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259

PHRYGIA AND AN EARTHQUAKE.

By J.

T is only a few years since a journey to the ruined
cities of Phrygia which were nearest the coast of
Asia Minor seemed a slow one to those accustomed
to the means of rapid transit in Europe, or a tiring
It had
to be performed on horseback, with hard fare and

one to those who were not physically strong.

often poor quarters at the close of each day’s march.
Tedious or uninteresting it never was to the lover of
Nature or the student of history, for every turn of the
road disclosed some fresh feature of beautiful land-
Scape, some group typical of Turkish country life,
some old ruin, some wild animal, some new flower,
The fresh-

ness of the early morning start, the neighing of the

or other interest in the rock formation.

BLIss.

plain narrows, and at Ortakchai, some eight miles
This i
the great Western door of Phrygia, having on the

further on, it is only about a mile wide.

north the Messogis mountains, and on the south
Salbakos.

plain by a line of low hills composed of sedimentary

Both these ranges are separated from thy
rock and gravel. Those on the north side extend
from the coast opposite Samos, where they interpose
between the Mycale mass and the Messogis to the
junction of the rivers Maeander and Lycus, and
thence up both sides of the latter valley, a total
distance of considerably over a hundred miles. There
are numerous springs of hot water throughout these
hills, the temperature in the centre of those near

Hterapouis Crirr, sHowinG Uprer Hair oF TERRACES AND BAsINs.

horses, the vagaries of the armed escort, the halt at
the wayside café, and the talk with the grave elders,
who never seemed in a hurry, but in reality were
burning with almost childlike eagerness to hear news
from the Frank, the noon siesta under some wide-
spreading tree, the ability to stop whenever bird,
beast, or flower tempted one, combined with youth
and health, all went to make such a journey delight-
ful.

ways, and while we do not wish to imply that it is

This is now changed with the extension of rail-

not a change for the better, we cannot and do not

desire to forget the old ways. We step into the train

at Smyrna, and speed over the country past Ephesus,

over a pass in the Messogis mountains, into the wide

fertile Maeander valley, then on eastwards past

Magnesia, Tralles, Nyssa, and Antioch.
Mar. 1900. No. 70. Vol. VI.

Here the

Ortakchai being 160° Fahr. The water is sulphurous,
and it is much resorted to by natives suffering from
rheumatism, paralysis, skin diseases, and indeed
from all the ills flesh is heir to, for they have implicit
There

are the remains of ancient buildings near by, showing

faith in the general efficacy of mineral baths.

probably that the waters have long been in request.
About eight miles beyond the frontier of Phrygia we
leave the Maeander valley and enter that of the
Lycus, and in seven hours from Smyrna we alight at
Our party comprised two
archaeological friends, and myself.

Twenty minutes’ walk from the railway station up
the banks of the Asopus brought us to the remains
of the bridge which once spanned that stream, lead-
Here our party

L

Gongelli. two ladies,

ing to the western gate of Laodicea.

290 SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

separated ; one friend and the two ladies followed the
Professor to listen to his learned discourse on the
ruins of two early Christian churches he had recently
discovered there, while I wandered off alone to hunt
for molluscs and other beasts. Scorpions were
everywhere. Almost every stone turned disclosed
one, which scuttled away with tail elevated and
sting carefully bent over the last segment. Under
and around the stones covering the scorpions were
quantities of broken shells of the smaller kinds,
flelix virgata, H. pisana, H. variabilis, and others
I could not identify. Are there any records of
scorpions feeding on molluscs? I think it is pro-
bable that they do prey on the small species, whose
shells are thin enough to be chipped open by their
hard claws.

The most numerous molluscs were Hedéx aspersa
and A. /ucorum, and they were indeed numerous.
Every crack and cranny in the ruinous walls con-
tained compact masses of them. Next in number
came Helix variabelis and H. virgata, clinging to the
thistles and rank grasses. I also found a number of
small lenticular shells not yet identified, and a few
Zonites, which I think are a variety of Z. sizrnensts
Roth, . Helix cartusianella, Buliminus pupa, and
Pupa aoliolum.

«A good deal of the stone used in the construction
of the inner part of the walls of this town is of a hard
cement-like substance, and is full of casts of a spiral
univalve, probably a Cerzthiwm, and of a bivalve
very like Cardita planicosta Lam., showing that a
considerable deposit of fossiliferous rock of marine
origin exists in the neighbourhood. On searching I
found, in a railway cutting to the west of the hill on
which the town stood, a formation consisting mainly
of sand and rounded boulders, overlying a deposit
of the same cement-like stone, though of softer
material, containing casts of similar marine shells.
Darkness put an end to further search, and taking
our seats on a railway trolley we soon shot down to
the Gongelli station, close to which stands the small
clean hotel, where we found unusually comfortable
quarters for the night.

