anglo-Saxon population of the present day. The historical race and era with which Dr Davis conceives the barrow-builders of Wiltshire to be connected is thus indicated in the “‘ Crania Britannica,” ‘Region of the Belge, Temp. Ptolemei, a.p. 120.” The Belge of that era— apparently then comparatively recent intruders, and by some regarded as not Celtic, but Germanic—were displaced, if not exterminated; but the modern Britons of Wales are undoubted descendants of British Celts of Ptolemy’s age. Though mingling both Saxon and Norman with pure British blood, they probably preserve the native type as little modified by such foreign admixture as that of its sup- planters in the most thoroughly Saxon or Anglish districts of England. It is therefore a question of some importance, how far the extreme brachycephalic proportions of the so- called British type may be traceable to other than inherited ethnical characteristics. Meanwhile, turning from this supposed British skull of Roman times to the one derived from Uley chambered barrow, No. 1, the most ancient of the series, and assuming their chronological order to be undisputed, as it appears to be, we find no gradation from an abbreviated to an elongated form, but, on the contrary, an extreme brachycephalic type interposed between the ovoid dolichocephalic Anglo-Saxon of the Christian era and the extreme dolichocephalic, or kumbecephalic one belonging to a period seemingly so remote, that Dr Thurnam, when noting the recurrence of the same type in another chambered barrow at Littleton Drew, Wiltshire, remarked, “It is not necessary to admit the existence of any pre-Celtic race, as the skulls described may be those of Gaelic, as distinguished from Cymric, Celts; or the long-headed builders of these long, chambered, stone barrows, may have been an intrusive people, who entered Britain from the south-west. Can they have been some ancient Iberian or Ibero-Pheoenician settlers ?””* Among the rarer crania of the Morton collection is one to which a peculiar interest attaches, and which may possibly have some significance in reference to this in- quiry. Its history is narrated in Dr Henry S. Paterson’s * Crania Britannica, Dee. iii. pl. 24 (4). 60 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance Memoir of Dr Morton. During a visit of Mr Gliddon to Paris in 1856, he presented a copy of the “ Crania Algyp- tiaca” to the celebrated oriental scholar M. Fresnel, and excited his interest in the labours of its author. Upwards of a year after he received at Philadelphia a box containing a skull, forwarded from Naples, but without any information relative to it. ‘It was handed over to Morton,” says Dr Paterson, ‘who at once perceived its dissimilarity to any in his possession. It was evidently very old, the animal matter having almost entirely disappeared. Day after day would Morton be found absorbed in its contemplation. At last he announced his conclusion. He had never seen a Pheenician skull, and he had no idea where this one came from, but it was what he conceived a Phoenician skull should be, and it could be no other.”* Six months after- wards, Mr Gliddon received, along with other letters and papers forwarded to him from Naples, a slip of paper, in the handwriting of M. Fresnel, containing the history of the skull, which had been discovered by him during his exploration of an ancient rock-tomb at Malta. Dr Meigs refers to this in his catalogue of the collection, No. 1352, as an illustration of ‘the wonderful power of discrimina- tion, the tactus visus acquired by Dr Morton in his long and critical study of craniology.” Such was my own impression on first reading it; but I confess the longer I reflect on it, the more am I puzzled to guess by what classical or other data, or process short of absolute intuition, the ideal type of the Phoenician head could be determined. TI suspect, therefore, if we had the statement in Dr Morton’s own words, it would fall short of such an absolute craniological induction. The following is the sole entry made by him in his catalogue: ‘Ancient Phoenician? I received this highly interesting relic from M. F. Fresnel, the distinguished French archeologist and traveller, with the following me- morandum, A.D. 1847:—Crane provenant des caves sépul- chrales de Ben-Djemma, dans Vile de Malte. Ce crane parait avoir appartenu 4 un individu de la race qui, dans les temps les plus anciens, occupait la cété septentrionale de l’Afrique, et les iles adjacentes.” The skull is not im- * Memoir of Dr 8. G. Morton ; Types of Mankind, pl. xl. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 61 probably what it has been assumed to be, and it is in many respects a remarkable one. A, deep indentation at the nasal suture gives the idea of an overhanging forehead ; but the superciliary ridges are not prominent, and the peculiar character of the frontal bone is most strikingly apparent in the vertical view, where it is seen to retreat on either side almost in a straight line from the centre of the glabella to the external angular process of the frontal bone. The contour of the coronal region is described by Dr Meigs as ‘a long oval, which recalls to mind the kumbecephalic form of Wilson.”* Whatever, indeed, be the ultimate con- clusion of ethnologists as to the evidences which led me to adopt that name to distinguish the characteristics of a pre- Celtic British race, the necessity appears to be acknowledged for some such term to distinguish the form in question from the ordinary dolichocephalic type. The head is narrow throughout, with its greatest breadth a little behind the coronal suture, from whence it narrows gradually towards front and rear. The lower jaw is large and massive, but with less of the prognathous development than in the superior maxillary. The skull is, no doubt, that of a woman. The nose has been prominent; but the zygomatic arches are delicate, and the whole face is long, narrow, and taper- ing towards the chin. The parietals meet at an angle, with a bulging of the sagittal suture, and a slight but distinctly defined pyramidal form running into the frontal bone. The occiput is full, round, and projecting a little more on the left side than the right. The measurements of the skull are as follows :— Longitudinal diameter, . ; ; : 74 Parietal diameter, ee ate é : : 5-1 Frontal diameter, 4: - Vertical diameter, 5°3 Intermeatoid arch, hl? RATS Intermastoid arch, : ‘ ' sia) (aloe G8) Intermastoid line, : : ' 4°3 (2) Occipito-frontal arch, . . 14:2 Horizontal circumference, ‘ Midge” 4.) b- * Catalogue of Human Crania in the Academy of Nat. Science of Phila- delphia, p. 29. 62 — Professor D. Wilson’s Lllustrations of the Significance I have been thus particular in describing this interest- ing skull, because it furnishes some points of comparison with British kumbecephalic crania, bearing on the inquiry, whether we may not thus recover traces of the Phcenician explorers of the Cassiterides in the long-headed builders of the chambered barrows. When contrasting the wide and nearly virgin area with which Dr Morton had to deal, with that embraced in the scheme of the ‘‘ Crania Britannica,” I remarked in 1857:—Compared with such a wide field of investigation, the little island home of the Saxons may well seem narrow ground for exploration ; but to the ethno- logist itis not so. There, amid the rudest traces of pri- meval arts, he seeks, and probably not in vain, for the remains of primitive European allophylize. There it is not improbable that both Phoenicians and early Greek navi- gators have left behind thein evidences of their presence, such as he alone can discriminate.” Before, however, we can abandon ourselves to the temp- tations of so seductive a theory,—which, after all, finds only such support as may be deduced from a certain general analogy of cranial form, and derives no confirmation from the works of art accompanying the remains of the long- headed barrow-builders,—it has to be borne in remembrance that the question is still disputed with reference to this class of British dolichocephalic crania: are they examples of an essentially distinct type, preserving evidence of the characteristics of a different race, or are they mere excep- tional aberrant deviations from the supposed brachycephalic Celtic or British type? Much stress is laid on the fact that the two forms of skull have occasionally been recovered from the same barrow; from which it may be inferred that the two races to which I conceive them to have belonged, were for a more or less limited period contemporaneous. More than this I cannot regard as a legitimate induction from such premises, in relation to crania of such extremely diverse types. But this amounts to little; for the same is undoubtedly true of the ancient British and the modern Anglo-Saxon race; and the discovery of Celtic and Saxon * Canadian Journal, vol. ii. p. 445. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 63 skulls in a common barrow or tumulus of the sixth century is no proof that the latter race was not preceded by many centuries in the occupation of the country by the Britons, among whom they then mingled as conquerors and sup- planters. But the elongated skulls are no rare and excep- tional forms. They have been most frequently found in tombs of a peculiar character, and of great antiquity. Many | have been recovered in too imperfect a state to admit of more | being deduced from the fragments than that these conform _ to the more perfect examples of the peculiar type. Never- theless the number already obtained in asufficiently pertect | state to admit of detailed measurement is remarkable, when their great age and the circumstances of their recovery are | fully considered. Of this the following enumeration will afford satisfactory proof. Only two perfect crania from the | chambered tumulus of Uley, in Gloucestershire,—of which the proportions of one are cited above,—have been pre- ‘served. But in the later search of Mr Freeman and Dr | Thurnam, in 1854, the fragments of eight or nine other | skulls were recovered, and of these the latter remarks: |“ The fragments are interesting, as proving that the charac- | ters observed in the more perfect crania were common to the individuals interred in this tumulus. Three or four cal- | varia are sufficiently complete to show that in them likewise | the length of the skulls had been great in proportion to the breadth.“ Again, in the megalithic tumulus of Littleton | Drew, North Wilts, at least twenty-six skeletons appear to have been found, from several of which imperfect crania | were recovered, and of those Dr Thurnam remarks: “ Hight }or nine crania were sufficiently perfect for comparison. | With one exception, in which a lengthened oval form is }not marked, they are of the dolichocephalic class.”+ So. also the four nearly perfect skulls from West Kennet are described as “‘ more or less of the lengthened oval form, | with the occiput expanded and projecting, and presenting a strong contrast to skulls from the circular barrows of Wilts and Dorset.”{ To these may be added those of Stoney Little- * Archeol. Journal, vol. xi. p. 318. Crania Britannica, Dec. i. pl. 5. + Crania Britannica, Dec iii. pl. 24 (3). t Ibid. Dec. v. pl. 50 (4). 64 Professor D. Wilson’s J7lustrations of the Significance ton, Somersetshire, first poimted out by Sir R. C. Hoare ;* and examples from barrows in Derby, Stafford, and York- shire, described by Mr Thomas Bateman in his “ Ten Years’ Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave Hills ;” including those from Bolehill, Longlow, and Ringham Low, Derbyshire ; from the galleries of the tumulus on Five-Wells Hill, and from the Yorkshire barrow near Heslerton-on-the-wolds. Several of the above contained a number of skulls; and of the last, in which fifteen human skeletons lay heaped to- gether, Mr Bateman remarks: “ The crania that have been preserved are all more or less mutilated; but about. six. remain sufficiently entire to indicate the prevailing confor- mation to be of the long or kumbecephalic type of Dr Wilson.”+ The crania occurring in graves of this class mentioned by Mr Bateman alone, exceed fifty in number, of which the majority are either of the elongated type, or too imperfect to be determined. The others include between thirty and forty well-determined examples, besides a greater number in too imperfect a state to supply more than indi- cations of their correspondence to the same characteristic form. Alongside of some of these are also found brachy- cephalic crania; but in the most ancient barrows the elon- gated skull appears to be the predominant, and in some cases the sole type; and of the examples found in Scotland, two have been recovered from peat bogs, and others under circumstances more definitely marking their great antiquity. The variations of cranial form are thus, it appears, no gradual transition, or partial modification, but an abrupt change from an extreme dolichocephalic to an extreme brachycephalic type; which, on the intrusion of the new and essentially distinct Anglo-Saxon race, gives place once more to a dolichocephalic form of medium proportions. Leaving, meanwhile, the consideration of the question of distinct races indicated by such evidence, it will be well to determine first if such variations of skull-form can be traced to other than a transmitted ethnical source. The Juniper Green skull, already referred to, presents in profile, as shown in the full-sized view in the ‘ Crania Britannica,” * Archeologia, vol. xix. p. 47. t Ten Years’ Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave Hills, p. 230. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 65 the square and compact proportions characteristic of British brachycephalic crania. It also exhibits, in the vertical outline, the truncated wedge form of the type. In the most strongly marked examples of this form, the vertical or flattened occiput is a prominent feature, accompanied gene- rally with parietal breadth, from which it abruptly narrows at the occiput. The proportions of this class of crania were already familiar to me before the discovery of the Juniper Green example ; but it had not before occurred to me to -ascribe any of their features to other than natural causes. But the circumstances attending its discovery gave peculiar interest to whatever was characteristic in the skull and its accompanying relics, handled for the first time as evidences of the race and age of the freshly-opened cist, discovered almost within sight of the Scottish capital, and yet pertain- ing to prehistoric times. The skull was carried home in my hand, a distance of several miles, and its truncated out- line, and still more, its flattened occiput, attracted special attention, and gave rise to conversation with my friend Mr Robert Chambefs, who had accompanied me on this exploratory excursion. With the temptation of a novel discovery, I was at first disposed to recognise the traces of art in this abbreviated form, not only as exaggerating the natural characteristics, but as a possible source of their pro- duction. But a comparison with examples of the true dolichocephalic skull, to which I had already assigned priority in point of time, sufficed to dispel that illusion. At a subsequent meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scot- land, I accompanied the presentation of the cranium and urn with an account of the circumstances of their discovery, and some remarks on the novel features noticeable in the skull. Unfortunately the printing of the Society’s Pro- ceedings, which had been suspended for some time, was not resumed till the following season; and no record of this communication was preserved beyond the title. Another skull in the same collection, found under some- what similar circumstances in a cist at Lesmurdie, Banff- shire, has the vertical occiput accompanied by an unusual parietal expansion and want of height, suggestive of the NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO. 1.—JguLY 1863. I | 66 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance idea of a combined coronal and occipital compression.* A third Scottish skull, procured from one of a group of cists near Kinaldie, Aberdeenshire, also exhibits the posterior vertical flattening. But a more striking example than any of those appears in the one from Codford, South Wiltshire, selected above to illustrate this type.} Dr Davis remarks in his description of it:—‘ The zygomatic arches are short, a character which appertains to the entire calvarium, but is most concentrated in the parietals, to which the abruptly ascending portion of the occipital lends its influence. The widest part of the calvarium is about an inch behind, and as much above the auditory foramen, and when we view it in front we perceive it gradually to expand from the outer angular process of the frontal to the point now indicated.” The entire parieto-occipital region presents in profile an abrupt vertical line; but when viewed vertically it tapers considerably more towards the occiput than is usual in crania of the same class. The cause of the vertical occiput, as well as the oblique parieto-occipital flattening in this class of British crania, I feel no hesitation in believing to be traceable to the same kind of rigid cradle-board as is in constant use among many of the Indian tribes of America, and which produces pre- cisely similar results. Its mode of operation, in effecting the various forms of oblique and vertical occiputs, will be considered, when describing some of the phenomena of com- pressed Indian crania; but another feature of the Juniper Green skull, which is even more obvious in that from Les- murdie, in the same collection, is an irregularity amounting to a marked inequality in the development of the two sides. This occurs in skulls which have been altered by posthu- mous compression; but the recovery of both the examples referred to from stone cists precludes the idea of their having been affected by the latter cause ; and since I was first led to suspect the modification of the occiput, and the exaggeration of the characteristic proportions of British brachycephalic crania by artificial means, familiarity with those of the Flathead Indians, as well as other ancient and modern artificially distorted American crania, has led me * Crania Britannica, Dee. ii. pl. 16. + Ibid. Dee. ii. pl. 14. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. = 67 to recognise in their parietal conformation the constant occurrence of the same unsymmetrical inequality. But besides the well-known distortions produced in many American crania by protracted compression purposely ap- plied with a view to change the form, others of a less marked character closely correspond to those of the British brachycephalic crania. The normal human head may be assumed to present a perfect correspondence in its two hemispheres; but very slight investigation will suffice to convince the observer that few living examples satisfy the requirements of such a theoretical standard. Not only is inequality in the two sides frequent, but a perfectly symme- trical head is the exception rather than the rule. The plastic condition of the cranial bones in infancy, which ad- mits of all the strange malformations of ancient Macroce- phali and modern Flatheads, also renders the infant head liable to many undesigned changes. From minute personal examination I have satisfied myself of the repeated occur- rence of inequality in the two sides of the head, arising from the mother being able to suckle her child only at one breast, so that the head was subjected to a slight but con- stantly renewed pressure in the same direction. It is sur- prising, indeed, to how great an extent such unsymmetrical irregularity is found to prevail, when once the attention has been drawn to it. The only example of the Greek head possessed by Dr Morton, was a cast presented to him by Dr Retzius, and which, from its selection by the distin- guished Swedish craniologist for such a purpose, might reasonably be assumed to illustrate the Greek type. It is accordingly described by DrJ. Aitken Meigs, in his ‘‘ Cranial Characteristics of the Race of Man,” as very much resem- bling that of Constantine Demetriades, a Greek native of Corfu, and long a teacher of the modern Greek language at Oxford, as engraved in Dr Prichard’s Researches. Its cranial characteristics are thus defined in the Catalogue of the Mor- tonian Collection (No. 1854): ‘“ The calvarial region is well developed, the frontal line expansive and prominent, the facial line departs but slightly from the perpendicular.” On recently visiting Philadelphia for the purpose of renewed examination of its valuable collections, I was surprised to 68 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance find this head, instead of being either oval, or, as Blumen- bach describes the example selected by him, subglobular : presenting the truncated form, with extreme breadth at the parietal protuberances, and then abruptly passing to a flat- tened occiput. It measures 6°5 longitudinal diameter ; 5-7 parietal diameter ; and 19:2 horizontal circumference. But the most noticeable feature is the great inequality of the two sides, the right side is less tumid than the left, while it projects more to the rear, and the whole is fully as unsym- metrical as many American crania. Were it not that this feature appears to have wholly escaped Dr Morton’s atten- tion, as he merely enters it in his catalogue as a “ Cast of the skull of a young Greek. Professor Retzius,” I should be tempted to suppose it had been purposely sent to him to illustrate the phenomena of unsymmetrical development, and of the influence of undesigned artificial causes on skull- forms. Nor was Dr Morton unobservant of such indications. When first noticing the probable origin of the flattened occiput of certain British skulls, I drew attention to the fact, that he had already recognised undesigned artificial com- pression as one source of abnormal cranial conformation, and accompanied its demonstration with a reference to the predominant unsymmetrical form in all such skulls. ‘ This irregularity,” he added, “ chiefly consists in the greater pro- jection of the occiput to one side than the other,” and “ is not to be attributed to the intentional application of mecha- nical force.” Such want of uniformity in the two sides of the head is much more strongly marked in Flathead skulls, which have been subjected to great compression. It is clearly traceable to the difficulty of subjecting the living and growing head to a perfectly uniform and equable pres- sure, and to the cerebral mass forcing the skull to expand with it in the direction of least resistance. Hence the un- symmetrical form accompanying the vertical occiput in the Lesmurdie and Juniper Green skulls, and, as I conceive also, in the Greek skull of Retzius. The study of the latter skull-form has tended strongly to confirm me in the belief, that the extreme abbreviated proportions of many naturally brachycephalic crania are due to artificial causes. Wherever a very noticeable inequality exists between the two sides, of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 69 it may be ascribed with much probability to the indirect results of designed or accidental compression in infancy ; and by its frequent occurrence in any uniform aspect, may, quite as much as the flattened occiput, furnish a clue to customs or modes of nurture among the people to whom it pertains. Dr Struthers of Edinburgh has in his collection an in- teresting example of a modern skull, measuring 7:5 longi- tudinal diameter, 6°5 parietal diameter, 21:4 horizontal cir- cumference, in which the truncated form is even more strongly marked by the abrupt flattening, immediately be- hind the parietal protuberances, accompanied with inequa- lity in the two sides of the head. It was obtained from a grave-digger in Dundee, who stated it to be that of a middle- aged female, whom he had known during life. There was nothing particular about her mental development. I have also drawn attention in former papers to the fact that such peculiar forms and examples of inequality in the development of the two sides of the head are familiar to hat- manufacturers. Occasionally the eye is attracted by very unusual cranial forms revealed by baldness; but the hair suffices generally to conceal abnormal irregularities, some of which, as illustrated by hatters’ shapes, are extremely odd and fantastical. My attention was directed to this familiar test by a remark of the late Dr Kombst, that he had never been able to obtain an English-made hat that would fit his head. He added, that he believed such was the general experience of Germans, owing to the greater length of the English head. I subsequently found the shapes of a Yorkshire hatter to be shorter than some fur- nished me from Dublin; while English and Anglo-Canadian ones are decidedly longer than those of the French Canadians of Lower Canada; and I believe that comparisons of the shapes most in demand in different parts of the British Islands, and on the Continent, will supply important cranio- logical results. The novel forms thus occurring in modern heads, though chiefly traceable, as I believe, to artificial causes, are not the result of design. But the same is true of the prevalent vertical and obliquely flattened occiput of many ancient and 70 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance modern American crania, as well as of the British brachy- cephalic class already described. Nor are such changes of the natural form necessarily limited to skulls of short lon- gitudinal diameter, in which this typical characteristic is exaggerated by the pressure of the cradle-board in infancy. Now that this source of modification begins to receive general recognition among craniologists, its influence is assumed as a probable source of the most diverse aberrant forms. Dr Thurnam, when referring to two skulls of dif- ferent shapes, recovered from the same group of British barrows, of ‘fa somewhat late though pre-Roman period,” on Roundway Hill, North Wiltshire, thus indicates their contrasting characteristics, and suggests the probable source of such divergence from the supposed British type: ‘ The general form of the cranium (plate 43) differs greatly from that from the adjoiming barrow (plate 42). That approaches an acrocephalic, this a platycephalic form ; that is eminently brachycephalic, this more nearly of a dolichocephalic charac- ter. As the eye at once detects, the difference is much greater than would be inferred from a mere comparison of the mea- surements. The respective peculiarities of form in the two skulls may possibly be explained by supposing that both have been subject to artificial deformation, though of a dif- ferent kind,—the one appearing to have been flattened on the occiput, the other showing a depression immediately behind the coronal suture over the parietal bones, which seems to indicate that this part of the skull was subject to some habitual pressure and constriction, perhaps from the use of a bandage or ligature tightly bound across the head and tied under the chin, such as to this day is employed in certain parts of the west of France, producing that form of distortion named by Dr Gosse the sincipital, or ¢éte bilobée.”* The influence of the recognition of this source of change is, indeed, very manifest throughout the fifth Decade of the “Crania Britannica.” Anextremely brachycephalic skull of a youth, obtained from a barrow on Ballard Down, Isle of Purbeck, is described as unsymmetrical, and as affording ‘“ tolerably clear evidence that this form, if not always pro- duced, was at least liable to be exaggerated by an artificial * Crania Britannica, Dec. v. pl. 43. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. TL flattening of the occiput, such as is practised by many American and Polynesian tribes.”* In the same Decade another skull of the type most dissimilar to this is described and illustrated. It was recovered in fragments from the remarkable chambered barrow at West Kennet, Wiltshire, and its most characteristic features are thus defined by Dr Thurnam :—“ It is decidedly dolichocephalic, narrow, and very flat at the sides, and realises more nearly than any we have yet had to figure the kumbecephalic or boat-shaped form described by Dr D. Wilson. The frontal region is narrow, moderately arched, and elevated at the vertex, but slopes away on each side. The parietal region is long, and marked by a prominent ridge or carina in the line of the sagittal suture, which is far advanced towards obliteration, whilst the other sutures are quite as perfect as usual. The occiput is full and prominent; the supra-occipital ridges only mode- rately marked. There isa deep digastric groove, and aslight paroccipital process on each side. The external auditory openings are somewhat behind the middle of the skull, and very much behind a vertical line drawn from the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures.” Its extreme length and breadth are 7°‘7 and 5:1, and an inequality in the de- velopment of the two sides is obvious in the vertical view. As the brachycephalic skull recalls certain American and Polynesian forms, so such examples of the opposite type suggest the narrow and elongated skulls of the Australians and Hsquimaux; and he thus proceeds:—‘“ The Ballard Down skull bears marks of artificial flattening of the occiput ; this calls to mind the artificial lateral flattening of the skull, characteristic of the ancient people called Macrocephali, or long-heads, of whom Hippocrates tells us, that ‘while the head of the child is still tender, they fashion it with their hands, and constrain it to assume a lengthened shape by applying bandages and other suitable contrivances, whereby the spherical form of the head is destroyed, and it is made to increase in length.” This mode of distortion is called by Dr Gosse the temporo-parietal, or ‘ téte aplatie sur les cétés,’ It appears to have been practised by various people, both of the ancient and modern world, and in Europe as well as the * Crania Britannica, Dec. y. pl. 46. 72 Professor D. Wilson’s Jllustrations of the Significance East. The so-called Moors, or Arabs of North Africa, affected this form of skull; and even in modern times, the women of Belgium and Hamburg are both described as compressing the heads of their infants into an elongate form. Our own observations lead at least to a presumption that this form of artificial distortion may have been practised by certain primeval British tribes, particularly those who buried their distinguished dead in long chambered tumuli.” Accordingly, Dr Thurnam draws attention to the oblitera- tion of the sagittal suture, both in the skull in question, and to a still greater extent in one figured by Blumenbach, under the name of “ Asiatic Macrocephali,” and expresses his belief that this “‘ has been produced by pressure or mani- pulations of the sides of the head in infancy, by which it was sought to favour the development of a lengthened form of skull; to which, however, there was probably, in the present instance, at least, a natural and inherent tendency.” It thus appears that a class of variations of the form of the human skull, which becomes more comprehensive as attention is directed to it, is wholly independent of con- genital transmitted characteristics: kumbecephalic, acro- cephalic, and platycephalic, unsymmetrical, truncated, or elongated heads, may be so common as apparently to fur- nish distinctive ethnical forms, and yet, after all, each may be traceable to artificial causes, arising from an adherence to certain customs and usages in the nursery. It is in this direction, I conceive, that the importance of the truths resulting from the recognition of artificial causes affecting the forms of British brachycephalic or other crania chiefly lies. The contents of early British cists and barrows prove that the race with whom they originated was a rude people, - ignorant, for the most part, of the very knowledge of metals, | or at best in the earliest rudimentary stage of metallurgic arts. They were, in fact, in as uncivilised a condition as the rudest forest Indians of America. To prove, therefore, that, like the Red Indian squaw, the British allophylian or Celtic mother formed the cradle for her babe of a flat board, to which she bound it, for safety and facility of nursing, in the vicissitudes of her nomade life,—though interesting, like every other recovered glimpse of a long-forgotten past,— asi = of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 73 is not in itself a discovery of much significance. . But it reminds us how essentially man, even in the most degraded state of wandering savage life, differs from all other animals. The germs of an artificial life are there. External appli- ances, and the conditions which we designate as domesti- cation in the lower animals, appear to be inseparable from him, The most untutored nomades subject their offspring to many artificial influences, such as have no analogy among the marvellous instinctive operations of the lower animals. It is not even unworthy of notice that man is the only ani- mal to whom a supine position is natural for repose; and with him more than any other animal, when recumbent, the head is necessarily placed so as to throw the greatest pressure on the brain-case, and not on the malar or maxillary bones. Without, therefore, running to the ex- treme of Dr Morton, who denied, for the American Con- tinent, at least, the existence of any true dolichocephalic crania, or, indeed, any essential variation from one assumed typical form, it becomes an important point for the crani- ologist to determine, if possible, to what extent certain characteristic diversities may be relied upon as the inherited features of a tribe or race; or whether they are not the mere result of artificial causes originating in long per- petuated national customs and nursery usages. If the latter is, indeed, the case, then they pertain to the materials of archeological rather than of ethnological deduction, and can no longer be employed as elements of ethnical classi- fication. Every scheme*of the craniologist for systematising ethni- cal variations of cranial configuration, and every process of induction pursued by the ethnologist from such data, pro- ceed on the assumption that such varieties in the form of cranium are constant within certain determinate limits, and originate in like natural causes with the features by which we distinguish one nation from another. By like means the comparative anatomist discriminates between the re- mains of the Bos primigenius, the Bos longifrons, and other kindred animal remains, frequently found alongside of the human skeleton,-in the barrow; and, by a similar crucial comparison, the craniologist .aims at classifying the crania NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO. 1.—JULY 1863. K - 74 Professor D. Wilson’s [llustrations of the Significance of the ancient Briton, Roman, Saxon, and Scandinavian, apart from any aid derived from the evidence of accom- panying works of art. But if it be no longer disputable that the human head is liable to modification from external causes, so that one skull may have been subjected to lateral compression, resulting in the elongation and narrowing of its form; while another, under the influence of occipital pressure, may exhibit a consequent abbreviation in its length, accompanied by parietal expansion; it becomes indispen- sable to determine some data whereby to eliminate this perturbing element before we can ascertain the actual sig- nificance of national skull-forms. If, for example,—as appears to be the case,—the crania from British graves of Roman times reveal a different form from that of the mo- dern Celtic Briton, the cause may be an intermixture of races, like that which is clearly traceable among the mingled descendants of Celtic and Scandinavian blood in the north of Scotland; but it may also be, in part or wholly, the mere result of a change of national customs following natu- rally on conquest, civilisation, and the abandonment of Paganism for Christianity. It is in this respect that the artificial causes tending to alter the natural conformation of the human head invite our special study. They appear at present purely as dis- turbing elements in the application of craniological tests of classification. It is far from improbable, however, that, when fully understood, they may greatly extend our means of classification, so that when we have traced to such causes certain changes in form, in which modern races are known to differ from their ethnical precursors, we shall be able to turn the present element of disturbance to account, as an additional confirmation of truths established by inductive | craniology. Certain it is, however, whatever value may attach to the systematising of such artificial forms, that they are of frequent occurrence, apart altogether from such configuration as is clearly referrible to the application of mechanical pressure in infancy with that express object in view ; or again, as is no less obviously the result of post- lumous compression. But though the deforming processes designedly practised among ancient and modern savage eee of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 75 nations lie beyond the direct aim of the present inquiry, they are calculated to throw important light on the ap- proximate results of undesigned compression and arrested development. Among the flathead Indian tribes of Oregon and the Columbia River, where malformation of the skull is pur- posely aimed at, the infant’s head is tightly bound in a fixed position, and maintained under continuous pressure for months. But it isa mistake to suppose that in the ordi- nary use of the cradle-board the Indian pappoose is subject to any such extreme restraint. The objects in view are facility of nursing and transport, and perfect safety for the child. But those being secured, it is nurtured with a ten--: derness of maternal instinct surpassing that of many savage nations. The infant is invariably laid on its back, but the head rests on a pillow or mat of moss or frayed bark, and is not further restrained in a fixed position than necessarily results from the posture in which the body is retained by the bandages securing it in the cradle. This fact I have satisfied myself of from repeated observations. But the consequence necessarily is, that: the soft and pliant bones of the infant’s head are subjected to a slight but constant pres- sure on the occiput during the whole protracted period of nursing, when they are peculiarly sensitive to external influences. Experiments have shown that at that period the bones specially affected by the action of the cradle- board are not only susceptible of changes, but lable to morbid affections dependent on the nature of the infant's food. Lehmann supposes the Craniotabes of Elsisser to be a form of rachitis, which affects the occipital and parietal bones during the period of suckling; and Schlossberger ascertained by a series of analyses of such bones, that the 63 per cent. of mineral constituents found in the normal occipital bones of healthy children during the first year diminished to 51 per cent. in the thickened and spongy bone.* The fluctuations in proportion of the mineral con- stituents of bones are considerable, and vary in the different bones, but in the osseous tissue they may be stated at from * Schlossberger, Arch. 1. phys. Heilk. Lehmann, Physiol. Chem., vol. iii. p. 28. 76 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance 67 to 70 per cent. It is obvious, therefore, that under the peculiar physiological condition of the cranial bones during the period of nursing, such constant mechanical action as the occiput of the Indian pappoose is subjected to must be productive of permanent change. The child is not removed from the cradle-board when sucking, and is not therefore liable to any counteracting lateral pressure against its mother’s breast. One effect of such continuous pressure must be to bring the edges of the bones together, and thereby to retard or arrest the growth of the bone in certain directions. The result of this is apparent in the premature ossification of the sutures of artificially deformed crania. At Washington I had an opportunity of minutely exa- mining thirty-four Flathead skulls brought home by the United States Exploring Expedition, some of them pre- senting the most diverse forms of distortion. In the ma- jority of those, the premature ossification of the sutures is apparent, and in some they are almost entirely obliterated. The same is no less obvious among the corresponding class in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and especially in skulls of the Chinooks, who carry the process of deformation to the greatest extent. But I have also been struck, not only with the frequent occurrence of wormian bones in such altered skulls, but also with the distinct definition of a true supraoccipital bone. It is marvellous to see the extraordinary amount of dis- tortion to which the skull and brain may be subjected without seemingly affecting either health or intellect. The coveted deformity is produced partly by actual compression, and partly by the growth of the brain and skull being thereby limited to certain directions. Hales, the eth- nographer of the exploring expedition, after describing the | process as practised among the Chinooks, remarks: ‘“‘ The appearance of the child when just released from this con- finement is truly hideous. The transverse diameter of the head above the ears is nearly twice as great as the longi- tudinal from the forehead to the occiput. The eyes, which are naturally deep set, become protruding, and appear as if squeezed partially out of the head.”* Mr Paul Kane, in * Ethnography of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, p. 216. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 17 describing to me the same appearance, as witnessed by him on the Columbia River, compared the eyes to those of a mouse strangled in a trap. The appearance is little less singular for some time after the child has been freed from the constricting bandages, as shown in an engraving from one of Mr Kane’s sketches of a Chinook child seen by him at Fort Astoria.* In after years, the brain, as it increases, partially recovers its shape; and in some of the deformed adult skulls, one suture gapes while all the rest are ossified, and occasionally a fracture or false suture remains open. An adult skull, of the same extremely deformed shape, among those brought home by the Exploring Expedition, illustrates the great extent to which the brain may be sub- jected to compression and malformation without affecting the intellect. It is that of a Nasqually chief, procured from his canoe-bier in Washington Territory. (No. 4549.) The internal capacity, and consequent volume of brain, is 95 cubic inches. The head is compressed into a flattened disc, with the forehead receding in a straight line from the nasal suture to the crown of the head, while the lamb- doidal suture is on the same plane with the foramen mag- num. ‘The sutures are nearly all completely ossified, and the teeth ground quite flat, as is common with many of the tribes in the same region, and especially with the Walla- walla Indians on the Columbia River, who live chiefly on salmon dried in the sun, and invariably impregnated with the sand which abounds in the barren waste they occupy. IT assume the unimpaired intellect of the Nasqually chief from his rank. The Flathead tribes are in the constant habit of making slaves of the round-headed Indians; but no slave is allowed to flatten or otherwise modify the form of her child’s head, that being the badge of Flathead aris- tocracy. As this has been systematically pursued since ever the tribes of the Pacific coast were brought under the notice of Europeans, it is obvious that if such superinduced deformity developed any general tendency to cerebral dis- ease, or materially affected the intellect, the result would be apparent in the degeneracy or extirpation of the Flat- head tribes. But so faris this from being the case, that * Prehistoric Man, vol. ii. p. 820. 78 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance they are described by traders and voyagers as acute and intelligent. They are, moreover, an object of dread to neighbouring tribes who retain the normal form of head, and look on the latter with contempt, as thus bearing the hereditary badge of slaves. The child born to such strange honours is laid, soon after its birth, upon the cradle-board, an oblong piece of wood, sometimes slightly hollowed, and with a cross-board pro- jecting beyond the head to protect it from injury. A small pad of leather, stuffed with moss or frayed cedar bark, is placed on the forehead and tightly fastened on either side to the board, and this is rarely loosed until its final removal before the end of the first year. The skull has then re- ceived a form which is only shghtly modified during the subsequent growth of the brain. But the very same kind of cradle is in use among all the Indian tribes. It is indeed varied as to its ornamental adjuncts and non- essential details ; but practically it resolves itself, in every case, into a straight board to which the infant is bound ; and as it is retained in a recumbent position, the pres- sure of its own weight, during the period when, as has been shown, the occipital and parietal bones are peculiarly soft and compressible, is made to act constantly in one direction. This I assume to have been the cause of the vertical or otherwise flattened occiput in the ancient British brachy- cephalic crania. ‘The same cause must tend to increase the characteristic shortness in the longitudinal diameter, and to shorten the zygoma, with probably also some tendency to make the arch bulge out in its effort at subsequent ~ growth, and so to widen the face. Dr J. Barnard Davis has applied the term “ parieto- occipital flatness,” where the results of artificial compres- | sion in certain British skulls extend over the parietals with the upper portion of the occipital ; aud he appears to re- gard this as something essentially distinct from the vertical occiput. But it is a form of common occurrence in Indian skulls, and is in reality the most inartificial of all the results of the undesigned pressure of the cradle-board. This will be understood by a very simple experiment. If the observer lie down on the floor, without a pillow, and then ascertain of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 19 what part of the back of the head touches the ground, he will find that it is the portion of the occiput immediately above the lambdoidal suture, and not the occiptal bone. When the Indian mother places a sufficiently high pillow for her infant, the tendency of the constant pressure will be to produce the vertical occiput; but where, as is more frequently the case, the board has a mere cover of moss or soft leather, then the result will be just such an oblique parietal flattening as is shown on a British skull from the remarkable tumulus near Littleton Drew, Wiltshire, figured in the ‘“ Crania Britannica,” Decade iii., plate 24. But there are other sources of modification of the human skull in infancy, even more common than the cradle-board. More than one of the predominant head-forms in Normandy and Belgium are now traced to artificial changes, and by many apparently trifling and unheeded causes, consequent on national customs, nursing usages, or the caprices of dress and fashion, the form of the head may be modified in the nursery. The constant laying of the infant to rest on its side, the pressure in the same direction in nursing it, along with the fashion of cap, hat, or wrappage, may all influence the shape of head among civilised nations, and in certain cases tend as much to exaggerate the naturally dolichocephalic skull, as the Indian cradle-board increases the short diameter of the opposite type. Such artificial cranial forms as that designated by M. Foville the Téte annulaire, may have pre- dominated for many centuries throughout certain rural dis- tricts of France, solely from the unreasoning conformity with which the rustic nurse adhered to the traditional or prescriptive bandages to which he ascribes that distortion. All experience shows that such usages are among the least eradicable, and long survive the shock of revolutions that change dynasties and efface more important national char- acteristics. But now that attention has been directed to the subject of undesigned changes thus effected on the human head, its full bearings begin to be appreciated ; and there is even, perhaps, a danger that more may be ascribed to them than is legitimate. Such was undoubtedly the effect on Dr Morton’s mind from his familiarity with the results of artificial de- 80 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance formation on American crania; and were we to follow his example, we should be tempted to designate all the extreme varieties of the elongated dolichocephalic, acrocephalic, and brachycephalic skulls of British barrows, as mere modi- fications of the same ethnical form. In his latest recorded opinions, when commenting on some of the abnormal forms of Peruvian crania, he remarks: ‘I at first found it difficult to conceive that the original rounded skull of the Indian could be changed into this fantastic form, and was led to suppose that the latter was an artificial elongation of a head remarkable for its length and narrowness. I even supposed that the long-headed Peruvians were a more ancient people than the Inca tribes, and distinguished from them by their cranial configuration. In this opinion I was mistaken. Abundant means of observation and comparison have since convinced me that all these variously-formed heads were originally of the same shape, which is characteristic of the aboriginal race from Cape Horn to Canada, and that art alone has caused the diversities among them.’* ‘The re- peated opportunities I have enjoyed of examining the Mor- tonian and other American collections, have satisfied me of the occurrence of both dolichocephalic and brachycephalic crania, not only as the characteristics of distinct tribes, but also among the coutents of the same Peruvian cemeteries,— not as examples of extreme latitudes of form in a common race, but as the results of the admixture either of con- -quering and subject races, or of distinct classes of nobles and serfs, most generally resulting from the predominance of conquerors.—| Among the Peruvians the elongated cranium pertained to the dominant race, and some of the results of later researches in primitive British cemeteries, and espe- cially the disclosures of the remarkable class of chambered barrows, seem to point to an analogous condition of races. That the Uley and West Kennet skulls may have been laterally compressed, while the Codford barrow and other brachycephalic skulls have been affected in the opposite direction, appears equally probable. But such artificial in- fluences only very partially account for the great diversity * Physical Type of the American Indian. Schooleraft, p, 326. t Prehistoric Man, vol. ii. p. 226. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 81 of type; and no such causes, even if brought to bear in infancy, could possibly convert the one into the other form. But as the cranial forms, both of the Old and New World, betray evidences of modification by such artificial means ; so also we find in ancient Africa a diverse form of head, to which art may have contributed, solely by leaving it more than usually free from all extraneous influences. Such at least is the conclusion suggested to my mind from the examination of a considerable number of Egyptian skulls. Among familiar relics of domestic usages of the ancient HKgyptians is the pillow designed for the neck, and not the head, to rest upon. Such pillows are found of miniature ' sizes, indicating that the Egyptian passed from earliest in- fancy without his head being subjected even to so slight a pressure as the pillow, while he rested recumbent, The HKigyptian skull is long, with great breadth and fulness in the posterior region. In its prominent, rounded parieto- occipital conformation, an equally striking contrast is pre- sented to the British brachycephalic skull with truncated occiput, and to the opposite extreme characteristic of the primitive dolichocephalic skull; though exceptional ex- amples are not rare. This characteristic did not escape Dr Morton’s observant eye, and is repeatedly indicated in the “Crania Aigyptiaca” under the designation “tumid occiput.” It also appears to me, after careful examination of the fine collection formed by him, and now in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, that the Egyptian crania are generally characterised by considerable symmetrical uniformity, as was to be anticipated, if there is any truth in the idea of undesigned artificial compression and deformation resulting from such simple causes as the mode of nurture in infancy. The heads of the Fiji Islanders supply a means of testing the same cause, operating on a brachycephalic form of cranium ; as most of the islanders of the Fiji group employ a neck-pillow nearly similar to that of the ancient Egyptians, and with the same purpose in view, that of preserving their elaborately dressed hair from dishevelment. In their case, judging from an example in the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, the occipital region is NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO. 1.