From here the white cliffs of Hierapolis, some six
miles away across the Lycus valley, are a striking
feature of the landscape, and the mistake modern
travellers have fallen into in calling it Bambuk Kalessi
(Cotton Castle) is perhaps pardonable, for its cliffs are
white as cotton, and are the most prominent feature
on the north side of the valley for many miles; its
real Turkish name is Tambuk Kalessi. This was our
destination on the following day; we passed the
Lycus by a shaky wooden bridge, and reached the
foot of the white cliffs in a little over an hour from
Gongelli, crossing ev route the great road traversed
by Xerxes when on his famous march to Sardis in
481 B.C., traces of it being still visible.

The town of Hierapolis was built on a flat plateau
standing some 450 feet above the level of the plain

. below. Near the eastern end is a beautifully clear

pool; the temperature of the water is about 104°

Fahr,, and it is highly charged with carbonate of
lime. It flows by several channels over the edge of
the plateau, and, cooling as it falls, precipitates the
lime held in solution. This deposit forms a series of
irregular terraces, each terrace being composed of
semicircular and horseshoe-shaped basins, over the
lips of which the water falls, again depositing the lime
in stalactites and columns round their outsides. These
terraces, stalactites, and columns are pure white,
while the water itself is of varying tints of palest
blue and green. Strabo says that this water was
much used for dyeing in the old times ; now its only
use, beyond delighting the eyes of travellers, is to
drive the wheel of a flour-mill at the base of the cliff
and to ease the rheumatic pains of the natives, who
resort hither for bathing. The lime, soft and white
as snow when newly deposited, hardens on exposure,
and in course of time becomes yellowish-grey in
colour. The plateau is about two miles long by half
a mile wide, and it is an interesting problem whether
it has been entirely built up by the deposit from
the spring or not; my impression being that it
has not. The stones used for the old building
are large squared blocks, and are of similar sub-
stance to the deposits now being formed. They are
hard, and very little weathered, notwithstanding that
they were quarried a couple of thousand years ago.

The ladies of our party had no difficulty in climb-
ing the precipitous cliff, as the lime gives good foot-
hold. Arriving at the summit, they again preferred
to follow the Professor and hear his learned explana-
tions of the history/of the ruined buildings rather than
help me in searching for living creatures. They did
not lose anything, for my walk was” particularly
barren of résult. Helix lucorum and Hf. aspersa
were abundant certainly, but no other species of
mollusc was to be seen. I expected all the shells
would have been ponderous, from the abundance o¢
shell-forming . material, but I could distinguish no
difference between them and those of the same species
found elsewhere.

The only other trace of wild animal life was a
pair of eagles soaring over the mountain to the north
and a jackal skulking amongst the tombs of the
necropolis.

Since our visit a succession of earthquakes has
caused great damage to property and a lamentable
loss of life throughout the district referred to. The
first and most severe shock occurred at 4 A.M. on
September 2oth last, its centre being near Saraquoi,
some ten miles above Ortakchai. All accounts agree
in stating that the first sensation was that of a strong
blow from the northward, followed immediately by a
counter-blow from the south, then a general twisting
or rotatory shake. The effect of this was that the
major part of the houses, mosques, and churches
were ruined throughout a great portion of the
Maeander and Lycus valleys. Thus at Denizli out
of 4,500 houses, 2,400 were levelled with the ground ;
at Saraquoi out of 800 houses, 600 were destroyed ;
at Ortakchai all the houses were down; at Nazli a

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SCIENCE-GOSS/P. 201

great number of houses and all the mosques were
down; and the damage extended toall the towns and
villages as far as Aidin. The area in which damage
to buildings occurred was about 1,600 square miles,
and it is estimated fron: Soo to 1,000 human lives
were lost. I have recently revisited this region and
thoroughly examined the effects of the earthquakes.
The Maeander valley runs east and west, and one
consequence of the earthquakes is that many fissures
were formed in the ground, running in the same
general direction parallel with the mountains. The
chief one extends along the slope of the foot hills on
the north side, for a distance of about forty miles,
but with interruptions here and there. It varies in
width from a couple of feet to a mere crack, and its
depth when formed must in many places have been
considerable. During the two months which have
elapsed since the event it has been considerably
filled with rain-washed earth, still I found it to be
about 12 feet deep in one place, The ground on the
south—that is, the plain side of this fissure—has sunk
from 2 to 10 feet below its former level. Other
smaller fissures and cracks were also opened in many
parts of the plain, some being noted over 100 miles

distant from the centre of disturbance. From most
of these fissures water, bearing sand and mud, gushed
out, which in some cases ceased to flow in the course
of a few minutes, and in others continued for
several days. The water in many wells rose to the
surface and overflowed, then subsided to its former
level. It is noteworthy that only those buildings
which were situated in the plain were damaged ;
those standing on the mountains escaped injury.