—suLY 1868. L 82 Professor D. Wilson’s Illustrations of the Significance broad, and presents in profile a uniform, rounded conforma- tion passing almost imperceptibly into the coronal region. Indeed the broad, well rounded occiput is considered by the Fijians a great beauty. The bearing of this, however, in relation to the present argument, depends on whether or not the Fiji neck-pillow is used in infancy. From the un- reasoning uniformity of adherence to any national custom, common to all rude people, it is probable that the same pillow is used for the infant and the adult as among the Egyptians; but I have failed to obtain definite informa- tion on this point. In one male Fiji skull brought home by the United States Exploring Expedition (No. 4581), the occiput exhibits the characteristic full, rounded form, with a large and well-defined supra-occipital bone. But in another skull in the same collection that of Veindovi, Chief of Kantavu, who was taken prisoner by the U. 8. ship Peacock in 1840, and died at New York in 1842, the occiput, though full, is slightly vertical. The occi- pital development of the Fiji cranium is the more in- teresting as we are now familiar with the fact that the arti- ficially flattened occiput. is of common occurrence among the islanders of the Pacific Ocean. ‘‘In the Malay race,” says Dr Pickering, “‘a more marked peculiarity, and one very generally observable, is the elevated occiput, and its slight projection beyond the line of the neck. The Mon- golian traits are heightened artificially in the Chinooks, but it is less generally known that a slight pressure is often applied to the occiput by the Polynesians, in conformity with the Malay standard.”"* Dr Nott, in describing the skull of a Kanaka of the Sandwich Islands who died at the Marine Hospital at Mobile, mentions his being struck by its singular occipital formation ; and this he learned was due to | an artificial flattening which the islander had stated to his medical attendants in the hospital was habitually practised in his family.t According to Dr Davis, it istraceable to so simple a cause as the Kanaka mother’s habit of supporting the head of her nursling in the palm of her hand.t What- ever be the cause, the fact is now well established. The * Pickering’s Races of Man, p. 45. t Types of Mankind, p. 436. { Crania Britannica, Dec. III. pl. 24 (4). > New S. Edin? New Phil. Journal. of certain Ancient British Skull Forms. 83 occipital flattening is clearly defined in at least three of the Kanaka skulls in the Mortonian Collection; No. 1300, a male native of the Sandwich Islands, aged about forty ; No. 1308, apparently that of a woman, from the same locality ; and in No. 695, a girl of Oahu, of probably twelve years of age, which is markedly unsymmetrical, and with the flattening on the left side of the parietal and occipital bones. The Washington Collection includes fourteen Kanaka skulls; besides others from various islands of the Pacific, among which several examples of the same artificial formation occur: eg., No. 4587, a large male skull, distorted and unsymmetrical; and No. 4367, female? from an ancient cemetery at Wailuka, Mani, in which the flattened occiput is very obvious. The traces of purposed deformation of the head among the islanders of the Pacific have an additional interest in its relation to one possible source of South American population by oceanic migration, suggested by philological and other - independent evidence. But for our present purpose, the peculiar value of those modified skulls lies in the disclosures of influences operating alike undesignedly, and with a well- defined purpose, in producing the very same’ cranial con- formation among races occupying the British Islands in ages long anterior to earliest history ; and among the savage tribes of America and the simple islanders of the Pacific in the present day. They illustrate with even greater force than the rude implements of flint and stone found in early British graves, the exceedingly primitive condition of the British Islanders of prehistoric times. On Variation in the Number of Fingers and Toes, and in the Number of Phalanges, in Man. By JOHN STRUTHERS, M.D., F.R.C.S., Lecturer on Anatomy in the Edinburgh School of Medicine. (Plate IT.) At the present time when the subject of variation is attracting so much attention, the following illustrations will, perhaps, be read with additional interest. I have arranged the cases of increase in the number of digits into 84 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number two groups, those which illustrate original variation, and those which illustrate the phenomena of hereditary trans- mission. The cases of variation in the number of the pha- langes are given separately, as belonging to a different order of variation. In regard to those cases for which I am in- indebted to the kindness of various medical friends, whose names will appear, I may mention that they have been most carefully described to me in reply to a series of in- quiries relating both to the anatomical condition and the hereditary history, and that what is stated may.be relied on both for accuracy and for all possible completeness. A few remarks are added at the end on some of the points in variation and inheritance which the cases illustrate, and on the special point of the absence of a bone in the thumb and great toe, as compared with the other digits. PART I.—VARIATION IN THE NUMBER OF DIGITS. Sroction 1.—INCREASE IN THE NUMBER. Group 1.—CasEs WHICH COULD NOT BE TRACED TO HAVE HEREDITARY OriGIN. 1, Case of Six Digits in three members of a family, occurring Symmetrically. In this family of seven children, one of the daughters was born with six digits on each foot, and two of the sons with six digits on each foot and on each hand. I am indebted to the kindness of Dr John Alexander Smith for a full account of the case, and for afford- ing me the opportunity of seeing the persons who are the subjects of the variety. (a.) M O——, female, xt. 22, Edinburgh, was born with a EXPLANATION OF PLATE II, Fig.1. Rand L. Hands of J O——. Casel. From a photograph. Fig. 2. Feet of J—— O——. Case 1. From a photograph. Fig. 38. Feet of C—— O , younger brother to the last—Case 1. From a photograph. Fig. 4. Hand of G—— S——. Case 14. From a sketch. Fig. 6. Hand of J——- M——. Case 24. From a cast. Fig. 6. Hand of J—— J——. Case 26. From a photograph. of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 8d sixth toe on the outer side of each foot. That on the right foot, being loosely attached, was removed by the surgeon a fortnight after birth, and the cicatrix is visible. The sixth toe on the left foot is fully equal in size to the fifth, and is supported on the fifth metatarsal bone. The hands are normal. (6.) The elder brother, J O , et. 19, has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. The additional digits are placed on the outer side of the limb. Figs. 1 and 2 are taken from photographs of the hands and feet. Hach sixth finger diverges considerably, reaches to a little beyond the joint between the proxi- mal and middle phalanges of the fifth finger, and contains two phalanges, the proximal 14, the distal $ inch in length, the distal phalanx being somewhat longer on the left hand. The fifth and sixth fingers rest on one metacarpal bone, which broadens consider- ably in its distal third, where it is first grooved and then deeply notched, so that the bifurcated ends are as wide apart as the other knuckles. The left sixth finger looks shorter than the right, owing to the metacarpal head which supports it being farther back. ‘The other fingers have the usual proportionate length. Hach sixth finger moves with strength and quite as independently as the other fingers, without the others being held, and there is no tendency to move the fifth when he moves the sixth, The flexor and extensor tendons are, therefore, separate up to the muscles, The sixth toe is well formed on each foot, lying parallel in the series. The fifth is of normal size, and the sixth rather larger than it, although, from commencing farther back, it does not pro- ject so much as the fifth. The fifth metatarsal broadens and then bifurcates to support the fifth and sixth toes, the bifurcation being greatest on the right side. Although it is not very easy to make this out, the sixth toe appears to have only two phalanges on each foot. The fifth and sixth toes are slightly webbed, but less so than the second and third, which are, as is common, webbed for 4 to 4 of an inch. (c.) The younger brother, C O——, et. 10, was born with twenty-four digits, like his brother. The toes, as seen in fig. 3, - also from a photograph, exactly resemble those of the elder brother (fig. 2), making allowance for the latter having corns. I can make out three phalanges in all the lesser toes except the sixth, which appears to have but two. The fifth metatarsal bones bifurcate as in the brother. The sixth fingers projected outwards so inconveniently, that they were removed, together with their supporting head of the bifurcated fifth metacarpal bone, three years ago by Dr Smith, and a cicatrix and slight bony eminence remain. On examination of one of the removed fingers I find it to contain two phalanges, which appear to be entirely destitute of flexor tendons, the proximal phalanx alone having an extensor tendon. History of the O Family—The father and mother have the fingers and toes normal, and the variety was previously unknown in the family on either side. Both grandmothers were present at the birth of the daughter, the first child which presented the 86 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number variety, and both stated that they had never known or heard of it in their ancestors, neither having ever heard of such a thing before except in the case of. the son of the giant in Gath, which they called to recollection in discussing the wonder. The first child of this family was a boy, without any digital peculiarity. The mother next had four miscarriages, between the 4th and 7th months, two boys and two girls, also it is stated with the hands and feet quite natural. The sixth child, the daughter M , was the first to present the variety; she had six toes as above described. The family had lived in Forfarshire, and now went to Glasgow. When again pregnant, the mother’s thoughts must have been strongly turned in this direction, as she relates that she heard as it were a distinct voice from the wall of the room say that the child would have more than the last. This was about the second or third month, and made a deep impression on her mind. The child was the boy James O above described as presenting six fingers and six toes. ‘Three daughters, successively, were the next children born, whose hands and feet were quite natural. Lastly came the boy Charles O , above described as having been born with an additional digit both on the feet and hands. Dr Smith has attended two of the daughters in their confine- ment; one has had three children all of whom have the fingers and toes normal; the other, the daughter who was born with six toes, has had one child, a male, who lived only a few days, in whom the toes and fingers were normal. M , J , and C O have two paternal uncles and two paternal aunts, and one maternal uncle and five maternal aunts, all of whom have families, and in none of them—uncles, aunts, or children—do the fingers or toes present any variety. ‘The mother, Mrs O——, was a twin, and the twin sister has had three children. The mother, Mrs O , mentions that she used to work beside a girl who had a double thumb, but this was years before she was married. The father mentions that after the variety had occurred in his own family, he saw a man who was exhibited as a giant with six fingers and six toes. The O family mention the case of a railway guard (George B——), known to them after the variety had appeared among them, who had an additional finger on the ulnar side of his right hand, and an additional toe, also said to be on the right foot. He died a few months ago and leaves five or six children, none of whom have additional fingers or toes. The following Seven Cases present an Additional Thumb on one Hand. 2. J —— S—— , at. 25, Berwickshire, has an additional thumb on the right hand. The metacarpal bone bifurcates to support the two thumbs, which are of nearly equal length and thickness, that next the forefinger being slightly thicker and more powerful than the other. Each contains two phalanges, the proximal 14 inch, the distal 1 inch in length, being as long as those of the thumb of the left hand, except the distal phalanges, which are 4 inch shorter. of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 87 In girth, each is only a little less than the left-hand thumb. The twin thumbs diverge from each other by their proximal phalanges, and converge by their distal phalanges, and are webbed half-way. In extension, the distal phalanges become parallel; in flexion, their points come together by their edges, and give a firm nip. Hach can be flexed and extended separately when the other is held, but not otherwise. Flexion at the metacarpo-phalangeal joint is less extensive than usual. Motion at the carpo-metacarpal joint is free, and, in the movements of opposition, both of the thumbs move to- gether across the hand. In writing, the pen lies between the ap- proximated points of thetwothumbs. He is right-handed as usual. He states that variation in the number of the fingers or toes was previously unknown in the family. N , et. 13, Edinburgh (brought to me by my pupil Mr George Dickson), has an additional thumb on the left hand. The metacarpal bone is bifurcated for + to 4 inch, and forms two diverging heads for the two thumbs. The thumb next the forefinger is the larger of the two, and has nearly the usual length, but is not thicker than the last two divisions of the fore- finger. The lesser thumb at first diverges to the radial side, and then curves forwards at the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, which is somewhat loose. It has only one phalanx, which is 58 inch in length, the two phalanges of the greater thumb measuring together 1d inch. The two thumbs move together in opposing the fingers. The lesser thumb is flexed and extended in common with the other, and has considerable power in flexion. Her mother states that variety in the number of fingers or toes was previously unknown in the family. 4. W——G , et. 8 months, Edinburgh (kindly sent to me by Mr Edwards), has the thumb of the right hand double. The thumb next the forefinger is of good size, and has the usual num- ber of bones. The lesser thumb consists of one phalanx, which is attached, firmly but quite moveably, to the inner side of the proxi- mal phalanx of the greater thumb beyond its middle. It is about half the thickness of the greater thumb, is half the nail’s length shorter, and they are webbed together as far as opposite the begin- ning of the two nails. The mother states that the variety was previously unknown in the family. 5. I am indebted to Dr Edward Robertson of Otterburn for a note of the case of T H , et. about 6 months, Northumber- land, who had an additional thumb on the right hand. It was rather loosely attached at the radial side of the metacarpo-phalangeal articulation of the greater thumb, which, again, was rather smaller than the thumb of the left hand. Dr Robertson lately removed the lesser thumb, and I find that it contains one phalanx only. The father, mother, and maternal grandmother, all state that nothing of the kind was before known in the family. 6. My pupil, Mr Purves of Dryburgh, has procured for me a note, by his father, of the case of J , Berwickshire, a 88 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number man who has a small-sized additional thumb on the left hand. It. contains one phalanx, which is attached rather loosely at the end of the metacarpal bone, as if by dense tissue and skin, without con- nection with the joint. He has no voluntary power over it, but it is more sensitive to pain than the greater thumb is. It is over an inch in-length, and has a well-formed nail. He states that “‘ there is no hereditary tendency in his family to such formations,” 7. For this (and for case 10. of this group) I am indebted to Dr Gibson of Campbeltown. M‘M——,, et. 14, Argyleshire, has a double thumb on the right hand. The metacarpal bone is much larger than its fellow in the left hand. The proximal phalanx is double, the two being wrapped in a common investment of skin, presenting a broad flattened appearance externally. The distal phalanges are separate, with a little space between them. They converge again at the points, giving the thumb a lobster’s claw ap- pearance. He is able to pick up small objects between the two points, and thinks such a thumb rather an acquisition, as in pick- ing small things out of his vest pocket. He has the full use of the thumb in opposing the fingers. He has three brothers and four sisters, none of whom have any digital variety. Neither have the father nor mother, nor do they know of any such variety in past generations of their families. The mother accounts for it from her seeing a man with a double thumb when she was pregnant, but says it was not the same kind of double thumb. 8. I am indebted to Dr Henderson of Fordoun for the particulars of the case of H—— K , Kincardineshire, zt. 52, who has an additional thumb on the right hand. The thumb to the radial side, constituting the sixth digit, is considerably smaller and shorter than the other, and they are partially webbed. She can move the thumbs together so as to hold a pen between them. A former child of the mother’s, by a first marriage, had a sixth finger on the ulnar side of one hand, but lived only three weeks. No previous case is known in the family on either side. The mother has no story as to the cause. Three Cases (two of them Brothers) presenting an Additional Little Finger on one Hand. 9, Dr Edward Robertson mentions to me also the case of John ~ B , et. 5 years, Northumberland, from whom immediately after birth he removed a small supernumerary little finger from the left hand. A brother, who is now dead, had a similar supernumerary finger also on the outer side of the left hand. The father and mother have never heard of any such variety in their ancestors, or in any relative of the family. 10. J—— G——, et. 20 months, Argyleshire, has a sixth finger loosely attached to the outer side of the little finger of the left hand, near the middle of the proximal phalanx, and set at a right of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 89 angle to the little finger. It is of an inch in length, and has two phalanges. The little finger (fifth finger) is two inches in length. He is an only child. The father and mother have no such variety, and never heard of it occurring in the family before. Three Cases presenting Six Toes on one Foot. eS: S , Liverpool, zt. 39, brother to one of my students, has six toes on the right foot. The external metatarsal bone is not broader at its middle than in the other foot, but becomes grooved and then bifurcated for a short distance at the head, supporting the fifth and sixth toes. I can make out three phalanges in the fifth toe, but the sixth seems to have only two. The long extensor ten- don is felt and seen to bifurcate for the fifth and sixth toes. The five lesser toes form a regular series retiring outwards, with nothing to attract notice except the number. It was some months, he mentions, until his mother made the discovery that he had a toe more on one foot than on the other. There is no trace of any attempt to throw out a sixth digit on the other foot, or on the hands. He states that variety of the toes or fingers was previously un- known in the family, and he can trace his ancestors for several generations back. He is one of six brothers, none of whom are married but himself, and he has no family, although there have been several miscarriages. He has five sisters, four of whom are married and have families, but none present any digital variety. He is a very tall man, standing six feet four inches in his shoes. The brothers are rather tall, but under six feet. The mother and sisters are not tall. The father was under six feet. 12. I am indebted to Dr Finlay of Trinity, Edinburgh, for the opportunity of examining this case, and also the two next :— L—., et. 40, Newhaven, has six toes on the left foot. The fifth metatarsal bone is broader than the corresponding bone in the right foot, and supports the fifth and sixth toes, The fifth toe is narrower than the sixth, and has three phalanges, while the sixth seems to have only two phalanges. The extensor tendons of the fifth and sixth toes are seen to come forward together. The fourth and fifth toes are partially webbed. No instance of digital variety is known to have occurred among his ancestors on the father’s side, who have lived in Newhaven from time immemorial. The grandmother came from Edinburgh, and said that it was equally unknown among her ancestors. J L— has a brother and four sisters; he himself has a family of four boys and one girl; his brother has one son; and three of his four sisters are married, and have families of sons and daughters; but no member or relative of the family has any digital variety ex- cept himself. 13. R L , et. 15, Newhaven, has six toes on the left foot. The fifth and sixth toes are supported on one metatarsal bone. The fifth is a small toe, the sixth thicker than the little toe NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIII. NO. 1.—JULY 1863. M 90 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number of the other foot. The fifth and sixth toes have each only two phalanges; the proximal phalanges are close together, but can be made to move past each other, Digital variety is unknown in the family on either side. R L is one of nine children, three boys and six girls. The father’s family have, as usual with the Newhaven fishermen, always been in Newhaven. The grandmother came from the Highlands, and never knew of such a thing on her side of the family. Both the father and mother have brothers and sisters in Newhaven, all with families of sons and daughters. The mother states that her father’s left little toe grew very awkwardly across the others, not in consequence of the pressure of the shoe, but naturally. A friend showed me the other day a peculiar curve of his little finger, which two of his brothers also have. His father’s mother had exactly the same peculiarity; also some of the children of a paternal uncle. 14. Case in which one Hand presents Seven or Hight Digits, forming an approach to the condition of Double Hand. G-— 8 , et. 5, has seven digits on the left hand, and the one corresponding to the thumb double at its distal segment, con- stituting so far an eighth digit. In every other respect the boy is well formed. ‘The appearance presented by the hand is seen in fig. 4. There are seven distinct metacarpal bones. The four fingers on the outer side present the usual form and proportionate length, each with its three phalanges. The fifth has the position and opposing action of the thumb. Besides the metacarpal bone, it has two segments, the distal of which contains two phalanges placed side by side, while the proximal phalanx is single. The twin distal phalanges can be made to move a little past each other, and the one to the inner or radial side ends partly by a prominent non- articular angle, as if its proximal phalanx were wanting. They are closely enveloped in a common integument, and their nails join at their contiguous edges. He moves the thumb indepen- dently and freely, so that all its tendons must be separate from those of the digits on either side. The sixth and seventh digits are like the ring and little fingers of a right hand, except that the little finger is proportionately small. Hach has three phalanges, and they are webbed most of the way between the proximal phalanges. — Their metacarpal bones are quite separate and moveable, and, as they pass up, have a direction forwards to the palmar aspect of the carpus. ‘These two fingers are associated together in their move- ments, and can be moved independently of the rest of the hand, but there is a tendency to flex the other fingers at the same time. In general grasping, the thumb and sixth and seventh digits oppose the other four and clasp down upon them. The hand is flat where the ball of the thumb should be.* * A somewhat similar case, in which the duplicity of the hand was more complete, with a rudimentary condition of the thumbs, by Mr J. Jardine of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 91 A grandfather and grandmother are still alive. The father has three brothers and three sisters, besides two sisters who died. Two of the brothers and the three sisters are married, all of whom have families of sons and daughters, except one of the brothers whose children are all daughters, and the father himself has three daughters and another boy besides G But no other case of such, or of any, digital variety has been or is known in the family, either on the father’s or on the mother’s side. Group 2.—Caszs or INcREASE IN THE Number oF Digits, witH HEREDITARY ORIGIN. 15. Casein which the Varvety has been transmitted through at least Four Generations. I am indebted to Dr Hamilton of Falkirk for the follow- ing case (and for case 16), and have to thank him for the great trouble and interest he has taken in ascertaining the genealogy of the family. The great-great-grandmother, Esther P (who married A—— L ), had a sixth little finger on one hand. Of their eighteen children (twelve daughters and six sons), only one (Charles) is known to have had digital variety. We have the history of the descendants of three of the sons, Andrew, Charles, and James. (1.) Andrew L had two sons, Thomas and Andrew; and Thomas had two sons; all without digital variety. Here we have three successive generations without the variety possessed by the great-grandmother showing itself. (2.) James L——, who was normal, had two sons and seven daughters, also normal. One of the daughters became Mrs J (one of the informants), and had three daughters and five sons, all normal except one of the sons James J , now et. 17, who had six fingers on each hand. The additional fingers in this boy’s case were loosely attached at the metacarpo-phalangeal joint of the little finger, and were removed by Dr Hamilton a few days after birth. In this branch of the descendants of Lsther, we see it passing over two generations and reappearing in one member of the third generation, and now on both hands. (3.) Charles L , the only child of Esther who had digital variety, had six fingers on each hand. MHe had three sons, James, Thomas, and John, all of whom were born with six fingers on each hand, while John has also a sixth toe on one foot. He had also five other sons and four daughters, all of whom were normal. (a) Of the normal children of this, the third generation, the five sons have had twelve sons and twelve daughters, and the four Murray of Brighton, was lately communicated to the Royal Medico-Chirurgi- cal Society of London. Noticed in ‘‘The Lancet,” Dec. 20, 1862. I am aware of acase of a child with complete double foot, at least at the digital and metacarpal part, but have as yet seen only a sketch of it. 92 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number - daughters have had four sons and four daughters, being the fourth generation, all of whom were normal. A fifth generation in this sub- group consists as yet of only two boys and two girls, who are also normal. In this sub-branch, we see the variety of the first generation pre- sent in the second, passing over the third and fourth, and also the fifth as far as it has yet gone. (6) James, had three sons and two daughters who are normal. (c) Thomas, had four sons and five daughters who are normal; and has two grandsons, also normal. In this sub-branch of the descent, we see the variety of the first generation, showing itself in the second and third, and passing over the fourth, and (as far as it as yet exists) the fifth generation. (d) John L (one of the informants) had six fingers, the addi- tional finger being attached on the outer side, as in the case of his brothers James and Thomas. All of them had the additional digits removed. John has also a sixth toe on one foot, situated on the outer side. The fifth and sixth toes have a common proximal pha- lanx, and a common integument invests the middle and distal phalanges, each having a separate nail. John L has a son who is normal, and a daughter, Jane, who was born with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. The sixth fingers were removed. The sixth toes are not wrapped with the fifth, as in her father’s case, but are distinct from them, The son has a son and daughter, who, like himself, are normal. In this, the most interesting sub-branch of the descent, we see digital increase, which appeared in the first generation on one limb, appearing in the second on two limbs, the hands; in the third on three limbs, the hands and one foot; in the fourth on all the four limbs. There is as yet no fifth generation in uninterrupted transmission of the variety. The variety does not yet occur in any member of the fifth generation of Esther’s descendants, which con- sists, as yet, only of three boys and one girl, whose parents were normal, and of two boys and two girls whose grand-parents were normal. It is not known whether, in the case of the great-great- grandmother, Esther P , the variety was original or inherited. 16. Case of Additional Thumb, with distant Hereditary Origin. B—— et. 3, Linlithgowshire, was born with an additional thumb on the left hand, which Dr Hamilton removed when she was a few months old. The upper end of the proximal phalanx was left, for security to the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, and has since grown to some extent. It was not much smaller than the thumb which was left. The only other child, also a daughter, is normal. The mother’s maternal uncle (W ) had a thumb of the same kind, which Dr Hamilton has seen. His five sons and five daughters, however, were normal. The mother of the girl B is one of a family of four brothers and five sisters, all of whom are normal, and of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 93 their children, twenty-four sons and twenty-seven daughters, were likewise all normal, except one of Mrs B——’s daughters, being the case under description. The occurrence of it in the maternal grand-uncle, indicates the variety to have existed in some generation previous to his. The case shows it to have passed over at least two generations, the grandmother and the mother, and to have reappeared in the third generation in the case of the girl B——. For this and the five following cases 17, 17 (a), 18, 18 (a), 19, 19 (a), I am indebted to Dr Gibson of Campbeltown, who has most kindly taken much interest and trouble in obtaining and sending me the information. 17. Case of Additional Digit on one Hand, with Three Phalanges and a Metacarpal Bone ; and Additional Digit on each Foot. Dvrect Hereditary Origin. W S , et. 73, Argyleshire, has, on his left hand, asixth finger, placed midway between the thumb and fore-finger. It has three phalanges and a metacarpal bone, all clearly felt. It hangs pendulous, not having the power of extension. Its length is 34 inches, that of the thumb being 24, that of the fore-finger 4 inches. The thumb and fore-finger are each 3 inches in circumference, the intermediate digit 23. He states that he has six toes on each foot, and that the addi- tional toe is placed and formed in the very same way as in the hand. His children, four in number, are without digital variety, but it is hereditary, as fully given with the next case, that of a sister. 17 (a). Case of Two Thumbs, one of them with Three Phalanges on each Hand ; and Two Great Toes on each Foot, with an Additional Metatarsal Bone on one Foot. Direct Hereditary Origin. A S , Argyleshire, has six digits on each hand and on each foot. The additional digit is on the inner side. One of the thumbs presents three phalanges, on each hand, and one of the additional great toes has a separate metatarsal bone. The two thumbs are supported on one unbifurcated metacarpal bone. The thumb next the fore-finger is clearly felt to have three phalanges, while the lesser thumb has two phalanges. It is the same on both hands. The greater thumb is 23 inches in length on the left hand, and 23 on the right; the lesser ‘thumb i is 2 inches in length on both hands. The circumference of the greater thumbs on the left and right sides, respectively, is 24 and 24, that of the lesser thumbs being 2 inches. The two thumbs are webbed at their base. In each hand, it is the thumb next the fore-finger which is used. 94 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number In the left foot there are two great toes growing from one meta- tarsal bone, each having two phalanges, which are distinctly felt. The inner toe is the greatest, is 25 inches in length and 33 in circumference; the outer is 2 inches in length and 2 inches in cir- cumference. On the right foot there are six toes very regularly set, and six metatarsal bones. The great inner toe has two phalanges, is 2 inches in length, and 34 in circumference; the second is 13 in length, and 2% in circumference, and has two phalanges. The outer of the two great toes—that next the other toes—is therefore the lesser on both feet. The variety is in the family. It came into the family through the paternal grandmother, who was a‘relative of the family, in which digital variation exists. This grandmother herself is not stated to have had the variety, but the father of A S had six toes on each foot and “ very long thumbs.” Of his seven chil- dren, a daughter and three sons have no digital variety; the other daughter has, as above described, six digits on each hand and foot; a son has the great toes double; and the remaining son, whose case is last described, has six digits on each foot and on one hand, Thisson has four children, who are all normal. Of the other sons, two, who are normal, are married and have fifteen children, all of whom are likewise normal. 18. Case of Double Distal Phalanx of Thumb, with distant Hereditary Origin. J H , et. 70, Argyleshire, has the thumb on the right hand double at the distal phalanx, while the metacarpal bone, and the proximal phalanx, are single. The distal segment is at first much flattened, and then bifurcated for about half an inch; each has a separate phalanx, and anail. The distal divided segment remains constantly extended. Neither of his six brothers, or eight sisters, or father or mother, had any digital variety. His maternal grandmother, herself normal, was a member of the family already alluded to, among whom such variety exists; and the next case is that of a sister’s grand-daughter. 18 (a). Case of Additional Thumb on each Hand, with Additional Metacarpal Bones, and Double Great Toe on one Foot. Distant Hereditary Origin, connected with the preceding case. J D , et. 4, Argyleshire, has two thumbs of equal size on each hand, and a double great toe on the left foot. The two thumbs on each hand have each two phalanges, and also each a metacarpal bone. The two thumbs of each hand possess flexion and extension and other motions perfect, and are equally useful. The metatarsal bone of the left great toe appears to be grooved of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 95 but not bifurcated. ach of the great toes which it supports has two phalanges. They are wrapped in a common integument, except near the point, where they separate. Hach has a nail, The phalanges of the outer lie partly upon those of the inner great toe. She has a brother and two sisters, but no member of the family, later than the brother of her maternal grandmother (case of J H , last related), has any digital variety. She is, through the same channel, a distant cousin of the family, already alluded to, among whom digital variety exists. 19. Case of Additional Thumb on one Hand, with distant Hereditary Origin. J F}——-, et. 8, Argyleshire, has an additional thumb on the left hand. The distal end of the metacarpal bone is bifurcated. The lesser thumb is situated on the inner side, and has two pha- langes. It is 14 inch in length, the larger thumb being 2 inches. The distal phalanx of the lesser thumb remains in the flexed posi- tion, and cannot be extended voluntarily. The thumb of the right hand is longer than usual, and is somewhat finger-like. He has one brother and two sisters, neither of whom have digital variety, nor have the father or mother. The father’s great- grandfather is said to have had some digital variety. The thumb on the right hand is longer than usual, and somewhat finger- like. 19 (a). Case of Additional Thumb on one Hand, with Additional Metacarpal Bone. Distant Hereditary Origin. 8 M-—, ext: 7, Argyleshire, has an additional thumb on the right hand. It has two phalanges and a metacarpal bone, which articulates with the inner side of the metacarpal bone of the greater thumb, near the carpal extremity. The larger thumb is 2 inches | in length, the lesser 14. It begins to leave the greater thumb op- posite about the middle of the metacarpal bone of the latter, and its point reaches to the last joint of the greater thumb, along the side of which it lies. All the bones are clearly felt. She has four brothers and five sisters, who, as well as the father and mother, have no digital variety. A first cousin, daughter of a maternal uncle, had a double thumb. 20. Case of Sia Fingers and Toes, with Interrupted Hereditary Origin. I am indebted to Mr J. Jardine Murray, F.R.C.S. Edinburgh, of Brighton, for a note of the case of C G—., et. 12 months, who was born with six fingers on each hand, the additional finger being on the ulnar side, and six toes on the right foot, The sixth toe is on the outer side of the foot, and lies more upon the dorsum 96 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number than to the outer side of the fifth toe. Mr Murray removed the supernumerary fingers in July 1862. A brother has the same variety. The grandmother, on the father’s side, had the same variety; also a sister of the father’s. Section 3.—DIMINUTION IN THE NUMBER OF THE DIGITS. 21. Dissection of Three Limbs of a Child, presenting Diminution in the Number of the Digits. The child was born with the right hand presenting only two fingers, webbed together ; the right foot presenting but three toes; and the left foot with the fourth and fifth toes united at their base. J was indebted to the kindness of Dr Keiller for obtaining the limbs. I have no history to the case, but have thought it worthy of notice from the oppor- tunity of ascertaining by dissection how far the variation affected the deeper parts—the bones, muscles, and nerves. (1.) Dissection or Hanp.—Externally there are two digits, one on the radial side considerably thicker than the other. It will be convenient to speak of the first as the pollex, and of the other as the little finger. They are webbed to the end, presenting a notch at the end on the palmar aspect. The nails are distinct, but close together. The palm is the same breadth as the forearm, and gra- dually tapers into the fingers. Both palm and fingers have the usual length in proportion to the forearm. Bonrs.—EHach digit has only two phalanges, the proximal about twice the length of the distal. There are two metacarpal bones. The four bones of the proximal carpal row are present, the second, or semilunar, small. ‘The second row of carpals is represented by two bones, which are coalesced with, or prolonged from, the first row. The piece supporting the ulnar metacarpal, corresponds in position to the unciform, and is fused with the cuneiform. The piece supporting the radial metacarpal is fused behind with the scaphoid, and may represent the os magnum, trapezoid, or trape- zium, or all three fused together. The bones and joints of the forearm are fully developed. Muscius.—All the muscles of the forearm are present except — one. The pronators and supinators are unusually large, as is also the Flexor Carpi Ulnaris. The Flexor Sublimis Digitorum is small, wants its radial origin, and ends in two tendons; one joins the tendon of the deep flexor, which goes to the little finger, the other ends in the annular ligament. The Flexor Profundus Digitorum is full sized, and ends in two tendons; one, the larger, ends in the annular ligament, the other forms a strong flexor tendon, going on to the distal phalanx of the little finger. The latter is joined at the wrist by the tendon of the superficial flexor, which is here pierced by the deep tendon, after which the two are incorporated. of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges,in Man. 97 The absence of a tendo perforatus proceeding separately to the finger corresponds to the fact of the absence of one of the pha- langes. The Flexor Longus Pollicis is large, arising also from the edge of the ulna. It proceeds entirely to the distal phalanx of the pollex. It is not joined by any slip, except that, above, the fleshy slip which usually descends to the muscle from the condyloid origin of the flexor sublimis is unusually large. The short muscles of the little finger are all present with the usual attachments. So also the short muscles of the thumb, with some modification. The Abductor is large. The Adductor arises from the annular ligament. The Opponens is small, much smaller than the opponens (flexor ossis meta-carpi) minimi digiti. The Flexor Brevis Pollicis, undersized, arises from the two sides of the metacarpal bone; the ulnar head appearing like a second interos- seous. There is one Jnterosseous muscle for the little finger, along its radial side. Extensor Muscles.—The Extensor Carpi Radialis Longior sends a small tendon to the base of the metacarpal bone of the pollex, and a large tendon to between the bases of both metacarpals, chiefly to the ulnar. The Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevior, also large, goes to the carpus just above the ulnar metacarpal. The Extensor Carpi Ulnaris is entirely wanting. The Hatensor Communis Digitorum gives a tendon to each finger, that to the pollex only a little the largest. The Hatensor Minimi Digiti is quite distinct from the latter asa muscle. Its only tendon goes to the little finger, join- ing with the tendon to that finger from the common extensor, the latter being the larger. Two muscles form the deep layer. One has the fleshy attachments of the Extensor Ossis Metacarpi Pollicis, but its tendon goes to the first phalanx, and is therefore the Ex- tensor Primi Internodii. The other muscle has the fleshy attach- ments of the long extensor of the thumb, and the extensor of the fore-finger. Besides two tendinous slips to the back of the carpus, it ends in two tendons which join the tendons of the long common extensor. One of them, therefore, represents the Extensor Secundi Internodit Pollicis ; the other the Hatensor Indicis, going to the only remaining finger, Nerves.—The Ulnar supplies the ulnar side of the little finger, and unites with the median for the supply of the radial side of the same finger. The Median supplies both sides of the pollex, and is also the principal nerve for the ulnar side of the little finger. The interdigital space receives for its supply, as above described, a series of nerves, three from the median and two from the ulnar, as if the nerves of the wanting fingers had been crowded into the cleft. (2.) Dissection or Rigut Foot.—This foot presents three toes, the internal having the usual characters of the great toe. Bonrs.—Each of the lesser toes has the three phalanges—the great toe the usual two. The metatarsal bones are three in number, the internal having its usual great size. The second tarsal row pre- sents a bone for the support of each metatarsal—two cuneiform bones and the cuboid—but the latter is fused with the os calcis. NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO. I.—JuULY 1868. N —_ ‘ so Oh Wag " Ne = y 98 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number The part corresponding to the cuboid has a separate bony nucleus, smaller than the nucleus of the os calcis.. Of the first row, the astragalus is fused with the os calcis, and the scaphoid is wanting or fused with the astragalus. Muscites.—The Flexor Brevis Digitorum sends tendons to the two lesser toes, that to the external being much the largest. The Flexor Longus Digitorum and Flexor Longus Pollicis are separate muscles in the leg, but at the ancle form a common tendon, which at the middle of the foot, after receiving a large accessorius, divides into two, one for the great toe, the other for the second toe, which perforates the tendon of the short flexor. There is one Lwmbro- calis, arising from both sides of the long tendon to the second toe, and going to the tibial side of the same toe. Two muscular bundles arise from the abductor minimi digiti, besides the usual tendon of that muscle, and proceed one to the fibular side of the second toe, the other to the tibial side of the outer toe. They are like large lumbricales, or additional short flexors. The Flexor Brevis Minima Digiti is wanting, There are two plantar Interosser, one for the tibial side of each of the two lesser toes; and one dorsal, in the outer space, for the middle toe. Katensors.—The Haxtensor Brevis Digitorum, gives five distinct digital tendons, three to the middle toe, one of which is larger than the tendon to the outer or to the great toe. All of the five come, as usual with the tendons of this muscle, from separate portions of the muscle. A sixth portion and tendon passes to the external metatarsal bone, and here represents the peroneus tertius, which is wanting in its usual situation. The Hatensor Longus Digitorwm is small, and gives at the ancle a tendon to join the extensor longus pollicis, the rest of the tendon ending on the os calcis. It is just possible that an intra-uterine fracture of the tibia which had taken place, with angular union, may account for the atrophy of this muscle, but the other muscles of the leg are well formed. The Katensor Longus Pollicis is large and separate throughout, except that it receives a tendon from the extensor longus digitorum. The muscles not alluded to in these notes present their usual arrangement. Nerves.— The distribution of the plantar digital nerves is some- what remarkable. The external plantar sends a nerve to the fibular side of the outer toe, and a second to both sides of the outer inter- digital cleft. The internal plantar, which has the usual prepon- derance in size, sends, first, a nerve for the tibial side of the great toe; second, a branch to the internal cleft which gives off first one and then a second set of subdivisions to the sides of the cleft, the double nerve on each side keeping a plantar course; third, a branch to join with the external plantar in supplying both sides of the outer cleft. Also there is a twig from the deep or muscular divi- sion of the external plantar, through below the flexor brevis digi- torum muscle, to join one of the branches of the internal plantar to the fibular side of the great toe. A similarly derived and similarly ‘ of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 99 placed connecting twig passed from the ulnar nerve to the median in the right hand. The distribution of the internal plantar nerve, taken alone, would indicate that the wanting toes are the two outer; while the distribu- tion of the external plantar, taken alone, would indicate that the second and third are the wanting toes; but the double apparatus of nerves to each cleft, and their source, is exactly explained by sup- posing the second and fourth to be the wanting toes. (3.) Dissection or Lerr Foot.—The fourth and fifth toes are united at their bases. ‘The foot is in the condition of talipes varus. Bonzs.—The bases of the proximal phalanges of the fourth and fifth toes are united in a single piece, and in front of this they are held together by a strong transverse ligament, with an anterior con- cave edge. Hach of the lesser toes has three phalanges, except the fifth, in which the distinction between the second and third pha- langes is not evident, but the softness and smallness of the parts render it difficult to pronounce as to this. It has, however, a tendon from the flexor brevis digitorum muscle. The fifth meta- tarsal bone is wanting. The fourth is double sized, broader but not bulkier than that of the hallux, but it presents no trace of duplicity externally, and a section shows one large medullary canal. The tarsal bones present no variety, except that the cuboid is nar- rower than usual, having only one metatarsal bone to support, and that the astragalus is fused with the os calcis. Moscitzs.—The fourth and fifth toes receive no tendon from the Extensor Brevis Digitorwm, and but one tendon from the Hatensor Longus Digitorum, which divides at the metatarso-phalangeal joint into a tendon for each of the partially united toes. The external tendon of the Mlexor Brevis Digitorwm divides in the same manner at the head of the metatarsal bone to supply these two toes. Soa does the external tendon of the Flexor Longus Digitorum, after crossing the metatarso-phalangeal joint. The most external of three Lumbricales is double-sized and goes to the tibial side of the fourth toe. The first lumbricalis, besides going to the tibial side of the second toe, sends a slip to the fibular side of the great toe. A muscle arises partly with, partly behind, the adductor pollicis, and goes to the neighbouring sides of the second and third toes. Of the two plantar Interossez, the external is very large and goes to the fourth toe. The Flexor Longus Digi- torum and Flexor Longus Pollicis form a common muscle and tendon, The muscle splits naturally enough into two, but the outer portion comes mainly from the tibia and partly from the upper part of the fibula, the usual place of origin of the flexor longus pollicis from the fibula being unoccupied. The tendons of these two portions form one indivisible tendon above the ankle, which after receiving the accessorius, divides into four tendons, the internal for the hallux being the greatest, the external, as already noticed, for the two par- tially united outer toes.* * It is an error to regard the so-called “‘ Flexor Longus Pollicis” as a flexor of the great toe only, or to consider the presence of a tendon from it to 100 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Nwnber PART IL—VARIATION IN THE NUMBER OF PHALANGES. Section 1—DIMINUTION IN THE NUMBER. 22. Case in which all the Fingers and Toes want a Phalanx, in several Members of a Family. I am indebted to Dr Oswald H. Bell of St Andrews for the description and history of this case, and for affording me an opportunity of seeing the boy. David M——, et. 18, St Andrews, wants a phalanx in each of his fingers and toes, and has a brother and sister similarly formed. The two hands are precisely similar. The thumb consists of a short metacarpal bone (§ inch in length) and of one phalanx, 1} inch in length, the joint between them being loose, as if composed of some soft intermediate tissue. The fore finger is so much longer than the others as to suggest the appearance of a hand in the act of pointing. This is due to the greater length of its metacarpal bone, which is 3 inches in length, while the next two metacarpals are under half that length. ‘The metacarpal of the little finger is just 13 inch in length, but, from its obliquity, does not project so far as the fourth. The proximal phalanx of the fingers measures, in the index 12, in the middle 12, in the ring 1, in the little finger 12; the distal phalanx, in the index and middle, 3, in the ring and little fingers § inch. On the left side, the distal phalanx of the index finger is proportionately shorter. Except in the case of the fore finger, the five digits present their usual relative pro- jection. The metacarpo-phalangeal joints, especially of the index and middle fingers, are considerably sunk behind the web, and are loose, while the joint between the two phalanges does not bend down with the usual degree of angularity. He can easily seize and retain minute articles as a needle or pin, between the thumb and index finger, and can write with compara- tive ease. Being a groom, he can drive tolerably well, though he is apt to let the reins slip, being unable in the usual way to form the digital hook which the third phalanx naturally completes. The feet are well formed as far forward as the distal ends of the metatarsal bones. ‘The toes are short, pulpy, and very loosely arti- culated. The lesser toes have two phalanges each, and are much turned up at the interphalangeal joint; the great toe has its usual — proportionate greatness, but, like the thumb, has only one phalanx. The pads below the anterior end of the metatarsal bones, behind both the great and lesser toes, are more developed than usual. No the second toe as an occasional occurrence only. The tendinous slip com- monly described as passing between the Flexor Longus Pollicis and the Flexor Longus Digitorum, in the sole of the foot, is nothing less than a tendon from the former to at least the second toe, of good size when the proportionate size of the two toes is considered. It is, normally, the principal flexor tendon of the second toe, and the first lumbricalis muscle is attached chiefly to it. (See communication by the author to the Edin. Medico-Chirurgical Society, “ Edin, Medical Journal,” July 1863.) Lied | Ps S 7 ‘ 2 ee a ee of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 101 one would suspect from his gait any deficiency in the feet. He is 5 feet 2 inches in height, healthy and active. Family history—He is one of a family numbering ten in all, who were born in the following order. First, a son, and then succes- sively three daughters, all normal. Fifth, a son, the first member of the family who presented the digital variety. Sixth and seventh twin girls, normal. Highth and ninth, twin boys, one normal, the other whose case is above described, ‘Tenth, a girl, with fingers and toes as in this boy, and, in addition, the feet turned in. Neither Dr Bell nor I have seen the brother and sister who have the variety, but the boy states that their fingers and toes are the same as his, the hands so like that when the arms are covered and the hands presented promiscuously, the mother cannot say to which brother they belong. The brother is a clerk and is said to write an excellent “hand.” We have no information as to the ancestors, but neither of the parents, uncles, aunts, or cousins, had or have any deformity. 23. Case in which four Fingers of one Hand possess but one Phalanx each, the Thumb having two Phalanges. Dr Henderson of Fordoun sends me a note and sketch also of the case of A W , et. 33 years. The four outer digits of the left hand are short nipple-like processes containing one phalanx each, so loosely attached to the metacarpals that they can be easily twisted round. Hach has its little nail. The thumb contains two phalanges, is as large as that of the other hand, projects a long way beyond the fingers, and she makes great use of it. Her father has an aunt with two thumbs on the left hand, simi- lar to the case of H K (No. 8). 24. Case in which the Fingers are formed so as to give the Hand a resemblance toa Foot. ~* I am indebted to Dr Grierson of Thornhill for the de- scription, and for sketches of the hand, of this case, a cast of which I had previously seen, obtained through Dr A. Mitchell and Dr A. Simpson. J M , et. 16, Dumfriesshire. The hand may be described, generally, as having a remarkable general resemblance to a foot, in the size and straight direction of the thumb, and the little develop- ment and outward lessening of the fingers. The sketch (fig. 5) will give a correct idea of the form of the hand. The thumb is the longest and thickest of the digits, and lies parallel to the fingers. It can be abducted, and only half crossed over the palm. It has two phalanges, besides the metacarpal bone. The distal end of the latter extends a little way beyond the separation between the thumb and next finger. The thumb alone hasanail. The next two fingers project for about an inch, the index more, the middle less. The ring and little fingers appear only as fleshy finger points. There is a bone projecting some way into the index and also into the 102. Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number middle finger, either a phalanx or a prolongation of the metacarpal bone. The fourth and fifth fingers have no phalanges. The fingers have no voluntary motion. Viewed on the palm, the “ball” of the thumb is flat and narrow, but the eminence formed by the muscles of the little finger is prominent. The other hand and the feet are normal. She is the third child in a family consisting of six daughters and three sons, all the rest of whom, as well as the father and mother, are normal. No such formation is known to have been presented by any ancestor. The mother’s story is that in her third month of pregnancy she had a vivid dream that she saw a man killed and his fingers cut off, at her own door; that she told this at the time to her husband and neighbours, and could not for long get rid of the idea of the cut- off fingers. 25, Case of Five Rudimentary Digits on one Hand. Mr James R. Crease of Gateshead, sends me the particulars and asketch of the case of a female child, M J pl , ten days old, whose right hand presents a very rudimentary condition. The four fingers are present as mere rudiments, without nails; the thumb is about 4+ inch in length and has a nail. After the radius and ulna there are no bones to be felt in the hand, except one support- ing the thumb. The rest of the limb is well formed. Digital variety was previously unknown in the family history. There are three other children, boys, all well formed. An aunt by the father’s side, had all the fingers, but not the thumb, of the right hand amputated, but the mother had not seen her for many years. When the mother was three months pregnant, her attention was attracted by a woman singing in the street who had a deformed right hand. For a time she always thought she saw this woman, but had no idea that anything would be wrong with the child. Section 2._INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PHALANGES. 26. Case of Additional Phalanx in the Thumb, on both Hands. Probably of Hereditary Origin. J J et. 21, Roxburghshire, now in Edinburgh, has the thumb on both hands of unusual length and form, as represented in Fig. 6, which is taken from a photograph. In examining the thumbs I was surprised to find an additional joint, giving three. phalanges besides the metacarpal bone, the additional bone being placed in the position of a middle phalanx. A case so unusual deserves careful examination. The metacarpal bone is 2} inches in length and appears to be quite normal. The first phalanx is 14 inch in length, and is, there- fore, longer than usual. The addztional bone, occupying the position of a middle phalanx, is broader on the inner, or radial, side than on the side next the index finger, having a triangular or wedge-shaped figure, which gives the distal phalanx an inclination towards the index. It measures along the radial side 2 inch, along the ulnar of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 103 side 4 inch, and 4 an inch along the middle. The position of the base of this wedge-shaped additional bone is shown in the sketch by the double protuberance on the radial side. Between these a depression may be felt corresponding to the short shaft between the two articular ends. The distal phalanx is an inch in length. The measurements were made exactly from the joints, avoiding the error of including the knuckle twice. When the thumb is straightened, its point passes a sixth of an inch beyond the joint between the proximal and middle phalanges of the index finger. The thumb of the right hand scarcely ad- vances so far as that joint. The unusual length of the thumbs in this case is gained by the proportionately greater length of the proximal phalanx and by the presence of the additional bone, while the distal phalanx is a little shorter than usual. At the joint on the proximal side of the additional phalanx there is the usual extent of flexion and extension. Between it and the distal phalanx passive motion is free and readily felt in both thumbs, although it cannot be carried so far as to cause an angle or additional knuckle. Some motion in the lateral direction also can be made at this joint. The utility of the thumb is not impaired. The fingers are longer than usual (their lengths, from the metacarpo-phalangeal articula- tion, are, fore-finger 3%, middle 48, ring 42, little 33, inches. The whole hand is 8 inches in length), present the usual propor- tionate length, and have three phalanges each. The great toes present the usual length, size, and number of phalanges. He is of full average stature, his height being 5 feet 94 inches. A maternal aunt had the same kind of thumb on the right hand, being the only instance of the occurrence of the peculiarity in any relative of the family. This aunt has a son and three daughters. The mother had other three sisters and two brothers, all of whom, except one of the sons, have families of sons and daughters, The mother never heard that any of her ancestors had it. REMARKS. As some of the cases in the hereditary group show the tendency to have passed over at least two generations and then to have reappeared, it is possible that some of the cases recorded as original, may be cases of distant inheritance. But it must have had a beginning in these too. Careful inquiry was made in all the cases, and the previous occur- rence of such a thing in the family is pretty sure to be brought up when a child is born with it. The cases one would feel most inclined to doubt on this score, are those in which it appeared in more than one child of the family, as in cases 1,8, and 9.* In such cases we may suppose the * Tam indebted to Dr Strachan, of Dollar, for a case (which has arrived too late for detailed insertion at present) closely resembling Case 1. In a ob > : fe SS * s; 104 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number — cause which determined the occurrence in one child might equally determine it in another, or it might be held that the first case having occurred spontaneously, the circumstance had operated by an impression on the mind of the mother. In all the cases of original variation, except in Case 1, and in one of the children in Dr Strachan’s case, it appeared on one limb only. This was not to any marked extent on one side of the body more frequently than on the other. The greater acquired strength of the right hand and foot might be sup- posed to operate on the offspring, but in the above cases it so happens that it appeared rather more frequently on the left side. Throughout the animal kingdom, when one side is more developed than the other, the right side is not selected more frequently than the left.* The variation begins more frequently on the hand than on the foot. In the non-hereditary group of cases in which it affected either a hand or a foot only, it appeared on the hand in eleven of the cases, on the foot in four cases. The here- ditary cases, by multiplying the fact, show a still higher proportion affecting the hand than the foot ; and in the cases in which it occurs on three of the limbs, it is on a foot more often than on a hand that the sixth digit is wanting. None of the cases show hereditary transmission of the peculiarity on the feet alone, while the cases of hereditary transmission on the hands only are more numerous than those showing it on the hands and feet. This greater frequency of its appearance on the hand may be connected with the zoologi- cal fact that in those mammals in which the digits differ in number on the two feet, the greater number is on the fore foot ; or, more generally, with the fact that greater separate use is made of the digits on the hand than on the foot. The additional digit appears nearly equally on the outer or on the inner side of the limb. In the non-hereditary group, reckoning the first case as one, it appeared in 7 cases on the outer side, and in 7 cases on the inner side, as an family of 8 brothers and 3 sisters, 8 brothers and one sister were born with digital increase. Two had an additional outer toe, one an additional outer finger, one had it on all the four limbs. It was unknown in the family as far back, at least, as the great-grand-parents. * See a paper by the author in the “ Edin, Medical Journal,” June 1863, of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 105 additional thumb. Three of the seven external cases were on feet, on the outer side. Inthe hereditary group, taken as families, it is on the inner side in the majority of the cases. In one family only [cases 17, 17 (a), 18 (a)] does it affect the big toes. As far as these cases show, it would, there- fore, seem to be more common on the outside of the foot, and, on the hand, more frequent on the inner than the outer side. Were we to connect these facts with the facts regard- ing the order in which the toes appear, or disappear, among the mammalia, we would require to consider not only the fact that the inner digit is the last added, but that the increase, or _ decrease, takes place alternately on the inner and outer sides. On the hand, the additional digit was smaller than the next, always soin the case of an additional little finger, and nearly always so in the case of an additional thumb, but in case 18 (a) the two thumbs were equal, and in case 2 nearly equal. On the foot, in cases 12 and 198, the sixth toe is thicker than the fifth, although it has a phalanx less, but the thickness does not seem to depend on the bones. Among the hereditary cases, in case 17 (a) the internal of the two great toes is the larger. Cases of non-hereditary increase in the number of the digits appear to be of not unfrequent occurrence. Most surgeons have met with cases, and it is a common practice to remove the additional digit early. The above cases show that the removal of the digit, in cases in which it is in- herited, does not eradicate the atavic influence. But most of the cases of original variation do not appear to transmit the tendency, for, besides the facts mentioned in some of the cases, cases of original variation are much more common than hereditary cases, even reckoning each member of the existing family as a separate case. Hereditary Transmission of the Variety.—The transmission of a newly acquired variety has to depend on whether the new influence or the prior normal influence proves the stronger; and, if the former prevails, it has, so long as only one parent presents the variety, farther to depend for its continuance on its chance of the fact that one parent may exert more influence than the other on some of the young. Thus if not itself at the beginning overcome by NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO, I.—JULY 1863. 0) 106 Dr Jobn Struthers on Variation in the Number ~ atavism, it is lable to be lost at every new union, and, we would suppose, liable to be worn out at last. The case of the L family (case 15) illustrates various phenomena of variation and transmission. (1.) In the line of descent through Andrew L , we see three successive generations without the variety, and it is apparently extinguished. (2.) In the line through James L , he and his children were normal, but it re-appears in his grandchildren, having passed over two generations. In case 19, it had passed over three, and in case 16, over at least two, generations. In case 18 (a) although the grandmother’s brother had it, the great-grandparents had not, so that it had passed over three generations in the direct line and reappeared in the fourth. (3.) We see uninterrupted transmission in the line of descent through John L , from Ksther in the first (if she was the first), to Jane in the fourth generation. The six-fingered tendency had here maintained itself against three successive unions with five-fingered persons. In the first offspring it succeeded, as far as we know, in only one out of 18. In the offspring of this one (Charles L ) it succeeded in 3 out of 12. In two of these three it did not appear in the next generation ; in the third of them it succeeded in one out of two children, thus being directly transmitted to the fourth generation. It is interesting to notice, too, how the variety so far from being weakened had gathered force in each new generation, even although it had not the advantage of the greater development attending utility, to enable it to in- crease its hold on the organism. In the first known ancestor (case 15) it occurred on one hand; in the second generation on both hands; in the third on both hands of — two brothers, and on both hands and one foot of a third brother ; and in the fourth generation on all the four limbs —thus, so far from becoming weaker, making its way to an additional limb in each successive generation. Besides thus extending itself symmetrically and serially, — it may extend in depth, beginning as one phalanx and — extending at length to the metacarpal or metatarsal region. In some of the cases of original variation, there was only — of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 107 one phalanx, in most of them two phalanges. Among the hereditary cases, in case 19 (a) there is a metacarpal bone besides two phalanges ; and, in case 18 (a), the same occurs in both hands, while on the six-toed foot it has not extended to the metatarsal bone. In case 17 (a) one of the thumbs on each hand presents three phalanges without an additional metacarpal, while the two great toes have, on both feet, two phalanges each, and one foot has an additional metatarsal bone. In case 17 there is an additional metacarpal bone and three phalanges. We do not know how it was with the ancestors of these cases, but in none of the cases of non-hereditary variation did it extend so deeply into the limb.* When the variety is transmitted it is on the same side of the limb. In case 15, the additional digit was external, both on the hands and feet, in all the ramifications of the descent. Also in case 20. In cases 17, 17 (a) 18, and 18 (a), in which the variety is derived from a common ancestor by different lines of descent, it is on the inside of the hand or foot, or on the inside of both hand and foot. Also in case 16. In none of the cases was it external on one limb and internal on another limb of the same person, or in the same family. Incase 8, of two children in the same family, one had an additional little finger, the other an additional thumb, but the case is one of the non-heredi- tary group, and there is the curious fact that they were the children of different fathers, though of the same mother. The influence of sex does not appear to any marked extent in the hereditary transmission in the above cases. Diminution in the Number of the Digtts—Diminution in * When the additional digit is supported, as it generally is when well formed, on one end of a more or less bifurcated metacarpal or metatarsal bone, it might be supposed that this indicated the original presence of an additional metacarpal or metatarsal bone, which had become more or less con- fluent with the next, as in the development of the metacarpus and metatarsus in the ruminant. But while this can be easily shown in the ruminant, there is no proof that here there is anything but a more or less extensive bifurcation of one bone. In the dissection of the left foot in case 21, in which the fourth and fifth toes were partially united and supported on one metatarsal bone, the fifth metatarsal being wanting, the fourth metatarsal was twice the normal thickness, but presented no trace of double origin, externally or internally, although the foot was that of a new-born child, 108 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number the number of the digits appears to be a much less frequent variation than increase, both in man and in mammals generally, although many mammals have normally less than five. Among these the occurrence of an additional digit is generally but the development of the concealed rudiment of a suppressed digit. In man, although he nor- mally possesses the full mammalian number, the tendency is to farther increase rather than to decrease in the number. Variation in the Number of Phalanges.—In this group of cases there was diminution of the number of phalanges in four cases, in none of which was it hereditary, although one of the cases embraces two brothers and a sister.* From cases 23, 24 and 25, in which the fingers were more or less rudimentary, while the thumb was either not at all or less reduced, it would seem as if the thumb were the last to suffer reduction. Two cases have been men- tioned to me, however, although I have not seen them, in which the thumb alone is wanting, in one of the cases on both hands. Homologically considered, we would expect * See a case of hereditary transmission of deficient phalanx by Alf. Robert, mentioned in an able paper by Mr Sedgwick ‘‘ On the Influence of Sex in the Hereditary Transmission of Disease” (Brit. and Foreign Med. Chir. Review, ’ April 1863). Also a case by Dr Kellie of Leith (din. Med. and Surg. Journal, 1808, p. 252) ; but the mother’s statement that it had been transmitted for ten generations must be received with caution, when we consider what ten genera- tions implies. Among the more interesting cases of hereditary transmission of increased number of digits on record are—The case of the Maltese family, by Commander Godehew (Mémoires de lV Académie Royale des Sciences, 1751), more fully related by Reaumur (L’ Art de faire eclorre et d’elever des Oiseaua Domestiques, tom. ii. p. 877): The case by Sir A. Carlisle (Philosophical Trans- actions, London 1814, p. 94): A case by Dr Crawford of Peebles (Hdinburgh Monthly Journal of Medical Science, Oct. 1851, p. 856): A case by Mr J. B. Thomson of Perth (Edin. Medical Journal, 1858-59, p. 502) ; and a case noticed in ‘“‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’’ Dec. 20, 1860, from the ‘“* American Medical Times,” possibly a branch of the family whose case is related by Sir A. — Carlisle. On this subject may be also consulted, Haller (Hlementa Physiologie, t. viii. pp. 97, 98, 99, 1766): Morand (Mem. de l’Acad. dee Sciences, 1770): Isodore Geoffroy St-Hilaire (Histoire Générale et Particulicre des Anomalies de l’ Organisation, 1882-386): and A. W. Otto (Monstrorum Sexcentorum Descriptio Anatomica, 1841). The oldest recorded case is that of one of the sons of the giant of Gath (2 Samuel, ch. xxi., v. 20; and 1 Chronicles, ch. xx., v. 6) who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Pliny notices two cases, among the Romans, of six fingers on each hand (XI. Book, ch. 48). | Anne Boleyn is said to have had six fingers on each hand. of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 109 the thumb to be the first, teleologically considered, the last, to suffer reduction. Increase in the number of phalanges occurs in the thumb only, or as in cases 17 and 17(a), in the digit serially cor- responding to the thumb when six digits are present. None of the cases presented a higher number than three, the full number in the mammalian type. Case 26, in which, with- out any increase in the number of the digits, the thumb presents an additional phalanx, is a very remarkable one when we consider the mammalian law. Not unlikely, it may have been the same in the father of cases 17 and 17 (a), who is described as having had very long thumbs, while his son and daughter had three phalanges in the corresponding digit, and a thumb with two phalanges added by its side. On the absence of a Bone in the Thumb and great Toe, as compared with the other Digits ; and on the Nature of the ‘ Metacarpal” or ‘“‘ Metatarsal” Bone of the Inter- nal Digit. The occurrence, normally, of a bone less in the thumb or great toe than in the other digits, is part of a law exempli- fied in the inner digit of all five-toed mammals,* and may be supposed to find its explanation in the fact that the in- ternal is the small toe, and the one which has disappeared when the number is reduced to four. Whatever be its meaning, this law is maintained in the few cases in which the internal digit undergoes great teleological development, as in the seal and walrus,t in which the internal digit is longer and thicker than the three middle digits, and in * This law is not without exception in cases of variation, as in case 26; and I have lately been presented by Mr Robertson of Kelso with a pig’s foot, presenting five toes, in each of which there are three phalanges besides the metacarpal bone. + I have seen a skeleton of the walrus with three phalanges in the pollex, but on trying with my penknife, I found one of them to be a piece of wood. In the skeleton of a seal I once saw three natural phalanges in the inner digit, but the first and fifth toes had been transposed. The phalanges and metacarpals and metatarsals of the seal are arranged and developed exactly as in man, and the presence of only two phalanges in the pollex and hallux is easily felt in the living seal. 110 Dr John Struthers on Variation in the Number man in whom the great toe and thumb are the most impor- tant of the digits. As the erect posture requires a great toe on the inner side of the foot, and a long one, the phalanges of the inner digit are, accordingly, developed in length as well as in thickness. The thumb, again, being better adapted for opposition by being shorter, is developed in thickness, and still retains its character as the shortest digit.* It has long been a discussion in human anatomy, whether the wanting bone in the thumb and great toe is a phalanx or a metacarpal or metatarsal bone. The view that it is the middle phalanx which is wanting is supported by the arrangement of the muscles,—(a.) by the absence of the tendo perforatus; (0.) by the attachment to the first phalanx of the short muscles which correspond to the short muscles of the little finger, which are attached to its first phalanx ; (c.) by the attachment to the metacarpal bone (with its re- sulting prismatic form) of the muscles which correspond to those which are attached to the metacarpal bone of the little finger; and (d.) by the position of its metacarpal bone in the metacarpal range. Opposed to this view is the one fact, that the so called metacarpal bone of the thumb is developed like a phalanx, having its epiphysis at the proximal end, while the other metacarpal bones have their epiphyses at the distal end. The discussion stood there, the difficulty being to say what value should be given to the developmental fact. There might be some special reason for the changed position of the epiphysis, although it would be difficult indeed to sug- gest any such reason, either on the longitudinal growth, or on the elasticity, theories of the use of epiphyses, especially * T have been in the habit of pointing out the interesting fact, that the relative length of the digits on the human hand indicates the order in which the digits disappear in the downward progression from the five to the one toed mammal,—the internal disappearing first, next the external or fifth, next the index or second, lastly the ring or fourth,—the extreme digit disappearing on alternate sides, beginning on the inner, until the middle digit alone remains in the foot of the horse, as demonstrated by Professor Owen in his work “On the Nature of Limbs.” Nor need this correspondence be regarded as a mere coincidence, when we consider the relative function of the digits in an ordinary five-toed limb. The exceptions presented to this, in the human foot, and in the lateral toes of the pinnigrade carnivora, are special adaptive modifications of certain digits. of Fingers and Toes, and of the Phalanges, in Man. 111 in the case of the great toe, the distal end of whose meta- tarsal bone is the most developed. Comparative anatomy, however, sets this question at rest. I find that the distal position of an epiphysis on a metacarpal and metatarsal bone, and its proximal position on the phalanges, belongs to other mammalia as well as to man, and is adhered to not- withstanding the most varied proportionate size which the two kinds of bones, or their two ends, attain.* In the horse and ruminant, in which the great metacarpals and metatar- sals attain enormous size, they have still only one epiphysis, while the radius and humerus have an epiphysis at both ends; and the metacarpals and metatarsals have their epi- physis distal, while on the phalanges it is proximal. The short and flat thigh-bone of the seal has epiphyses at both ends, while the greatly elongated metacarpals, metatarsals, and phalanges, have but one epiphysis each, placed as on the corresponding bones in the human hand and foot. A still more striking example of this law is presented in the development of the rudimentary metacarpals and metatar- sals of the horse; the large upper ends of which, serving an articular function, are developed without an epiphysis, the epiphysis being kept for the little “ button ” which ter- minates the tapering lower end. The more we compare the muscles of the two limbs, and in the limbs of different animals, the less dependence do we place on their attach- ments for the determination of homology; and the above facts In comparative osteogeny show, that the position of the epiphysis is décisive in establishing the view that the bone which is wanting in the human thumb and great toe, and in the internal digit of other five-toed mammals, is the metacarpal and metatarsal, although custom and convenience lead us to apply these terms to the bone which homologi- cally is the proximal phalanx. * The cetacea present an exception to the mammalian law of three pha- langes, in the occurrence of more than three in the longer digits of the paddle, making an approach in this respect to the digital type of the fish. I have observed that the cetacean digits present another exception in the pre- sence of epiphyses at both ends of each phalanx, and also at both ends of the metacarpal bones. In contrast with this, we have the great distal phalanx of the horse, ruminant, pig, and some others, developed without an epiphysis, while in man it is present on the distal phalanx as well. 112 Extract from Report on the Acts relating to Extract from Report of the Royal Commission (consisting of Professor Lyon Puayrair, C.B., Professor Hux iey, and Lieut.-Colonel MaxwEL1) on the Operation of the Acts relating to Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland. Natural History of the Herring. Before proceeding to sum up our conclusions from the preceding inquiries, it will aid us to take a general survey of the natural history of the herring, so far as it relates to the practical questions now under consideration. The herring is found under four different conditions: 1st, Fry or Sil; 2d, Mates or Fat Herring; 3d, Full Herring; 4th, Shotten or Spent Herring. The first term is applicable to all herring which are not larger than sprats, or, in other words, are under five or six inches in length. The milt and roe in fish of this size are so small as to be discoverable only by careful dissection. The fry pass imperceptibly into Maties, which may have any length from six inches to thirteen, the last admeasurement being the extreme length of any British herring which has come under our notice. Internally, a matie is characterised by two peculiari- ties: the one being the great quantity of fat deposited about the alimentary canal; the other the small size of the roes or milts, which never quite fill the abdominal cavity, and, in herrings under ten inches, rarely exceed two or three inches in length, though they are always readily discernible. A Full herring is one in which the milt or the roe is fully developed, so as to occupy the whole of the abdominal cavity, except the small space filled by the intestine ; while the fat around the intestine has disappeared, having in all probability been applied to the nutrition of the reproductive organs. The smallest full herring which has come under our own ob- servation was a female, measuring 10,45 inches in extreme length, taken in Loch Fyne ; but we have been aeueee by very competent and trustworthy informants, that full herrings not more than seven or eight inches long have been taken at several points of the west coast of Scotland. The largest British full herring which we have had under our direct observation was 12,8; inches long; but Mr Gibson, Fishery Officer at Broadford, Skye, through whose hands immense numbers of herrings passed when he was in the employ- ment of the late Mr Methuen of Leith, assured us that it is by no means an unfrequent occurrence to find fish 14 or 15 inches long among the Orkney herrings, and that he once measured one which had attained the surprising length of 17 inches,* * Mr Methuen himself states that Iceland herrings are generally 17 inches long. New Series, Vol. XVUT. Pt. H. uv’ New Phil. Journal. W.H. M‘ Farlane, Lith? Edin* K. Greville , delt odoratissimus. Pandanus Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland. 118 We have measured two maties from Labrador, respectively 133 and 13,3, inches long; while Mr Mitchell, in his valuable essay on the herring, states that the Norwegians have a consider- able fishery at Stadtland, where they generally get very large herrings, few being under a foot in length, and many 15 inches. Hence it is quite safe to assume that adult full herrings may vary in length from 10 inches to 15, while it is possible that they may vary from 7 inches to 17 inches. There is nothing really remarkable about this, as other fish vary in dimensions in their adult state to fully the same extent,—a consequence of their continuing to grow long after they have reached the age at which they are capable of propagating their kind. It has been frequently asserted, and evidence has been re- peatedly laid before us to the effect, that particular lochs on the west coast of Scotland, such as Loch Broom and Loch Hourn, are inhabited only by herrings of a size smaller than the average; but, on the other hand, equally trustworthy evidence has directly negatived these assertions, the witnesses on this side affirming that the herrings of these lochs differ in no appreciable respect from those met with in other localities. We can give no opinion on this subject, as the time at our disposal was necessarily employed in investigating matters more directly relevant to the objects of the Commission. When the herring first attain the full condition, the roe or the milt, as the case may be, is firm and hard; and pressure upon the belly of the fish will not give rise to the extrusion of ova, or seminal fluid, from the apertures of the reproductive organs. But the texture of the latter rapidly becomes softer, and soon acquires a semi-fluid consistency, so that the slightest pressure causes the reproductive elements to pass out of the body. If a female in this state be squeezed, and the ova received into a vessel full of sea-water, they will all fall to the bottom; and the viscid substance, with which the ova are coated, causing them to adhere together, forms a thick cake, which, after a few hours’ rest, constitutes a dense consistent mass, so firmly adherent to the bottom of the vessel that the latter may be suddenly inverted without detaching the ova. Indeed, to separate these either from one another or from the body to which they adhere, demands the exertion of a certain force, which as often ends in the destruction of the eggs as in their detachment. It would seem as if all the superfluous nourishment in the body of the herring were applied to supply the rapid increase of the reproductive organs; for shotten, or spent herrings, so called because their roe and milt are completely emptied of their contents, not only have no fat about their intestines, but even their muscular substance is almost devoid of fat, and is consequently harsh, dry, NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIIJ. NO. I.—JULY 18638. P 114 Extract from Report on the Acts relating to and insipid when cooked. They are distinguished from maties not only by this circumstance, but by the fact that the roe or milt, though greatly shrunken, may be restored to nearly the size of those of a full herring by inflating them with air, whereas the reproductive organs of a matie cannot be enlarged in any such manner. It is extremely difficult to obtain any satisfactory evidence as to the length of time which the herring requires to pass from the embryonic to the adult or full condition. Of the fishermen who gave any opinion on this subject, some considered that a herring takes three, and others that it requires seven years, to attain the full or spawning condition; others frankly admit that they knew nothing about the matter; and it was not difficult, by a little cross examination, to satisfy ourselves that they were all really in this condition, however strongly they might hold by their triennial or their septennial theories. Mr Yarrell and Mr Mitchell suppose, with more reason, that herring attain to full size and maturity in about eighteen months. It does not appear, however, that there is any good evidence against the supposition that the herring reaches its spawning con- dition in one year. There is much reason to believe that the eggs are hatched in, at most, from two to three weeks after de- position, and that in six or seven weeks more (that is, in, at most, ten. weeks from the time of laying the egg), the young have attained three inches in length. Now it has been ascertained that a young smolt may leave a river and return to it again ina couple of months, increased in bulk eight or ten fold; and as a herring lives on very much the same food as a smolt, it appears possible that it should increase in the same rapid ratio. Under these circumstances, nine months would be ample time for it to enlarge from 3 to 10 or 11 inches in length. It may be fairly argued, however, that it is not very safe to reason analogically from the rate of growth of one species of fish to that of another; and it may be well to leave the question, whether the herring attains its maturity in twelve, fifteen, or eighteen months, open, in the toler- ably firm assurance that the period last named is the maximum. Yarrell, Valenciennes, and all the best authorities upon the herring, agree that the account of the migrations of the herring from and to the seas within the Arctic circle, promulgated by Anderson and Tennant, is wholly devoid of evidence. The herring fry frequent the lochs and shallows of the sea upon the British coasts in shoals, sometimes by themselves, at other times mingled with sprats, feeding upon the minute crustacea which throng the waters, and gradually growing into maties. Whether they betake themselves into deeper water on assuming the latter condition, or merely pass from a gregarious into a solitary state, does not Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland. 115 appear to be clearly made out. But the large shoals of herrings which appear upon our coasts in the early summer and in the late autumn months, and which seem to come from deeper into shal- lower water, are at first either entirely composed of maties, or contain a very large proportion of them. The maties feed, develop their reproductive organs, and becoine full herring in the course of about three or four months, the full herring appearing, at first, only scattered here and there among the shoals, but gradually increasing in number, until they largely preponderate over the maties, or almost entirely constitute the shoal. The herrings then frequently aggregate for about a fort- night, in most prodigious numbers, in particular localities, like the Banks of Ballantrae, and the Traith or Fluke Hole, which _are suitable, from the character of the bottom or from other circumstances, for the reception of their ova, Here they lie in tiers, covering square miles of sea bottom, and so close to the ground that the fishermen have to practise a peculiar mode of fishing in order to take them; while every net and line used in the fishing is thickly covered with the adhesive spawn which they are busily engaged in shedding. So intent are the fish on this great necessity of their existence, that they are not easily driven from their spawning ground; but when once their object has been attained, and they have become spent fish, the shoal rapidly disappears,—the universal and very pro- bable opinion of fishermen being, that they withdraw into deep water, at no great distance from the coast. There is no positive evidence as to the ultimate fate of the spent herrings ; but there is much to be said in favour of the current belief, that after a sojourn of greater or less duration in deep water, they return as maties to the shallows and lochs, there to run through the same changes as before, passing a second time from the condition of matie to full herring, and from full to spent. Of the manner in which the change from the spent to the second full state is effected we know nothing, nor have we any information respecting the number of times which one and the same herring may run through the cycle. However, the enemies of the fish are too numerous and too active to allow us to suppose the existence of any one individual to be prolonged beyond two or three reproductive epochs. It is probable that the difference of age, whatever it may be, is sufficient to account, in great measure, for the varying size of adult herrings. Singularly contradictory statements are to be met with re- specting the spawning season of the herring. We have obtained a very large body of valuable evidence upon this subject, derived partly from the examination of fishermen, and of others conversant with the herring fishery ; partly from the inspection of the accurate 116 Extract from Report on the Acts relating to records kept by the Fishery Officers at different stations,* and partly from other sources ; and our clear conclusion from all this evidence is, that the herring spawns at two seasons of the year, viz., in the spring and in the autumn. We have hitherto met with no case of full or spawning herring being found in any locality during what may be termed the solstitial months, namely, June and December ; and it would appear that such herring are never (or very rarely) taken in May or the early part of July, in the latter part of November or the early part of January. But a spring spawning certainly occurs in the latter part of January, in February, in March, and in April; and an autumn spawning in the latter part of July, in August, September, October, and even as late as November. Taking all parts of the British coast together, February and March are the great months for the spring spawning, and August and September for the autumn spawning. It is not at all likely that the same fish spawn twice in the year; on the contrary, the spring and the autumn shoals are probably perfectly distinct ; and if the herring, according to the hypothesis advanced above, comes to maturity in a year, the shoals of each spawning season would be the fry of the twelve- month before. However, no direct evidence can be adduced in favour of this supposition ; and it would be extremely difficult to obtain such evidence. The food of the herring consists of crustacea, varying in size from microscopic dimensions to those of a shrimp, and of small fish, particularly sand eels. While in the matie condition, they feed voraciously, and not unfrequently their stomachs are found immensely distended with crustacea and sand eels, in a more or less digested condition. — Herring thns abundantly fed are apt to have all their tissues so permeated with fat that they will not cure well, and their flesh is liable to break when handled. The Scotch fishermen style such ‘as these ‘‘ gut-pock”’ herring,+ and consider them of very inferior quality. The Possible Effects of Legislation on the Breed of Herring. The herring is a notoriously variable fish, appearing in the most prodigious shoals, year after year, at a given point of the coast, and then suddenly diminishing in number, or even utterly * The intelligent Fishery Officers might be made highly useful by keeping natural history registers on a systematic plan, and results important both to science and practice might thus soon be obtained. t These seem to bo the ‘ Harengs a la bourse,’’ or ‘“ Harengs aboutifs,” of the French fishermen, Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland. 117 vanishing for a long period. The chief reason of these variations is probably to be sought in the variation, 1st, of the quantity of food of the fish; 2d, in the number and force of the destructive agencies at work upon it. Any circumstance which increases or decreases the quantity of erustacea and of sand eels, for example, must influence in a direct ratio the chances of existence of a multitude of herrings; while any condition which increases or decreases the number or the activity of the enemies of the herring, must influence those chances in an inverse ratio. Leaving out of consideration the animals which prey upon herring fry, and their mere accidental and unimportant enemies, their great destroyers are,— a. Fish, Cod, ling, coal-fish, hake, conger, dog-fish. b. Birds. Gulls and gannets. ce. Marine Mammals. Porpoises and other cetacea. d. Man, The following considerations may help us to form an estimate of the relative importance of these different destructive agencies :— In 1861, there were in Scotland, and that part of England over which the Fishery Board have jurisdiction, 42,751 fishermen and boys engaged in the herring fishery. The total take of the year would give about 20,000 herrings for each of these persons, or near upon 900,000,000 for the whole. It seems, and indeed is, a most marvellous drain upon the power of multiplication of one animal, to destroy in one year a multitude exceeding in number the whole human population of the globe. But it may be readily demonstrated that this vast number sinks into insignificance if compared with the total destruction effected by agencies over which man has no control whatsoever. Consider the destruction of large herring by cod and ling alone. It is a very common thing to find a cod-fish with six or seven large herrings in his stomach, of which not one has remained long enough to be digested. If, in order to be safe, we allow a cod- fish only two herrings per diem, and let him feed on herrings for Herring, Days. only seven months of the year, then 2 x 210 = 420 herring as his allowance during that time; and fifty cod-fish will equal one fisherman in destructive power. But the quantity of cod and ling taken in 1861, and registered by the Fishery Board, was over 80,000 cwt. On an average, 30 cod-fish go to 1 ewt. of the dried fish, Hence, at least, 2,400,000 cod-fish were caught in 1861, 118 Extract from Report on the Acts relating to But if 50 cod-fish equal 1 fisherman, 2,400,000 will equal 48,000 fishermen. In other words, the cod and ling caught on the Scotch coasts in 1861, if they had been left in the water, would have caught as many herring asa number of fishermen equal to all those in Scotland, and six thousand more, in the same year; and as the cod and ling caught were certainly not one tithe part of those left behind, we may fairly estimate the destruction of herring, by these voracious fish alone, as at least ten times as great as that effected by all the fishermen put together. When it is further considered, that the conger and the dog-fish probably do as much mischief as the cod and ling, that the gulls and the gannets slay their millions, and that the porpoises and grampuses destroy additional untold multitudes, it will probably be thought no exaggerated under-estimate if we assume that our fishery operations, extensive as they are, do not effect 5 per cent. of the total destruction of maties and full herring that takes place every year. And when it is further considered, that sea-trout and innumerable other fish prey upon the herring fry, and that flat fish of all kinds resort in immense numbers to the spawning grounds of the herring, to prey upon the freshly-deposited ova, it would seem, as we have said, that the influence of man, whether conservative or destructive, upon herrings must be absolutely in- appreciable; and, under these circumstances, it seems almost unavoidable that great fluctuations, wholly beyond human control, should occur in the abundance of herring in different years. If the herrings in any given year multiply with great rapidity, owing to favourable circumstances, their enemies also will multi- ply in consequence of their better and more abundant supply of food ; and if, as must sometimes happen, the ratio of multiplica- tion of the enemies is greater than that of the herring, the latter will, in that or the succeeding year, be vastly diminished. But the very diminution of the herring necessarily tends to starve down the fish which destroy them, and to throw them open, in a weakened state, to the attacks of their enemies, who, by the same law, have necessarily multiplied in consequeuce of their multi- plication. By such a concurrence of causes, the herring, relieved from their oppressors, will in a year or two appear again in immense numbers; and so the alternations of prosperity, over- production, and panic in the trade which they originate, will occur with as much regularity as if the herring were manufac- turers. CONCLUSIONS. Having in the previous part of the Report given our reasons for the conclusions to which we have come, in regard to the sub- , fi } Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland. 119 jects of our investigations, it may now be useful to make a brief summary of the results :-— iE 2. 10. 11. Drift-net fishing has been long pursued in this country, as the chief method for the capture of herring. Drift-nets must have a mesh of not less than one inch from knot to knot (48 Geo. III., c. 110, s. 12). In conse- quence of this regulation, herring fry cannot be caught by this system of fishing. . The amount of capital required by the crew of a drift-net boat is considerable. The price of the boat varies, accord- ing to its size, from L.20 to L.100 or upwards, and the value of the nets may be equal to that of the boat. . The system of seining (improperly called ‘ trawling’) for herring was introduced on the West Coast in 1838, but did not become general till 1846. Its operations are chiefly confined to Loch Fyne and its neighbourhood. . The system of seining requires much less capital than that of fishing by drift nets. The cost of each trawl skiff is about L.15, two skiffs being used in fishing, and the cost of the seine net is from L.15 to L.20. . The practice of using the seine net for herring was ren- dered illegal in 1851, by the Act 14 and 15 Vict., ce, 26. . Under special circumstances, the risk of a rupture of the peace being imminent, the Government, but not at the instigation of the Fishery Board, obtained in 1860 in- creased powers for the repression of trawling by the Act of 23 and 24 Vict., c. 92, and stil] further powers in 1861, by the Act 24 and 25 Vict., c. 72. . These Acts have been effective as means of repression, and seining for herring is scarcely now practised on the West Coast of Scotland. . The Act of 1860 established a close time, during which herring are not allowed to be taken. This close time is limited to the West Coast of Scotland, and is fixed from the lst January to 3lst May as far as Point Ardnamur- chan, and from thence to Cape Wrath from 1st January to 20th May. There is no close time on the East Coast of Scotland; but the Fishery Board, by the Act of 1860, have power to introduce one, —a power which we recbmmend should be withdrawn. | The curers of herring and the drift-net fishermen approve of the operation of these repressive Acts, asserting that the method of fishing with the seine destroy ed the supply 120 Extract from Report on the Acts relatiny to of herring, by scaring the shoals of fish; that immature fish were captured by it; that the spawn beds were injured ; that the fish caught by the seine were unfit for curing; and that the seiners or ‘trawlers’ injured the fishing-gear of the drift-net men. 12. The main question involved in these allegations is the following: Is it an ascertained fact that the system of trawling has injured the fishery of Loch Fyne and its | neighbourhood ? 13. Our inquiries satisfy us that the fishery of Loch Fyne has suffered no diminution by the operations of the trawlers, but that, on the contrary, it is a steadily progressive fishery, when the periods of comparison are made suffi- ciently long to correct the annual fluctuations, which are always considerable in this as in all other herring fisheries. The approximate gross take of herring in Loch Fyne, according to the returns of the Baker Board, are as follows :— General annual average take from 1833 to 1843, 18,994 barrels. ” ” ” 1844 to 1848, 15 427 oe) ” ain 1849 to 1859, 19 ,149 on a i 1854 to 1858, 25,744 we 3 ¥ 1859 to 1862, 42,165 > 9 >? 