I am told that many of the hot springs already
mentioned ceased to flow for a number of days, and
then gradually regained their volume. I visited one
hot spring at Kizil Dere, about six miles from
Ortakehai, and the volume there was apparently the
same as in previous years, the temperature being also
as formerly, that of boiling water.

My opinion is that, either as the actual cause of
the earthquake or as the result of it, the ground of
the whole plain from some few miles east of Laodicea
to near the sea, a distance of over 110 miles, has
sunk ; but to what extent I have no means of ascer-
taining.

The Tarlah,

Smyrna, November 27th, 1899.

LIFE UNDER OTHER CONDITIONS.

By GEOFFREY MARTIN.

EFORE discussing the possibility of life under

conditions other than those now existing upon

the earth, we may ask : What is life? Ere the dawn

of history this question was taxing the intellect of

man, and even now the more deeply we investigate
the problem the further off appears the solution.

It may be said, more especially from a biological
standpoint, that life is ‘‘ organised motion.” The
essential condition appears to be the formation of
vastly complex compounds that break up continually,
giving birth to new complexes, which in turn break
up themselves. In fact the primordial motion of the
atoms is so regulated, that there is created a
“balance” of motion, complex compounds continu-
ally appearing and breaking down again. Before life
can exist the external conditions must be such that
this balance of motion is capable of attainment.

Ofall the terrestrial elements there appears to be but
one which, under the PRESEN’ thermal conditions, is
capable of generating these everchanging complexes
in which this necessary ‘* balance” of motion is at-
tained. This element is carbon, and this is why, Avr
ORDINARY TEMPERATURES, it forms the basis of
life. At ordinary temperatures the carbon atom
is tetravalent. In other words, an atom of car-
bon has sufficient attractive power to control or
regulate the motion of four other atoms like hydrogen,
or two atoms like oxygen. If the temperature be

raised, although the attractive power of the carbon
remains, yet the relative motion of the attached
atoms is increased and the carbon no longer appears
able to keep them together. On the other hand, if
we reduce the motion of the attached atoms by lower-
ing the temperature, we get one system of atoms con-
tinually combining with other systems of atoms, and
thus the compounds grow more and more complex.
Now, conceive of an enormously complex body,
whose molecules, if such a compound has molecules
in the ordinary sense of the word, consist of system
within system of atoms, all in motion, atom circulating
about atom and system about system—a molecule so
vast and so complex as to be in itself a kingdom.
Then imagine the temperature to be very slowly
raised ; the motion of the intricate streams of atoms
in the molecule becomes more and more vehement,
until a point is reached where the controlling force is
just unable to keep captive the whirling systems, but
yet sufficient to maintain and direct an harmonious
system of atomic movement within the molecule.

Consequently the molecule is continually breaking
down. As fast as it breaks down, materials con-
tinually stream into the sphere of this molecular
motion, circulate in its system, and stream out again.
Thus the molecule is constantly replenished. Hence
its molecular existence is a continual metathesis, and,
as in a vortex ring, the motion when once created
L2

292

goes on for all eternity—if only the stream of replen-
ishing atoms be maintained and the temperature
properly adjusted. It is from some such state of
harmonious motion here pictured, and made possible
by the presence of jarring atoms of nitrogen which
by their changeable attractive capacity render the
system so unstable, that in all probability the pheno-
menon of life arises.

Before life can arise we probably must have (1) an
atom, like carbon, which is capable of linking
together a large number of atoms; (2) a motion
of such an intensity among the atoms as just
to overcome the attractive power of the con-
trolling carbon atoms, or system of atoms; (3) a
great constancy in the attractive capacity of the
central linking atoms, in order that the gliding away
of the various systems may be attained as soon as
the proper amount of motion, and consequent pull,
is reached. These conditions appear to be satisfied
by those under which we live.

The temperature of men, and of mammals gene-
rally, keeps remarkably constant, and the external
conditions are such as to allow this constant tempera-
ture to be maintained. Indeed, life in its present
form can only flourish between very narrow limits of
temperature. It is within these limits only that such
complex and unstable carbon compounds can exist in
a state of continual decomposition—a state which is
essential to the maintenance of life. Above this
temperature these compounds break down into more
stable forms of matter. Below this temperature the
continual metathesis ceases.

Obviously the necessary temperature depends both
upon the nature of the central linking element, in
our case carbon; and upon, but to an unknown
extent, the external forces, such as gravity, to which
matter is subject.

Looking around among the compounds of carbon,
we are struck with the number of its compounds
which are liquid or semi-liquid, at ordinary tempera-
tures or at the temperature of the blood. This fluidity
of the carbon compounds, combined with the great
atom-combining power of carbon, is in all probability
the reason why, under ordinary conditions, carbon
is the central or determining element of the animal
organism. At higher temperatures the volatility of
the carbon compounds would be so increased as to
render impossible the existence of a complex carbon
compound in a state of continuous change. While
at- very low temperatures the motion among the con-
stituent atoms of these carbon compounds would be
so reduced that the peculiar and fixed attractive
power of the carbon atoms would render any breaking
away impossible, and then the compound would be-
come stable. In either case life would be impossible.

The temperature of animal life, then, 7s the tran-
sitional or critical temperature at which a large
number of unstable carbon compounds are capable
of momentary higher temperature
rendering their existence impossible, while a lower
temperature would make the compound stable.

existence, a

SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

One must be struck with the large number of im-
portant changes which occur among organic carbon
compounds between the small range of temperature
10° to 90° C., and it is obvious that this fact
must have some deep and fundamental connection
with the phenomenon of life.

Conceive now the temperature of the earth and all
objects thereon lowered by say 300° C. How would
the carbon compounds appear to the eye of man?
They would be hard, and in many cases transparent.
or translucent solids ; in other cases, opaque. They
would, in fact, appear to us as the silicates now are,
vast complex bodies having exceedingly high mole-
cular wei ‘hts. We should probably be entirely ignorant
of the inner working of the carbon compounds. We
might indeed notice that when (say) acetyl chloride
and many organic compounds are heated up to what
would appear a red heat, the organic compound is
attacked. Such reactions, however, would possess.
no more significance to the chemist living at that low
temperature, than the fact that lead oxide attacks
siliceous matter at high temperatures has for us.

This property carbon has of acting the role of the
fundamental element in the animal organism is then
probably a mere function of the temperature, and
greatly dependent upon the fluidity of its compounds.
at this temperature. We are therefore justified in
asking whether there is any other element which at
some other temperature could play the part at ordinary
temperatures like carbon in organic matter ?

Silicon is such an element.

Silicon, like carbon, possesses a high and constant
valency. There is, indeed, a great similarity between
the compounds of carbon and silicon. The number
of complex double-oxides of silicon is innumerable.
True, we cannot effect the synthesis of these
compounds and determine their constitution as in
the case of the complex compounds ;
but in great measure this is an accident of tem-
perature rather than anything else. ” If we could
work at a temperature of 700°—1000° C. as easily as at
the normal temperatures, there is little doubt that a
great flood of light would soon illuminate this portion
of our science. We might indeed shortly be able to
generate a “‘ Chemistry of the Silicon Compounds.”
There is, however, one great distinction between
silicon and carbon. Carbon expends its energies in
forming a series of hydrides and their derivatives.
Silicon equally vigorously spends its energies in pro-
ducing double oxides. There probably, indeed,
exists for silicon as for carbon a transitional tempera-
ture above which very complex compounds would be
incapable of existing, while below this temperature
the compound would become stable. At the transi-
tional temperature complex compounds would be
capable of a continual metathesis, and thus give rise
to the phenomenon of life ; only in this case all forms
of life would have as the determining element not
carbon, but silicon. Seeing that in the case of carbon
this temperature occurs when many of its compounds
are in a semi-fluid condition, or at any rate near their

carbon

SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

<lecomposing point, we should expect the correspond-
ing temperature for silicon compounds to occur when
they, too, are in a pasty or semi-fluid condition
that is, at a bright red or even a white heat.