33 14. This steady increase of the fishery, during the period when trawling was practised, cannot be ascribed to an augmenta- tion in the number of drift-net boats; for these, on an ave- rage of the same years, with the exception of 1862, show no increase, while the square yards of netting employed re- main also comparatively stationary. Hence we are forced to the conclusion, that there have been no grounds for the alarm that the fishery of Loch Fyne was being de- stroyed by the operations of the trawlers, 14. This result established for Loch Fyne is found to apply to the west coast of Scotland as a whole—viz., that there is a steady increase in the fishery during the periods when trawling was prosecuted, and since it has been abandoned, | 15, The selected years of bad fishing, brought as proofs that trawling was destroying the fishery, have, when examined, no application to the question, as an equal number of years of quite as bad fishing are found in every decen- nial period before the system of trawling had been dis- covered. 16. The selection of the prosperous year of fishing, 1862, is equally fallacious as bearing on the question. It is only Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland. 121 an instance of the singular fluctuations of the herring fishery. In a period of nearly forty years, the two most productive years have been 1860 and 1862. In the first of these years the second Act of repression was just passed, but trawling was still actively carried on, and had been in more or less active operation for fifteen years. It was only effectually put down by the Act of 1861. The good returns of these two years prove beyond a doubt that trawling has not injured the fishery of Loch Fyne. 17. These conclusions as to the steady increase of the fishery in Loch Fyne, negative the assertion that the trawlers scared away the shoals of fish when entering the lochs. 18. The evidence laid before us, and the experience of the Irish, Norwegian, Newfoundland, and Labrador fisheries, prove that trawled fish, when properly handled, are fit for the purposes of the curer. The reason of their occasional inferiority for this purpose is the reckless mode of pur- suing a system of fishing in the constant apprehension of being caught in the violation of the law. 19. Trawling for herring has been an important means of cheapening fish to the consumer, by the large and sudden takes, and has thrown into the market an abundant sup- ply of wholesome fresh fish, at prices which enable the poor to enjoy them without having to come into compe- tition with the curer. 20. It is this circumstance which, in our opinion, has produced the demand for repressive legislation, for the gains of the drift-net fishermen are much affected by the sudden and great captures of the trawler, who, working with less capital, and with a more productive kind of labour, is able to undersell the drift-net fisherman, and to de- range the market for the curers. It is to be observed, that as facilities of locomotion and transport increase, the market for fresh fish becomes more important than that for salt fish, and the former suffers if any special protection be afforded to the latter. As regards Loch Fyne, the number of barrels of herrings sold fresh already considerably exceeds that cured. From 1844 to 1853, 55,247 barrels were cured, and 77,137 barrels were consumed in a fresh state. From 1854 to 1862, 129,000 barrels were cured, and 168,530 barrels con- sumed fresh. 21. The demand for repressive legislation is only another form of that which always arises when a new and more pro- NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIII. NO. I.—JULY 18638. Q 122 Extract from Report on the Acts relating to ductive form of labour presses inconveniently upon those who prosecute and have embarked their capital in the old and less productive form of labour. 22. Although recent legislation has been in logical sequence of that which has long prevailed, and may, in the absence of new inquiries, have been requisite to prevent disturb- ance of the peace, still, as it proceeds on the assumption that it is justifiable for the conservation of the breed of herring, we are bound to state that, in this point of view, the repressive Acts of 1851, 1860, and 1861, were alto- gether unnecessary; that they are essentially Acts for protecting class interests, and interfere with the invention and application of new and more productive modes of in- dustry. 23. We are of opinion, that if any legislation had been re- quisite, it should have only been in the same direction as that applied to the herring fishery generally, viz., to a regulation of the size of the mesh of the seines, which were frequently used under the legal standard. We express no opinion as to the necessity of restricting the size of the mesh generally, as this question is not referred to us under our Commission. 24, If the seine fishing be again rendered legal, increased powers for regulating the police of the fisheries should be given to the Fishery Board. 25. A discretionary power should be vested in that Board to prohibit seining from being prosecuted in waters which are too narrow for that and drift-net fishing being peace- ably carried on simultaneously. We are of opinion that Upper Loch Fyne, i.e., above Otter Spit, is too narrow for this purpose, and that the Kyles of Bute offer another instance in which it would be desirable to give the Fishery Board discretionary powers to prohibit the practice of seining, but merely as a question of police, 26. Although we have been unable to satisfy ourselves that a close time is of any advantage for the protection of the herring, still, as it is universally approved of in the dis- — trict round the Firth of Clyde, we do not take upon our- selves to recommend, against the wish of those who are practically concerned in the fisheries, any alteration as regards this district. It is true that close time presses heavily on the long-line fishermen, who are unable to cb- tain herring for bait to catch white fish during the close time from the 1st January to the 31st May; but it would be possible in this locality to allow licensed boats to catch 9 Trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland, 1238 fish for bait; and the general desire of all witnesses examined by us is, that the Board of Fishery should be allowed to license such boats under proper regulations. We make this suggestion, however, purely in deference to the state of public feeling in the district in question. The establishment of any system of licensing boats for the capture of bait would, in the long run, involve the taxation of the community for the support of the officers by whom this fishery is superintended, and a further tax on the long-line fishermen, who could obtain their bait more cheaply if they were allowed to procure it for them- selves. We do not pretend that it is strictly justifiable to tax the community in general, or one particular branch of industry, to foster another; but in the prevalent state of public feeling about the Firth of Clyde, the method proposed is the only practicable means of alleviating the injustice of close time, as regards the persons engaged in the long-line fisheries. 27. We are of opinion that there is not the slightest necessity for retaining a close time in any part of the coast north- west of the Mull of Cantire. The advocates for a close time in the extensive coast line between this and Cape Wrath desire a period different for each locality, and for reasons entirely dependent on class interests, and having no relation whatever to the protection of the herring. We recommend, therefore, that the coast line from the Mull of Cantire to Cape Wrath should be made as free as the whole east coast of Scotland. 28. In coming to this conclusion, we have taken into consider- ation the various destructive agencies to which the her- ring is subject, and of which man is certainly the least destructive. The effect of the recent legislation has been to promote an increase of the major destructive agencies in the sea, 29. By prohibiting the use of herring for bait during the close period from Ist Jan. to 3lst May, the white fish, like cod and ling, have been allowed to multiply. A single herring used for bait is employed to catch three of these fish, each of which, if left in the sea, would have devoured annually at least between four and five hundred herring. 30. The cod and ling actually caught and cured on the Scotch coasts in 1861 would, if left in the sea, have destroyed more herring than 48,000 fishermen, As only 42,751 fisher- men and boys were engaged in fishing in that year, the magnitude of this destructive agency will be readily per- 124 Report as to Trawling for Herring. ceived. The close time which diminishes the capture of such fish must necessarily prove destructive to the her- ring. 31. When we further consider that the cod and ling caught re- present only a small proportion of those which remain in the sea, and when we recollect that these fish are by no means the most voracious for herring, but that the latter have to struggle for existence, not only with larger fish, but with birds, such as gulls and gannets, and with por- poises, and other cetacea, man, as an element of either conservation or destruction, must produce an inappreci- able effect. 32. Under such circumstances, the herring fishery should not be trammelled with repressive Acts, calculated only to protect class interests, and to disturb in an unknown and possibly injurious manner the balance existing between the conservative and destructive agencies at work upon the herring. If legislation could regulate the appetites of cod, conger and porpoise, it might be useful to pass laws regarding them; but to prevent fishermen from catch- ing their poor one or two per cent, of herring in any way they please, when the other 98 per cent., subject to destructive agencies, are poached in all sorts of unrecog- nised piscine methods, seems a wasteful employment of the force of law. 33. We conclude by expressing our strong conviction that the recent legislation on the subject of the herring fishery has unnecessarily restricted the operations of fishermen, —has repressed invention, by prohibiting new and more productive forms of labour,—is calculated to be destruc- tive, rather than conservative, in relation to the future supply of herring ; and although it may be beneficial to certain class interests, is prejudicial to the consumer of fish, and to the public generally. Dr Lauder Lindsay on Natural History. 125 The Place and Power of Natural History in Colonisation ; with special reference to Otago* (New Zealand). By W. LAUDER Linpsay, M.D., F.R.S. Edin., F.L.S. and F.R.G.S. London, &c. (Concluded from last Number.) Geology of the Otago Lignites. Nearly as many queries have been put to me regarding coal as regarding gold. What do I think, I am asked, of the Clutha coal, the Saddlehill coal, the Tokomairiro coal, and others of the so-called coals of Otago? In reply, I regret I cannot regard any of your so-called coal, which I have seen, in the same favour- able light that Government and the settlers generally appear to do. I say so now, and frankly, because I fear great disappoint- ment, and, very probably, great losses in speculation may be the result of exaggerated or erroneous notions of the value of the coals referred to. There are questions connected with the com- mercial value of your coals—(or let me call them by what appears to me to be their proper name, Lignites—I prefer using the true de- signation, for reasons immediately to be explained)—with which, at present, I have nothing to do; such are the distances of the respective coal fields or workings from Dunedin or other market, the difficulty and cost of transport, the scarcity and expensiveness of labour, and so forth,—all of which, however, are matters of moment to speculators and consumers, But I would enter on certain brief explanations as to the geological position and cha-~ racters of your lignites. Without going into the strict scientific definition of ‘“ what is coal”—a theme of much evreater intricacy than you may suppose, and the subject of one of the most in- teresting suits that has been tried before the Court of Session in Scotland of late years—the celebrated Torbanehill mineral case— it is enough for present purposes to say that the substance we at home call Coal, belongs to, or is contained in, a particular formation or system of rocks called by geologists the Carboniferous, or coal-bearing, system. The position and the components of this series of strata are well defined; geologists know pre- cisely the rocks above and below. The character of the fossils especially it is, vegetable or animal, which a rock contains— a fern frond, a fish-tooth, a shell,—which enables the geologist with certainty to identify strata, and at once to fix the system to which they belong—their place in the geological series or chain —their comparative chronology. And it is fortunate we possess * Extracts from a Lecture prepared for, and at the request of, the ‘“ Young Men’s Christian Association” of Dunedin (Otago, New Zealand). Dunedin, January 1862, 126 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of such an infallible, or at all events comparatively accurate, index ; for the mere mineral characters are often utterly insufficient. For instance, there is a red sandstone above and another below the Coal Measures, the one called the New Red and the other the Old Red Sandstone, in reference to their comparative ages,—alike in regard to mineral characters, that 1s as to colour, composition, and texture. The novice cannot tell the one from the other; but the paleeontologist—the expert who is conversant with the fossils which characterise the earth’s strata—can at once say which is which, Knowing that the geological position of the Coal Measures is between these two series of rocks, the man of science would never be so stupid, nor so rash, as to be at the trouble and expense of sinking coal-pits through the Old Red Sandstone in the hope of finding coal; while he would do so through the New Red with every probability of success. But, look at the position of the landowner or coal speculator ignorant of these elementary facts in geology. He may ruin himself by sinking shafts through the Old Red Sandstone, for a mineral which cannot be found below it; or he may lose a fortune should he mistake the New Red for the Old Red Sandstone, by refraining from digging where coal may with every probability be found. This is no hypothetical case ; I have known landowners ruining and stultifying themselves by boring or sinking shafts for coal through the Old Red Sandstone on the Perthshire base of the Ochils in Scotland. I have already quoted the familiar adage—“ All is not gold that glitters.” Neither, may it be equally truly added, is every rock that is black coal! There is no lack of black rocks in the earth’s crust; many shales are sufficiently black and carbonaceous: they contain more or less vegetable matter, yet are they not coal, nor do they belong to the Carboniferous system. ‘The Silurian slates, for example, are fre- quently very black and carbonaceous, quite as much so as many shales of the true coal measures; they are so where I have ex- amined them in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. Now the Silurian system is inferior in the geological scale to the Old Red Sandstone ; and if no coal is to be found below the latter, still less will it be found belowthe former. Led astray, however, by the coal-like aspect of such shales—having confidence in their own judgment and cun- ~ ning, ignorant altogether of geology, too parsimonious to spend a few guineas on a survey and report from a mining geologist—I have heard of Dumfriesshire lairds ruining themselves by expensive borings through these same Silurian slates. The late Mr Rose, con- sulting geologist, Edinburgh, I have heard tell many stories of the same kind; sufficiently numerous instances occur, indeed, in the experience of all practical geologists.* Such cases, indeed, are the * Let me here cite the testimony of what is at once the most recent and (according to the “ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal” for Oct. 1862, p. Natural History in Colonisation. 127 commonest illustrations of the loss of money by geological ignorance. But not only are such cases frequent at home ; they would appear to be equally so much nearer your own shores; so notoriously so indeed as to have found the following record in the pages of a popular topographical handbook (Fairfax’s “‘ Handbook to Australasia,” 1857, p. 14, Victoria) :—“ Considerable sums, which might have been saved by a very small amount of geological knowledge and in- vestigation, have been injudiciously and fruitlessly expended, both in the Cape Patterson, Cape Otway, and Barrabool Hills districts, in searching for workable seams of coal.” True coal, then—the coal we use as fuel in Scotland and England—belongs to the “‘ Carboniferous system” of geologists. A limited amount of coal, whether properly or improperly so-called I cannot stop here to inquire, occurs, inter alia, in the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous systems, all of which are superior in the geological scale to the Carboniferous system. Another substance called Brown Coal or Lignite—usually the latter—is peculiar to the Tertiary formation, a formation still more recent, still higher in 290) ‘ the best Manual of Geology in the English language’’—“ The Student’s Manual of Geology, by J. Beete Jukes, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland: Edinburgh, 1862.” ‘TI have elsewhere stated my belief,” says Mr Jukes, “ that the amount of money /ruitlessly expended in a ridiculous search after Coal, even within my own experience, would have paid the entire cost of the Government Geological Survey of the United Kingdom. It is a curious perversity of the human mind, that men prefer to take the advice of those whose interest itis to get them to spend money, rather than the warn- ings of those who can have no interest in inducing them not to spendit..... Within my own experience large sums of money have been absolutely thrown away, which the slightest acquaintance with Paleontology would have saved. I have known, even in the rich coal district of South Staffordshire, shafts con- tinued down below the coal measures, deep into the Silurian shales, with crowds of fossils brought up in every bucket, and the sinker still expecting to find coal in beds below these Silurian fossils. J have known deep and expen- sive shafts sunk in beds too far above the coal measures for their ever being reached ; and similar expensive shafts sunk in black shales and slates in the lower rocks far below the coal measures, where a pit might be sunk to the centre of the earth without ever meeting with coal. Nor are these fruitless enterprises a thing of the past. They are still going on in spite of the silent warnings of the fossils in the rocks around, and in spite of the loudly expressed warnings of the Geologists, who understand them, but who are supposed still to be vain theorists, and not to know so much as the ‘ practical man.’.... All ‘indications’ are worthless as evidence of the presence of the ‘ Carboniferous formation,’ except the occurrence of the ‘ Carboniferous fossils.’ Even where the fossils occur, there may be no coal; but all sinking for coal in beds con- taining any other than the Carboniferous fossils is pure waste of labour and a The geologist... . knows that not only do black and grey shales occur where there is no chance of coal being found; but that even thin seams of coal occur in formations where no coal worth working has ever been found in the British area or in western Europe..... _ The importance of the study of fossils . . . . is not limited to the theoretical speculations or the philosophical conclusions that may be derived from them; for these, like many other scientific conclusions, may be coined into actual money, or money's worth, by their practical application.” 128 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of the geological scale. It hardly occurs to any extent in Britain; but it is abundant in some parts of Germany, and in Iceland it constitutes the ‘‘ Surturbrand,”’ of which I have seen specimens very like those of the Otago lignites. To this class of rocks—to the tertiary lignites—belong, in my opinion, all the so- called Otago coals I have as yet seen. I have traced the formation of your lignite from the state simply of decayed wood to that of a black coal-like mineral, in the cliffs near the Coal Point at the mouth of the Clutha; and I have seen it in process of formation at the present day in a well sinking at a depth of some 40 or 50 feet in the swamp-clays of Dunedin. The origin of these lignites seems comparatively recent: they have not been subjected to the same enormous pressure as the Carboniferous system coals, occur- ring as the former do mostly on or near the surface. Nor do they seem composed of the same materials—at least in the same proportions: chemically, their constitution is not precisely the same; in heat-giving, gas-giving, and steam-giving power, they are likely to prove inferior to the true coals, with which they will not probably be able to compete.* Should all the coals of Otago belong to the family of the tertiary lignites, I fear you must be prepared to find their value inferior to that of the true coals of Scotland or England, or of coals belonging to the Carboniferous system, or to the other systems older than the Tertiary. I have been asked whether there is no chance of the discovery of true coal in connection with any of the numerous Otago limestones. This point I am not in a position to determine; it is an interesting problem for solution by your Provincial geologist. Should what is called by geologists the ‘“*‘ Mountain Limestone” be found in Otago, true coal may reasonably be lookedfor. But the limestones I have met with, so far as I can at present venture an opinion, seem of a more recent age, and are not of a kind usually associated with coal. Lignites you possess in abundance: for they are scattered in beds of greater or less extent very generally over the province. They occur in, and they are probably co-extensive with, the older tertiary auri- ferous “ Drifts,” which constitute one of the most marked features of Otago geology. One of the largest workings in the Dunedin district, perhaps in Otago, may be seen at Saddlehill, on Mr — Jeflrey’s property of Saddlehill Park, on the flank of the hill looking towards the Taieri Plain. Lignites crop out at various points on the slopes or base of this hill, or in its immediate * This impression is so far borne out by the analyses, since my return home, by Dr Murray Thomson of Edinburgh, of a series of the Otago lignites. His analyses embraced 8 series of samples, including Saddlehill, Clutha, Abbott’s Creek, and M‘Coll’s Creek, lignites. Among the results is the follow- ing—that they are comparatively poor both in oz/ and gas :—the highest pro- portion of o7/ per ton being 17 gallons (Saddlehill), and of gas 3931 cubic feet (M‘Coll’s Creek). I reserve details for future and separate publication. ~_ sr — ee Natural History in Colonisation. 129 neighbourhood; for instance, between Saddlehill and Scrogg’s Hill on the Government Coal Reserve; in the gully in which M‘Coll’s and Taylor’s Stations are situated, on the seaward aspect of the hill; on the farm of Fairfield, and in the adjoining Abbott’s Creek. They are being worked also in the hills between the Tokomairiro Plain and the sea, on the slope of the range which looks towards the plain; and on the coast near the mouth of the Clutha. It is proposed further to work them on the Gold Fields —at Waitahuna and Wetherstone’s Flats. My remarks must, I think, have sufficiently implied that I would recommend caution in any speculations as to working these Lignites—especially under the | impression that they are true Coals. To be more specific, I would point to the circumstances under which the Clutha Coal-field is now being worked, and the Waitahuna and Wetherstone’s Fields are proposed to be worked. In regard to the former I have to express a doubt whether the considerable expenditure of capital indicated by the railway and other appliances will be followed by adequate returns—especially seeing that lignite, apparently of the same kind and quality, in as great, perhaps greater, abundance, 7s to be found within siz to eight miles of Dunedin, in what may be called the Saddlehill Lignite Basin. In regard to the lignite beds of Tuapeka Gold-field, I have to remark upon the inexpediency of “getting up” a company and proceeding to work a “ coal-field” that has not been surveyed by competent persons, While on the gold-fields lately, I was told, on what I cannot but consider the best authority, that a company has been, or is being, formed at the diggings, for the purpose of working the lignite of Waitahuna and Wetherstone’s Flats, Enormous profits are expected from its sale among the diggers, The whereabouts of the coal at Wether- stone's, at all events, and other matters therewith connected, seem to be kept a profound secret; the consequence whereof to me was, that though I searched diligently in the locality to which rumour pointed as its site, I failed in finding it. Iwas informed, further, that the extent of the field or seam is unknown; its value a matter of conjecture :—that neither locality has been visited by a geologist, nor reported upon by any competent authority. So far as I could learn from investigation on the spot, nobody seems to know anything precise regarding this so-called coal, which, as is the case with all latest discoveries, is said to be the finest coal yet found in New Zealand, but which, I fear, will prove neither _ better nor worse than the lignite of Saddlehill, the Clutha, and many other localities; and yet apparently steps are being taken to work this ‘‘ coal.” This is surely a kind of speculation as unsafe as it is unsound, I am far from saying it will necessarily prove unsuccessful or unfortunate ; but I do say it deserves to be, NEW SERIES,—=VOL. XVIII. NO. 1.—JULY 18638. R 130 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of if resting on no better basis than that described to me by the local authorities. Museum of Local Natural History. Having indicated, by a few illustrations, what fruits may be expected from a judicious cultivation or promotion of the study of the Natural Sciences,—how and to what extent these sciences, if rightly applied, may aid materially in the advancement of the State,—let me consider, in the second place, the most legitimate means—the best, the cheapest, and easiest methods of rendering these sciences available to the citizens at large, as well as of applying them to the specific requirements of Government or of indi- vidual settlers. The most obvious and easy means of recognising the place and power of natural history in your province, and of developing its applications to practical life, is the establishment of a Museum of Local or Provincial Natural History, or a collec- tion of the products of this province, with such products only of other countries as will enable you to understand and appre- ciate the true position and value of the economical resources of your own province. Let such a Museum be essentially a collec- tion of the rocks, minerals, plants, and animals of Otago;* and let it possess an attached Library, containing such works on the natural history of Otago or of New Zealand, or such general works on natural history, as will enable the student duly to learn the lessons which the specimens displayed in the Museum-cases are ready to teach him. Of such a library there is great want, and of such works there is an astonishing dearth. I have not heard, for instance, of any person or corporation in the province possessing a copy of Dr Hooker’s work on the “ Flora of New Zealand,” the most complete work on the subject yet published. I am told that the expense of such a work prevents its purchase by individuals; and this perhaps is a valid excuse for individuals. But, as a work of reference, it ought undoubtedly to have a place in some of your public libraries, Moreover, I know that the first British authorities in Botany—Sir William Hooker, and _ his equally distinguished son, Dr Joseph Hooker,—of Kew—are extremely desirous of issuing cheap Colonial Botanical Manuals, were there any demand for such works. Show that you desire * T was, while in Otago, referred for the only good collections of Otago rocks, fossils, and minerals, to two private geologists at Wellington, and of Otago plants to a lady at Sydney; and I had the opportunity of examining a better — suite of illustrations of New Zealand geology and mineralogy in Sydney (inthe — niagnificent collection of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, the Government geologist of New South Wales) than in New Zealand itself! This is a state of things discreditable in the extreme to New Zealand generally, as well as to its respective provinces ! | Natural History in Colonisation. 131 and require such works, and a supply would speedily meet the demand: offer the necessary funds for publication, and England will forthwith send you a Manual, which cannot fail to be useful to all who are connected with land—and who is not?—among your settlers. A Museum may appear to many of you a formidable undertaking, and one that may well be delayed, while so many institutions of more immediate importance must be established. The idea of a Museum may be associated in your minds with conceptions of a large, handsome, imposing structure, a well-paid and full staff of consequential officials, and endless glass cases; it will thus appear necessarily most expensive. But, in a young colony like this, it need be nothing of the sort—at least in nucleo ; and all I would at present recommend is the formation of a nucleus—a step which may be taken with little trouble, and at little cost. The first desideratum is perhaps a few earnest men to take action in the matter—to organise a committee, to hold public meetings, to agitate by means of the press. Surely some of the energy which has lately been, and is now being, displayed by the office-bearers of the “ Young Men’s Christian Association,” might be spared in this direction. I think I can venture to assure them that many would flock to their standard were it only raised. I have met many settlers, of every class and in every part of the province I have visited, most favourable to the establishment of a Provincial Museum, and who, I feel assured, would aid it by every means in their power—by subscriptions, if necessary—had they only a guarantee that such an institution would be properly managed, by which I mean, principally, had it only a competent Head as Director or Curator. The feeling is very general (and I confess I think the feeling a just one), that a Provincial Museum should be established and maintained essentially by Government. But this is no excuse for inaction. It is not at all likely that Government will take the initiative in a matter of this kind, when it has so many more pressing and serious wants to relieve. Nor, it is possible, might Government, at any more favourable time, be disposed to patronise such an undertaking, unless under the vis a tergo of strong public feeling; and, lastly, Government may re- pudiate all connection with such an establishment, and refer it to the individual or collective exertions of the colonists themselves. On what plea they might do so I know not. Education is the care of the State, and a Museum of this kind is just as much an educational establishment as any of your provincial schools, If it be not so, it ought to be so, and the fault must lie with its originators and managers. I can show, I think, presently, that a Museum may be made an educational establishment of a very high and important kind—one allied in character to our home universities. It seems to me desirable that the colonists should 132 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of actively take up the matter themselves—aided by Government if possible, without Government assistance if necessary. Let a few friends of the movement convene a meeting, and pass a resolution that the establishment of a Provincial Museum is desirable, and I doubt not for a moment the practical heads and active hands of the colonists will soon find means of carrying their views into effect. All that is at first wanted is a room for storage; by and by another room fitted up with presses, shelves and drawers would be added. Iam told that there are buildings in Dunedin already existing which might easily afford the accommodation requisite; and I am given to understand, further, that such an appropriation or application of their space, or at least a portion thereof, would be quite consistent with the objects for which such buildings were erected. I refer to such a building as the Atheneum, which I think could not be devoted to a more legitimate use than that of a Provincial Museum, and which is at present, I am told, occupied as a merchant’s warehouse or store-place. What arrangement should be made with the proprietors of such a building, I leave it to you to decide. My acquaintance with its history, and my local knowledge, are such that I can venture no suggestions on this head. I look upon a competent Curator as the essential feature of a Museum, and, in your case, as its most expensive feature. With- out a curator to organize its machinery, and to keep that machinery smoothly in regular and constant action, I have no great faith in the stability or permanent usefulness of a Provincial Museum. Without such an officer, I do not see how you can satisfactorily start it. You must have some competent authority to name and to classify specimens—some enthusiast, with the necessary leisure and interest in his work to encourage the collection of objects of natural history, and the study of such sciences as geology, mineralogy, botany, and zoology. Unless you have already in the colony some naturalist, quite competent, in the first place, and quite willing, in the second, to give his whole services, either gratuitously or for suitable remuneration, as curator of the nascent Museum, you must—if you wish your Museum to hold a real position of usefulness—procure a suitable. person from home. However well qualified your colonial natu- ralists may be, I have met with nobody who could sacrifice the necessary time for so worthy an end; all are too much en- grossed with their own private affairs. I believe a properly selected head of your Museum wonld be an immense acquisition to your province. He would, in the first place, be at his post to receive specimens sent up from the country, and I feel certain he would soon succeed in inducing settlers in all parts of the colony to collect. He would name and arrange these specimens in Natural History in Colonisation. 133 the Museum. He would be ready to receive country settlers during their visits to town, and to instruct them practically how and what to collect; how to preserve specimens; to set them in the way of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the Natural Sciences, or of such of them as they might have a bias towards, or find it more particularly their interest to study. He would be at hand to solve difficulties, answer inquiries, and afford en- couragement. He would be librarian as well as curator, and introduce students to the judicious use of the works in Natural History placed under his charge. In due time he might become a Collector as well as a Curator. His first duty would be to or- ganize the Museum,—to provide or see provided, the requisite rooms, fittings, apparatus and staff. Thereafter, he might take occasional excursions through the province, making observations and collections in all departments of Natural History, or in special departments, sending or bringing back his collections to the Museum, which would always form his head-quarters. Such excursions would be of great importance, not only to himself, but to the promotion of scientific interests in the province. He would thus not only become thoroughly acquainted with the natural resources of the province, but he would personally come in contact with all classes of settlers, in whom he would not fail— in many cases at least—to inspire a certain love of, or respect for, Natural History, or an interest in the objects for which the Provincial Museum was founded, and for which he was exploring the country. The result would, in all probability, be, that in every tour or excursion he would raise up fresh friends of the Museum—- friends who would aid it by their subscriptions, or their contribu- tions of specimens—probably both. Another great advantage of such excursionizing would be, that he might fulfil the duties, or occupy the position, of a Surveying Naturalist, and that, in course of time, by such means, a thorough Natural History Survey of the province might be secured. Were the summer months, for example, devoted to such excursions, an assistant being left to manage the routine of Museum business, important results might in a few years be obtained. There is yet, however, other work for him, whereby you might still further “ get value for your money.” In addition to being curator of, and collector for, the Museum, as well as Provincial Naturalist, he might be most useful as a Lecturer and teacher. He might give lectures, or institute classes, for different sections of the community, at different hours of the day, or at different seasons of the year, in connection with the Museum, With this view, a lecture room would fall to be added to the accommodation proper of the Museum. By the aid of the diagrams now so common and so cheap, and with all the resources of the Museum shelves at his command, science might 134 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of in his hands be made popular and most attractive. Such courses of instruction would, or should, be attended by, or at least open to, the ladies of the province; and, if they do not differ remark- ably from their fair sisters at home, the Provincial naturalist would not find them his least anxious caterers, his least zealous supporters. Natural History has become a common and favourite feminine study at home—with what success the ferneries, the albums of sea-weeds, the baskets of shells, the marine aqua- vivaria of our ladies’ fancy bazaars sufficiently testify. But he might disseminate his knowledge much more widely, While on his tours, he might lecture in district schoolhouses and churches, a boon which I venture to predict would be duly appreciated in country districts. I am assured on every hand, both in town and country, that lecturers are ‘at a premium,” to use a commercial phrase: they are scarce, sometimes ‘‘ not to be had,” (to which circumstance, by the way, I must not forget, I probably owe my presence here this evening), and any addition to the lecturing staff of the province would be most acceptable. The newspapers are also open to such an officer; with a daily sheet at his command, how rapidly could he disseminate information—how easily announce the arrivals of specimens, intimate his excursions or lectures, and issue his suggestions. The Press, by and by, will be open to him in a more substantial and permanent form. You will doubtless, in due course, have your publishing houses in -Dunedin, whereby he may issue his pamphlets, or his volumes, on subjects bearing on Provincial Natural History. It will naturally occur to some of you, as an objection to the appointment of such an officer, that such appointment would entail a very heavy ex- pense. This, however, 1s not necessarily the case; though, even if it were, I think you would find the outlay well invested. At home there are many young men, enthusiasts in the pursuit of Natural History, who would be delighted with the privilege of occupying so novel and so rich a field, with so brilliant a prospect of gathering their laurels—of making substantial additions to science—with so promising a sphere of usefulness. Such youths are to be found as assistant-curators in our public Museums, our University and National Museums, and the experience they have there acquired would render them most useful public officers here. Some of this class, I should think, would be glad to come to terms. They would probably look more to their opportunities as men of science, than to mere salary or emoluments, though in- dubitably Naturalists must live as well as other people, and on something more substantial than enthusiasm. In addition to a guaranteed salary, which, considering his real usefulness and scientific status, should, in my opinion, be handsome, such an officer might be permitted by his employers, be they the Govern- ; Natural History in Colonisation. 135 ment, the public, or the members of a private association, to add to his emoluments by the fees of lectures and classes, or of such other offices or duties as he could undertake without prejudice to the objects for which he was brought from home. I see no difficulty in securing a suitable person on suitable terms, which must, of course, be the subject of private arrangement. I am not sanguine enough to suppose that a Provincial Museum will ever become of the same real use to the present, as to the rising, generation. To the latter, I think it might be made one of your most important educational establishments, and therefore it is that I should like to see it systematically organized, thoroughly equipped, and firmly rooted as a State institution of recognized value; with a view to all which I will only be too happy if [ can in any way forward its interests at home. Geological Survey of Otago. The fact that the Government has recently appointed a Provin- cial Geologist, who is expected shortly to enter upon his duties here, 1s without prejudice in any way to the remarks I have just made under the head of Museum. I am quite aware of the circum- stance of the appointment having been made; but so far from such appointment interfering in any way with the schemes I have proposed, it appears to me most opportune, as affording a means whereby you may at once commence your Museum, organize its machinery, and carry it on, till you can procure a special curator. The assistance of so experienced a naturalist as Dr Hector, who has distinguished himself by his labours in the Palliser expedition across the Rocky Mountains of North America some years ago, could not fail to be valuable. I cannot refrain from stating here ~ that I think it reflects high credit on Otago that she is the first province in New Zealand to have made arrangements for a sys- tematic geological survey, a survey which should imply the expen- diture, in my opinion, of at least £10,000; that is, including the cost of the proper publication of reports, maps, and drawings, which publication can only be carried out in Britain, and at necessarily great expense. And it seems to me doubly creditable that the sug- gestion regarding such a survey was made, and the arrangements earried out, considerably prior to the discovery of the gold fields of Tuapeka and Waitahuna; so that I presume it was from a firm faith in the usefulness of geological science in a practical sense that the Provincial Government passed its vote for this survey. I am glad to find that other provinces of New Zealand are following in your wake in this respect, and I doubt not all will sooner or later be encouraged by the results of your Geological Survey to do so. I know not how far the suggestion may meet with the approval 136 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of of your Government or Dr Hector; but I hope neither of them will be offended by the simple expression of individual opinion, It appears to me that Dr Hector’s presence might legitimately be taken advantage of in establishing the nucleus of the mineralogical and geological sections of the Provincial Museum, as well as in the dissemination of a knowledge of local geology and mineralogy by the medium of lectures or classes. For such purposes advan- tage might be taken of the completion of the survey, of the winter season, or of periods of inclement weather, when the survey may be temporarily suspended. A properly named and classified col- lection, first, of the rocks and minerals of Dunedin, and by and by of those of other parts of the province, might be made. Whenever the funds would admit, I would strongly recommend the purchase of coloured geological diagrams, models of crystals, and other scientific educational apparatus, now easily to be had, as well as a series of selected named specimens—as standards—-of rocks and minerals similar to those of Otago, and which throw light on the relations and uses of the latter; specimens, for instance, from the Trap districts of Scotland, the volcanic regions of Iceland or Italy, the Chalk districts of England, or the Tertiary formations of Germany and France. These are procurable, at a moderate ex- pense, at such establishments as Professor Tennant’s, in London ; or Krantz and Co., of Bonn and Berlin. With the aid of such specimens, diagrams, and apparatus, as illustrations, and by means of field excursions round Dunedin, your Provincial geologist might teach practically, in a most attractive way, details of the sciences of geology and mineralogy, or the rudiments thereof, according to circumstances. Government would surely grant every facility in the way of accommodation and assistance for so desirable an end, I am told Dr Hector is daily expected. I am not at all aware whether any or what preparations have been made here for the prosecution of his survey: but it appears to me that the way may be so far paved for him; his labours so far facilitated and aided ; his objects co-operated in. There is not one of you, probably, who may not in some way, however humble, promote Provincial geology by co-operating in the efforts of the Provincial geologist. You are at considerable expense in providing the staff and requi- sites for a geological survey; yonr being so shows the value you place upon the possession of the information such a survey is ex- pected to collect or educe. It is surely your interest to get the best, the largest return for your outlay—to make the most of your engagement. You will best consult your own interests then by doing all that in you lies to further the aims and objects of Dr Hector. You may do so in various ways, but on one only of these will I touch. I would suggest that so soon as Dr Hector arrives, Government should insert in all the local newspapers an oW = : a =) Natural History in Colonisation. 137 intimation of his arrival, and thereafter announce, from time to time, the localities he is about to visit, calling upon settlers of every kind to. note all peculiarities of rocks in their neighbour- hood, and to collect specimens of rocks and minerals—all which should be produced in due time to Dr Hector. This would pro- bably direct his attention to places and circumstances that might otherwise escape him. I have myself derived great benefit from collectors of “ curiosities,” which generally include a miscellany of rocks, minerals, fossils, shells, eggs, insects, and so forth. I have frequently seen specimens in such collections which at once arrested my attention, Their owners or collectors knew perhaps little or nothing of their value, but they could tell where they picked them up, and could lead me to the spot. In such a way some of the most interesting geological phenomena I have seen have come under my notice. These so-called “ curi- osities” were casually collected as mementoes, perhaps, of visits to localities beyond the beaten track of travellers, as playthings for children, or as mantelpiece ornaments. Were, however, the attention of the same collectors directed to the fact that such specimens might lead the Provincial geologist to discoveries, if not practically important, at least scientifically interesting, with this higher motive, and a more intelligent conception of the bearings or value of such specimens on the promotion of scientific research, they would become more careful observers, more diligent collectors, and ultimately many of them efficient co-operators, and learned geologists. Dr Hector will probably necessarily be engaged for some time-in Dunedin preparing the groundwork of his survey, and Government would therefore, on or after his arrival, have ample time—especially as it now has at its command the inestim- able advantages of a daily newspaper—to communicate with the settlers in the most remote parts of the province, and so set them on the alert as observers and collectors in Natural History. It is evident that the more the Provincial geologist sees and hears of the geology of your province—the greater the number of speci- mens presented to his notice—the more varied and abundant the information supplied,—the more valuable will be his survey report, and the better pleased you will be with the expenditure of your money. Let me hope, then, that, in the light of your own inter- ests as well as in those of science, you will accord your heartiest assistance to the able naturalist you have been fortunate enough to secure as Provincial geologist. Botanie Garden. A second great desideratum in Dunedin is a Botanic Garden, whether regarded in a purely scientific light, or in that of a public NEW SERIES,—VOL. XVIII. NO, I.—gsULY 1863, S 138 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of recreation ground, a promenade and place of resort.* At present I am not aware there is anything of the kind, while there appears no lack of suitable sites in the possession of the Government. I have found among the settlers throughout the province a strong feeling in favour of the establishment of a Botanic Garden; and so long as you possess men so admirably qualified by experience and tastes to act as committee men in promoting such an under- taking as Mr Matthews of Dunedin, Mr Martin of Saddlehill, Mr Bower of Anderson’s Bay, and Mr Buchanan of the North-east Valley, you need have no hesitation in taking the initiative. Many of the remarks I have made under the head ‘* Museum,” apply equally to the Botanic Garden. It may appear to you a more extensive and expensive undertaking than even the Museum ; visions of magnificent hothouses, greenhouses, and conservatories, of ornamental sheets of water and fountains, of terraces and par- terres, will probably appear to those of my audience who have vivid imaginations. But none of these are necessary to begin with ; they will all be added ultimately, I doubt not. A small piece of ground and a small staff would suffice at its first start. It is most desirable that the Botanic Garden should have a separate and competent Head as Director ; but, should the expense of such an arrangement be found an insurmountable obstacle, the Curator of your Museum might act as director for a time. Indeed, should amore convenient building not offer itself, the Botanic Garden would form an excellent and appropriate site for a new Museum building. The latter would be rendered all the more attractive by the luxuriant foliage of, and the beautiful views from, the former. The first aim of such a garden should be to collect together, name, and classify, specimens of all the plants of Otago, so that a glance might give the stranger or the mere townsman a good idea of the general vegetation of the province. By and by, the collection might be made to include, in proportion as the garden space was extended, and the garden finances permitted, the plants of the adjacent provinces, of the North Island and Stewart’s Island, of Tasmania and Australia, of the Chatham and other neighbouring islands. Thereafter, European plants might be added, if it were © * The experience and example of the Sydney Botanic Garden may be use- ful. It occupies one of the finest sites about Sydney, and is most tastefully laid out,—less, however, as a garden arranged purely for the purposes of science than as pleasure-grounds for the purposes of public recreation. Its attractions include an orchestra for the regimental band, which plays regularly on certain days of the week,—on which “band days” the garden becomes the most fashionable promenade in Sydney; and an aviary, with ponds for aquatic birds. But the scientific is not forgotten, for the garden possesses an excellent Botani- cal Library and Museum, as well as a Lecture-room, where the excellent Director, Mr Moore, gives public courses of Lectures on Botany. Amidst such environments, it would be surprising did such lectures fail to prove attractive to a considerable section at least of the general public. Natural History in Colonisation. 139 deemed advisable; but the garden ought to be essentially repre- sentative and local—a, collection of Otago plants, Otago products. Secondly, it might become an excellent Experimental Garden, a place where, appropriately, properly conducted experiments might be instituted as to what foreign plants are suitable for growth in Otago; what will flourish in its climate; what might be accli- matised or naturalised, so as to become useful to the settler for his shrubberies or gardens, his plantations or hedges ; what trees may be made to supply the place of the monarchs of the virgin forests, which are fast disappearing under the axe and fire of the settler—under the insatiable requirements of advancing civilisa- tion. Thirdly, the Exchange of seeds would probably form an important feature in the usefulness of your Botanic Garden. There are many of your native shrubs, such as the Eurebias and Fuchsias, which would make beautiful and acceptable additions to our shrubberies and gardens at home; and I am sure that our nurserymen and seedsmen in Britain would gladly, in exchange for the seeds of such of your shrubs as seemed suitable for British cultivation, send to your garden the seeds of any plants usually cultivated in their gardens or forcing-houses.