From first principles, indeed, it is very improbable
that life could exist only within such narrow limits of
temperature as are at present prevalent upon the
earth. Out of the infinite time that has passed before
the world cooled to its present state, and the ages
that still must run ere the world reaches the absolute
zero of temperature, is it to be imagined that during
only an infinitesimal portion of this time could
organised life exist ? that this is the
case is to place oneself in the position of those early
astronomers who held that the sun and stars and the
infinite universe revolved about the earth as centre.
Again, there exist in space numberless vast planets
and dark suns, whose physical conditions differ
widely from those which hold sway upon the earth.
Are these entirely void of life ?

I must confess that researches on the behaviour of
liquids and when
pressures and temperatures have always possessed for

To assume

gases subjected to enormous
me a deep significance, on account of the great
part substances under such conditions played in the
early history of this globe and their possible bearing
on the phenomenon of life. Andrews observed that
when liquid carbon dioxide is gradually heated in a
sealed tube to 31° C., the surface of demarcation
between the liquid and gas loses its curvature and at
last disappears. The space is then occupied by a
homogeneous fluid, which exhibits, when the pressure
is suddenly diminished, or the temperature slightly
raised, a peculiar appearance of moving or flickering

striae throughout its entire mass. At temperatures

above 32° C. no apparent liquefaction or separation -

into two distinct forms of matter can be effected,
even under a pressure of 300 or 400 atmospheres.
There exists for every liquid a temperature called by
Andrews the ‘Critical point,’ above which no
amount of pressure is sufficient to retain it in a liquid
form. (See interesting discussion
** Theory of Heat,” pp. 372-398.)

It is obvious that at this transitional point the
molecules are in a very sensitive state, and it may
be easily conceived that under such enormous tem-
peratures and pressures as held upon the earth, avery
complex mixture of liquid compounds might be
capable of generating these indefinite and tran-
sitional compounds, which, as has been hinted, may
exist in a state of continuous decomposition analogous
to that exhibited by the formless and structureless
protoplasm. It is obvious that fluidity has much to
do with life. All observations in Biology tend to
show that the earliest forms of life generated in the
fluid sea and spread thence to land.

In the same way when the earth was in great
measure one large ocean of fluid siliceous matter,
could not forms of life generate in this sea also, life
thrilling in siliceous not carbonaceous matter ?

As to this purely chemical view of life I would

in Preston’s

293

refer the reader to Huxley’s essay ‘On the Physical
Basis of Life,”
vincing clearness.

where the matter is argued with con-
“e If
the phenomena exhibited by water are its properties,

Let me quote his words:

soare those presented by protoplasm, living or dead,
its properties.
properly said to result from the nature and disposition

If the properties of water may be

of its component molecules, I can find no intelligible
ground for refusing to say that the properties of pro-
toplasm result from the nature and disposition of its
molecules.”

Once I had a vision of the beginning of life. I
saw the world a vast ocean of liquid fire: above,
black driving vapour and vast clouds of steam ;
Down in the
depths of that molten sea there was a great heat, a
heat unthinkable and inconceivable. I saw that
here the atoms no longer attracted each other, but
yet the pressure was so enormous that they were
crowded together as in a liquid. Slowly, through
the ages, the world cooled. As I watched I saw
the formless mass stir and thrill with new kinds of
motion, and I knew atomic attraction had com-
menced. Feeble compounds flickered into existence
in the vast depths and floated, suspended for a moment,
and again dissolved to liquid fire. As matter cooled
the molten mass became clouded, with innumerable
multitudes of such indefinite forms which faded even
as they came. In my vision I fancied they were the
precursors of the coming life, and perceived that
during this infinite period of slow cooling and under
these enormous pressures all kinds of combination
and atomic motion were possible.

As I watched the atoms gathered together, and
again there sprang into existence another formless
compound. I looked for it to decompose, but saw,
to my surprise, that though it continually broke down
as did the others, yet the motion of its atoms and the
surrounding conditions were such that fresh matter
was constantly drawn into the molecular vortex and
continued its existence. The compound grew and
grew, decomposing even as it grew, but gathering in,
continually, fresh matter from around. As it became
unwieldy it lost its cohesion and separated into masses,
which again, in their turn, grew and separated. I
now perceived this was the beginning of life. Mean-
while, the world cooled and stable compounds ap-
peared. Yet this never-ceasing motion of the atoms
continued, and drew other elements into the molecular
vortex of these primeval forms of life, and they dis-
placed the older elements, with fall of temperature,
ever producing fresh types. Some of these were caught
up into the thick fluid vapours which swept along the
molten surface, and, as the ocean slowly condensed as
vast boiling masses impregnated with liquid mud, found
a fresh lease of life in its fluidity. The rest died with
the falling temperature, and their bodies blended with
the molten rock, asa jelly-fish dies and blends into the
infinite ocean of salt water, so that none can know
hereafter that it has been and gone.

Redland, Bristol, December 1899.

below, the bubbling molten rocks.

SCIENCE-GOSS/P.

THE PTILINUM OF DIPTERA.

By W. WESCHE.

F the extraordinary and the apparently ingenious
in Nature, there isno end. No limit can be
placed to her resources or to her inventiveness ;
almost every mechanical law has been adapted by
some plant or animal, every philosophical principle
applied. The orchid has used the catapult and the
sucker to fix pollen on the body and head of the
visiting insect ; the dandelion, the parachute to scatter
its seeds ; the bombardier beetle, the chemistry of
explosives to frighten its pursuing enemy ; the eel,
electricity for defensive and offensive purposes ; the
bees and the wasps, a nicety in the use of poisons
that our most learned toxicologists must vainly hope
to emulate. It is not generally known however,
that our familiar flies avail themselves of pneumatic
force to escape from their pupa cases; yet such is the
fact with a large number of the families of Diptera.
Baron Osten Saken has arranged the order Diptera
into three sub-orders—the Pupipara or degraded

Fic. 1. Head of Scatophaga lutaria.

forms, the Cyclorhapha or those having a circular
opening to the pupa case, and the Orthorhapha or
those having a T-shaped opening—which is further
subdivided into two sections, Brachycera, consisting
of flies having short three-jointed antennae, and
Nematocera, of those having many-jointed antennae.

‘Mr. Verrall, whose list of British Diptera is, I believe,

the only one in any degree complete, and whose
arrangement is more generally used by British col-
lectors, begins at the other end, but includes the
Pulicidae or fleas, which Professor Packard places in
a separate order, Siphonaptera. The Pulicidae head
the list of the Orthorhapha, and the degraded forms
are at the end of the Cyclorhapha.

Many of the flies of the sub-order Cyclorhapha are
furnished with the ptilinum. It is a membrane on
the head, situated on that part immediately between
the occelli and the antennae. This is capable of
inflation until it takes a nearly spheroidal shape, and
projects, expanding to about half the size of the
head. By this means, without any struggle of the
limbs, the perfect insect pushes off the cover of the
circular aperture of the pupa case. There are, how-
ever, certain families that are without the ptilinum,

though they are included in this sub-order; those
flies who have nearly the whole head covered with
eyes, as Prpunculus and Syrphus, and the less-
known though well-marked families of Phoridae and
Ephydridae. On the other hand it is very distinct in
Melophagus ovinus (sheeptick), and I find traces of
it in Brazwla caeca (bee-louse). Both these parasites
are degraded forms, and belong to the sub-order
Pupipara.

It is unfortunate that no trace of this apparatus is
visible on the insects as they usually appear when
pinned in our cabinets. Preparation for the micro-
scope is necessary to show it, as otherwise it would
be of considerable service in classification. The
common dung fly, Scatophaga stercoraria, shows the
ptilinum admirably, and is easily obtained. S. /ztarvza
does equally well, and the accompanying drawings
are made from that species.

Fig. 1 shows a drawing of the ordinary appear-

Head of S. Zutavia, showing membrane forming
~ ptilinum.

Fic. 2.

ance of the head as seen from the side. The eyes,
bright red in life, become quite dark ; the general
colour is a shade of olive-green, and the facies, the
space between the eyes, is an orange-yellow.

Fig. 2 shows the top of the head viewed from
above, with the occelli placed on the curious triangle
which in Scafophaga juts out on to the orange-
coloured facies, which is the membrane of which the
ptilinum is formed.

Fig. 3 shows a head, prepared for the microscope
and mounted, under pressure. The pressure expands
the ptilinum, which is seen to project as if inflated.
In life, after use, it is wrinkled up into many folds,
and remains in that condition. Sometimes it fails to
expand when mounted, remaining in this state ; but
from the peculiar structure of its surface it is easily
detected by the microscope with a magnification of
250 diameters.

Fig. 4 shows a portion of the ptilinum more
magnified. Its surface is seen to be covered with a
number of minutely pointed angular scales. These
on the expansion of the membrane, which is prob-
ably in some degree elastic, become erect. These
scales vary in appearance and size in different

= ~

SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 295

families. Their use here is not very apparent,
as they seem too small to be of service in break-
ing and scraping the comparatively hard surface
of the pupa case. A similar structure is to be found
on the ovipositor and genitalia of some Diptera,
Apidae, and Coleoptera, where it is probably for
sensory purposes. This fact rather confuses than

Fic. 3. Head of S. /uéaria, showing ptilinum expanded.

throws light on the uses of the structure when placed
on the ptilinum.