~ In connection with such exchange of seeds would be the intercommunication of information regarding the plants represented by the seeds—in- formation mutually important, mutually desirable. Many of your Provincial gardens—your settlers’ gardens, I mean—are quite Botanic gardens in miniature: they are carrying out on the small seale the aims which it should be the business of the Botanic Garden to carry out on a larger one. In the gardens of some individual settlers you may find excellent collections of the more interesting shrubs of Otago, of Tasmania, and Australia—shrubs which are being naturalized ; and of British or other plants, the seeds whereof have been received in exchange for those of Otago plants. Such gardens are those of Mr Matthews, of Dunedin ; Mr Shaw of Finegand, on the Clutha; and the Rev. Mr Will of the Taeri. These are not solitary instances; for the wants, which a Botanic garden would supply, are extensively felt. University of New Zealand. Not less important, as a means of promoting science in your province, than either a Museum or Botanic Garden, at the same time not as superseding these, would be the establishment of a University, or at all events at first the nucleus thereof. Such an institution is desirable on many other and more important grounds, A University in Dunedin might become not only the Provincial University, or the University of the Middle Island, but the University of New Zealand. I believe that New 140 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of Zealand will gradually, more and more than at present, be selected as the residence of our successful Australians, and East Indians. Its climate will be in request as one better suited to the physical training of youth than the climates of more tropical countries. Did good educational establishments, of the higher kinds especially, exist in the Middle Island of New Zealand, this would probably prove a great attraction, from the excellent op- portunities offered for the education of youth, to many who might not otherwise have thought of emigrating, or of sending their sons or families hither. For many reasons, it appears to me the Middle Island will be preferred to the north as a place of residence, and a place of education, And further, it seems to me that the first of the New Zealand Provinces, which will establish a University, will, ceteris paribus, attract towards itself the classes of persons above referred to, Iam glad to find the same view has occurred to the late Dr Arthur Thomson, in his “ Story of New Zealand,” the most recent and best work on New Zealand, with which I am acquainted. His remarks are so apposite and brief, that I make no apology here for introducing them. ‘“ 4 University of the highest order is urgently required in New Zealand, Such an establishment would draw within its walls large numbers of the Australian aristocracy, as Anglo-Saxons born and reared on that continent are occasionally destitute of the bodily energy requisite for the full development of the mind. Two generations in Australia change the children of the broad- shouldered emigrants into a lithe race, more nervous than muscular. ‘Sydney corn-stalks,’ as the youths of that city are denominated, are no match in intellect against men brought up in colder countries. For this reason, Australian settlers will strive to give their children a few years’ residence in climates more invigorating than that in which they were born; and it is already discovered that the best period for this is on the approach of maturity, when youth is rising into manhood, and the mind is developing itself for the future battle of life. Whichever province in New Zealand, therefore, can found a University, where youth can be taught as the youth of England are taught, will acquire a name and an influence in the Southern hemisphere, not to be — measured by money or the figures of the statist.” |Vol, iL, p.230.] So far, at least, as the study of Natural History is con- cerned, I can scarcely conceive a more fitting site for an “ Academe” than Dunedin. In the midst of magnificent scenery, with a rich and varied geological and botanical field before him, the student’s natural advantages are great ; and these advantages would be enhanced, had he access to Museums and Botanic Gardens, Libraries and Class-rooms, as already described. If a Museum or Botanic Garden appear to you necessarily expensive, I fear a Natural History in Colonisation. 141 University will appear much more so, if you think of it as a massive pile, richly ornamented, its niches containing statues of the great and good, with endless lecture-rooms, a commodious library, and an imposing Senate Hall, two or three dozen learned Professors, and a venerable Principal. It is, however, far from necessary—it is not, perhaps, desirable—that you should at once establish a University complete in all its parts.* All I would recommend, so far as Natural History is concerned, is the appointment of two or three professors, who would be easily accommodated, and who might be most useful Government officers, independent altogether of their “chairs.” No separate buildings would be necessary at first. I would house the Pro- fessors in the Museum, though this would imply your making this building commodious. Your Provincial Geologist might be Professor of a certain section of the Natural Sciences, certainly of Geology and Mineralogy, with their economical applications. He might act as Government referee on all questions relating to mining and quarrying in their scientific aspects. The Director of your Botanic Garden might be your Professor of Botany, and per- haps also of Zoology, with their economical applications. He might also hold office as Conservator of Forests, or have a seat at a Board of Woods and Forests as professional referee, He would be a useful authority in all questions relating to the acclimatisation of plants or animals, agriculture and arboriculture, * Let me indicate the University of Sydney, less as a model for imitation, than as a beacon of warning against dangers liable to be incurred. I have visited and greatly admired it as a building. But I think it has aimed at too much in the form of building, which is both too extensive and expensive for the requirements of the age and of the colony. The consequence of this error is, ¢nter alia, that, contrasted with the size of the edifice, there is a miserable paucity of students; and throughout the colony there seems to exist a feeling of insecurity or want of confidence in the solidity or stability of this the Pro- vincial University of New South Wales. While the building is on too large and expensive a scale for present requirements, the Professorial staff seems inadequate,—especially in so far as the Natural Sciences can be thereby repre- sented. There is only one Professor of these sciences, the particular science taught being Chemistry. In a country which owes so much of its prosperity to its gold, its coal, its sandstone, there is no Professor of Geology or Mineralogy,— while New South Wales possesses at least one local Geologist eminently worthy of such a chair, the Rev. W. B. Clarke of Sydney, whose distinguished labours in connection with the discovery and development of the Australian gold- fields, | am happy to see, have recently been rewarded by a handsome Govern- ment grant or honorarium. Nor is there any Medical School in connection with the University, though there is a large general Hospital in Sydney, as well as large Lunatic Asylums at Tarban Creek and Parramatta in its vicinity. And yet all of these might exist at a moderate expense, and without a separate University building at all! It would have been desirable had the large expen- diture of the Sydney University taken first the direction of the essential con- stituents of an efficient Academe,—a staff of Teachers of celebrity : the walls or pad would gradually have followed as they were required and could be afforded, 142 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of in their scientific aspects. Another Professor could hardly be dispensed with; indeed his usefulness is, perhaps, more evident than in the case of the other two. I refer to a Professor of Chemistry, who might also be Government Analyst and Assayer. At present, I believe you send your gold for assay to Sydney ; and you are dependent entirely on Australia or Britain for chemical reports on the percentage of iron in your iron sands or ochres, sulphur in your sulphur muds, lime in your limestones, gas or oil in your lignites. Would it not save time and trouble, delay and suspense, as well as expense, to have your analyst always at hand—always at your service, He would be ready to act as agricultural chemist, making analyses of soils for settlers. He would be a valuable referee in medico-legal cases, in judicial ex- aminations in cases of poisoning for instance, and in similar cases where the chemical, would necessarily be the chief, evidence. He would act as a detector of adulterations in your foods and drinks— adulterations which are generally rife in such a state of society as exists in Dunedin at present. Even as a reporter on the quality of the water-supply proposed for your towns, he might be of signal service, especially in regard to indicating the proper materials for conveyance and storage. Such Professors might give systematic instruction in their respective sciences to all who desired to take advantage thereof, as well as more general and popular courses of lectures to the public at large. The contents of the Museum would afford abundance of suitable illustrations, All three Pro- fessors might, if necessary, occupy the same lecture room at different hours, or at different seasons, though there is no doubt separate and ample accommodation would be desirable. The Professor of Chemistry would, in addition, require a small Labora- tory, the cost whereof would reside chiefly in its fittings, which, however, may be had at a very moderate outlay. Let us hope that ere many years elapse, ‘“ New Edinburgh” may possess in the Southern Hemisphere a University rivalling that of “ Old Edinburgh” in the Northern; and if it does so, I will venture to predict it will become the University, not only of New Zealand, but of this (Southern) Hemisphere ! Teaching of Natural Science in Schools. But, pending the establishment of a University, which must be gradual in its growth, there seems no reason why the existing educational machinery of the province should not be rendered available for bestowing upon the rising generation scientific tastes, if not acquirements. I would commend to the favourable con- sideration of your Education Board the propriety of introducing the teaching of at least the rudiments of Natural Science,—of such Natural History in Colonisation. 143 sciences, especially, as Physiology, Zoology, Geology, and Botany, into your district schools, and especially into your High Schools. The means of doing so are now ample. Books and diagrams, named specimens, and working models, may be purchased at ex- tremely moderate rates from educational publishers. What is called ‘ Object-teaching”—the teaching of science by means of actual specimens—is now common in our most elementary schools athome. This method of teaching has the immense advantage that facts are indelibly graven on the mind, without any appreciable effort of thought or memory, the observative more than the re- flective faculties being thus educated in a way most attractive and interesting to the pupil. Natural History Society. Much might be done mutually to diffuse a taste for natural history studies, by the establishment or formation of a Natural History Society. Meetings might be held periodically for the reading of papers relating to local natural history ; specimens of rocks and minerals, plants, insects, shells, &c., might be exhibited ; excursions might be planned; encouragement and assistance given by the more to the less experienced. Such societies are abundant at home, and are most serviceable, especially to youth. The *‘ Natural History Society of Dunedin,” or of Otago, might, in the first instance, be an offshoot from the “ Young Men’s Christian Association,” and would probably, ere long, have an independent existence, and a distinct sphere of usefulness. The establishment of a Natural History Museum, Botanic Garden, and University, and the introduction of science-teaching in schools, will probably, each and all of them, give an impetus to the formation of societies of this kind ; and this is an additional reason why no time should be lost in taking steps towards the carrying out these most de- sirable schemes. There is no lack of settlers with the requisite tastes and enthusiasm to form a solid nucleus, a good working committee ; nor is there wanting the readiness to become members of a Natural History Society, were it only established. But the great difficulty here, as in all the schemes I have propounded, is the start; and here is another instance, added to the many that can be cited, of the value of the presence of competent Naturalists among you,—men who have their whole time to devote to the pro- secution and promotion of Natural Science, whose interest it is pecuniarily to use their best efforts for its progress,—whose bias and tastes, whose habits and experience all tend in this direction, and who would be the soul and life of such a society—of any association, which might have for its object or aim the study or applications of Natural Science. # * f ak # * 144 Dr Lauder Lindsay on the Place and Power of Example of Victoria in its Encouragement of Natural History. In connection with the schemes I have above advocated, I would ask you to look to the example set you by your near neighbour and fair sister Victoria, Consider what Melbourne has accom- plished for the promotion of science during the short ten years of her existence. Visit her magnificent Botanic Gardens—her excel- lent Museums of Natural History, Geology, Mining, Agriculture, &c,—her University and her Royal Society—and see whether these do not afford proof of an enlightened recognition of the value of the Natural Sciences as a power in colonisation. What Melbourne has achieved, Otago may, with similar energy, aspire to accom- plish. ‘I am sanguine as to the future of your province. I believe that, independently altogether of the gold-fields, it pos- sesses many elements of future greatness and distinction ; that it has boundless resources, which it will take many years fully to develope and appreciate ; that, prior to the discoveries of Gabriel Read, Otago was progressing ‘“ slowly but surely,” silently and unostentatiously, but substantially, in all that constitutes a healthy colonisation. But I believe, further, that though this satisfactory progress would have continued had there been no gold discovery in your province, one result of such discovery will be to render the said progress greatly more rapid. You will find the colony in one year in a position it would probably not have reached in ten or perhaps twenty. Much depends—though every- thing does not depend—on the permanency of your Gold Mining, the extent and productiveness of your gold-fields. To take the worst view of the question,—should the gold-fields fail, should they prove of very limited extent, there would probably result an im- mediate great commercial distress—a distress, however, that would probably affect your speculative Victorian brethren more than yourselves. Your country would remain much in the state in which the discovery of the gold-fields found it, with the exception that your settlers would have the advantages of additional popu- lation, additional roads and bridges, and other desirable results of the temporary influx of population. There is no reason, however, for supposing the gold-fields of Otago to be of very local charac- ter, or of very limited extent; while experience is daily showing they are abundantly productive. To what extent they will com- pete in the long-run with the Victorian gold-fields remains to be seen. That they are at present competing successfully therewith is a fact that can no longer be doubted, I have repeatedly been assured by gold-seekers—many of them of Californian as well as Australian experience—that the escort returns of no single gold- field in other countries, within the same space of time, have ever equalled those of Tuapeka, and that Gabriel’s Gully has proved, F da Natural History in Colonisation. 145 in proportion to its size, the richest gold-field ever discovered or worked in any part of the world. The present horizon of the colony, therefore, is bright and cloudless. Your land, your flocks and herds, are rising rapidly in value. Dunedin is being meta- morphosed, at a Victorian rate of progress, from a village into a city. The stream of population is at the flood. This population brings with it large numbers of the educated classes of society ; and these classes, let me hope, will not be long in experiencing the want, and demanding the supply, of many, if not all, of the insti- tutions, the establishment whereof I have been recommending. Conclusion. Circumstances have compelled me altogether to omit the sec- tions | had originally intended on such subjects as— I. Under the head of the Botany of Otago— a. The necessity that seems to exist for the careful Con- servation of your Forests, and for the establishment of a Board of Woods and Forests. b, The importance of investigating the nature of the Tutu Poison, and of discovering a preventive or remedy therefor. c. The importance of a comparative study of the British (naturalised) and native Grasses, as fodder for sheep and cattle on your ranges and runs. d. The desirability of experiment on the Acclimatisation, or introduction, of such of the trees or shrubs of Tasmania, Australia, or Hurope, as might be found suitable as a pro- tection or environment to your dwellings, or as a substitute for your Forest trees. e. The development of the economical appliances of your Flax fibre. f. The economical applications of a number of your com- monest weeds ; for instance, the Lichens of your rocks, which I have proved by experiment here are capable of yielding good dyes. If. Under the head of the Zoology* of Otago— a. The Acclimatisation of many of our British fish, birds, and other animals, viz. :—The introduction of the salmon and trout into your streams and rivers; of the grouse, partridge, - * Our ignorance at home of New Zealand zoology may be happily illustrated, in one of its phases, by the following apostrophe by the author of ‘‘The Plea- sures of Hope:”— ‘‘On Zealand’s hills where tigers steal along, And the dread Jndian chants a dismal song,” &e. It so happens that the most striking feature of the very meagre fauna of New Zealand is the entire absence of animals dangerous to man,—a circumstance that goes far to render that country one of the safest of all the British colonies. NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIII. NO. 1.—JuLY 1863. T 146 Dr Lauder Lindsay on Natural History. capercailzie, ptarmigan, and other of our game birds on your ranges; of our common British insectivorous birds generally. b, The desirability of the establishment of an Acclimatisation Society, similar to those of Melbourne and Sydney, of Paris and London.* III. Under the head of the Meteorology of Otago— a. The importance of establishing throughout the pro- vince a chain of Meteorological Stations, in connection with a central Provincial Observatory at Dunedin, with a view to the collection of precise data, whereon to base conclusions as to the true character of the climate of Otago. Contributions to Ornithology. By Sir W. Jarpinz, Bart. 7 No. Ve Acanthylis sabim (Gray). A specimen of this spine-tailed swift was procured by Captain Sabine (now Major-General Sabine) when upon duty on the west coast of Africa; and the first notice of if as a new species appeared in Griffith’s edition of Baron Cuvier’s “ Animal Kingdom,” part xvii., 1828, as Chetura sabini, Gray, MSS.—*« Bluish black, belly and rump white; Africa, Captain Sabine.” The specimen thus referred to is now in the British Museum. It was afterwards more fully described, and the dimensions given (1831), in Gray’s “ Zoological Miscellany,” under the name of Whate-Rumped Chetura, Ch. bicolor. Why the change of name we do not know. When M. Duchaillu returned to America from his first expe- dition in Western Africa, his ornithological collections were described, and a list of all the species was given, by John Cassin in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila- delphia, and Chetura sabini (Gray), with the synonyms applied to that bird, was printed with the list. At a later period M. Duchaillu came to Europe, and his speci- mens of gorilla and other animals and birds were exhibited in the rooms of the Geographical Society of London. On visiting this collection, we saw that the swift named by Cassin as Ch, sabini was not identical with that bird, but had not at that time an opportunity of comparing them, On leaving Europe to resume his explorations in Africa, the remains of his collections were sent to Mr Stevens for disposal, and we then procured a specimen of the bird we had before partially seen. From the first description in Griffith’s “ Animal Kingdom,” the * An excellent example has been set by the recent establishment of one in Auckland, New Zealand. Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ormithology. 147 mistake was easily made, no measurements being given; but a comparison of the specimens leaves no doubt of their being distinct. In the “ Atheneum” of May 30th, “Dr Sclater pointed out the characters of a species of spine-tailed swift of the genus Chetura, from West Africa, for which he proposed the name of C. cassinii.” This may be Duchaillu’s bird, or any other; but we cannot recognise such notices as descriptions, or as any authority foraname., It has been the practice for many years for gentle- men thus to announce new names without anything more, and it has been the source of confusion and great multiplication of synonyms. We now give the characters of the two allied species, describing the old bird from a specimen in the museum of T. C. Eyton, Esq., who procured it from the refuse specimens of the once fine ornitho- logical collection of the Zoological Society. Acanthylis sabini (Gray), 1828.* Mus. British. T.C Eyton. Above, black with blue and violet reflections, rump and up. tail-coverts white, shafts of each feather black, tail-coverts as long as the rectrices without the spine. Below, greyish- black; belly, vent and under tail-coverts white, the latter Jong with narrow black shafts; tarsi and feet slender. Length to end of tail spines, 4; wing, 4.5. Chetura sabini (Gray), Cuv. Reg. An., ed. Griff. 11., No. xvii. p. 70. Hartlaub, Syst. Orn. W. Africa, p. 25. C. bicolor (Gray), Zool. Miscel., p. 7. Acanthylis bicolor (Strick.), Proc. Zool. Soc., 1844, p. 99. A, sabini (Gray), Gen. B. Fol. Sp, 8. List B. Brit. Mus., p. 16. Mull. Cab. Journ. Orn., 1855, p. 3. Pallene leucopygia (Boie), Isis, 1844 (Auct. Hartl.) P. sabini, Bonp. Consp. Avium, p. 64. Hab.,W. Africa: Sierra Leone (Sabine) ; Fernando Po (Fraser). Acanthylis hartlaubi, Jard., June 1863. Mus. Brit, Jard. Philad. (Auct. Hartl.) Above, black with slight greenish reflection; up. tail-coverts short, those next rump white, forming a narrow band, outer rectrices pale near the shaft. Below, chin greyish- white; throat, breast and sides grey; belly, vent and under tail-coverts white; tarsi and feet, strong. Length to end of tail spines, 4,3; wing, 6. Chetura sabint (Cassin), Proc, Ac. Nat. Soc. Philad.(without syns.) Hartlaub (included in synonyms of C. sabinz), Syst. Ornith. W. Africa, p. 25. Hab., W, Africa (Auct. Cassin). * For this date, we take the notice on 16th Number of Griffith’s edition of Cuvier,—“ The 17th Number of the Animal Kingdom will be published in October 1828.”’ 148 Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology. Note.—A, hartlaubi differs from A, sabini in the stout short form of the body, long wings, narrow white band on upper tail-coverts, and in the form and strength of feet. Charadrius virginiacus.—In Dr Hartlaub’s System der Ornitho- logie, West Africa, Charadrius pluvialis, or common golden plover, only is noted. In a small collection of birds lately sent from Fernando Po by Consul Burton, there is a specimen of C’. virginiacus, This is not remarkable, being a bird of wide geographical distribution, but it has not yet been noticed as occurring in Western Africa. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Royal Society of Edinburgh. Monday, 2d March 1863.—Principal Sir D. BREWSTER, V.P., in the Chair. The following Communications were read :— 1. Letter from Sir D. Brewster relative to the specimens of Topaz with Pressure Cavities presented by him to the Museum of the Society. 2. On the Polarization of Rough Surfaces, and of Substances that reflect White or Coloured Light from their Interior. By Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S. < 3. On a Clay Deposit with Fossil Arctic Shells, recently observed in the Basin of the Forth. By the Rev. Thomas Brown, F.R.S8. E. The author having stated the circumstances which led to his discovering this bed with its fossils near the harbour at Elie, re- ferred to a drawing of the section, and explained the position and contents of the different strata. Specimens of the shells were exhibited, as named by Dr Otto Torrell of Lund, who had supplied important information as to their distribution. They are all, without exception, now living in the Arctic Seas. A majority of them are exclusively Arctic. Several are new to the British glacial deposits—viz., Thracia myopsis, ~ Pecten groenlandicus, Crenella decussata, C. levigata,* Turritella erosa,t and a new Yoldia found in Spitzbergen in 80° north lati- * “ Most probably, but much injured.” + “Almost certainly this species, yet cannot be positively asserted.” \ Se “al Royal Society of Edinburgh. 149 tude.* It was shown how strongly this evidence goes to prove the former existence of a Boreal or Arctic climate in Scotland. The shells seem also to indicate some considerable rise in the level of the land. They are deep-water species—some of them very markedly so. Four distinct series of facts appear to show that they have not been washed up and transported, but are lying in the clay-bed where they originally lived. As the deposit is now rather above high-water mark, the fair inference would seem to be that the whole sea-bed of the Firth must have been considerably raised. Reference was made to the discovery of the glacial beds of the Clyde by Mr Smith of Jordanhill. They had been looked for on the Forth, but without success. Dr Fleming struck the first trace of them at Tyrie, but it was faint, there being only two or three specimens of the shells, and these he was led to think not indigen- ous. In the Hlie clay the same two species occur rather abundantly, along with others, all evidently in the clay-bed where they had lived. The group is so characteristic that there need be no ques- tion now as to the occurrence of the true old glacial beds with Arctic shells in the basin of the Forth. Various reasons were stated for holding that this bed is very closely connected with the boulder clay, being not improbably a sea- formation contemporaneous with some portion of that deposit. It was shown, that the facts brought to light in this section give us some glimpse into the circumstances under which the period of Arctic cold passed away. 4, On the Remarkable Occurrence of Graphite in Siberia. By Thomas C. Archer, Esq. Monday, 16th March 1863.—Dr CHRISTISON, V.P., = in the Chair. The following Communications were read :— 1. On the Polarization of the Atmosphere. By Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S. 2. Concluding Note on the Star Observations at Elchies. : By Professor C. Piazzi Smyth. 3. On a new fossil Ophiwridan, from Post-pliocene strata of the valley of the Forth. By Professor Allman. I am indebted to one of our University students, Mr Peter Lawson, for a specimen of a star-fish, which he informed me had been found, along with many others, in a deposit of brick-clay near * The other species are—Savicava rugosa, large form, Tellina proxima, Astarte compressa, Leda truncata, L. pygmeea, Natica groenlandica, large form. Fragments also occur which seem to belong to Cyprina Islandica and Mya truncata. 150 Proceedings of Societies. Dunbar. The interest of this fact was a sufficient inducement to cause me at once to visit the locality where the star-fish was ob- tained, and where, by the kindness of Mr France, the proprietor of the brick-works, I succeeded in obtaining good specimens of the fossil. Notwithstanding some very marked characters, which might possibly be regarded as possessing higher than specific value, I pre- fer referring the star-fish of the Dunbar brick-clay to Miller and Troschel’s genus Ophiolepis, rather than encumbering the existing nomenclature with a new and doubtful generic name. The species, which is very distinct from every other described member of the genus, may be defined by the following diagnosis :— Ophiolepis gracilis (mihi), nov. spec. Upper surface of the disc covered with imbricated plates, a single circular plate occupying the centre, and with the radial shields large, and having their opposed edges in contact for their entire length. Dorsal shields of the arms about twice as broad as long near the disc, and thence with their breadth gradually decreasing in proportion to their length, until towards the distal extremity of the arm they become longer than broad; they cover the whole dorsal surface of the arm, and have their adoral and aboral margins transverse and parallel. Ventral shields of the arms very minute, and allowing the lateral shields of one side to meet those of the opposite side in the inferior median line of the arm. Aboral edge of each lateral shield with a notch for the exit of a cirrus. Spines about once and a-half as long as the breadth of the arms. Arms about five times as long as the diameter of the disc, and gradually tapering to a fine point. The size of the largest specimens obtained is about four inches from tip to tip of the arms. Fossil in brick-clay of the Post-pliocene age, near Dunbar, Scot- land. One of the most remarkable features in the present species is the rudimental condition of the ventral shields of the arms; these shields being much smaller than in Ophiolepis ciliata (Mil. and Trosch.), where they are exceptionally small among the Ophiuride, - and where the lateral shields bear only short papilliform spines instead of the long, highly-developed spines of O. gracilis. It was only after having sought in vain for the ventral shields in some dozens of specimens that I succeeded in detecting them in a single instance. In this case they appeared in a view of the internal sur- face of the ventral wall (fig. B) as very minute rhombic plates lying along the mesial line, where they were interposed between the angles of the lateral shields. It is quite possible that the ventral plates are more fully displayed upon the outer surface of the wall, but in no case did I find this surface sufficiently exposed to enable me to obtain a view of them; while the inner surface, on the contrary, was frequently well exposed by the disappearance in the fossil of the dorsal shields, and of the series of vertebra-like ossicles, which, in the living Ophiuride, occupies the axis of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 151 arms. In most of the specimens sufficiently well preserved to afford a view of the ventral walls of the arms, the lateral shields were seen to be slightly separated from one another along the ventral ke i ‘ a iM a VG ¢ : CO i cA i qj Ce) LS \ : Nea i Ww, ye, \ = y RE ye % ~, // ‘e, C ; E | ‘ A, 8 v/ A\ = : HY A ANE > A WW: LA ry H ( at, Chie Ns A SI ! é ee] al les] — Weight of Frog before Ex- periment. Weight raised. Weight of Muscle. Sex, oQ 4 2 rs LS] mS ‘a Sr dS OO nN (me ee fer Eo Ao) B/G ol RwWeodnwmnweucn wo Hwwo RMmonwcwn ac w NASP LC NONANADN WH NHQNwhN ' PHN NK OK NH C1LWW@ WNH Reo an ~ for) on = oe 5 i] eS a od = vie wl RI — oe CO DB oanowwn wo WwW dS “I OCP OO) Cr ao el Ne no Dw vo D> NONBNANWNW OD no bv oun or lH Ne ue PIRI toe tie Ps la Hon WOOP AP RPOOANDOLP HOP PNW WWOWHL D Smee eS = J S55 5 —< —_ NP QeP ord _ RPONNWOWWANKWCIDNNNNNNNNNN KH ou on D> OUR MHNG Ww no ne Dee Ne QS ord ~ PON HW WOWWNN KK UDNHWONWNWNANNNH or on © > CarPODOO bw no = NwWwWAN AN to NWNWAANWNNNNHNWNAANNWANNWAGDANNW PRS Bore) © Gr ork b> CHODWDenew aches oz. drs. grs, |drs. gra 38 3 26|4 22 re muscle which raised the weight heavier by | 3th of a grain, and more vascular. Heavier by 4 a grain, and more vascular. Muscle more vascular, but of the same weight. Slight difference in vascularity; weight the same. | Slight difference in vascularity; weight the same. | Muscle presents spots of vascularity; weight the | same. Heavier by 4th of a grain, and more vascular. Slight difference in vascularity; weight the same. No difference in colour or weight. No difference in colour or weight. No difference in colour or weight. Slight difference in colour; same weight. No difference in colour or weight. No difference in weight or colour. This appears to be an old frog; the thigh bone of the limb not | experimented upon was fractured during the struggles of the animal; muscles red. No difference in weight or colour. Muscle apparently ecchymosed ; no difference in weight. q eee of both limbs apparently ecchymosed ; no difference in weight, | Heavier by 3th of a grain, and more vascular. No difference in colour or weight. No difference in weight; slightly darker. Heavier by 4 a grain; no difference in colour. Slight difference in colour; heavier by } a grain. — No difference in colour; slightly heavier. Heavier by 3 a grain, and more vascular. No difference in colour; just turned the scale of the balance. | Slight difference in colour and weight. Fluid ejected during the experiment. ‘ No difference. No difference. Slightly darker and heavier. Tetanic contractions when weight was removed, but subsided npon moistening the nerve. No difference. Somewhat darker, but of same weight. No difference. No difference. No difference. No difference. Slightly darker and heavier. No difference. Slightly heavier. No ditference. No difference. No difference. No difference. Darker, but weight the same. Darker, and slightly heavier. No difference. No difference. No difference. Slightly darker. Darker; no difference in weight. Slightly darker. No difference. No difference. Darker coloured, and slightly heavier. Slightly heavier. Tetanic contractions when t weight was removed, which did not subside upon moistening the nerve. Darker coloured; same weight. Slight difference in colour; same weight. Darker, and heavier by 3th of a grain. Darker, but of same weight. No difference. Slight difference in colour; same weight. Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. 205 TaB_e II. MALES. FEMALES. 4 cee Weight : Weight of | Weight of |q || Weight é Weight of | Weight of |A & en Frog before | Frog after | = LN Frog before | Frog after |S Muscle. ' |Experiment. |Experiment. | .-5 || Muscle. "| Experiment.| Experiment.| 55 A a aie @1s) Oz. drs.| drs;* .gys, | drs. = grs grs. |oz drs.| drs. gyrs. | drs. — grs. 3 7 See Mala 50 i 44 | 15 12 Shi AN here 8 2 3 | 10 13 2G |p! 0 1 55 9 2 Be AGF vid 15 2 8 | 35 13 a 6 2 i 2 Oran eal 2 Bie nae eee 10 2 6 | 32 Lg per |) 2 5 2. 0 | dl 2 3:2| 2 32 2 26 | 55 2 5 ae A 13 2 87 | 3 2 OF meiGoy || hey 40 2 34 | 88 2 See: |e-2 22 2 15 | 45 22 4 2) 2 56 2 47 | 37 2 ee al) ee 48 2 41 | 16 34 38 2] 4 13 4 8 | 59 2 3) 64); 2 20 2 12, | 33 33 Si Ga |) o28 0 2 55 | 84 2 rout 2 28 2 23 | 50 33 5 2) 4 0 3 53 | 43 23 4 2) 2 53 2 48 | 27 42 A 2S 3 45 3 38 3 22 Su OMe 20 3 14 4 4¢ BS fet OL Sets, 5 4 55 7 3 4 2) 2 48 2 43 | 40 5 D2 hG 20 6 15 | 52 3 4 2] 8 0 2 55 | 39 5 6 6] 5 51 5 44 | 28 3 LOIS 54 3 47 | 48 bys Gee Dale 2d 30 5 2 123 3 4 2) 4 50 4 42 | 13 5: OS Bah els 12 5 fs 3h 4 218 50 3: 45 | 47 6 ne GoGo 55 5 46 | 14 33 4 2| 4 10 4 1 | 30 74 BB 0 7 46 | 19 4 4 2] 4 25 4 18 1 8 Saez ah wg 5 6 58 | 46 4 Oo: 6) 4 45 4 36 | 22 8 OP Nats} 7 8 0 2 43 ECDs 48 4 42 | 57 8 SE 2) Nant 58 7 45 | 60 5 Drie. 38 4 383 | 53 8 Se Ones 25 8 17 | 41 5 Ge F655 55 5 47 8 83 Sd eat ee) 10 7 55 | 26 53 tere O 35 5 28 5 83 OM 2s leno 0 8 48 | 21 7 Bee 1605 36 5 25 | 42 9 SP AO te) oT 8 45 | 20 7 Samo) G6 53 6 41 | 25 9 LO 2a 20 7 12 | 54 13 8 6] 6 52 6 40 | 58 Sea LO es 35 8 21 | 24 dr. grs.| oz. |0z. drs, grs.| oz. drs. grs. drs. grs.| OZ. | 0z. drs. grs.| oz. drs. grs. foot [lo 2 525 | 1 7°. 23 2 223) 171 | 18 2 Sh ia lee anaes, Gail In Table Il. will be seen the influence of sex upon the results, and in order to reduce the number of males to that of the females, and to avoid anything like a selection, every fourth male, as recorded in Table I., was omitted. This Table has also been arranged according to the weights of the gastrocnemius muscles; and it will be seen that the total weight of the female frogs before the experiment was 18 oz. 2 dr. 9 grs., whilst that of the male frogs was only 12 oz. 2 dr. 25 grs. The total weight raised by the female frogs was 171 oz., by the male frogs 123 oz.; but the weight of the gastrocnemius muscles in the females was 2 dr. 222 grs., that of the males 1 dr. 30 grs., indicating that the muscular power of the males, as compared to that of the females, showed that 1 gr. of muscle in the males could raise 656 -grs., whilst in the females 1 gr. raised only 579. From these experiments we find that the weight of the NEW SERIES.—-VOL. XVIII. NO, 11.—ocToBER 1863, 2D 206 Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. animal is no true indication of its muscular power. They also establish this important fact, that during muscular exertion there is a tendency on the part of the muscle to increase in weight and consequently in power. I shall allude to this circumstance again, and will now merely draw the attention of those who consider the animal body as bearing a strong resemblance to a steam-engine, that we have here, in the animal machine, the paradoxical fact of a machine increasing its power whilst doing work. The in- creased vascularity may be due, in part, to the division of the vaso-motor nerves. There can be no doubt that age would have an important influence over the results ; at present I know of no character by which the age of the animal may be ascertained, and consequently unable to obtain any evidence to decide this point satisfactorily. To show the importance of the healthy condition of the animal, I will draw up in a tabular form the results of a few experiments in which the frogs had been kept without food for three weeks, and in a comparatively warm situation. Tasie IIT. No. Weight of F Weight of| Weight of | Date. Frog be- Weey Frog after of Sex. Expt. fore Expt. eae Expt. | Muscle.| / fis i drs. grs, | 0Z. drs.| drs. _— gs. | “lL jdulyT6i-S,, 184.1 07 3; 52 10 23 M. | 2 i 2 10 | 0 Gol 1 2 Fy") | 3 4 15) 1 2) 405-8) 28h) ee Pa 7 Dil & BG 54 8 F, | 5 6 + ee 2 |.5 89 73 M RP s Table III. will not require any analysis, as the facts will speak for themselves. The frogs were flabby, and the muscles pale and soft. In the following experiments the limb was separated from the body to ascertain the influence of the circulation of the blood. The spine was divided in the lumbar region, and the whole of the viscera, together with the upper part of the animal, removed, leaving the pelvis and the two lower Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. 207 extremities, which were fastened to the apparatus as in previous experiments. (The results were as follow:— During the first five minutes the muscle could raise the medium weight, provided the contractions were not excited too often. If a heavy weight were put into the scale, the muscle soon became exhausted, and required time to recover itself. If the muscle could elevate the medium weight of 3 oz. 1° at the commencement of the experiment, and if it were made to contract once in a minute, at the end of half an hour this was reduced to 1 ounce. The weight was not kept in the scale the whole time, but removed after every contraction. The contractility of the muscle continued some hours, but the power of the muscle became gradually weaker. In another experiment, the continual suspension of a heavy weight for a quarter of an hour reduced the power of the muscle that it only raised 2 drs. When the weight was removed, tetanic contractions were observed, but upon moistening the nerve they subsided. Tetanic contrac- tions were observed in two of the experiments recorded in Table I., in one (Exp. 29) the effect subsided upon moisten- ing the. nerve, in the other (Exp. 54) this had not the desired effect, and they must therefore have been dependent upon other circumstances than the state of the nerve. The importance of maintaining the circulation of the blood in these experiments is very evident. As there was a ten- dency in the former experiments to an increase in the nutri- tion of the muscle, I was led to examine whether any increase in its electric condition occurred under these circumstances. _A frog fresh caught, and weighing 4 drs. 25 grs., was taken, and 2 oz. put into the scale; the muscle was made to contract every 10 seconds for a quarter of an hour. The two gastrocnemii were removed as quickly as possible, and examined; the muscle experimented upon indicated 3°, that of the other limb 2°. They were then arranged into a circuit, to ascertain the amount of the differential current; the effect upon the galvanometer amounted to $° in favour of the former muscle. The elements were then arranged to form a combined current, when the effect upon the needle amounted to 4°. The muscle was more vascular than the other. The experiment was repeated upon another 208 Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. frog, which weighed 7 drs. 10 grs. With a weight of 4 oz., after the lapse of five minutes, the muscles were examined. The separate muscles indicated the one acted upon 4°, the other 2°. When united to show the differential current, the effect was 14° in favour of the muscle experimented with ; when the elements were arranged to show the com- bined current, the effect upon the needle was 5°. In other experiments, four in number, the results always indicated an increase on the part of the muscle experi- mented with. Not having the necessary apparatus, I could not investi- gate the question respecting the heat that is developed during muscular contraction. The following conclusions may be deduced from the fore- going inquiry :— 1st, Out of 60 frogs taken indiscriminately, the average results of the experiments show that 1 grain of muscle is capable of raising a weight of 608 grs. 1°, or through a space of sd of an inch. 2d, That sex has an important influence over the results. In males it was found that 1 gr. = 656 grs., whilst in females, 1 gr. = O79 gers. 3d, That the weight of the animal previous to the expe- riment gave no indication as to the real rasuaom power of the animal that could be relied on. 4th, That during the experiment there was a loss of weight in the animal but an increase of weight in the muscle experimented upon. 5th, That an increased nutrition of the muscle was indi- cated by its weight, its vascularity, increase in its electrical condition, and by the maintenance of its muscular power. 6th, That circumstances influencing the health of the animal, such as absence of food, temperature, and confine- ment, have an important influence over the results. 7th, That the maintenance of the circulation of the blood is of the utmost importance in these experiments. § 2. On the Application of the Principle of “ Conservation of Force or Energy” to the Explanation of Physiological Phenomena. In my concluding remarks, I will make a few observa- — Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. 209 tions regarding the application of the principle of ‘‘ Con- servation Force or Energy” to organic phenomena. When we find it stated that the principal products of the light of the sun are plants, because plants can only grow with the help of the sun-light; that the heat of the sun is the cause of vegetation upon the earth; or that the mecha- nical power of a man may be ascertained by calculating the amount of carbonic acid evolved during respiration, in the same manuer as we might ascertain the power of a steam- engine by calculating the amount of heat evolved during the combustion of the fuel supplied to generate the steam ; as physiologists we cannot help feeling that some doubt must exist in regard to the data upon which such conclusions are based. For my own part, [ remember, when pursuing some investigations a few years ago, respecting the development of plants, that, upon placing some plants (beans) in a dark cupboard to vegetate, they grew more rapidly in the dark than when exposed to the light of the sun; they were blanched, and therefore may not, perhaps, be considered as in their natural state, but nevertheless they grew without the influence of the sun-light. It is, I believe, considered to be a well-known fact amongst vegetable physiologists, that sun-light, under certain circumstances, retards rather than promotes vegetation. Although I make these obser- vations, I do not for one moment deny the influence of sun-light or of heat over vegetation, or the importance of estimating and ascertaining the relation that the evolution of carbonic acid in the animal body, during respiration, bears to the muscular power of the individual. It is in the application of these facts where the doubt exists, and not in the correctness of the principle upon which they are based. Professor Helmholtz,* in a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution, has clearly and beautifully shown in a masterly manner the importance of applying this principle to organic nature. The observations that I shall now make will be * On the Application of the Law of Conservation of Force to Organic Nature. April 12,1861. I must also refer to a lecture delivered by Profes- sor Faraday at the same Institution, ‘‘ On the Conservation of Force.”—Phil. Mag., April, 1857. 210 Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. for the purpose of extending these views, and show the im- portance of its application in the explanation of physiolo- gical phenomena. Before doing so, let us endeavour to get a clear view of the object we have in view. In animal bodies, in man, for example, we have the following forces evolved: nerve force, muscular force, heat, and chemical force—now these forces are developed during growth, and maintained by nutrition. Nerve force and muscular force may be considered as the special properties of their respec- tive tissues, and dependent upon the peculiar compounds (chemical) which form them. These compounds are de- rived from the blood, which, on its part, is derived from the food, hence we must consider the food as the original source from whence the animal body derives its ultimate power. Heat and light influence the formation of the various com- pounds which go towards forming and maintaining the animal structures. Heat and light may also be given out and developed during the formation of organic compounds ; so that we have heat and hght necessary for the formation of the organic compounds, and we also have the same forces generated during the disintegration of the compounds. It appears to me that a great deal of the misconception and confusion which occurs arises in consequence of not keep- ing clearly in view the formative actions, and the disinte- grating or destructive. actions which take place in the animal body. Let us now consider for a moment the animal body as a machine doing work. We have nerve work (compris- ing mental work and nervous action in general) in which nerve force is exhausted ; we have muscular work (com- prising muscular contraction or mechanical work), in which muscular force is exhausted. The various secretions and excretions which take place in the animal body must be looked upon in the light of disintegrating actions; they cannot be looked upon in the same light as we view the generation of nerve force or muscular force ; the compounds which constitute the secretions are thrown off, and do not form a permanent constituent of the animal body like the muscular or nervous tissues, although they may be intended for ulterior purposes; the principal office of the secretions — and excretions may be to keep and maintain the blood in a — Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. Pali proper and fit state for healthy nutrition. Excessive secre- tion, as during lactation, many exhaust the vital powers in the same manner as excessive nerve action or mus- cular action, but we must bear in mind, when applying the principle of Conservation of Force in the explanation of natural phenomena, the distinction between the jorma- tive action by which the force is generated and the disin- tegrating or destructive actions by which the force is ex- pended. The analogy which is drawn between the steam- engine and the animal body is too far fetched, if we compare the food and fuel on the one hand and the lungs and the furnace on the other: the respiratory function is not an act by which the vital force is generated, although it is one by which it is maintained. We cannot say that the vital force of the animal is generated, or ori- ginates in the combustion of the carbon which takes place in the lungs, as the power of the steam-engine originates in the combustion of the fuel which generates the heat ; that which is primary in one is secondary in the other. During muscular action—the development of muscular power—we have heat evolved, chemical action taking place and electricity evolved, but we are not justified in saying that the mechanical power of the muscle is converted into chemical force, or into heat, or into electricity. It would be more in unison with the facts if we say that the mus- cular force developed and generated during the nutrition of the muscle is converted into mechanical power, heat, elec- tricity, and chemical force, during muscular action. But we should naturally ask, What do we mean by muscular force ? In what does it differ from mechanical power? And this shows us the impropriety of assuming what are mere pro- perties to be forces. The term conversion gives but an inadequate idea of what is intended to be conveyed, and consequently inappropriate. The relation which heat, elec- tricity, and chemical action bear to the power exerted by the muscle, in other words, their relative equivalents, is the point to be ascertained. Similar observations may be made in regard to nerve force. Nerve force is generated and maintained during nutrition, and expended during nerve action. Nerve action 212 Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. is no doubt accompanied with chemical changes which take place in its tissue, as in the muscles; but whether heat and electricity are developed, as in muscles during muscular action, is extremely problematical. I have alluded in a former part of the paper to the fact that, during muscular action the nutrition of the muscle is increased, and consequently the muscular power is main- tained, if not increased; here we have apparently a creation of force during work instead of exhaustion. If we bear in mind that it is during nutrition that the muscular force is generated and maintained, and that tme must be taken into account in considering these phenomena, there is, not- withstanding the apparent creation of power, ultimately an exhaustion ; and consequently these facts go far to establish the correctness of the principle of the Conservation of Force; at the same time show the extreme beauty of adap- tation and contrivance in the animal machine when com- paring it with the admirable contrivances formed and designed by human skill. Collection of the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. By Arruur Mircnery, A.M., M.D., Member of Council of the Scottish Meteorological Society, &.* 1. Minute of Council of the Scottish Meteorological Society, July 1863. The Council had laid before them by the Marquis of Tweeddale, a “ Collection of the Popular Weather Prog- nostics of Scotland,” drawn up by Dr Arthur Mitchell, M.D., accompanied by a letter from the author, dated 15th December, 1862, and addressed to his Lordship. The Marquis repeated to the Council, what he had stated to the general meeting of the Society, held on 24th ultimo, that he considered it would be of use to publish these prog- — nostics, and also very important to have them explained and tested on scientific principles. As the general meeting * In connection with the paper the following minute and letter were transmitted. On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 213 had expressed approval of his views, he now begged to intimate his readiness to offer a prize of twenty guineas for the best scientific explanation of the prognostics col- lected by Dr Mitchell; and he would leave it to the Council to make all the arrangements necessary for carrying out his object. The Council agreed to record their sense of the great liberality of the noble Marquis in this matter, and also their appreciation of the importance of the subject. They are of opinion that the best way of bringing the prize under the notice of persons likely to compete for it, would be to publish Dr Mitchell’s collection of prognostics in the “ Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,” accompanied by a copy of this minute. They farther agree to intimate that the prize will be given in the form of a gold medal, a piece of plate, or otherwise as the successful competitor may desire. The papers intended to be given in for this competition must be lodged with Mr Buchan, the Society’s Secretary, at No. 10 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, on the Ist May 1864, Any persons wishing to have separate copies of Dr Mitchell’s paper, may obtain them by applying to Mr Buchan. Davip Mitnz Home, Convener. 2. Letter to the Most Noble the Marquis of Tweeddale. Laverock Bank Viuuas, Trintry, EpinBurcn, 15th December 1862. To the Most Noble the Marquis of Tweeddale, Presi- dent of the Scottish Meteorological Society. | My Lorp,—Along with this letter I forward to you a collection of the weather prognostics of Scotland, which I have made at your Lordship’s suggestion. I have con- fined myself to those which are strictly popular in their character, and which do not involve the use of scientific instruments. The object to be served by such a collection appears to be twofold :— I. These prognostics are thus presented in a form which NEW SERIES,—=VOL, XVIII, NO. I11.—ocTOBER 1868. 25 214 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. facilitates the testing of their trustworthiness by careful and methodical observation. IT. By having them collected together, we are better able to compare and generalize. In the effort to attain this object, we may find that phenomena, which are apparently unconnected, but which foretell the same change, are in reality allied through a common cause ; we may discover how it happens that certain classes of phenomena come to predict certain approaching conditions of the weather ; and further, it may happen that while sifting well-established popular beliefs, we may fall on the proof of important weather laws. I shall illustrate my meaning, and at the same time show how such an inquiry may become interesting and valuable, both in a scientific and practical sense, by reference to the following prognostics :— A heavy in-shore swell during calm weather is believed to foretell wind. This prognostic has been found to be very generally correct. The swell, in fact, is merely the product of a distant storm then existing, which is travelling towards us, and which will probably, though not certainly, reach us. The log-books of ships have satisfactorily established the truth of this explanation. We are led, therefore, to con- clude that storms do not always travel so fast as does their influence on the water ; nor is this the only important con- clusion concerning the progress of storms which flows from the examination of this single phenomenon. Again, when the fisherman of the Dornoch Coast, on a clear and calm night, hears the sound of rushing waters over the Gizzen-Briggs, he expects a storm from the east. Now, it is more than probable that this sound is merely another manifestation of the precursory swell of which I have just been speaking, and which causes it by producing broken waters on the sandbank at the mouth of the firth. We have here an illustration of how phenomena seemingly un- — connected may possibly be due to the same cause. The “ebb and flow and ebb again,” near high or low water mark, in narrow firths, a phenomenon which fishermen call leakves, may also have the same explanation, viz., the action on the water of a remote storm, perceived before the arrival of the — On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 215 storm itself, but whose coming is thus predicted. Even the landward flight of the sea-gull may have the same origin. Before the storm has come the swell may have disturbed his feeding-ground, and thus made his flight inland for food a presage of stormy weather. After some of the prognostics I have inserted remarks, suggestive or explanatory, and bearing either on a special phenomenon or on a class. When clouds, for instance, on the summits of particular mountains, are thought to foretell coming rain, I have indicated, as accurately as I could, the position of the mountain in relation to the locality in which the prognostic holds. The intention is obvious, being sug- gestive of one aspect in which phenomena of this class may be studied. While making this collection, I embraced every oppor- tunity which offered of conversing with those who were re- putedly good weather-prophets, and I found two points of practical importance on which all appear to agree. 1. No sign is considered infallible. ‘It is not the less a sign, however,’ said a cautious and intelligent observer, who added, ‘‘ We all trust the barometer, yet even it some- times fails, and the clouds, well understood, are only a little less certain.” 2. A prediction is seldom founded on a single sign. Never, indeed, have I seen the system of ‘ putting that and that together” in more extensive operation. I have been told, again and again, that only by so doing can the coming weather with any certainty be predicted. I now beg to offer a few remarks on the different classes of prognostics, indicating those on which I think the least reliance can be placed, pointing out the desirability of ‘minute and full descriptions, and giving several reasons why some prognostics, which at first sight may seem value- less, deserve to be fairly considered before rejection. _ It appears to me that the accusation of fanciful can with most fairness be brought against those prognostics which are associated with the aurora, halos, mock-suns, thunder, &c. 216 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. I have been led to form this opinion from finding that the same phenomenon is by different persons in the same locality made to presage totally different conditions of the weather. Appearances which are marvellous, startling, or uncommon, are apt to be accepted by the ignorant as pro- phetic of coming change of some sort. It is thus that the aurora has been thought to predict wind by some, and war by others, while the Eskimo looks on it simply as a game, which the spirits of departed relatives are playing. There is also a probability that not a few of those prog- nostics which are connected with the conduct and move- ments of animals, will have to be rejected as groundless. But for several reasons I think that this must be done with caution. or instance, when the screaming of the peacock is said to indicate coming rain, I find that this does not refer to a cry once or twice repeated, which may have a score of causes, but to a persistent screaming, with evidence of discomfort, and without manifest cause. There is a great difference between the simple statement that the peacock’s | screaming foretells rain, and the other statement, with its important qualifications. In its bare form we might pro- perly reject the prognostic as worthless, and as properly | retain it when amplified. It becomes, therefore, exceedingly desirable that we should possess a full and minute description of all popular weather — prognostics. Of but a few in the collection can I pretend to have given this, which I believe can only be obtained — through the co-operation of many observers, whose atten-— tion has been drawn to the things which should be ob- served by some such collection as that which I now forward. I frequently experienced the greatest difficulty in carrying away a Clear understanding of the sky and cloud signs. “You must see the thing, sir, to know it,” was often the end of a fruitless effort to make sure of what was meant. The roughest sketch in such a case would be of the greatest value. Of this Mr Clouston has given an illustration, which will be found at page 222. ) There is another reason—and one of general application. —for caution in rejecting any old popular prognostic as utterly worthless. Though singly it may be of little value, On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 217 yet associated with others, it may give strength, and the whole may be safely trusted in determining a debated course of action. Thus, the continued and distressed screaming of the peacock arrests the farmer’s attention, and the first thing to which this leads is to his looking around for other signs, and he acts according to what he believes to be the teaching of the whole. I have said that he acts on this teaching, and this leads me incidentally to remark, that it is the fact that important operations are every day actually determined by such indications, which makes it so desirable to have the false separated from the true, so that the shepherd, the farmer, and the sailor, may trust only to prognostics which are ratified by experience, and, when possible, grounded on reason. The great antiquity of many of these weather proverbs is also a substantial argument against hastily dismissing them. Peculiarities in the flight and conduct of birds have been held to foretell approaching change of weather for thousands of years. We might suspect this to be a mere extension of the drawing of auguries from them. The victory at Arte- mesium was assured to Themistocles by the crowing of a cock. Indeed, ornithomancy was an actual science among the early Greeks. . But this doubt as to the origin of such weather prognostics is removed by the manner in which Virgil handles them. In his allusions there is nothing of the supernatural or mysterious. He speaks of them as simple deductions from the experience or observation of those whose occupations led to the looking for signs of coming storms. It is true, they may now be called tradi- tional, but as every generation has had the opportunity of testing their accuracy and value, unless they had been found to contain some measure of truth they would soon have ceased to be handed down. It must not be forgotten that they regulate affairs of every-day life, and lead to loss or gain—a test which soon deprives traditional error of its vitality ; and this is only a little less slowly its fate when it is linked to or mixed up with religious belief. So it is with that class of prognostics to which St Swithen’s day belongs. In Scotland, at the present time, there is practically no faith placed in them. Except St Swithen’s 218 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. day, indeed, few are known, and with regard to it careful observation has proved to us that ‘Nor Paul nor Swithen rules the clouds and winds.” I have not included in my collection the numerous prog- nostics of this kind drawn from festivals in the calendar, first, because they are not now believed in or even known to the people ; and, secondly, because they are manifestly not worthy of belief. The very uncertainty as to whether they should be computed by the Gregorian or Julian Calendar is fatal to them. For similar reasons I have not included those prognostics connected with certain days or months, as, for instance, when the direction of the wind on New Year’s Eve is made to betoken the weather of the whole incoming year. It is a mistake to suppose that such prog- nostics are now believed in by the people of any part of Scotland. It is doubtful indeed if the belief in them was at any time general. They probably originated in the fancy of some prophetic rhymster, and to a quaint rhyming they are indebted for the life which they have had. The wide diffusion of many popular prognostics is the only other claim for consideration which I shall notice. Nota few of those most familiar to us in Scotland are popular beliefs not only throughout Europe, but also among many of the nations of the Hast and South. Many of these ap- pear to rest on a wide-spread faith in the steadiness of annual averages, and in a supposed system of compensations which this belief almost involves—With great respect, I am, my Lord, your most obedient servant, Artuur MitTcHELt. Note.—(1.) Only strictly popular weather prognostics are in- cluded in this collection. None of them involve the use of scientific instruments.—(2.) Of the great majority I am able to state that they are not obsolete, being still used as practical guides in daily life-—(8.) I have not thought it right to exclude any because they seemed to me valueless, if others had faith in them.—(4.) Many of them are men- tioned in the tours of Martin, Pennant, Boswell, Johnston, Anderson, Maculloch, &c.; and I have found a consider- able number scattered through the Old and New Statistical Accounts. Between twenty and thirty have been furnished On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 219 to me by Archibald Gibson, Esq., and I have extracted a few from the recent returns to the Scottish Meteorological Society, while others, so far as I am aware, are nowhere recorded.—(5.) I could give more than one authority for the greater number, and numerous authorities for many, so that I have thought it best to give no references where the prog- nostics are popular ones.—(6.) When I fell in with any popu- pular prognostic in the course of reading I noted it down, and made inquiries on the subject when I reached the locality in which it was said to hold. Thus I established its exist- ence, and at the same time put myself in the way of hearing of others.—(7.) The notes must be regarded as simply sug- gestive, and their accuracy must not be assumed.—(8.) It is possible that errors may have been made in taking down some of the prognostics—A. M. I, Hills or Mountains—Local Prognostics. (1.) In Kilconquhar and Elie, a cloud resting on Largo Law is a sign of coming rain, while one on Kellie Law presages clear weather. This is interesting, because the first hill lies to the west, and the last to the east of the district. The popular version ~ of this prognostic is as follows :— 1. When Largo Law puts on his hat, Let Kellie Law beware of that. 2. When Kellie Law gets on his cap, Largo Law may laugh at that. (2.) To the people of Sorbie, in Wigtownshire, a cloud on Cairns- muir after dry weather indicates coming rain, and in the adjoin- ing parish of Whithorn the same prognostic runs thus :— “ When Cairnsmuir wears a hat, The Machers’ rills may laugh at that.’ Cairnsmuir (1737) hill lies to the N.N.E. of the district in which this prognostic prevails. (3.) To the people about Stranraer there is a prognostic thus expressed in rhyme :— ‘There is a high wooded hill, above Lochnaw Castle, Take care when Lady Craighill puts on her mantle ; The Lady looks high and knows what is coming, Delay not one moment to get under covering.” This hill lies to the north-west of the district in question. (4.) In Dumfries, Kirkpatrick-Fleming, and several of the in- ‘ ; i ~~ tar é 220 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. tervening parishes, the rolling of clouds landward, and their gathering about the summit of Criffel, is regarded as a sure indi- cation of approaching foul weather. Criffel lies to the south-west of these places. (5.) Heavy clouds on Skiddaw, especially with a south wind, the farmer of Kirkpatrick-Fleming looks on as an indication of coming rain. Skiddaw lies to the south. (6.) A cloud on the top of the Sidlaw Hills foretells rain to the people of Carmylie. The hills he to the west of that district. (7.) In New Cumnock there is a saying that, “ If Corsancone puts on his cap, and the Knipe be clear, it will rain within twenty- four hours.” This sign, it is said, never fails, Corsancone Hill (872) is to the east, and the Knipe (1260) to the south-west of the New Cumnock district. (8.) When the summit of the Bin Hill, to the south-west of Cullen, is covered with mist, rain is thought to be not far off. (9.) The natives of Gigha and Cara anticipate rain when the Paps of Jura (to the north-west) are capped, and if the cloud be white, they expect wind with it. The Mull of Kintyre to the south, is used in the same way. (10). The capping of the Paps of Jura serves also as a prog- nostic of rain to the people of Kilcalmonell and Kilberry, which lie to the east of these peaks. Note.—When a thick cloud on the top of a hill is observed to be in motion, the certainty of the prognostic is regarded as increased, II. Mists and Fogs. (1.) In the evenings of autumn and spring vapour arising from a river is regarded as a sure proof of coming frost. (2.) Hazy weather is thought to prognosticate frost in winter, snow in spring, fair weather in summer, and rain in autumn. (3.) Thin, white, fleecy, broken mist slowly ascending the sides of a mountain whose top is uncovered, predicts a fair day, (4.) The following is a well-known saw, common among anglers in Balmaclellan, and generally in Kirkeudbrightshire :— _ «« When the mist creeps up the hill, Fisher out and try your skill, When the mist begins to nod, Fisher then put past your rod.”’ (5.) White mist in winter indicates frost. On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 221 III. Appearance of the Sky. (1.) A small cloudless space in the north-east horizon, especially if the clouds generally are moving to the south or south-west, and if the weather has previously been wet, is regarded all over Scot- land, among seamen and lJandsmen, as a very certain precursor of fine weather, or a clearing up. (2.) In winter when the sky about mid-day has a greenish appearance to the east or north-east, snow and frost are expected. (3.) ‘‘ The evening red, and the morning grey, Ts the sign of a bright and cheery day ; The evening grey, and the morning red, Put on your hat, or you'll wet your head.” Note.—The red after sunset must have a crimson tinge, and must last for some time. The red about sunrise may be a mere glare, and short lived, In fact, if it hold out till the sun is fairly above the horizon, many look for a fine day—though this is apparently opposed to the popular prognostic. (4.) When, in the morning, the dew is heavy and remains long on the grass, when the fog in the valleys is slowly dissipated, and lingers on the hill sides, when the clouds seem to be taking a higher place, and when a few loose cirro-strati float gently along, serene weather may confidently be expected for the greater part of that day. (5.) Continuous cirro-strati gathering mto unbroken gloom, and also the cloud called ‘‘ Goat's Hair” or the “Grey Mare’s Tail,” presage wind. (6.) Light fleecy clouds in rapid motion below compact dark cirro-strati foretell rain near at hand, (7.) When, after a shower, the cirro-strati open up at the zenith, leaving broken or ragged edges pointing upwards, and settle down gloomily and compactly on the horizon, wind will follow, and will last for some time. (8.) When, after a clear frost, long streaks of cirrus are seen with their ends bending towards each other as they recede from the zenith, and when they point to the north-east, a thaw and south-west wind may be expected. _ (9.) Cumulous clouds, high up, are said to show that south and south-west winds are near at hand; and stratified clouds, low down, that east or north winds will prevail. ~ (10.) “I first observed this kind of cloud (cumulous-like fes- _ toons of drapery) on 5th March 1822, when the barometer fell from 29-5 at 10 a.m. to 28°3 at 7 p.m., and it was immediately followed by a storm. Since then I have seen it several times, and, NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII NO. 11.—ocToBER 1863. 2¥ 222 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. when properly developed, it was always followed by a storm or gale within twenty-four hours. It is called “ Pocky Cloud” by our sailors. On this occasion, the gale began early next morning, . and continued till 2 p.m.”—Rev, C. Clouston, Sandwick Manse. 1 | Pocky Cloud, from drawing by Mr Clouston. (11.) Cirrus at right angles to the wind is regarded as a sign of rain. (12.) The farmers in Berwickshire say that a long stripe of cloud sometimes called by them a salmon, sometimes called Noah’s ark, when it stretches through the atmosphere in an east and west direction is a sign of stormy weather, but when it stretches in a north and south direction, is the sign of dry weather. (13.) Along the north shore of the Solway, from Dumfries to Gretna, a lurid appearance in the eastern or south-eastern horizon, called from its direction ‘a Carlisle Sky,” is thought a sure sign of coming rain. They describe it as lurid and yet yellowish, and the common saying is,— ‘* The Carle sky Keeps not the head dry.” (14.) In Kincardine of Monteith, and in all that district of country, the reflection from the clouds of the furnaces of the Devon and the Carron (to the east) foretells rain next day. (15.) The glare of the distant Ayrshire ironworks being seen at night from Cumbrae or Rothesay, rain is expected next day. Similar prognostics are common all over Scotland, (16.) A mackerel sky denotes fair weather for that day, but — predicts rain a day or two after. On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 223 IV. Moon and Sun, Rainbow, Aurora Borealis, Falling Stars, and Thunder. (1.) A few days after full or new moon, changes of weather from good to bad or bad to good, are thought more probable than at other times. | (2.) In winter, when the moon’s horns are sharp and well defined, frost is expected. (3.) When the moon has a white look, and when her outline is not very clear, rain or snow is looked for. (4.) ‘Clear moon, Frost soon.” (5.) If the old moon embraces the new moon, stormy weather is foreboded. Great confidence is placed in this old prognostic : ‘I saw the new moon late yestreen Wi the auld moon in her arm, And if we gang to sea, master, I fear we’ll come to harm.”—Sitr Patrick Spens. (6.) Haloes predict a storm (rain and wind, or snow and wind) at no great distance, and the open side of the halo tells the quarter from which it may be expected. (7.) Mock-suns predict a more remote and less certain change of weather. (8.) “A rainbow in the morning— Sailors take warning ; A rainbow at night Is the sailor’s delight.” Norr.—In the former case the rainbow will appear in the west, and in the latter in the east. In studying the prognostic this should be borne in mind. (9.) The aurora borealis indicates change, especially if lurid and fiery. Itis thought by many that a south-west wind often follows. Others, however, look for cold and storm when the aurora is very vivid. By some it is less, and by others more dreaded when seen low in the horizon. Many speak of it simply as indicating change —good to bad, or bad to good. (10.) Numerous falling stars presage wind next day. (11.) Sheet lightning, without thunder, during night, having a whitish colour, announces unsettled weather. In the west of Scotland, vivid flashes of lightning early in the morning are re- garded as an unfavourable sign of the weather for that day. (12.) A thunderstorm from the south is said to be foilowed by warmth, and from the north, by cold. When the storm disappears in the east, it is a sign of fine weather. 224 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. — (13.) The fragment of a rainbow in the north, which is called the ‘‘ Boar’s Head,” makes the boatmen keep a look-out for wind. Stubs, however, are very variously interpreted. (14.) People speak of the new moon ‘lying on her back, and being ill made,” as a prognostic of wet weather. (15. ) “ For a period of between thirty-five and forty years T have never known an exception to the rule, that the first great aurora, after a long tract of fine weather in September or beginning of October, is followed on the second day, and not till the second, about one o’clock on the east coast, and about eleven o’clock in Nithsdale, by a great storm; and that the next day after the aurora is fine weather, fit for all agricultural purposes.” —Profes- sor Christison. (Communicated by Thomas Stevenson, Esq.) Note.—Professor Christison’s character as an observer gives great importance to this prognostic. V. Distant Objects seen with unusual Clearness. (1.) When to the people about Arbroath the Bell Rock light is particularly brilliant, rain is expected. (2.) About Cape Wrath, and along that part of the coast, when | q the Orkney Islands are distinctly seen, a storm or a continuation of bad weather is prognosticated. (3.) When from Ardersier and the adjoining parish on the south-east side of the Moray Firth, the distant Ross-shire hills are distinctly seen in the morning, rain is expected that day. (4.) To the people in Eaglesham, when the Kilpatrick hills appear near, a change to wet is looked for, but when they appear remote, dry weather will continue. (5.) When Ailsa Craig is distinctly seen, and seems near at hand, the people of Cumbrae look for change. When the weather — is going to be fine, it lies flat, but when rain is coming it assumes the form of a mushroom. Note.—Darwin, in his “ Zoonomia,” thinks that the pre- sence of vapour in the air increases its transparency, on the same principle as saturating a white opaque sheet of paper with oil renders it transparent. There is a saying in Shetland,— Everything looks large im an east wind, VI. Unusual Sounds. (1.) In the Kilconquhar district of Fifeshire, when the noise of the sea is heard coming from the direction of St Andrews or St Monance, which lie to the north and east, bad weather from that — quarter is expected. And when, afterwards, the sound is heard — eee > : On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 225 coming from Kincraig, or from up the Firth, or in other words from the west, the wind is expected to fall. (2.) At Roseneath, when the tide-stream at the ferry flows gently, yet resounds like a cataract, though the sky be starry and _ cloudless, rain may be looked for in the morning. (3.) When the people of Monzie hear the sound of the water- falls of Shaggie, or the roar of the distant Turret clearly and loudly, a storm is expected; but if the sound seems to recede from the ear till it is lost in the distance, and if the weather be thick, a change to fair may be looked for speedily. (4.) In Fortingall, if in calm weather the sound of the rapids on the Lyon is distinctly heard, and if the sound descends with the stream, rainy weather is at hand; but if the sound goes up the stream, and dies away in the distance, it is an omen of continued _ dry weather, or of a clearing up if previously thick. Note.—The course of the Turret and Lyon is from west to east, ‘This note refers to the two preceding prognostics. (5.) Along the Dornoch coast, when the sound of the sea is distinctly heard as if breaking on the sandbank called the Guz- zen Briggs, at the mouth of the Firth of Dornoch, it forebodes a storm, which will probably be from the east or north-east. When this is reckoned on as a prognostic, it is said “‘ that the weather must be calm, and the sea with nothing more than a swell on,” (6.) In winter, when the sound of the breakers on the shore 1s unusually distinct, frost is indicated. ‘This is very generally be- lieved in. (7.) If the noise of a steamer or a railway train is heard at a great distance, bad weather is predicted. VII. Underground Prognostics. (1.) In the collieries about Dysart, and in those of other dis- tricts in Scotland, it is thought by the miners that before a storm of wind, a sound not unlike that of a bagpipe, or the buzz of a bee, comes from the mineral, and that previous to a fall of rain the sound is more subdued. (2.) Before wind and rain, it is also said, that the black damp, extinguishing the lights, is observed at the bottom of ironstone pits, and through the waste. (3.) In Midlothian, the miners think that approaching changes of the weather are preceded by an increased flow of water, and the issue of gases and foul air from the crevices; and when very bad weather is at hand, these last escape with a characteristic sound, like the buzz of insects. 226 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. VIII.—FPlants. (1.) The Convolvulus arvensis (small bind-weed), Anagallis ar- vensis (scarlet pimpernel), and Calendula pluvialis, shut up their flowers before approaching rain. (The pimpernel has been called the poor man’s weather-glass.) The same is believed to be true of the Anemone nemorosa (wood anemone), the Ozalis Acetosella (wood sorrel), Vymphea alba (white water-lily), and Bellis per- ennis (common daisy), | Note.—Light probably determines the opening of most of these flowers, and their being found shut at 10 or 11 a.m. tells of cloud and gloom, and so predicts rain. (2.) If Stellaria media (common chickweed) fully opens its flowers, no rain will fall for four hours. Note.—Linneus in his “ Botanica Philosophia” shows that, with reference to the opening and closing of their petals, many flowers display an extreme sensibility; and it is quite probable that they may be influenced by those minor atmospheric changes which precede by a greater or less length of time the greater changes, and that they thus become real prophets of the approach of the last. (3.) “ Mony haws, Mony snaws,” is a common saying all over Scotland, and in some districts is otherwise expressed thus :— ‘* A haw year Is a snaw year.” (4.) When the bramble blossoms early in June, an early harvest is expected. . (5.) If the oak is out in leaf before the ash, it will be a dry summer. If the ash first, wet. IX. Conduct, Movements, &c. of Animals. (A.) Birds. (1.) The low flight of crows indicates coming rain. If they feed busily, and hurry over the ground in one direction and in a compact body, a storm (wind and rain) will soon follow, When they sit in rows on dykes or palings, wind is looked for. When going home to roost, if they fly high, the next day will be fair, — and vice versa, If, when flying high, they suddenly dart down and — wheel about in circles, wind is prognosticated. In autumn and — On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 227 winter, if, after feeding in the morning, they return to the rookery and hang about it, rain is expected soon. (2.) The landward flight and flocking of sea-gulls presage wind. When their ery is frequently repeated, when it is more lengthened and dismal than usual, and when it is heard in an inland place, rain or snow is prognosticated. (3.) The frequently repeated cry of the ptarmigan low down on the mountains during frost and snow, indicates more snow and continued cold. : (4.) The gathering of grouse into large flocks indicates snow. Their approach to the farm-yard is a sign of severe weather— frost and snow. When they sit on dykes in the moor, rain only is expected. (5.) When the cock crows at unusual times, wet or snowy weather is expected. “‘ Tf the cock crows on going to bed, He’s sure to rise with a watery head.” (6.) When the fieldfare, redwing, starling, swan, snowfleck, and other birds of passage, arrive soon from the north, it indicates the probability of an early and severe winter. (7.) Swallows and swifts fly close to the ground or water before rain. Note.—As a rule they fly lower in the evening and morning than during the day. Before thunder, however, they are often seen flying high. Such birds probably move about in that stratum of air in which the insects on which they feed are at the time, and that stratum is selected for warmth and dryness. (8.) The drumming of the snipe in the air, and the call of the partridge, indicate dry weather and frost at night to the shepherds of Garrow. (9.) ‘* When dotterel do first appear, It shows that frost is very near ; But when the dotterel do go, Then you may look for heavy snow.” Common also among Hampshire shepherds. (10.) In severe winters the white swan visits the Orkneys. Its coming foretells continued severity. (11.) When hens are observed to pick and pluck themselves more than usual, rain is near. (B.) Quadrupeds. (1.) Goats leave the high and exposed grounds, and seek sheltex in a bield or in some recess, before a storm. 228 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. — (2.) Old sheep and ewes (less faith is placed in hogs) are said to eat greedily before a storm and sparingly before a thaw. When they leave the high grounds, and bleat much in the evening and during the night, severe weather is expected. In winter when they feed down the hill, a snow storm is looked for. When they feed up the burn, wet weather is near. (3.) Swine carry straw in their mouths, and toss about their bedding before a storm. (4.) Cats are observed to scratch the wall or a post before wind, and to wash their faces before a thaw. They sit with their backs to the fire before snow. (5.) A day or two before rain, moles raise more hillocks than usual, and it is a sign of thaw when, after a long frost, they begin to work again. (6.) Weasels, stoats, &c., seen running about in the forenoon, foretell rain in the after part of the day. (7.) Hares take to the open country before a snow storm. (C.) Insects, Worms, &c. (1.) When gnats bite keenly, and when flies keep near the ground, we look for wind and rain. (2.) Insects fly low before rain. ; (3.) The earthworm appearing in large numbers on the surface indicates rain. (4.) A leech in a bottle is considered a good weather prophet by many people. It is thought that in dry, calm weather, be it cold or hot, the leech will remain at the bottom; before rain or snow that it will cling to the side of the bottle at the top of the water; and that before wind it will be found in active motion. (5.) When the colour of frogs is observed to be dark, wet weather is thought to be very close. (6.) When the frog spawns in the middle of the water it is a sign of drought, and when at the side it indicates a wet summer. (7.) When bees fly to the hive and none leave it, rain is near. (D.) Sensations experienced by Man. (1.) Headache, toothache, pain in corns, rheumatism, neuralgic pains, &c., are felt by some people before change from dry to wet, or mild to cold. Before thunder a feeling of listlessness, oppression, and uneasiness, is often complained of. X. Unclassified Prognostics. (1.) An honest man and a north-west wind generally go to sleep together. 4 nh On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 229 Note —This is a common saying, and implies that if the wind is from the north-west in the early part of the day, it will veer or fall in the evening. It is common also in Iceland. The Westing appears to be important, for in Orkney the saying is: The west wind is a gentleman, and goes to bed, (2.) Much undulation in the air near the surface of the earth on a hot day in May or June foretells a lowering of the tem- perature. This is called Startling Jack. (3.) It is said to be a sign of continued good weather when the wind so changes during the day as to follow the sun, (4.) There is a peculiar rippling of the wind, or broken way of blowing, which is said always to prognosticate heavy rain — within a few hours. (5) Easterly gales, without rain, during the spring equinox, foretell a dry summer. (6.) Rain, with a south-east wind, is expected to last for some time, (7.) Hail, after long-continued rain, indicates a clearing up. (8.) Frost suddenly following heavy rain seldom lasts long,’ (9.) Short, slight showers, durmg dry weather, are called a hardening of the drought. Dust rising from the road in dry weather, when there is little wind, predicts change. (10.) The Tweed, near its mouth, sometimes rises when no rain has fallen there. Rain, however, may be expected, and a south- west wind. (11.) On the west coast, a gale from the west or south-west is frequently prognosticated by a great swell of the sea occurring during calm weather. The same phenomenon on the east coast would indicate a storm from the east or north-east, but the com- parative narrowness of the waters on that side of our country pro- bably makes this sign less valuable and less likely to occur. Note.—That veteran observer, the Rev. C. Clouston, has directed attention strongly to this, which he has himself often verified. This prognostic implies the existence of a storm in a distant part of the ocean, which is travelling in the direc- tion of our country, and it involves the notion that the agitation caused by the wind on the water’s surface travels faster than the wind itself. Mr Clouston also concludes from it that the breeze begiris to windward, and takes some time to reach the point to which it proceeds to lee- ward, The distant storm, which causes this agitation, may not actually reach our coasts, and the sign may thus fail. NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIII. NO. I11.—ocTOBER 1868. 2G 230 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. (12.) When the tide begins to ebb before high-water mark, and after receding a short distance, returns to high-water mark, or when, before low water, it flows for a short time and then ebbs again beyond the point from which the irregular flow started, a storm is believed to be near. These phenomena are vulgarly called Leakies. This prognostic is more particularly trusted on the shores of the Firth of Forth above Burntisland. (13.) “ Lang foul, lang fair,” Note.—This is a calculation of probabilities, and springs from a faith in the constancy of averages in climate, as is the case with many other popular prognostics. (14.) An unseasonably fine day in winter or spring is called a pet day in Scotland. The fate of pets, they say, awaits it, and they look for bad weather on the morrow. (15.) ‘* Who doffs his coat on a winter day Will gladly put it on in May.” (16.) ‘‘ If the grass grows in Janiveer It grows the worse for ’t all the year.”’ (17.) A green Yule makes a fat kirkyard. (18.) ‘‘ Winter thunder Bodes:summer hunger.’’ (19.) “ Long foretold, long last ; Short notice, soon past.” (20.) March dust is worth its weight in gold. (21.) ‘* April showers Bring summer flowers.” (22.) ‘In April a dove’s flood Is worth a king’s good.” (23.) ‘* A shower of rain in July, When the corn begins to fill, Is worth a plough of oxen, And all that belongs theretill.” (24.) The sailor notes the tightening of the cordage on his ship as a sign of coming rain, (25.) A lump of kelp acts as a good hygrometer, and prognos- ticates rain when it becomes damp. ~ (26.) When walls, built of stones which have been quarried — below high-water mark, become damp, wet weather is near. (27.) When from drains or soil-pipes a bad odour proceeds, — foul weather is thought to be predicted. | (28.) When chimneys smoke and soot falls, bad weather is at hand, The whistling of the wind heard within doors denotes rain, — When fires burn faster than usual, and with a blue flame, frosty — weather may be expected, ; On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 231 (29.) When milk becomes suddenly and inexplicably sour, a thunder storm is at hand. (30.) When spiders’ webs are seen floating about in the air, farmers regard it as a sign of coming rain. (31.) Heavy dews in hot weather indicate a continuation of fair weather, and no dew after a hot day foretells rain. (82.) Addressed by Dr Jenner, in 1810, to a Lady who asked him if he thought it would rain to-morrow. “ The hollow winds begin to blow, The clouds look black, the glass is low: The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, And spiders from their cobwebs creep : Last night the sun went pale to bed, The moon in halos hid her head : The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, For see a rainbow spans the sky ; The walls are damp, the ditches smell, Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel ; The squalid toads at dusk are seen Slowly crawling o’er the green ; Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, The distant hills are looking nigh ; Hark, how the chairs and tables crack, Old Betty’s joints are on the rack ; And see yon rooks how odd their flight, They imitate the gliding kite, Or seem precipitate to fall As if they felt the piercing ball ; How restless are the snorting swine, The busy flies disturb the kine ; Low o’er the grass the swallow wings, The cricket too, how sharp she sings, Puss on the hearth with velvet paws Sits wiping o’er her whiskered Jaws ; The wind, unsteady, veers around, Or settling in the south is found ; The whirling wind the dust obeys And o’er the rapid eddy plays ; The leech disturbed is newly risen Quite to the summit of his prison ;— *T will surely rain, I see, with sorrow, Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.” AppENDIx (A). The Shepherd of Banbury’s Rules to Judge of the Change of the Weather.—Extracts from the Second Edition, printed in London md 748. In the preface it is said, ‘‘ Most of our Shepherd’s observations give us a day’s notice, many a week’s, and some extend to several months’ prognos- tication of the changes of weather ; and of how great use these may be to all ranks and degrees of people,—to the sedentary valetudinarian as well 232 On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. as the active traveller,—to the sportsman who pursues his game, as well as the industrious husbandman, who constantly follows his labour, —in short, to every man in every situation in some degree or other, is so very clear and intelligible, that it would be a mere waste of words, and a very idle display of rhetoric, to attempt the making it clearer. Every man living would be glad to forsee the alterations of the weather if he could ; and, consequently, to most people, if not to all, these observa- tions, grounded on no less than forty years’ experience, cannot but be acceptable.” I. Sun.—(1.) If the sun rise red and fiery—Wind and rain. (2.) If cloudy, and it soon decrease—Certain fair weather. II, Moon.—(1.) Horns of the moon obscure—Rain. (2.) When the moon is red— Wind. (3.) On the fourth day of the new moon, if bright, with sharp horns—No winds nor rain till the month be finished. II. Srars.—(1.) When stars shoot precipitant through the sky— Approaching wind. IV. Crovps.—(1.) Clouds small and round, like a dapple grey with a north wind—/air weather for two or three days. (2.) Large like rocks—(reat showers. (8.) If small clouds increase—Much rain. (4.) If large clouds decrease—fair weather. (5.) Clouds in summer or harvest, when the wind has been south two or three days, and it grows very hot, and you see clouds rise with great white tops like towers, as if one were upon the top of another, and joined together with black on the nether side—There will be thunder and rain suddenly. (6.) If two such clouds arise, one on either hand—ZJ¢t zs time to make haste to shelter. (7.) If you see a cloud rise against the wind or side wind, when that cloud comes up to you, the wind will blow the same way that the cloud came. And the same rule holds of a clear place, when all the sky is equally thick, except one clear edge. V. Mists.—(1.) If mists rise in low ground and soon vanish—/air weather. (2.) If they rise to the hill tops—Lain im a day or two. (3.) A general mist before the sun rises, near the full moon—/azr weather. (4.) If in the new moon—Lain in the old. (5.) If in the old—fain in the new. VI. Winps.—(1.) Observe that in eight years’ time there is as much south-west wind as north-east, and consequently as many wet years as dry. (2.) When the wind turns to north-east, and it continues two days without rain, and does not turn south the third day, nor rain the third day, it is likely to continue north-east for eight or nine days—all fair ; and then to come to the south again. (3.) If it turn again out of the south to the north-east with rain, and continue in the north east two days without rain, and neither turns south nor rains the third day-—ZI¢ zs likely to continue north-east for two or three months, The wind will finish these turns in three weeks. (4.) South-west winds. After a north wind, for the most part two months or more, and then coming south—There are usually three or four fair days at first, and then on — the fourth or fifth day comes rain, or else the wind turns north again, | On the Popular Weather Prognostics of Scotland. 233 and continues dry. (5.) If it return to the south within a day or two without rain, and turn north with rain, and return to the south in one or two days as before, two or three times together after this sort—T’hen ts like to be in the south or south-west two or three months together, as it was in the north before. Zhe winds will finish these turns in a fortnight. (6.) Fair weather for a week, with a south wind, is like to produce a great drought, if there has been much rain out of the south before. The wind usually turns from north to south, with a quiet wind without rain, but returns to the north with a strong wind and rain; the strongest winds are when it turns from south to north by west. (7.) When the north wind first clears the air, be sure of a fine day or two. VII. Rarns.—(1.) Sudden rains never last long ; but when the air grows thick by degrees, and the sun, moon, and stars shine dimmer and dimmer—Then wt is luke to rain six hours usually. (2.) If it begin to rain from the south, with a high wind, for two or three hours, and the wind falls, but the rain continues—It is like to rain twelve hours or more, and does usually rain tell a strong north wind clears the ar. These long rains seldom hold above twelve hours, or happen above once ayear. (3.) If it begins to rain an hour or two before sun-rising—ZIt as like to be fair before noon, and so continue that day ; but if the rain begin an hour or two after sun-rising—Z¢ 2s like to rain all that day, except the rainbow be seen before it rains. VIII. Sprine and Summer.—If the last eighteen days of February and ten days of March be for the most part rainy, then the spring and summers quarters are like to be so too ; ant I never knew a great drought but it entered in that season. IX. Winter.—lIf the latter end of October and beginning of Novem- ber be for the most part warm and rainy, then January and February are like to be frosty and cold, except aftera very dry summer. If in October and November there be snow and frost, then January and Feb- ruary are like to be open and mild. X. Animats.—(1.) Cormorants swiftly returning from sea to land, making a great noise—Winds. (2.) The heron forsaking the fens and soaring aloft— Wands. (38.) Cranes forsaking the valleys, heifers snuf- fing the air, swallows fluttering about the lakes, frogs croaking, ants con- veying their eggs from their cells, ravens flocking together and making a great noise, bees in clusters humming about the hive—Rain. APPENDIX (B). The three following popular Prognostics are discussed by M. Arago :— 1. If the horns of the lunar crescent, on the third day after new moon, are sharply and clearly defined, the weather may be expected to be fair during the ensuing month. 2. If on the fourth day the moon project no shadow, we are to expect bad weather during the month. 3. A change of weather accompanies a change of the moon. 234 On Revolving Storms. By JosepH Joun Murpuy, Esq.* When the temperature of the air is in a state of con- vective equilibrium, or, in other words, when the difference between the temperatures of any two strata is that which is due to the difference of pressures, it is obvious that any de- crease in the specific gravity of the lower stratum, whether from expansion by heating, or by mixture with watery vapour, which is lighter than air, will give that stratum a tendency to rise; but as an entire stratum cannot rise in mass, the air will flow upwards in vertical columns, the place of which may be determined by the smallest inequality in the ground, or motion on it. If the ascending force is powerful and the ground very dry, the ascending columns of air will be marked by clouds of dust or sand, and it is thus that the ‘ dust-storms” of Western India, and the “ sand- spouts” of the African desert, are produced. Professor Hennesy has observed that such vertical circu- lation is shown to exist in our climate by the rapid fluctuation of a thermometer exposed to the free air in warm sunshiny weather; and cumulous cloud is produced when the watery vapour contained in such an ascending column is condensed by the cold of diminished pressure. When condensation takes place in an ascending column, the cooling from diminished pressure will be retarded by the — heat liberated in condensation, and the ascending column, at any altitude higher than that at which condensation has begun, will be warmer than the surrounding air on the same ~ level, supposing, as at first, that the temperatures of the surrounding air are in a state of convective equilibrium. . When unity of weight of vapour is condensed, heat enough is liberated to raise the temperature of an equal weight of water by 1178° Fahr., minus the temperature at which condensation takes place. To estimate the effect of | this in heating air, the quantity must be divided by ‘2377, which is the specific heat of air at constant pressure ; and to estimate the effect of the condensation of unity of volume * Communicated to the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 29th October 1862 and 7 January 1868. | Mr Joseph J. Murphy on Revolving Storms. 235 of vapour, we take gths of the quotient, as watery vapour has only ths of the specific gravity of air. Supposing con- densation to take place at 80°, the heating effect will be 5 1178—80 . 5 gay = 2877 In other words, the condensation of any given volume of vapour will liberate as much heat as, if concentrated, would raise the temperature of an equal volume of air by 2877" Fahr. : This heat will expand the air. The addition of a degree Fahr. of temperature expands air at 32° by a 492d of its volume, and at 80° by a 540th. Consequently the expanding effect at 80° will be, after deducting the destroyed volume of the condensed vapour, 2877 eae 1=4:35 In other words, for every cubic foot of vapour condensed, 4°35 cubic feet will be added to the volume of the air. This expansion will increase the ascending force of the column, and produce an outward flow of air at its top, a fall of the barometer at its base, and an inward flow fowards its base to fill up the void. The foregoing reasoning is identical with that of ‘‘ Espy’s Philosophy of Storms.” In order, however, to estimate the force of indraft at the base of such an ascending column, it would be necessary to know not only the temperature at every height in the column itself, which is a matter of cal- culation when that at its base is known, but also the tem- perature of the surrounding air at every height, a subject on which very little is known for any given time and place ; for the ascending force of one mass of fluid im another de- pends on the difference of specific gravity, and this with air depends almost entirely on the temperature. It has been stated by Professor Thomson of Glasgow, in a paper lately read at the Manchester Philosophical Society, that the temperature of air satwrated with moisture, when in astate of convective equilibrium (as an ascending current of such air must necessarily be), will diminish at the rate of 236 Mr Joseph J. Murphy on Revolving Storms. 1° Fahr. for every 294 feet of ascent ; but the temperature of dry or not saturated air will diminish at the rate of 1° for every 183 feet. Suppose that the air is nearly saturated in its lowest strata, and cloudless above, and that for the first few thousand feet of ascent the temperature diminishes at the rate due to convective equilibrium in dry air (conditions that sometimes occur in summer weather), the slighest increase of the tem- perature of the lowest stratum will produce an ascending current, in which the cold of diminished pressure will cause condensation to begin at a moderate height, and from that height upwards, the decrease of temperature will be at the rate of 1° Fahr. for 294 feet, while in the surrounding air it is at the rate of 1° Fahr. for 183 feet ; so that, at any given level, the air in the ascending column will be warmer and lighter than the surrounding air at the same level, and a powerful upward current will be produced, with a powerful indraft at its base. Of this nature, apparently, are many violent storms of small extent; they are usually, perhaps always, accompanied by heavy rain or hail from the vapour condensed above. Revolving storms or cyclones differ from these, primarily, in their larger extent. A cyclone cannot be formed unless the radius, within which the indraft due to the central baro- metric depression is felt, has a sensible magnitude in com- parison with the earth’s quarter-circumference. At its centre is an area of dense cloud, great barometric depression, and no wind. ‘The air revolves round this, and has also an inward motion, producing a spiral resultant. The wind is most violent near the calm centre, and grows less so out- ward, They rotate in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemispheres ; in each hemisphere they rotate in the same direction in which the earth rotates round an axis drawn perpendicular to its surface, as shown in Foucault's pendulum experiment, that is to say, against the direction of the hands of a watch in the northern hemisphere, and with it in the southern. This is caused by the earth rotating under the currents of air, as it does under Foucault’s pendulum, — and deflecting their paths on its surface to the right in the northern hemisphere, to the left in the southern ; thus, in the northern hemisphere, the current from N towards an area Mr Joseph J. Murphy on Revolving Storms. 