On the sides of the thorax of Stomoxys calcitrans,
the familiar blood-sucking fly, between the fore and
middle legs, on that part of the thorax technically
known as the meso-epimerum, are two patches of this
characteristic membrane, though not quite identical
under a power of 350 diameters with that on the
head. I believe these have not been before noticed,
and are indeed difficult to make out. They show
well enough on a cleared and mounted insect, but
only appear as a darker spot on the body when
examined as an opaque object. They are about the
same size as the spiracles, though totally different in
appearance. It has been the custom of observers on
finding an organ whose use is not apparent to class
it as auricular. The comb on the fore tibia of many
Hymenoptera, used for cleaning the antennae, was
explained thus, and it is possible that these may be
for auricular purposes. That being so, one would

Fic. 4. Minute scales of ptilinum.

expect to find it on nearly related species. I have
carefully examined a number of Muscidae, but failed
to find it; therefore, arguing from analogy, I am
inclined to think that they are used in the same way
as the ptilinum and for the same purpose, and add
another complication to the anatomy of this already
highly specialised insect.
go Belsize Road, South Hampstead, NW .,
February 2nd, 1900.

NOTES ON WOODLICE.

By WILFRED MARK Wenpp, F.L.S.

HERE is no doubt that among crustaceans the
woodlice are very much left to themselves by
naturalists in this country. Here and there, how-
ever, one finds that some trouble has been spent
upon these creatures, and quite recently a paper deal
ing with them was read before the North London
Natural History Society by Mr. James B. Casserley.
It is mainly to record some facts brought forward in
this contribution that the present article has been
written.

Of greatest interest are the remarks with regard to
Armadilidium vulgare Latreille, based upon notes
made daily from June to December 1897. For some
weeks the developing young could be seen through
the wall of the brood-pouch formed by plates on the
under side of their mother, in which the eggs are
carried about after they are laid. On July 18th a
brood was found struggling about among the lumps
of mould in the breeding-cage, each individual being
about the size of an ordinary pin’s-head. Smaller
parents, it was noticed, had proportionately smaller
offspring. As soon as they had quitted the brood-
pouch, the young woodlice began to run about briskly,
and were able to roll themselves up into balls in
exactly the same way as do the adult members of
their particular species. They were white in colour,
and apparently resembled their parents in structure,
save that while the latter have seven pairs of walking
legs, the former had but six pairs. Owing to the
cannibalistic propensities of the older woodlice, Mr.
Casserley was not able to observe the first moult,
after which the seventh and hindermost pair of limbs
is found to be present.

The conclusion that was arrived at is that woodlice
must live a considerable time. During the six
months that they were watched, no individual
changed its skin more than once, and the increase in
size after moulting was so slight as to be but barely
perceptible. It is only reasonable to think that a
long period will be required, under these circum-
stances, for a creature the size of a pin’s-head to
grow toa length of three-quarters of an inch. It is
worthy of note too, that Armadiliidium goes on
growing after it is sexually mature.

The larger the animal the darker is its hue,
until a length of the third of an inch has been
reached ; then the characteristic slaty-black colour is
acquired. Mr, Casserley is at a loss to explain the
variation that occurs in the number of the green
spots that were distinguished on the dorsal surface of
every specimen, with the exception of one or two
large ones. Two examples of the same age would
change their skins at the same time, says the ob-
server, and after moulting one might have the number
of decorations nearly doubled, on the other very few
could be seen.

The following description of the process of

2096 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

moulting is given in Mr. Casserley’s own words :—
“The first sign of the approaching change is the
appearance of a white border to each segment of the
body, which gradually becomes more marked. The
animal by this time is much less active, and usually
forms a small burrow to rest in. If it does chance to
leave this, it is only for a short time, invariably
coming back again to the same place. In some
cases no burrow is formed at all, a sheltered corner
against a stone being protection enough in the
creature’s opinion ; but each woodlouse keeps to the
place it originally selected.

‘*Ten days more or less after the white lines on
the edges of the plates have become visible a very
curious change is apparent—the animal appears to be
divided into two. As is well known, there are seven
leg-bearing segments, and the first four of these- and
the head appear as if they had coalesced to form one
large segment, while the remaining three and the
abdominal divisions have done the same. The
original segmentation can of course still be made
out; but the joints are all fixed, with the exception
of that between the fourth and fifth leg-bearing
segments, which remains movable.