237 of rarefaction will be deflected toward W, that from W towards §, that from S towards H, and that from E towards N. As these deflections are all in the same direction round a circle, they combine and produce a vortex. All these directions are, of course, reversed in the opposite hemi- spheres. The rotation of the storm ts in the opposite direction to the deflection, or what Dové calls the N gyration, of the sepa- rate winds, as will be obvious from the diagram, where the cross represents the converging paths which the winds would take in the absence of any de- flecting force, and the arrows the di- rections in which they are deflected. Ss Of course it is not accurate to draw the arrows straight. Were there no friction, the velocity would be regulated by the law of the conserva- tion of areas, and its tangential component in any part of the cyclone would be inversely as the distance from the centre. Cyclones never cross the equator, and are never formed on it, because the deflecting force is in opposite direc- tions in opposite hemispheres, and null on the equator. Such are the forces that move the cyclone. But the manner in which it is originally set agoing has not hitherto been fully explained. The following explanation is founded on that contained in Dové’s recently translated ‘ Law of Storms,” and is partly identical with it :— Cyclones are local and temporary phenomena: they occur chiefly in, 1st, The West Indian Seas ; 2d,.The Indian Ocean west of India ; 3d, The South Indian Ocean ; 4th, The Chinese Sea; and dth, The Bay of Bengal: in all these they occur oftenest in the end of summer, except in the last, where they are most frequent twice a year, at the change of the NEW SERIFS.—VOL. XVIII. NO, 11.—OcTOBER 1863. 2H W E 238 Mr Joseph J. Murphy on Revolving Storms. monsoons. ‘They are certainly not formed in the South Atlantic, and we have no evidence of their existence in the Pacific, except perhaps off the coast of California. They are formed only over tropical seas, because there only the air contains watery vapour enough to furnish their motive power by its condensation. But they originate in eddies formed in the general circulation of the atmosphere. The heated air that rises up during summer over the warm regions of Asia and Africa flows out over the Atlantic as an upper current, where it meets the upper return trade wind. The direction of the former is nearly towards W., that of the latter nearly towards N.H., so that the resulting current will be N.N.W.; and on its right-hand side, towards Europe, eddies will be formed rotating with the hand of a watch, and on its left hand, or West Indian side, will be eddies rotating in the opposite direction. Any one may make such a pair of eddies by moving a teaspoon forward through a cup of liquid. At the centre of every eddy is a depression, produced by cen- trifugal force, and in an aerial eddy this will be marked by a diminution of barometric pressure. When the eddy rotates in the opposite direction to that of the cyclones of the hemisphere in which it occurs, no cyclone can be produced ; but when it rotates in their direction, and other circum- stances are favourable, the barometric depression at the centre produces cold—the cold of diminished pressure: this condenses part of the vapour in the air: heat is liberated, and an upward current produced, as explained at the begin- ning of this notice: an outflow of air takes place above and an indraft below: these radial motions combine with the rotatory motion of the eddy, and thus the eddy is con- verted into a cyclone. The cyclones of the Indian Ocean west of India are produced in exactly the same way, by the meeting of the upper currents from the heated regions of Asia and Africa: and those of the South Indian Ocean, by the upper current from the heated regions of Australia meeting the upper return trade wind. In these cases the eddy is formed originally in the upper strata of the air. In the Chinese Sea and the Bay of Ben- ~ gal, on the contrary, it is formed on the surface of the sea, eae Mr Joseph J. Murphy on Revolving Storms. 239 by the meeting of the N.H. trade wind and the 8.W. mon- soon; this takes place over the Chinese Sea in summer, and over the Bay of Bengal after the equinoxes. Besides their rotation, cyclones have a motion of transla- tion, and this, within the tropics, is always towards W. ; sometimes N.W., sometimes §.W., but always W. In the Chinese Sea this is contrary to the prevalent wind at the time they occur, which is the §8.W. monsoon. This has not hitherto been accounted for. It is probably due to the fact that the rotation of the earth round an axis drawn per- pendicular to its surface, as illustrated by Foucault's pen- dulum, varies as the sine of the latitude, and is consequently most rapid in the highest latitude; so that the higher the latitude from which the air in any part of a cyclone is drawn, the more it will have been deflected, and the greater will be its centrifugal force. Now, a glance at the diagram will show that the air on the west side of every cyclone comes from a higher latitude, and that on the east from a lower; the former has consequently the most centrifugal force, and determines the motion of the whole cyclone towards west. It might be supposed that the motion in question is a resultant of the motions of the upper and lower currents of air, which in the tropical regions are usually different. This, however, could scarcely be reconciled with the fact that in the West Indian region the lower current (the trade wind) is from N.E., while in that of the Chinese Sea, during the prevalence of cyclones, it is from 8.W. Little is known of the direction of the upper current in either case; 1t is probably rather fluctuating, but more nearly opposed to the lower currents than coincident with them. It appears probable that the resultant of the motions of the upper and lower currents in the West Indian region is more likely to be in the opposite direction to the same resultant in the Indian and Chinese region, than in nearly the same direction. The cyclones of the West Indian Sea and South Indian Ocean, besides their motion to west, generally move towards the Pole. On reaching a latitude of about 28°, they lose much of their force, widen rapidly, and, losing their motion towards west, drift eastward and Pole-ward, with nearly the 240 Mr Joseph J. Murphy on Revolving Storms. general motion of the lower strata of the atmosphere in the middle latitudes. These changes have not been satisfac- torily accounted for. Perhaps they are due to the fact that in tropical latitudes the general direction of the upper and lower air-currents is usually very different, while in higher latitudes it is usually nearly identical; in the former the cyclone, extending from the lower into the upper current, is as it were compressed between them: when it gets into the latter, being no longer thus compressed, it expands by its own centrifugal force, loses force by expansion, and drifts in the general motion of the air. Its motion, how- ever, is more Pole-ward than this, and is perhaps a resultant of the general motion of the air, and a remaining westward tendency of the cyclone, due to the cause already explained. Description of a Plant-house at Rockville, Blackrock, near Dublin. By Mr James Brew ey.* My fern-house is a triple-span roof standing north and south, 60 feet wide—7z.e., three spans of 20 feet each; the length is 48 feet; the height of the sides to the spring of the roof is 13 feet 6 inches—of this, 7 feet is a wall; in — the lower part are ventilators near the ground, which are opened and shut from the outside; the rest of the sides is glazed with fine ribbed glass. I think it is called Hartley’s rough plating. The centre span is supported by three pulars, 12 feet apart from centre to centre. These pillars are rough brown slate, square, about 3 feet each way. The stones are laid horizontally, with ample spaces between, from the mortar being picked out for plants. From pillar to pillar are Gothic arches of the same material, covered with ferns, lycopods, &c. Thus there are two rows of four arches each. Hach side has in addition a row of eight arches of 6 feet each, planted in the same manner, each roof rises about 7 feet; so the highest part of the house is 21 feet. The north end is a wall, against which is a mass of * Communicated by Mr N. B. Ward to the British Association Meeting at Newcastle-on -‘Tyne, August 1863. Mr James Bewley’s Description of a Plant-house. 241 irregular rockwork about 10 feet high, with concealed steps to the top, and from these a path from side to side to enable a view to be had of the plants below, there being a number of tree ferns standing on the floor. This path is depressed so as to allow a person to pass under the lowest part of the roof. On the north side of the path, the rockwork is car- ried up to the top of the house, so that when viewed from below, the rockwork is seen to extend from the ground to the glass. An irregular rockwork is also carried round the south end, and along the east and west sides, up to the glass (7 feet) ; but it is separated from the outer walls by a space of 6 inches to allow ventilation from the outside, and also for the circulation of heat, from a pair of 4-inch water-pipes which run round the house. This is the only heating power. In order to promote a circulation of air, there are openings, in fact small concealed arches in the rockwork, on the ground level, passing through it to the narrow space next to the outer wall. Thus the hot-water pipes being next to the outer walls, and there being venti- lators in these, and openings on the ground level inside, through the rockwork, there is a perfect circulation of air maintained—a matter all important to the health of plants. The roof is one of ordinary construction ; wooden rafters 4 feet apart, with three light iron sash bars between. (1 may here remark, I prefer the combination of wood and iron to either exclusively. All iron has too uniform an appearance to please me. Wooden rafters 4, 5, or 6 feet apart break the dull uniformity into spaces, and are of great practical convenience, by enabling a nail, screw, or hook to be put in whenever wanted.) The inner glass is common 21 oz.; it is put in about 7 inches on the wnder side of the rafter ; so that, the rafter being about 6 inches in depth, 5 inches of it are outside. Now, on these rafters the outer roof rests—simple framed sashes, 4 feet wide,— and for the convenience of moving, in two lengths. They are glazed with the same glass as the sides, and are fixed in their places by a screw bolt, so as to be removed when required. Thus the inner and outer glass are from 5 to 6 inches apart. I do not think the distance is important; anything from 4 to 6 inches will do; but what is all im- 242 Mr James Bewley’s Description of a Plant-house. portant is, that the outer sashes should fit close, so as to admit of no circulation of air between. I do not like moveable sashes for top ventilation in any house, and there- fore in mine I carry up the glass only to within one foot from the top of the ridge; above this are wooden shutters or panels for ventilation, and by a very simple contrivance they can be opened or shut. | Now, as to temperature. My fern-house being 60 feet by 48, with a mean height of about 16 feet, contains 46,000 cubic feet of space; and there being a pair of 4-inch hot- water pipes running round it, the heating power is 430 feet of pipe, or about 1 foot of pipe to 100 of cubic contents, In a single roofed house, I do not think this heating power would do more than exclude frost in severe winter weather, but with the double roof, the thermometer rarely goes below 48. I think I once sawit at 46. My estimate is that I gain 14 or 15 degrees of heat from the double roof. The loss of heat is very slow in cold weather; I think it would take three or four nights of severe frost to bring the heat of the house down from 52 to 48 ; and probably thirty-six hours to cause the same reduction were the fire to be left out altogether. With a single roof, this would be expected in, I think, about six hours. It is a great comfort to know that if, in any house I have, the fire was let out, or neglected in the depth of winter for a whole night, its contents would suffer no damage. The reverse effects are equally interest- ing,—the very slow increase of heat in warm weather. This has been a hot summer, yet the heat of the fern-house has never, that I am aware of, gone up to 70; with a single roof, and the same amount of ventilation, the house would run up to 80 or 85 in a single hot morning. There is: another interesting fact, and one of great importance in plant-growing: there is a steady uniform increase of tem- perature in the house according as we ascend from the floor, day and night. This arises from the non-transmission of heat through the roof. Thus, while I have native ferns and other temperate plants growing below, I have tropical plants, ferns, and palms, &c. growing on the higher portions of the rockwork. And while, in ordinary houses, we remove tender plants from near the glass in severe weather, the nearer I : Mr James Bewley’s Description of a Plant-house. 243 place them to it, the warmer they are. This is curiously indicated by the little creeping Ficus and other plants cling- ing to the under size of the inner glass, and spreading over it, apparently in great enjoyment. Another important re- sult takes place from the non-radiation of heat through the roof. In ordinary houses, where moisture forms a requisite of good plant-growing, no matter how freely we use the syringe in the evening, we find the house dy in the morn- ing, arising from the great condensation of moisture on the roof, and running off when thus condensed. The cooled air having parted with its moisture in the morning when the temperature rises a little, it becomes absolutely dry, to the great detriment of the plants. With the double roof, there is very little condensation on the roof, the blanket of non-conducting air between the two roofs of glass prevent- ing it; and consequently, as the air cools down a little at night, the condensation takes place on the plants themselves, exactly according to nature. I have gone into my orchid- house, which has a double roof and sides, of a morning, and have seen the plants as beautifully covered with dew as a plot of cabbages on a May morning. Is not this nearly the perfection of plant-growing ? We generally commence fire heat in the fern-house when the cold weather sets in, in the latter end of October, and leave it off in March, when the house gets about 54. Thus we have fire for about five months only in the year, and during these five months, the consumption of fuel is not more than one-half of what it would be if the house had but a single roof. Now, using only half fuel for five months, and none during the other seven, causes a very large saving, and to this must be added the saving from no fire attendance during the same seven months,—no small item. These together I calculate to amount to about 20 per cent per annum, on the extra cost expended on the double roof. But this is trifling compared with the enhanced value of the plants grown in a double- roofed house. The effect is astonishing. Plants which with difficulty held their own, or but slowly improved in an ordinary house, have grown and improved with me in a way that would surprise plant-growers in general. I should add, there is one point on which great caution is requisite 244 Mr James Bewley’s Description of a Plant-house. by any one who adopts double-roofed houses: from the uni- formity of temperature, and the consequent non-condensation of moisture, very moderate waterings and syringes are suffi- cient to keep the plants in health. A beginner will be very apt to overdo it. My fern-house has nothing done to it for weeks together beyond a very light syringing each morning in summer, two or three times a week in spring and autumn, and once every week or ten days in winter. My large plant-house is about 130 feet long, 19 wide, and 11 high. It had shelves at either side 3 feet wide, then paths of equal width, and a central stand 7 feet wide ; beneath each of the side shelves there were two 4-inch flow pipes and two returns, twelve pipes in all. When I double- roofed it, the heat was too much, so I built a low brick wall on either side, and also enclosed in the same way the central 7 feet, and filled up the spaces with gravel, &., to about 3 inches over the pipes; the gravel is kept damp, and on it the plants stand—on a hotbed, in fact, and they delight init. I think any one who will cover up all his heating power in this way will soon find that it is superior to exposure; the heat is so gradually diffused and the moisture also, the gravel beds being frequently watered. The peculiarity and advantage of double-roofed houses may be summed up thus:—Great economy of heating power, and great uniformity of temperature and moisture ; and con- sequently remarkable facility in growing plants in perfect health and beauty. So far as my experience has gone— and I have now been trying it for some years,—I can have no hesitation in recommending the system to every person for the cultivation of any description of plants. The Great Mixed Forests of North America in Connection with Climate. By J. B. Hurtsurt, LL.D.* This vast forest, composed principally of deciduous trees, covers an area of about 2,000,000 square miles, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the northern boundary of Canada, and from the Atlantic to the prairies of the west, * Read at the Meeting of the British Association at Newcastle, 1863. Dr J. B. Hulburt on the Forests of North America. 245 in some places beyond, and in others not to the Mississippi. From this to near the Pacific, within the limits of the United States, intervene the naked interior plains for nearly 4000 miles, succeeded on the Pacific coasts by the forests of Conifere. From about the 98th meridian west, the forests of deciduous trees extend in a north-west direction high up into British America, with a belt of low evergreens around Hudson’s Bay, and to the east of the northern parts of the valley of Mackenzie’s River. This vast compact forest, made up mainly of deciduous trees, is interspersed with large areas covered with conifere, and with others covered with deciduous trees and conifers intermixed, and to the south with tropical evergreens. These peculiar forests, prairies, and desert areas, no doubt express some distinctive features of climate. Two conditions of climate—heat and humidity—marked in a high degree, seem essential for the development of those gigantic forests of deciduous trees. High summer tempe- ratures and abundance of summer rains, are characteristics of the whole of the area covered by these forests. The temperatures for the three summer months over all these forest areas within the United States, Canada, and British America, are above 65°, and mostly above 67° of Fahr.,— temperatures high enough and long enough continued to mature maize, or Indian corn, and the grape; for the wild vine (Vitis cordifolia) matures its fruit to the northern limits of the deciduous forests. Twenty inches of rain in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, and ten inches in the north and through Canada, give, in general terms, about the quantities that fall during the three hottest months— June, July, and August. Similar high summer tempera- tures prevail over the western prairies and interior desert areas, but with a partial or total failure of the summer rains, and here we find the absence first of all forests, and then of all vegetation. On the Pacific coast, in high latitudes especially, the summer rains are abundant, but the summer temperatures are low, falling to 57° and 60°; and here are the most extraordinary examples of the conifere, but the deciduous trees are wanting. Within the limits of these three great divisions we meet NEW SERIES.—VOL. XVIII. NO. I1.—ocTOBER 1863. 21 246 Dr J. B. Hurlburt on the Forests of North America. with many modifications, which, however interesting, as illustrating the effects of climate upon the flora of that con- tinent, it forms no part of the objects of this short paper to particularise ; but an example or two may be given. We have upon the White Mountains of New England an in- stance of the failure of all forest trees above an altitude of 5000 feet. The summits of the Black Mountains of North Carolina, as the swartz wold, or black forest of the hills of Badan, are covered with balsam firs, and the shores of Hud- son Bay with low evergreen forests. In all such localities | the results are what the lower summer temperatures might have been expected to produce, as the higher temperatures of the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic as far north as Virginia have caused other varieties of forest trees, such as the evergreen oaks, magnolias, palms, cypress, giant laurels, wild orange, satinwood, mahogany, and mangroves. The principal trees of these great mixed forests are of the Deciduous kind—the maple (Acer saccharinum and A. dasycarpum), the beech, the elm, ash, oaks, basswood or American linden (Tilia americana), chestnut, cherry, but- ternut, walnut, hickory, poplars, magnolias ; and. of the Oonifere—the pines, balsams (Abées), tamarac (Larix americana), cedars (Thuja occidentalis) and (Juniperus virginiana), hemlock spruce (4 bies canadensis). The most important of these great mixed forests are in Canada, extending from the northern shores of Lake Erie, in lat. 42°, to the northern limits of Canada. Some of these trees have a very extensive range north and south. The sugar maple (Acer saccharinum), is found near Lake Winnipeg, in lat. 50°, and the black sugar maple (A. ni- grum), in lat. 82°, in Louisiana. The beech and elms have a range quite similar to the maple. The American linden also goes as far northward. The white pine (Pinus Strobus), prevails in the northern parts of these forests, and the red pine (P. resinosa), in the southern. The red cedar (Junt- perus virgimana), has the greatest range, extending from — lat. 26° in Florida to 67° within the arctic circle. The wild cherry, too (Prunus americana), a large forest tree, and the shad-bush (Amelanchier canadensis), extend over nearly — as many degrees. The trembling poplar (Populus tremu- Dr J. B. Hurlburt on the Forests of North America. 247 loides), ranges from 37° to 69°. The red current (Ribes rubrum), which is found in all the American and Canadian forests, Sir John Richardson discovered growing on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, within the polar circle. Through all this range of latitude, wherever these de- ciduous trees are found, these two conditions of climate prevail—high summer temperatures and abundant summer rains; the cold of winter, with the thermometer even at 40° below zero, seeming to produce no effect upon such plants. On the Colour of the Salmon. By Joun Davy, M.D., F.BS., London and Edinburgh, &c.* All that relates to fish of so much importance as the salmon and its allied species naturally excites our interest. Amongst the many peculiarities of the genus, when the in- dividuals are in their highest condition and best state for the table, is their colour—the colour of their muscles gene- rally—the well-known salmon colour. No other fish that I am aware of, whether in the sea or fresh water, possesses this colour, not even those which are associated with it so often, and the food of which is very similar. Of fresh- water fish, the pike may be mentioned as an example; of salt-water, the Perca marina. On what does this colour depend ? Commonly I have heard it attributed to an oil. The circumstance, that the colour is seen only in fish in their highest condition, and that in river and brook-trout it is often absent, seem favour- able to this opinion, and the more so, as we know that the same trout which have pale muscles in streams where there is but scanty feed, if removed into ponds or lakes where there is abundance of food, whilst they rapidly increase there in size, acquire also the peculiar hue distinctive of their improved condition. The fact, too, that the salmon loses this colour during its lengthened sojourn in fresh water after spawning, when it becomes lank and out of con- * Read at the Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (Newcastle, 1868). 248 Dr John Davy on the Colour of the Salmon. dition, eating during the period, if anything, but very little, seems likewise to favour the opinion. Yet I am doubtful that this opinion is correct, and will bear being inquired into. If an examination be made of the salmon in its highest condition and richest colour, when taken in the sea, or immediately after entering fresh water, what, in relation to colour, are its several parts? Whilst the muscles of the superior section of the body, the thick part, where, compara- tively, there is very little fatty or oleaginous matter, exhibits the peculiar colour in perfection, those of the inferior sec- tion—the thin portion of the fish—are comparatively pale, and yet there there is a superabundance of oleaginous matter, and of a colourless kind. Moreover, there are certain muscles, those connected with the eyes and the jaws, and the great dorsal fin, which are altogether destitute of the colour in question. ‘Those of the eye, in the midst of cel- lular tissue, loaded with white adipose matter, are almost colourless. Those of the jaws, where there is very little fatty matter, are of a brownish hue. Those connected with the fin, where, too, there is little fat, are of a dark brown. There is another fact, with the same negative bearing. This is, that the air-bladder of the charr is of a pink colour, often of a beautiful tint (a refinement, as it were, of the salmon-colour,and of the colour of its own muscles), though altogether destitute of oily or fatty matter ; and I have seen it thus coloured in fish which, though in good condition, and cutting red, like the salmon, have not been remarkable for richness. The conclusion I am disposed to come to is, that the salmon-colour is unconnected with oil or fatty matter, and that it belongs to the coloured muscles after the analogy of the colouring of the muscles of various other animals, as witnessed in the instances which come under our observa- tion in the way of meats. In beef, mutton, venison, the hare of proper age, how dark is the muscular fibre. The same colour is seen in the goose, and still more strikingly in the swan, and in most wild birds, and also im certain fishes, especially of the tunny family. The results of the few chemical experiments which I have made seem to favour the same conclusion. The coloured Dr John Davy on the Colour of the Salmon. 249 muscle of the salmon is rendered paler by the action of a strong solution of ammonia—the aqua ammonie—the solution itself remaining colourless. By strong nitric acid it is rendered yellow; by strong sulphuric, brown; by a solution of potash—the liquor potassee—brown ; by strong muriatic acid a slight change of colour is produced ; whilst rendered paler, it acquires a brownish tint. Both the strong acids, the nitric and the sulphuric, it may be remarked, and also the solution of potash, have a disorganising, decomposing effect, to which the change of colour they occasion may principally be attributed. Alcohol and ether render the muscle of a lighter hue, but do not deprive it entirely of colour. Both become very slightly coloured, and on cooling and evaporation deposit and leave a colourless liquid oil. Granting that the colour belongs to the muscular fibre,— 2.e., that the colouring matter is seated in the muscle irre- spectively of fat,—the further conclusion I would submit is, that it is of an organised kind. It may be a peculiar colouring matter nowise essential to the muscle (some of the muscles, as I have pointed out, being without this colour), and analogous to those colouring matters which exist in plants, especially their leaves and flowers, and in the tegumentary parts of mammalia, birds, and fishes,—such as the hair of the first, the feather of the second, and the epidermis of the ‘ame Whether the peculiar colour or colouring matter owes its formation to some particular kind of food, or to a special secreting power, I am not aware of any well-marked facts to guide one to a conclusion. So far as probabilities are concerned, I am rather inclined to the belief that it depends partly on the one partly on the other. Some Observations on the Eggs of Birds. By Joun Davy, M.D, FT RS., duond..& Edin. &e:* Although few objects have received more attention from the physiologist and chemist than the egg of the common * Read at the Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (Newcastle, 1863.) 200 Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. fowl, the eggs of other birds have been much neglected,— indeed, I am not acquainted with any researches that have been published with the intent of ascertaining either the proportions of their constituents, or the qualities of these constituents, from a comparative point of view. | The observations I am about to make, I can offer only as a small contribution to so large a subject,—a subject of especial interest, considering the vast variety of products,— that is, the numerous species of the feathered tribe which are evolved, each distinct, yet as soon as hatched, though developed from similar elements, displaying the form, tastes, and habits characteristic of its kind. I shall first advert to some of the general properties of eggs. Without exception, the laying birds, whatever their species, when in a healthy state and supplied with a suffi- ciency of lime, have their eggs enveloped in a resisting shell composed of membranes strengthened by an earthy incrusta- tion, consisting chiefly of carbonate of lime. The thickness of this incrustation in eggs of different birds is very various. It seems to bear some relation to the weight of the incubat- ing bird, and the time of incubation and hatching. Gene- rally, the smaller the bird, and the shorter the period of foetal development, the thinner is the incrustation,--the elasticity of the shell increasing with its diminution of size. I shall give a few instances in illustration, in which, were the thickness carefully measured, it would bear, I believe, a near proportion to the circumstances mentioned,—of each of the following birds, the incubating time is given in days :— The swan, . . . 42days| The pheasant, . . 28days The common goose, 35 ,, The red grouse, . 23 ,, . The common duck, 28 ,, Pigeon: t's ae The common fowl, 21 ,, Turtle-dovée, © . Vy ia The turkey, eh. ee Canary. bird,.. ...kaee The guinea-fowl, 30-31 ,, Wren, os os. sls The partridge, . . 27 ,, These periods are given from such information as I have been able to collect from poulterers, bird-fanciers, and keepers.* They may not be all quite correct, were they * The time of incubation of the following birds, is copied from H. L, Meyer’s Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. 251 so, the ratio referred to certainly would not be one of perfect exactness. Probably there is another specific element con- cerned—vital force ; thus, though the egg of the bantam is very much smaller than that of the barn-door fowl, yet the same time is required for its hatching. Whatever the degree of thickness of the shell, it is in- variably pervious to air, and chiefly, I believe, through minute apertures—foramina—in the crust. In the egg of the common fowl these are tolerably conspicuous. In every instance that I have put an egg under water deprived of air by the air-pump, on fresh exhaustion air has been seen to rise in currents from particular points, affording proof of the existence of such foramina. Granting their existence, they are certainly covered internally with membrane, through which the air must pass, it may be inferred, by pores of such minuteness as to escape detection under the highest power of the microscope. In a solitary instance, on removing an abortive egg which had been twenty-one days under a hen, on breaking the shell I found it’s inner membrane covered in part with mould (fucor mucedo) the spores of which must have entered, it may be presumed, through the foramina in the crust and the insensible pores just referred to. In accordance with the necessity for the aération of the embryo and foetus in process of development, the egg of every kind of bird has an air-cell formed by the separation of the two layers of the internal lining membrane, and this at the end which is generally largest, and first presents in the act of being laid. The contained air, in every instance that I have examined it, has been found to differ but little from atmospheric air ; and this whatever the age of the egg “British Birds and their Eggs.’ London, 1842.—The Martin (Hirundo urbica), from 12 to 18 days; Swift (H. apus), 16 to 17; Eagle-owl (Bubo maximus), 21; Goshawk (Astur palumbarius), 21; Sparrow-hawk (Accipiter fringillarius), 21 ; Stockdove (Columbo cenas) 17; Turtledove (C. turtur), 16 to 17; Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), 24 to 26; Cock-of-the-wood (Tetrao urogallus), 28; Black Grouse (7. tetriz), 21; Partridge (7. perdix), 21; Swan (Cygnus olor), 85 to 42; Wild Duck (Anas boschas), 29. The variation as to time, as in the well-known instance of the common fowl, depends probably on the tempera- ture of the atmosphere and the quality of the parent bird, whether a good or bad sitter. 252 Dr John Davy on the Hygs of Birds. or the time of its incubation,—another proof of the great porosity of the shell and its membranes. Without any exception yet known, the eggs of all birds consist of albumen and yolk. These in the egg of the common fowl exhibit different and opposite reactions, and different electrical states,—the albumen being alkaline, the yolk acid; and in the instances of the eggs of the smaller birds, I have, as regards the reaction, observed the same ; I have had no opportunity to test their electrical condition ; but judging from analogy, that also may be inferred to be similar. I shall now briefly advert to some points of difference. I need hardly notice that of form, and that each kind has commonly a specific shape as well as size, and that though one pole is commonly bigger than the other, the one, as already mentioned, which, in the act of laying, is first pro- truded, and which contains the air-vesicle, is never, that I am aware of, smaller than its opposite, seemingly a happy provision, securing the successful propulsion of the egg without delay under the influence of an adequate impelling power: did the smaller end first present, it might act as a wedge, and the processes of distension and of laying might be protracted, and the projecting pole in danger. As is well known, the colour of eggs varies with the species. White may be mentioned as the prevailing colour; next, blue, or bluish-green of different shades ; next, brown of different shades, passing into red. Even of the same species, the colour, as of the eggs of the common fowl, is not precisely the same—some being distinguished for their whiteness, as those of the dorking and game-fowl ; some for their brown hue, as those of Cochin-china variety. In lustre and polish, too, the several kinds exhibit differ- ences—some having a lustre approaching almost that of — the pearl, as the egg of the common pigeon; others being destitute of lustre, giving them a dull appearance. The markings, spots, and partial colouring are so various as to almost baffle description, as any one may satisfy himself by referring to any work in which they are depicted. These diverse markings—these different colours of eggs— from such experiments as I have made, I am induced to Dr John Davy on the Hgqs of Birds. 253 attribute, not to any mineral colouring matter, but to an organic or animal colouring matter, and that, in part at least, connected with molecular arrangment, analogous to what is witnessed in flowers. As examples, I may give the results of the examination I have made of the dark-brown, almost black, colouring matter of the egg of the common grouse, and of the green of the egg of the starling, and of the green with dark-brown spots, these, too, almost black, of the common thrush. Of all these, the colouring matter has been destroyed before the blowpipe, the shell being rendered perfectly white. In the instance of the thrush’s, it is remarkable that, after incandescence, in cooling it re- covers in a slight degree its greenish hue, and yet loses it when quite cold; a circumstance this favourable to the idea of the colour, as before remarked, depending in part on molecular arrangement. The green of neither of the eggs is altered by the weak acids, nor by solutions of the alkalies. In strong nitric acid it changes to yellow. In strong muriatic acid it resists change for many hours, fading and disappearing under the continued action of the acid. Chlo- rine has a similar effect; and bright sunshine, after many days exposure, renders it fainter: sulphurous acid does not bleach it. On the colour of the grouse’s egg strong muriatic acid has no perceptible effect; strong nitric acid changes it to a light dirty yellow. That the colour of this egg is not in any way owing to the presence of iron seemed-to be indicated by the following experiment :—A minute portion of blood was applied to the shell; on exposure to the blow- pipe, the spot was marked by a slight ochrey stain, the cloured portions becoming, after the destruction of the animal matter, quite white. The contents, the albumen and yolk, of the several kinds of eggs, though so very similar, are found, even on slight examination, to have points of difference. I shall now re- strict myself to three,—viz., the proportional weight of the albumen and yolk, including the shell and its membranes ; the density of the two, or rather the proportion of solid matter which each afforded after the dissipation of their aqueous portion by thorough drying; and the effects of heat and its degree in producing the coagulation of the NEW SERIES,—VOL. XVIII. NO. 11.—ocToBerR 1863. 2K 254 Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. albumen. I shall give the results, merely premising that in each instance the yolk was separated as much as possible from the white, by rolling it, when that could be done, on a fine linen cloth, stretched; weighing it thus apart, weighing the shell next, after washing it carefully inside and drying it in the air. The weight of the albumen was inferred to be that which was required to complete the weight of the entire egg, previously ascertained. For the sake of comparison, the proportions in the egg of the com- mon fowl, thus examined, may be given :— 1. Egg, newly laid, of a pullet of the Barn-door fowl. —Weight 764°5 grs. Solid matter, per cent. Shell and membranes, 78°5 grs., or per cent., 10°13 Toes oe ere 1p 25:21 65:00 Plbamen.* Teo. SAS ” 64-51 10°19 2. Jay's egg.— Weight 127°3 gers. lie PE co a a 6-4 grs., or per cent., 5°03 UE, ta ee, ig, oA EE a why a 26°86 30°4 POON, fu. ss Sey os 68:11 Stee The liquid albumen, in a thin glass tube, immersed in water at 169° Fahr., falling to 140°, acquired a slight milky appearance, with little diminution of its fluidity. At 184° falling to 140°, a soft coagulation formed, milk- white and tremulous, hardly bearing inversion, At 195° falling to 80°, the coagulum became somewhat firmer, but much less than the albumen of the common fowl at the same temperature, and it was translucent. 3. Hedge-Sparrow’s.—W eight, 34°5 grs. Solid matter per cent. Shell, &c., 2°0 grs., or per cent., 5°79 pt | a ee: See =A 21°45 58°1 Albumen, 25:9 _,, by 72°46 12°2 The albumen at 168° falling to 110°, became pretty firmly coagulated ; the coagulum was of a distinct greenish hue ; transparency but little impaired, nor was it lessened at 212°. 4. Golden-crested Wren’s.—Of five from the same nest, Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. 205 the weight of each was as follows: 14°8 grs., 14:4, 14:3, 14°35, 15:2. That which weighed 14:3 grs. was examined. | Solid matter per cent. Shell, &c., 0-7 grs., or per cent., 4°90 Yolk, . 3°44 ,, Re 24°05 43°6 Albumen, 10:16 _,, a 71:05 9-9 One of the eggs was put into water at 200° falling to 140°. On removal of the shell its albumen was found coagulated. The coagulum was soft, semi-transparent, slightly opalescent, and in water had a bluish tinge. The yolk was more firmly coagulated. 5. Robin’s.—T wo were examined ; one weighed 38'8 grs., the other 73°8 grs. I believe they were from the same nest. Solid matter per cent. Shell, &c., of the first, 2°1 grs., or per cent., 5°43 Yolk, . ; : Ged ee F 24-22, ikamen, PTR mst 20) Oe se 70°33 Shell, ah of second, 2:0 ,, “) a7 ee Oe ES Pye. gO , 22:08) 165 Aibpamen, 0. |. Ob ,, 9 75°20 8:2 The albumen of the first at 170° falling to 145°, became of a milky whiteness, with little diminution of fluidity. At 187° falling to 150°, a soft coagulum formed, of the con- sistence of blanc-mange, and milk-white, nor was it rendered harder by boiling. 6. Missel-Thrush’s.— Weight of egg, 124°6 grs. Shell, &c., 64 grs., or per cent., 513 ret ie LBRO! 3 be 12°84 Albumen,101°3 _,, 3 31°30 The albumen at 169° falling to 148°, had its fluidity slightly impaired, acquiring a slight degree of milkiness. At 179° falling to 150°, a soft coagulum was formed, tremu- lous, with a bluish hue, and barely admitting of inversion. At 188° falling to 160°, it became firmer, remaining trans- parent, nor was its transparency destroyed by boiling ; even then it was softer than the coagulated white of the hen’s egg. Its yolk at 190° yielded a soft coagulum, which was rendered only a little firmer by boiling. 256 Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. 7. Starling’s.—Three eggs were obtained from the same nest; one weighed 115-1 grs., another 103°6 grs., the third 102°6 grs. The first of these was examined. Shell, &c., 82 grs., or per cent., 7:12 Yolk, . 16-4 ,, : 14:25 Albumen, 90:5 ,, zs 78°62 The yolk of the third egg yielded 45:1 per cent. solid matter ; the white, 13°5. The albumen of No. 1 at 165° falling to 135°, formed a soft milk-white coagulum. Another portion of the same white at 160° falling to 100°, became ea. thickened, flowing on inversion. 8. Pigeon’s egg.— Weight, 278 grs. Solid matter per cent. Shell, &c., 22°4 grs., or per cent., 8°05 Yolk. 7.a0Ovy 17°94... .,- 908 Albumen, 205°6 ,, “3 73°95 11:5 The albumen at 158° falling to 130°, formed a soft co- agulum, of a light bluish hue by reflected light, of a wine yellow by transmitted light. At 162° falling to 125°, the consistence of the coagulum was but little increased, it hardly bore inversion without flowing. At 189° falling to 140°, it became much firmer. At 212° it became tougher, scarcely harder, was translucent, and of a bluish hue. By boiling for an hour the coagulum became transparent, and of a rich brown colour; a similar change is produced in the albumen of the egg of the common fowl, but hardly so strongly marked. On the albumen of the eggs of other birds I have not tried the effects of continued boiling ; from analogy it may be inferred that it will be similar. It may here be worthy of remark that the albumen of all the eggs I have experimented upon, when evaporated to dryness at a temperature below the coagulating point, or allowed to dry slowly in the open air, has always exhibited a symmetrical appearance, not unlike that of the beautiful microscopical object the Arachneidiscus Ehrenbergi, this organic-like arrangement evidently depending on the fissures formed from contraction of the solid parts with the loss of its aqueous portion. Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. 257 The following is a tabular view of the results :— 3 g 43 : Sy 4 a= a ba} oS leven! oe 3 = las lwo | Ss as £8 | 3 |Consistence. Colour, &e. Bo |(Od(SonIlS en laglen j S Star alr sleet 2S Pie : a 764°5| 10°13] 25-21] 64°5 | 55-0| 10:19|—160°| Hard. White. Pigeon’s . . . |278:0) 8:05| 17-94] 73-95] 39°3/ 11°5 |—189°| Pretty firm. | Bluish. Jay’s . . . . |127-3| 5-03] 26-86] 68-11] 30-0] 12°8 |—184°| Soft. es eee Missel Thrush’s 124 6] 5°53) 12°84| 81:30) 24 3)10°2 |—188°| Soft. Transparent. Starling’s. . . {115° | 7°12) 14:25) 78-62) ... —195°) Firm. White. 2: Robin's . . 4 IE ee ieee ae 82) |_ 19741 soft, White. Hedge Sparrow’s | 345] 5:79] 21-45/ 72°46] 58.1] 12-2 |—168°| Pretty firm. { Cee trans- Golden-crested : : : : Pl ays Bluish, semi- muen-crested } | 14-3| 4-90| 24°05] 43°6 | 43-6) 9:9 | ...... Soft. pet as The differences, as shown by these results, are not great. So far as they allow of inference, they seem to show—l1. (as already remarked), That the smaller the egg, the smaller the bird, the shorter the period of incubation, the thinner is the shell, and the more elastic and the smaller the pro- portion of calcareous incrustation, and in consequence the more pervious to the air, essential to life and development ; though even as to this there seems to be no exact ratio, and there appear to be exceptions.* 2. That the albumen in quantity greatly exceeds the yolk, but in no regular proportion ; whilst the quantity of solid matter in the yolk is proportionally much larger per cent. than in the albumen. 3. That the temperature at which coagulation takes place varies in almost every instance; and that the firmness of the coagulum does not appear to be regulated by the pro- portion of solid matter obtained by evaporation. 4, That the coagulum of each has an aspect of its own, varying in the different instances as to kind and degrees of translucency. Though all the experiments were made with care, I must * Probably the size of the egg, the quantity of nutritive matter it contains (as suggested in my “ Physiological Researches,” p. 159), bears some relation to the condition of the young bird on leaving the egg, and its habits, espe- cially as to feeding, ¢.e., whether it has to find its food after the manner of the offspring of the Natatores and Rasores, immediately on starting into active life, or is provided with food till fully formed and capable of taking wing, by the parents, after the manner of the Columba, Passores, and Raptores. 258 Dr John Davy on the Eggs of Birds. remark, in conclusion, that I can offer their results only as approximations, the sources of error being so many, and of these not the least, the difficulty of ascertaining how long the eggs had been laid. All that I examined, however, appeared to be fresh; none of them bore marks of having been sat on, judging from the total absence of the vascular membrane.* Description of the Fruit and Seed of Clerodendron Thom- sone. By Professor Batrour. (Plate V.)f In the Transactions of the Society for 1862, I described a Verbenaceous plant which had been transmitted from Old Calabar by the Rev. W. C. Thomson, and which I named Clerodendron Thomsone. At that time the plant had flowered (fig. 2) in the Botanic Garden, but it had not per- fected fruit. It has now ripened its seeds, and they have germinated in the hot-houses (fig. 1). I therefore com- plete my description of the species by giving a few de- tails as to the fructification. The style in the young state is terminal, and the four achenes are concrete, so as to ap- pear as a syncarpous tetracarpellary ovary (fig. 4). As the carpels advance in growth they separate, and the style falls off. The young fruit then appears as four green-coloured achenes, partially united and surrounded by the large per- sistent calyx, which has changed from a white to a pinkish hue (fig. 3). On cutting across the four achenes at their junction, we observe on the inner surfaces a bright red cellular coat (fig. 7). When ripe, the achenes assume a shining black colour externally, and the red cellular cover- ing becomes much enlarged, and by its growth separates the achenes completely, which ultimately appear as four distinct seed-vessels, covered on their upper surface (which * Those eggs in which this membrane appeared were laid aside. One of these was the Corncraik’s; in it the vascular area had just become distinct ; its vessels contained florid blood, the corpuscles in which were of an unusual magnitude, some elliptical, some circular without a nucleus ; the elliptical of largest size were about 57, inch in diameter by yo'o5- t Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 9th July 1868. Edin? New Phil. Journal. New Serves, Vol. XVI. Pl. V. W.H.M! Favlane, Lith? E din? Fruit and Seed of Clerodendron Thomson (Balf) LZidin’ New Phil. Jour Ltate VI AN ; -_, ‘a een 22 Fs oy Q PHOTOGLYPHIC ENGRAVING OF A FERN H.F Talbot On the Fruit and Seed of Clerodendron Thomsonee. 209 corresponds to their commissure) with a succulent mass of cells of a bright scarlet colour (fig. 5). This mass covers two-thirds of the surface of each achene, and finally assumes | an orange colour, The mass exhibits grooves and eleva- tions on its surface, and has a rugose appearance, not unlike the convolutions of the brain (fig. 8). On examining this cellular coat, we find that the scarlet colour is produced by globules apparently of an oily nature, filling the interior of the external cells, and that the cells below are deficient in colour, being clear and transparent (fig. 9). This scarlet succulent mass, increasing very rapidly in the axis, separates the achenes from each other, so that they finally spread out in a cruciate manner, being united only at their bases (fig. 6). The cells of the succulent part of the pericarp are beautiful objects under the microscope, and they are repre- sented in fig. 10, The rapid development of this cellular coat seems almost akin to that in some Fungi, Bovista for example, which is one of the marvels of vegetative power. The scarlet colour stains paper beyond remedy; nothing but scratching removes it. The oil-globule-bearing cells look like glands. The minute globules of oil (fig. 11), when pressed out of the cells in water, exhibit molecular movements. When the cells are put into water, the oil globules run together, so as to form a homogeneous mass. The beautiful scarlet covering of the achenes renders the plant scarcely less showy in fruit than it was in flower. (Specimens of the pistil and fruit in various states were ex- hibited.) EXPLANATION OF Puate V. Fig. 1. Seed of Clerodendron Thomsone germinating, showing epigeal cotyle- dons and radicle. Fig. 2. Flower with white-coloured calyx, scarlet corolla, and didynamous stamens. Fig. 3. Large calyx surrounding the young fruit, separated into four carpels. The style has fallen off. The calyx is at first white, and finally assumes a pinkish hue. Fig. 4. Young pistil, showing terminal style with the four united carpels. Fig. 5. Four achenes, with black shining outer coat, and succulent inner covering of a scarlet colour. Fig. 6. Four achenes still more separated, apparently by the rapid growth of the scarlet cellular mass at the commissure, which now becomes the upper surface. The achenes arranged in a cruciate manner. 260 On the Fruit and Seed of Clerodendron Thomsone. Fig. 7. Young ovary cut across, showing four ovules and scarlet coat in its early development. Fig. 8. One of the ripe achenes cut transversely, showing the dark episperm on the outside, and the succulent scarlet cellular mass on the inside. Fig. 9. Coloured cells of the commissure with oil globules, surmounting other cells which are colourless. Fig. 10. Cells containing scarlet or orange oil-like globules. Fig. 11. Oil-like globules shown separately. Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. Reform of the Nomenclature of Zoology was a subject which occupied much of the time of the late Hugh E. Strickland.* It was his object that this reform should be brought forward under the auspices of the British Association, and at a meeting of the Council of that body, held in London upon 11th February 1842, it was resolved —‘* That with a view of securing attention to the following important subject, a committee, consisting of Mr C. Darwin, Professor Henslow, Rev. L. Jenyns, Mr W. Ogilby, Mr J. Phillips, Dr Richardson, Mr H. E. Strickland (reporter), Mr J. O. Westwood, be appointed, to consider of the rules by which the nomenclature of zoology may be established on a uniform and permanent basis; the report to be presented to the Zoological Section, and submitted to its committee at the Manchester meet- ting.” T This committee met at various times in London, and the follow- ing gentlemen were added to it, and assisted in its labours: W. J. Broderip, Professor Owen, W. E. Shuckard, G. R. Waterhouse, and W. Yarrell. An outline of the proposed code of rules was drawn up and circulated, and many valuable suggestions were received from eminent zoologists at home and abroad. The ‘“‘ plan” was farther considered by the committee during the meet- ing at Manchester, “ and the committee having thus given their best endeavours to maturing the plan, beg now to submit it to the approval of the British Association under the title of —‘ Series of Propositions for rendering the Nomenclature of Zoology uniform and permanent.’ ” t The propositions were printed in the Reports of the British Association, and a grant of money was voted to print copies for * See Memoirs of Hugh Edwin Strickland, by Sir W. Jardine, Bart., p. CIxxv. | +t Report of Twelfth Meeting of British Association held at Manchester, June 1842, p. 105. t Report of Twelfth Meeting, 1842, p. 106. Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 261 circulation. The rules thus laid down were very generally adopted by zoologists, both in this country and abroad; but having been only printed in the volumes of the British Association, ‘‘ Annals of Natural History,” and ‘‘ Philosophical Magazine,”’* or depend- ing on private circulation only, it was deemed advisable that greater publicity should be given to them, and at the meeting at Oxford in 1860 it was resolved, that ‘‘The surviving members of the committee appointed in 1842—viz., Mr C. Darwin, Rev. Professor Henslow, Rev. L. Jenyns, Mr W. Ogilby, Professor Phillips, Sir John Richardson, Mr J. O. Westwood, Professor Owen, Mr W. E. Shuckard, and Mr G. Waterhouse—for the pur- pose of preparing rules for the establishment of a uniform zoolo- gical nomenclature, be re-appointed, with Sir W. Jardine, Bart., and Mr P. L. Sclater. That Sir W. Jardine be the Secretary, and that the sum of L.10 be placed at their disposal for the purpose of revising and reprinting the rules.” t From the difficulty of bringing such a committee together, nothing was done since the time of its appointment ; but the reso- lution and the grant of money were again renewed at the late meet- ing in Newcastle, as follows :—“ That Sir W. Jardine, A. R. Wallace, J. E. Gray, C. C. Babington, Dr Francis, P. L. Sclater, C. Spence Bate, P. P. Carpenter, Dr J. D. Hooker, Professor Balfour, H. T. Stainton, J. Gwyn Jeffreys, A. Newton, Professor T. H. Huxley, Professor Allman, and Mr Bentham, be a com- mittee, with power to add to their number, to report on the changes which they may consider it desirable to make, if any, in the rules of nomenclature drawn up at the instance of the Asso- ciation by Mr Strickland and others, with power to reprint these rules, and to correspond with foreign naturalists and others on the best means of insuring their general adoption.—L.15.” Accordingly the rules, as originally circulated, are now re- printed, and zoologists are requested to examine them carefully, and to communicate any suggestions for alteration or improve- ment, on or before 1st June 1864, to Sir Wilkam Jardine, Bart., Jardine Hall, by Lockerby, N.B., who will consult with the mem- bers of the committee, and report upon the subject at the next meeting of the British Association appointed to be held at Bath. Jardine Hall, 8th Sept. 1863. * At the Scientific Congress held in 1843 at Padua, the late Prince C. L. Buonaparte submitted to the meeting an Italian translation of the ‘ British Association’s Code of Rules,” which was generally approved of. A French translation of the report appeared in the scientific journal ‘“ L’Institut,” in which paper much stress was laid on the importance of the measure, A review of it was also printed in the ‘“‘ American Journal of Science.” Tt Reports of the British Association held at Oxford, 1860, p. xlvi. NEW SERIES,—VOL. XVIII. NO. II.—oOcTOBER 1863. ee 262 Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. Series of Propositions for rendering the Nomenclature of Zoology uniform and permanent. [Reprinted from the Report of the British Association four 1842.] PREFACE, All persons who are conversant with the present state of Zoology must be aware of the great detriment which the science sustains from the vagueness and uncertainty of its nomenclature. We do not here refer to those diversities of language which arise from the various methods of classification adopted by different authors, and which are unavoidable in the present state of our knowledge. So long as naturalists differ in the views which they are disposed to take of the natural affinities of animals there will always be diversities of classification, and the only way to arrive at the true system of nature is to allow perfect liberty to systematists in this respect. But the evil complained of is of a different character. It consists in this, that when naturalists are agreed as to the characters and limits of an individual group or species, they still disagree in the appellations by which they distinguish it. . nea, Ol 2 oe. VY » ng. U 29 y- : ry) h. When a name has been erroneously written and its orthography has been afterwards amended, we conceive that the authority of the original author should still be retained for the name, and not that of the person who makes the correction, PART ILI. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE NOMENCLATURE IN FUTURE. The above propositions are all which, in the present state of the science, it appears practicable to invest with the character of laws. We have endeavoured to make them as few and simple as pos- sible, in the hope that they may be the more easily comprehended and adopted by naturalists in general, We are aware that a large number of other regulations, some of which are hereafter enume- rated, have been proposed and acted upon by various authors who have undertaken the difficult task of legislating on this subject ; but as the enforcement of such rules would in many cases under- mine the invaluable principle of priority, we do not feel justified in adopting them. At the same time we fully admit that the rules in question are, for the most part, founded on just criticism, and therefore, though we do not allow them to operate retrospec- tively, we are willing to retain them for future guidance. Although it is of the first importance that the principle of priority should be held paramount to all others, yet we are not blind to the desir- ableness of rendering our scientific language palatable to the scholar and the man of taste. Many zoological terms, which are now marked with the stamp of perpetual currency, are yet so far defective in construction, that our inability to remove them with- out infringing the law of priority may be a subject of regret. With these terms we cannot interfere, if we adhere to the prin- ciples above laid down; nor is there even any remedy, if authors Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 275 insist on infringing the rules of good taste by introducing into the science words of the same inelegant or unclassical character in future. But that which cannot be enforced by law may, in some measure, be effected by persuasion; and with this view we sub- mit the following propositions to naturalists, under the title of Recommendations for the Improvement of Zoological Nomenclature in future. [The best names are Latin or Greek characteristic words.| The classical languages being selected for zoology, and words being more easily remembered in proportion as they are expres- sive, it is self-evident that § A. The best zoological names are those which are de- rived from the Latin or Greek, and express some distin- guishing characteristic of the object to which they are applied. [Classes of objectionable names. ] It follows from hence that the following classes of words are more or less objectionable in point of taste, though, in the case of genera, it is often necessary to use them, from the impossibility of finding characteristic words which have not before been employed for other genera. We will commence with those which appear the least open to objection, such as a. Geographical names,—These words being for the most part adjectives can rarely be used for genera. As designations of species they have been so strongly objected to, that some authors (Wagler, for instance) have gone the length of substituting fresh names wherever they occur; others (e.g. Swainson) will only to- lerate them where they apply exclusively, as Lepus hibernicus, T'ro- glodytes europeus, &c. We are by no means disposed to go to this length. It is not the less true that the Hirundo javanica is a Javanese bird, even though it may occur in other countries also, and though other species of Hirundo may occur in Java. The utmost that can be urged against such words is, that they do not tell the whole truth. However, as so many authors object to this class of names, it is better to avoid giving them, except where there is reason to believe that the species is chiefly confined to the country whose name it bears. b. Barbarous names.—Some authors protest strongly against the introduction of exotic words into our Latin nomenclature, others defend the practice with equal warmth. We may remark, first, that the practice is not contrary to classical usage, for the Greeks and Romans did occasionally, though with reluctance, introduce barbarous words in a modified form into their respective languages. Secondly, the preservation of the trivial names which 276 Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. animals bear in their native countries is often of great use to the traveller in aiding him to discover and identify species. We do not therefore consider, if such words have a Latin termination given to them, that the occasional and judicious use of them as scientific terms can be justly objected to. c. Technical names.—All words expressive of trades and pro- fessions have been by some writers excluded from zoology, but without sufficient reason. Words of this class, when carefully chosen, often express the peculiar characters and habits of ani- mals in a metaphorical manner, which is highly elegant. We may cite the generic terms, Arvicola, Lanius, Pastor, Tyrannus, Regulus, Mimus, Ploceus, &c., as favourable examples of this class of names. d. Mythological or historical names.—When these have no per- ceptible reference or allusion to the characters of the object on which they are conferred, they may be properly regarded as un- meaning and in bad taste. Thus the generic names, Lesbia, Leilus, Remus, Corydon, Pasiphe, have been applied to a Hum- ming bird, a Butterfly, a Beetle, a Parrot, and a Crab respectively, without any perceptible association of ideas. But mythological names may sometimes be used as generic with the same propriety as technical ones, in cases where a direct allusion can be traced between the narrated actions of a personage and the observed habits or structure of an animal. Thus when the name Progne is given to a Swallow, Clotho to a Spider, Hydra to a Polyp, Athene to an Owl, Nestor to a grey-headed Parrot, &c., a pleas- ing and beneficial connection is established between classical lite- rature and physical science. e. Comparative names.—The objections which have been raised to words of this class are not without foundation. The names, no less than the definitions of objects, should, where practicable, be drawn from positive and self-evident characters, and not from a comparison with other objects, which may be less known to the reader than the one before him. Specific names expressive of comparative size are also to be avoided, as they may be rendered inaccurate by the after discovery of additional species. The names L’icoides, Emberizoides, Pseudoluscinia, rubeculoides, maxi- mus, minor, minimus, &c., are examples of this objectionable — practice. f. Generic names compounded from other genera.—These are in some degree open to the same imputation as comparative words ; but as they often serve to express the position of a genus as inter- mediate to, or allied with, two other genera, they may occasionally be used with advantage. Care must be taken not to adopt such compound words as are of too great length, and not to corrupt them in trying to render them shorter. The names Gallopavo, Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 277 ‘etraogallus, Gypaetos, are examples of the appropriate use of compound words. g. Specific names derived from persons—So long as these complimentary designations are used with moderation, and are restricted to persons of eminence as scientific zoologists, they may be employed with propriety in cases where expressive or charac- teristic words are not to be found. But we fully concur with those who censure the practice of naming species after persons of no scientific reputation, as curiosity-dealers (e. g. Caniveti, Bois- soneauti), Peruvian priestesses (Cora, Amazilia), or Hottentots (Klass). h. Generic names derived from persons.—Words of this class have been very extensively used in botany, and therefore it would have been well to have excluded them wholly from zoology, for the sake of obtaining a memoria technica by which the name of a genus would at once tell us to which of the kingdoms of nature it belonged. Some few personal generic names have, however, crept into zoology, as Cuvieria, Mulleria, Rossia, Lessonia, &c., but they are very rare in comparison with those of botany, and it is perhaps desirable not to add to their number. t. Names of harsh and inelegant pronunciation.—These words are grating to the ear, either from inelegance of form, as Huhua Yuhina, Crawirex, Eschscholizi, or from too great length, as chirostrongylostinus, Opetiorhynchus, brachypodioides, Thecodon- tosaurus, not to mention the Enaliolimnosaurus crocodilocephaloides of a German naturalist. It is needless to enlarge on the advan- tage of consulting euphony in the construction of our language. As a general rule it may be recommended to avoid introducing words of more than five syllables. k, Ancient names of animals applied in a wrong sense.—It has been customary, in numerous cases, to apply the names of animals found in classic authors at random to exotic genera or species which were wholly unknown to the ancients. The names Cebus, Callithriz, Spiza, Kitta, Struthus, are examples. This practice ought by no means to be encouraged. The usual defence for it is, that it is impossible now to identify the species to which the name was anciently applied. But it is certain that if any traveller will take the trouble to collect the vernacular names used by the modern Greeks and Italians for the Vertebrata and Mollusca of southern Europe, the meaning of the ancient names may in most cases be determined with the greatest precision. It has been well remarked that a Cretan fisher boy is a far better commentator on Aristotle’s ‘ History of Animals’ than a British or German scholar. The use however of ancient names, when correctly applied, is most desirable, for ‘“‘in framing scientific NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIII. NO. 11.—OCTOBER 1863. 2N 278 Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. terms, the appropriation of old words is preferable to the formation of new ones.’ * l, Adjective generic names.—The names of genera are in all cases essentially substantive, and hence adjective terms cannot be employed for them without doing violence to grammar. The generic names Hians, Criniger, Cursorius, Nitidula, &c., are ex- amples of this incorrect usage. m. Hybrid names.—Compound words, whose component parts are taken from two different languages, are great deformities in nomenclature, and naturalists should be especially guarded not to introduce any more such terms into zoology, which furnishes too many examples of them already. We have them compounded of Greek and Latin, as Dendrofalco, Gymnocorvus, Monoculus, Arborophila flavigaster; Greek and French, as Jacamaralcyon, Jacamerops; and Greek and English, as Bullockoides, Gilbert- socrinites. n. Names closely resembling other names already used.—By Rule 10 it was laid down, that when a name is introduced which is identical with one previously used, the later one should be changed, Some authors have extended the same principle to eases where the later name, when correctly written, only ap- proaches in form, without wholly coinciding with, the earlier. We do not, however, think it advisable to make this law imperative, first, because of the vast extent of our nomenclature, which renders it highly difficult to find a name which shall not bear more or less resemblance in sound to some other; and, secondly, because of the impossibility of fixing a limit to the degree of ap- proximation beyond which such a Jaw should cease to operate. We content ourselves, therefore, with putting forth this pro- position merely as a recommendation to naturalists, in selecting generic names, to avoid such as too closely approximate words already adopted. So with respect to species, the judicious naturalist will aim at variety of designation, and will not, for ex- ample, call a species viens or virescens in a yenus which already possesses a viridis, o, Corrupted words.—In the construction of compound Latin words, there are certain grammatical rules which have been. known and acted on for two thousand years, and which a natu- ralist is bound to acquaint himself with before he tries his skill in coining zoological terms. One of the chief of these rules is, that in compounding words all the radical or essential parts of the constituent members must be retained, and no change made ex- cept in the variable terminations. But several generic names have been lately introduced which run counter to this rule, and * Whewell, Phil. Ind. Sc. v. i. p. xvii. Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 279 form most unsightly objects to all who are conversant with the - spirit of the Latin language. A name made up of the first half of one word and the last half of another, is as deformed a monster in nomenclature as a Mermaid or a Centaur would be in zoology ; yet we find examples in the names Corcorax (from Corvus and Pyrrhocoraz), Cypsnagra (from Cypselus and Tanagra), Merulazis (Merula and Synallawis), Lowigilla (Loxia and Fringilla), &e. In other cases, where the commencement of both the simple words is retained in the compound, a fault is still committed by cutting off too much of the radical and vital portions, as is the case in Bucorvus (from Buceros and Corvus), Ninox (Nisus and Noctua), &e. p. Nonsense names.—Some authors having found difliculty in selecting generic names which have not been used before, have adopted the plan of coining words at random without any deri- vation of meaning whatever. The following are examples: Viralva, Xema, Azeca, Assiminia, Quedius, Spisula. To the same class we may refer anagrams of other generic names, as Dacele and C'edola of Alcedo, Zapornia of Porzana, &c. Such verbal trifling as this is in very bad taste, and is especially cal- culated to bring the science into contempt. It finds no precedent in the Augustan age of Latin, but can be compared only to the puerile quibblings of the middle ages. It is contrary to the genius of all languages, which appear never to produce new words by spontaneous generation, but always to derive them from some other source, however distant or obscure. And it is peculiarly annoying to the etymologist, who, after seeking in vain through the vast storehouses of human language for the parentage of such words, discovers at last that he has been pursuing an ignis fatuus. q. Names previously cancelled by the operation of § 6.—Some authors consider that when a name has been reduced to a synonym by the operations of the laws of priority, they are then at liberty to apply it at pleasure to any new group which may be in want of a name. We consider, however, that when a word has once been proposed in a given sense, and has afterwards sunk into a synonym, it is far better to lay it aside for ever than to run the risk of making confusion by re-issuing it with a new meaning attached, yr, Specific names raised into generic.—It has sometimes been the practice in subdividing an old genus to give to the lesser genera so formed, the names of their respective typical species. Our Rule 13 authorizes the forming a new specific name in such cases ; but we further wish to state our objections to the practice altogether. Considering as we do that the original specific names should as far as possible be held sacred, both on the grounds of justice to their authors and of practical convenience to naturalists, 280 Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. we would strongly dissuade from the further continuance of a practice which is gratuitous in itself, and which involves the necessity of altering long established specific names. We have now pointed out the principal rocks and shoals which lie in the path of the nomenclator ; and it will be seen that the navigation through them is by no means easy. The task of con- structing a language which shall supply the demands of scientific accuracy on the one hand, and of literary elegance on the other, is not to be inconsiderately undertaken by unqualified persons. Our nomenclature presents but too many flaws and inelegancies already, and as the stern law of priority forbids their removal, it follows that they must remain as monuments of the bad taste or bad scholarship of their authors to the latest ages in which zoology shall be studied. [Families to end in ide, and Subfamilies in ine. ] The practice suggested in the following proposition has been adopted by many recent authors, and its simplicity and con- venience is so great that we strongly recommend its universal use. § B. It is recommended that the assemblages of genera termed families should be uniformly named by adding the termination ide to the name of the earliest known, or most typically characterized genus in them; and that their sub- divisions, termed subfamilies, should be similarly con- structed, with the termination ine. These words are formed by changing the last syllable of the genitive case into idé or ine, as Strix, Strigis, Strigide, Buceros, Bucerotis, Bucerotide, not Strivide, Buceride, [Specific names to be written with a small initial.} A convenient memoria technica may be effected by adopting our next proposition. It has been usual, when the titles of species are derived from proper names, to write them with a capital letter, and hence when the specific name is used alone it is liable to be occasionally mistaken for the title of a genus. But if the titles of species were invariably written with a small initial, and those of genera with a capital, the eye would at once distinguish the rank of the group referred to, and a possible source of error would be avoided. It should be further remembered that all species are equal, and should therefore be written all alike. We suggest, then, that § ©. Specific names should always be written with a small initial letter, even when derived from persons or places, and generic names should be always written with a capital. Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 281 [The authority for a species, exclusive of the genus, to be followed by a distinctive expression | The systematic names of zoology being still far from that state of fixity which is the ultimate aim of the science, it is frequently necessary for correct indication to append to them the name of the person on whose authority they have been proposed, When the same person is authority both for the specific and generic name, the case is very simple ; but when the specific name of one author is annexed to the generic name of another, some difficulty occurs. For example, the Muscicapa crinita of Linnzus belongs to the modern genus Z'yrannus of Vieillot ; but Swainson was the first to apply the specific name of Linneus to the generic one of Vieillot. The question now arises, Whose authority is to be quoted for the name Tyrannus crinitus? The expression Tyrannus crinitus, Linn., would imply what is untrue, for Linneus did not use the term Lares and Tyrannus Site Vieill., is equally incorrect, for Vieillot did not adopt the name GO If we call it Tyrannus crinitus, Sw., it would imply that Swainson was the first to describe the species, and Linneus would be robbed of his due credit, If we term it Tyrannus, Vieill., cronitus, Linn., we use a form which, though expressing the facts correctly, and therefore not without advantage in particular cases where great exactness is required, is yet too lengthy and inconvenient to be used with ease and rapidity. Of the three persons concerned with the construction of a binomial title in the case before us, we con- ceive that the author who /irst describes and names a species which forms the groundwork of later generalisations, possesses a higher claim to have his name recorded than he who afterwards defines a genus which is found to embrace that species, or who may be the mere accidental means of bringing the generic and specific names into contact. By giving the authority for the specific name in preference to all others, the inquirer is referred directly to the original description, habitat, &c., of the species, and is at the same time reminded of the date of its discovery ; while genera, being less numerous than species, may be carried in the memory, or referred to in systematic works without the necessity of perpetually quoting their authorities. The most simple mode then for ordinary use seems to be, to append to the original authority for the species, when not applying to the genus also, some distinctive mark, such as (sp.), implying an exclusive reference to the specific name, as Tyrannus crinitus (Linn.) (sp.), and to omit this expression when the same authority attaches to both genus and species, as Ostrea edulis, Linn.* Therefore, * The expression T'yrannus crinitus (Linn.) would perhaps be preferable from its greater brevity. 282 Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. §$ D. It is recommended that the authority for a specific name, when not applying to the generic name also, should be followed by the distinctive expression (sp.) [New genera and species to be defined amply and publicly.] A large proportion of the complicated mass of synonyms which has now become the opprobrium of zoology, has originated either from the slovenly and imperfect manner in which species and groups have been originally defined, or from their definitions having been inserted in obscure local publications which have never obtained an extensive circulation, Therefore, although under § 12, we have conceded that mere insertion in a printed book is sufficient for publication, yet we would strongly advise the authors of new groups always to give, in the first instance, a full and accurate definition of their characters, and to insert the same in such periodical or other works as are likely to obtain an immediate and extensive circulation. To state this briefly, § E. It is recommended that new genera or species be amply defined, and extensively circulated in the first instance. [The names to be given to subdivisions of genera to agree in gender with the original genus. | In order to preserve specific names as far as possible in an unaltered form, whatever may be the changes which the genera to which they are referred may undergo, it is desirable, when it can be done with propriety, to make the new subdivisions of genera agree in gender with the old groups from which they are formed. This recommendation does not, however, authorise the changing the gender or termination of a genus already established. In brief, § F. It is recommended that in subdividing an old genus in future, the names given to the subdivisions should agree in gender with that of the orginal group. [ Etymologies and types of new genera to be stated. | It is obvious that the names of genera would in general be far more carefully constructed, and their definitions would be rendered more exact, if authors would adopt. the following suggestion :— § G. It is recommended that in defining new genera the etymology of the name should be always stated, and that one species should be invariably selected as a type or standard of reference. : In concluding this outline of a scheme for the rectification of zoological nomenclature, we have only to remark, that almost Proposed Reform of Zoological Nomenclature. 283 the whole of the propositions contained in it may be applied with equal correctness to the sister science of botany. We have pre- ferred, however, in this essay to limit our views to zoology, both for the sake of rendering the question less complex, and because we conceive that the botanical nomenclature of the present day stands in much less need of distinct enactment than the zoological. The admirable rules laid down by Linnzus, Smith, Decandolle, and other botanists (to which, no less than to the works of Fabricius, Illiger, Vigors, Swainson, and other zoologists, we have been much indebted in preparing the present document), have always exercised a beneficial influence over their disciples. Hence the language of botany has attained a more perfect and stable condition than that of zoology; and if this attempt at refor- mation may have the effect of advancing zoological nomenclature beyond its present backward and abnormal state, the wishes of its promoters will be fully attained. (Signed) H.E. Srricktanp. J. 8S. Henstow. JouN PHILLIPS. W. E. Sucxuarp. Joun RICHARDSON. G. R. WatTERHOUSE. RicuarD Owen. W. YARRELL. LEONARD JENYNS. C. Darwin. W. J. Bropenrip. J. O. WeEstwoop. June 27, 1842. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. British Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Newcastle, August 1863. Section AA—MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. President—Professor W. J. Macquorn RankINeE. “‘ Report of the Committee on Electrical Standards.” By Mr Firemine JenKIN.—The Committee report that the system of so-called absolute electrical units, based on purely mechanical measurements, is the only system consistent with our present knowledge, both of the relations ex- isting between the various electrical phenomena, and of the connection be- tween these and the fundamental measurements of time, mass, and space. The doubts felt as to the accuracy with which this system could be reduced to practice have been dispelled by the success of experiments made for the Committee by Prof. Maxwell, Mr Stewart, and Mr Jenkin on the measurement of the absolute resistance of a conductor, by a method due to Prof. W. Thomson. Standard resistance coils will shortly be issued based on these experiments, which will, however, be repeated, with en- tirely new data, before this final step is taken, so as to avoid every chance 284 Proceedings of Societies. oferror. The other electrical measurements in the absolute system offer comparatively little difficulty. ‘** Researches on the Moon.” By Prof. Pariturrs.—The author having on previous occasions presented his views as to the methods and objects of research in the moon, was desirous now to state a few results, and ex- hibit a few drawings, the fruit of recent examinations of the moon by means of a new equatorial by Cooke, with an object-glass of 6 inches. In sketching ring mountains, such as Theophilus and Posidonius, the author has been greatly interested by the changes of aspect which even a small alteration in the angles of elevation and azimuth respectively pro- duce in the shadow and lights. Taking an example from Cyrillus, with its rocky interior, and fixing attention on the nearly central mountain, it always appears in the morning light to have two principal unperforated masses. By a slight change in the direction of the light, the division of these masses is deeply shaded on the north or deeply shaded on the south, and the figure of the masses, 7.e. the limit of light and shade, seems altered. A slight change in the angle of elevation of the incident light makes more remarkable differences. On Posidonius, which is a low, nearly level plateau, within moderately raised borders, the mid-morning light shows with beautiful distinctness the shield-like disc of the moun- tain, with narrow broken walls, and in the interior, broad, easy undu- lations, one large and several smaller craters. In earlier morning more craters appear, and the interior ridges gather to form a broken terrace subordinate to the principal ridge. This cireumstance of an interior broken terrace, under the high main ring of mountain, is very frequent, — but it is often concealed by the shadow of the great ridge in early morning shadows. ‘To see it emerge into half-lights, and finally to distinct digita- tions and variously directed ridges, as the light falls at increasing angles, is a very beautiful sight. But it is chiefly to the variations in the central masses of lunar mountains and their physical bearings that the author wishes to direct attention. Many smaller mountains are simply like cups set in saucers, while others contain only one central or several dispersed cups. In Plato is a nearly central very small cup, bright, and giving a distinct shadow on the grey ground, as seen by Mr Lockyer, Mr Birt, and Professor Phillips himself. But in the centre of many of the larger moun- tains, as Copernicus, Gassendi and Theophilus, is a large mass of broken rocky country, 5,000 or 6,000 feet high, with buttresses passing off into collateral ridges, or an undulated surface of low ridges and hollows. The most remarkable object of this kind which the author has yet observed with attention is in Theophilus, of which mountain two drawings are given, in which the author places equal confidence, except that the later drawing may have the advantage of more experience. ‘The central mass is seen under powers of 200-400 (the best performance is from 200 to 300), and appears as a large conical mass of rocks about fifteen miles in diameter, and divided by deep chasms radiating from the centre. The rock-masses between these deep clefts are bright and shining, the clefts widen towards the centre, the eastern side is more diversified than the western, and like the southern side has long excurrent buttresses. As the light grows on the mountain, point after point of the mass on the eastern side comes out of the shade, and the whole figure resembles an uplifted mass which broke with radiating cracks in the act of elevation. Hxcepting in steepness, this resembles the theoretical Mont d’Or of De Beaumont ; and as there is no mark of cups or craters in this mass of broken ground the author is disposed to regard its origin as really due to the displacement of a solidi- fied part of the moon’s crust. He might be justified by Prof. Secchi’s drawing of Copernicus, in inquiring if the low excurrent buttresses may British Association. 285 indicate issues of lava on the southern and western sides? On the whole, the author is confirmed in the opinion he has elsewhere expressed, that on the moon’s face are features more strongly marked than on our own globe, which, rightly studied, may lead to a knowledge of voleanic action under grander and simpler conditions than have prevailed on the earth during the period of subaérial voleanoes. The author also exhibited a drawing of Aristarchus, showing some undescribed features in the aspect of that, the highest part of the moon’s surface. “On Sun Spots and their Connection with Planetary Configuration.” By Mr Batrovur Stewart.—The author of this note having recently found in the course of conversation with Prof. P. G. Tait of Edinburgh, that they had both, independently, and by different trains of reasoning, been led to suspect the existence of a new principle in Natural Philosophy, which, however, must of course stand or fall by appeal to experiment and ob- servation,—it fell to his lot to endeavour to ascertain if there be any connection between sun-spots and planetary configurations. In a pre- liminary inquiry with this object in view, he was led to observe the changes with regard to size which take place in sun-spots, from a remark by Mr Beckley of Kew Observatory, that, during a certain period, he did not observe any spots break out on the visible disc of our luminary. Besides about six months’ records of these phenomena, made by means of the Kew photoheliograph at the Kew Observatory, the author has had the opportunity of investigating a year’s records made by the same instru- ment at Mr De La Rue’s private Observatory at Cranford. All of these are collodion negatives, and besides embracing a few months in the end of 1859, they give an almost continuous record of the state of the sun’s dise between February 1862 and the present date. There is little difficulty in finding from these, by means of a comparison of two or three conse- cutive pictures, approximately, at what portion of the sun’s disc any spot ceases to increase and begins to wane, or, on the other hand, breaks out into a visible appearance. Now it appears to be a law nearly universal, that if we divide the dise of the sun roughly into longitude by vertical diameters, and if there be a number of spots on the surface of the sun, these will all behave in the same manner as they cross the same longitude ; that is to say, if one spot decreases another will decrease also, and so on. This law can, of course, be only approximately ascertained by means of a preliminary examination of this nature; but the impression produced upon the author is very strong, that if one spot decreases before coming to the central line, another does the same; if, on the other hand, one spot breaks out on the right half and increases up to the border, another will do the same. The author thinks, moreover, that he has noticed a connection between this behaviour of sun-spots, and the configuration of the nearer planets, Mercury and Venus, and it would seem to be of this nature. Remembering that all motions are from left to right, let us sup- pose that Mercury and Venus are both in a line considerably to the left of the Harth ; then spots will decrease as they come round from the left- hand side, and before they reach the centre of the disc. On the other hand, if these two planets are considerably to the right of the Earth, there will be a tendency for spots to form on the right half of the dise, and to increase up to the border. The author would, however, guard himself against the supposition that he attributes all the phenomena of spots to the agency of these two planets. ** On the Path of a Meteoric Fireball relatively to the Harth’s Centre.” By Prof. Corrin. ‘‘Qn the changing Colours of the Star 95 Herculis.” By Prof. C. NEW SERIES.— VOL, XVIII. NO. I1,—OCTOBER 1868, 20 286 Proceedings of Societies. Prazzi Smytu.—The star 95 Herculis is a double star, of which the two members are nearly of equal magnitude, about the 5th, and are six seconds apart, in R.A. 17h. 55’ 33” and D 21° 25’ 56” in 1860. It has hitherto been catalogued as a diversely coloured pair of stars to an extreme degree, one member being called ‘apple green” and the other “cherry red.” These colours have moreover been looked upon, as are the colours of all ordinary stars, as constant features sensibly. Being observed, however, by the author, when he was on the peak of Teneriffe, in 1856, they were found nearly colourless, and without any diversity of tint, the one from the other. This observation appears to have been considered anomalous, and was so to a certain extent; but on examining older authorities the author has met with two other instances of an equality of pale colour being observed on the two components of 95 Herculis—one by Sestini, in 1844-5, and the other by Struve in 1882-58 ; and remarks that while these two epochs are separated by twelve years exact to a tenth, the latter of them precedes the Teneriffe observation in 1856-58 by almost exactly the same quantity. Now this looks like a regular periodic change, and in a very short period, for it is not impro- bable but that the twelve years is a multiple of a shorter period still, and during which the change of tint of the stars is so marked that from being merely grey at a certain time, one star has been described as becoming an ‘astonishing yellow green,’ and the other “an egregious red.” Although this is the first instance of this kind yet detected in the sky, the author thinks that it will not be found a solitary one; and that its phenomena may bear some relation to the ‘‘ eclipse” pink prominences of our sun, and to auroral displays about the earth. ‘On a New Revolving Scale for Measuring Curved Lines.” By Mr H. Scunacintweit.—This instrument consisted of a small brass wheel re- volving in a short handle, the circumference about two inches round, having a number of very short steel pins inserted radially, the number depending on the scale to which it was desired to measure the curve ; and the side of the wheel having graduations corresponding to the pins on the circumference, the zero and other remarkable divisions being distinguished from the lesser graduations. ‘¢On some Phenomena produced by the Refractive Power of the Eye.”’ By Mr A. Craupet.—This paper was to explain several effects of the re- fraction through the eye, one of which is, that objects situated a little be- hind us, are seen as if they were on a straight line from right to left. Another, that the pictures of external objects which are represented on the retina, are included in an angle much larger than one-half of the sphere at the centre of which the observer is placed; from this point of view a single glance encompasses a vast and splendid panorama extending to an angle of 200°. This is the result of the common law of refraction. Mr B.S. Procror read a paper ‘On the Focal Adjustment of the Hye.” M. Cuaupet exhibited his “ Star Chromatoscope,” a small telescope fixed upon a stand, and revolving. It is used to observe stars, and the effect produced is, that on looking through the instrument a luminous ring is seen reflecting the particular colour or colours of the star observed. Dr Ax read a paper “On the Transmutation of Spectral Rays,” including some curious speculations on the luminosity of the sun and stars. The Abbé Moreno exhibited and explained the “ Tenebroscope”’ in- vented by M. Soleil to illustrate the principle of the invisibility of light. The Abbé humorously observed that this term was somewat of an Irishism, but nevertheless it was a fact that light is quite invisible, for celestial space ~—— British Association. 287 was perfectly dark until the appearance of a celestial body, and then it became perfectly illuminated. The instrument is formed in the manner of a common spy-glass, with a break in the centre of the tube to admit light. Below is a spring, with a small ivory ball attached. The observer looks through one end of the instrument and sees that all is dulness; but when the spring is raised, the space becomes illuminated with light, showing that the introduction of the ball is necessary to render the light visible. Professor C. P1azz1 Smyru then entered into a history and explanation of the time-signals. “On a Printing-Telegraph.” By Professor D. E. Huenes.—This in- strument possesses special merits not only for land lines, but for long sub-marine lines, from the fact of its requiring but one wave to each letter, and the sensitiveness and simplicity of the electrical arrangements. The following rates of speed were obtained in different lengths of cables :— Atlantic cable, ... 20.000. 2500 miles, 4 words per minute. REMC, COs, nnxe'cadnst'smate 2000 5... 96 - PO Ye PIA «she's siose'e sien ote LOU OS 55, eu i 1. gig NA acco alt 500 ,, 24 Menmrark-do., 2eiscecscces.es 360 ,, 22 2 Masmiania do., ....03..26.c85. 240°, * 30 2s On aerial lines the average speed of good operators is forty words per minute. Mr W. Coox read a paper on the Printing-Telegraph invented by M. le Chevallier Bonelli (the former Director of Telegraph in Italy), in which the messages are printed by means of types.—The telegraph transmitted a message in six seconds, and it was quite possible to work it at a long distance. Mr W. Lapp exhibited a new form of Syren, adapted for the lecture- table, to illustrate acoustics and harmony. ; Mr Lapp exhibited an acoustic telegraph for the transmission of musical notes and sounds between distant points, this ingenious con- trivance being the invention of a schoolmaster at Frankfort, whom Mr Ladd had met with in his travels. Mr Lapp also exhibited a small electromotive engine, constructed by himself on a new principle, and calculated to lift a weight of twenty-two lbs. eight inches per minute. . Professor CHEVALLIER introduced a new series of numbers, invented by Mr R. 8. Browne, for expressing the distances between the planets. Professor C. W. Siemens read a paper ‘‘ On the Electrical Resistance and the Electrification of India-rubber under a pressure of 300 tons,” detailing experiments he had made with the Malta and Alexandria sub- marine cable, &c.—The Professor explained that, as Mr Jenkin had pre- viously discovered that electrification is not influenced by temperature, so his own experiments went to show that it, was not affected by pressure ; but the latter exercised this abnormal influence on these materials, that it increased the resistance in gutta percha, but decreased it in India-rubber. ‘* Report on Luminous Meteors.” By Mr J. Guaisuer. — ‘“‘ Description of a Solar Kye-piece,” made by the Rey. Mr Dawes, F.R.A.S. By Dr Lez.—The peculiarity of the instrument consisted in having a metallic slide, with perforations of different sizes, which crossed the eye-tube at right angles, just at the focus of the object-glass, and 288 Proceedings of Societies. though the slide would become greatly heated while viewing the sun, the conduction was cut off by interposing a plate of ivory. “On the Relationship between the Variation of the Earth’s Eccentricity and that of the Moon’s Mean Motion in Longitude.” By Dr Hincxs. “On the Connection that exists between Admiral Fitzroy’s ‘ Caution Telegrams’ and the Luminosity of Phosphorus.” By Dr Morrart. “ Report of Balloon Committee.” By Dr Ler. * Report on Balloon Ascents.”” By Mr J. GuaisHer, “On the Selenographical Relations between the Chain of Lunar Mountains ‘the Alps,’ with the ‘Mare Imbrium,’ and the ‘ Mare Frigoris.’"” By Mr W. R. Birt. Professor Curvauuier described a New Instrument for Ascertaining the Height of a Cloud by taking the Measure of the Shadow Projected— the instrument being formed something like a “ two-foot rule” with an upright piece attached. ‘On the Distribution of Heat on the Sun’s Surface, and the Currents of his Atmosphere.” By Mr J. J. Murpuy. “On Ozone, more especially on Ozone Tests,” By Mr E. J. Lowe. “Comparisons of Curves afforded by Self-recording Magnetographs at Kew and Lisbon.” By Mr Batrovur Stewart. ‘Description of the Experimental Series of Rain-Gauges erected at Calne.” By Mr G. J. Symons. “‘ Meteorological Observations.” By Rev. J. Ranxinz. “On a New Kind of Miniature, possessing Apparent Solidity by Means of a Combination of Prisms.” By Mr H. Swan. Dr Lee read a paper descriptive of certain Mountains and Craters in the Moon, discovered by himself and Mr Birt. One they had named “Mare Smythii,” in honour of Professor C. Piazzi Smyth. Another portion of the lunar landscape had been named ‘‘the Phillips Walled Plain,’ in honour of Professor Phillips, who had bestowed much atten- tion on the physical features of the lunar surface. Thirdly, they had given to an elevated range the name of the ‘‘ Percy Mountains,” in compliment to His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, who had been the only nobleman to go through a complete course of university study of three years inastronomy. The Duke had also rendered the important service of presenting to the University of Cambridge their large North- umberland Telescope. ‘‘On the System of Forecasting the Weather pursued in Holland.” By Dr Buys Battor. “Account of Preliminary Experiments on Chalcescence.” By Dr AKIN. “On Spectral Analysis.’”” By Professor Piucker. ‘*On Specific Refractive Energy.” By Dr Guapstons and Mr Dale. “On the Quantity and Centre of Gravity of Figures given in Perspec- tive, or Homography.” By Professor SyLvester. ‘‘On the Augmentation of the Apparent Diameter of a Body by Atmospheric Refraction.” By Mr 8. ALexanper. ‘On the Conditions of the Resolvability of Homogeneous Algebraical Polynomicals into Factors.” By Mr J. J. Wauxer. “On the Elasticity of the Vapourof Sulphuric Acid.” By Mr T. Tate. British Association. 289 “ On the Result of Reductions of Curves obtained from the Self-record- ing Electrometer at Kew.” By Professor W. THomson. «On the Mathematical Theory of Plane Water Lines.” By Professor RANKINE. ‘ “On a certain class of Mathematical Symbols.” By Mr W. H. RUSSELL. “On a Mercurial Air-Pump.” By Mr J. Swan. L’Abbé Moreno exhibited the following instruments:—A Free Air Barometer, by the Abbé Jeannon; a Metallic or Holosteric Barometer, by M. Naudet; a New Micrometer, by M. H. Soleil. L’Abbé Moreno also exhibited Specimens of Telegraphic Facsimiles, produced by Casselli’s method. L’Abbé Moieno communicated a paper by M. Oudry on Galvanic Copper and its Applications. “On a New Marine Barometer, and on a Maximum Thermometer with a New Scale.” By Mr W. Symons. “Interim Report on the Vertical Motion of Currents of Air.” By Professor HENESSY. ““On the Proof of the Dioptric and Actinic Quality of the Atmosphere at a High Elevation.” By Professor Piazzi Smytu. Section B.—CHEMICAL SCIENCE. President—Professor A. W. WILiLIAMson. “© On Fire-Clay Goods.” By Mr J. Cowen, jun.—Fire-clay is obtained in large quantities in the two counties of Durham and Northumberland. It usually lies beneath the Coal Measures in layers, varying in thickness from twelve inches to five or six feet. It is found in most abundance, and in the best quality, beneath the coal used for coking and manufactur- ing purposes. Silica and alumina are the two substances of which fire- clay is chiefly composed. The trade in fire-clay goods is of comparatively recent origin. Its progress at first was slow, but during the last forty years it has extended rapidly, and is still on the increase. The extension during the last twenty-five years has been especially marked and important. Fire-bricks were first made on the Tyne about one hundred years ago. For many years all that were made were consumed in the manufactories in the neighbourhood. Slowly but gradually the trade increased, and the goods made were sent in larger or smaller quantities to different parts of the United Kingdom, and to some of the chief ports in Europe and the British colonies. The extent of the trade in 1838 was as follows :—The number of bricks manufactured at that time per annum was about 7,000,000. The local consumption then was about 2,500,000. The quantity sent to other parts of the United Kingdom was about 3,000,000, and the quantity exported was about 1,500,000. The extent of the trade at the present time is as follows :— ' Number of Fire-bricks made per annum about ......... 80,000,000) The local consumption is estimated at ...........s.seeeeee- 43,000,000 The quantity sent to other parts of the United King- POW US BS MALE Ab. in ec car's is kgedoevs oe cn octuaaw enema \ 27,800,000 PG he, ibamtlty, Cx POMCE Mess a sesh caer a dacledeadrs selew ea oles 9,500,000 290 Proceedings of Soctetves. “On Glass.”” By Mr R. W. Swinsurne.—The art of casting plate glass by throwing the molten material on an iron or copper table, and rolling it into a sheet of equal thickness, was first adopted in England, in Lancashire, in 1771; but there is abundant-proof that plate glass of smaller dimensions was made before that time at South Shields, where is situated the only manufactory of plate glass in this district. In the early part of the seventeenth century, an article called blown plate glass was made at that place, and the manufacture was con- tinued by the family who originally established it until 1845, when the process was abandoned, being entirely superseded by the cast plate. In this is afforded an instance of the superiority of machinery over manual labour. Blown plate glass, which was the great original of the art in all countries, depended entirely in its manipulation on the strength of lungs and dexterity of muscle of the individual operator, whose ckef-d’ euvre was about four feet long and two and a half feet wide, whereas the cast is made by the co-operative efforts of twenty men, who move from the furnace the crucible in which the material is melted, and by means of powerful machinery roll it into a plane of any required dimensions. ‘The record of the daily manufacture of blown plate glass at South Shields, in 1750, is still extant, and affords a curious proof of the infancy of the art and of the difficulties of the operator. Up to the year 1845, the returns of the Excise duty show that there was more plate glass made at South Shields than at any other manufactory in the kingdom. In that year the Excise duty on glass was abrogated, and in consequence the produce of this manufactory has been quadrupled. Previously to 1845, the quantity of unpolished plate glass blown and cast at South Shields was 312,000 feet per annum: now its capability of produce is 1,240,000 feet per annum.