“<The woodlouse continues in this state for from
one and a half to two days, and then, suddenly walk-
ing forward, frees itself from the covering of the
hinder portion of its body, carefully drawing the last
three pairs of legs from their old skin. The part
thrown off is perfectly white in colour, and is a very
pretty object indeed ; the jointed casings of the legs
being beautifully perfect, and made up of delicately
thin glass-like substance. As is usual, the lining of
some internal tubes are cast with the skin. Just
before this throwing-off of the parts mentioned, the
whole body seems to swell and take on a light blue
colour.

“Having got so far the woodlouse, after putting
his somewhat tender half well into his corner or
burrow, proceeds to make a meal off his cast skin.
He now has a very odd appearance. Excepting that
the white edges are most marked, the front part of
his body retains its original form, size, and colour ;
while behind he is of a light slaty-blue, very soft, and
in proportion a little larger. After three days or so
the tail end has become fairly hard, and attained the
normal colour; then the skin of the front half is
pushed off. At this stage the animal is in the most
precarious condition in which he ever finds himself.
All his fighting parts are soft and defenceless, and
any of his species that happen to be near make a
feast off him, eating all the front half and rejecting
the now hardened tail end.

«Supposing the moulting woodlouse to have escaped
this danger—and in captivity only isolation from his
fellows will give him a chance—in about three days
his jaws are sufficiently hardened to allow of his
eating something, which is always his old clothes, as
in the first half of the moulting process. In young
specimens the operation does not occupy quite so
long a time. Specimens half an inch long do not

moult oftener than once in six months, and but little
increase in size is noticeable after the process.”

Mr. Casserley alludes to the way in which the
woodlouse passes the winter. It can hardly be said
to become torpid ; but when cold weather comes on,
it remains exactly as it happens to be. If left alone,
and there is suthcient moisture, it will not move at
all until the temperature is raised. On the slightest
disturbance the animal becomes quite as lively as in
summer-time for a few minutes, and then settles
down again.

As to the daily life in captivity of the creatures
under discussion, it was found that they are inclined
to be quite still during the morning, and it is not
until about five o’clock in the afternoon that they
moye about much. As night approaches their liveli-
ness increases, until they walk about quite rapidly.
Each individual chose some particular part of the
cage in which to rest during the first part of the day,
to which it invariably retwmed, never usurping that
of another.

Mr. Casserley had something to say with regard to
centipedes and millipedes, and concluded with re-
marks upon his observations. He seems to have
somewhat suddenly given up the work, which is a
great pity, seeing that there is so much to be done,
and that he had not succeeded in seeing the first
moult of the young woodlice. For the benefit of
those who may be inclined to interest themselves in
our terrestrial isopods, I may add something with
regard to the number of British species of woodlice.
Dr. Scharff (‘‘Irish Naturalist,” vol. iii. pp. 4-7 and
25-29) gave brief descriptions of seventeen species
in 1894. Last year the Rey. Canon Norman (‘‘ An.
Mag. Nat. Flist.,” ser. 7. vol. iii. pp. 70-78) enume-
rated twenty species, and in the current number of
the ‘‘ Essex Naturalist” (vol. xi. p. 127) the present
writer records an additional one. [ence the number
of known British species is twenty-one.

In conclusion, the writer wishes to say that he
would be glad of any specimens of woodlice that
those interested in the subject may feel disposed to
send to him. The specimens, small and large alike,
should be put into methylated spirit directly they are
captured, and the containing tubes or bottles, which
should not be large, enclosed in a tin box for transit.
The habitat and locality should in all cases be
noted.

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(Continued from page 266.)

PARNASSIUS (continued).

Group 6. LIMBATI Aust.

The abdominal pouch in this group has been alluded
toon p. 171. There is only one species.

22. P. tenedius Eversm. Bull.
Aust. Parn. 129, 175, pl. 13, fig. 3.

50—57 mm.

The ground colour of the wings is pure white.
F.w. with three distinctly black subcostal spots and
an ante-marginal band of round black spots arranged
as in P, apollontus ;
represented by a black dot.

Mose. IS51.

the spot near the in. marg. is
H.w. In. marg. nar-
rowly deep black ; a faint trace of a red be

sal spot ;
the black row of ante-marginal spots is continued as
in fw.
small, and there is a small black dash on the outer

Costal and central red spots present, but

P. scsechent.

edge of the disc. cell not seen in any other species.
U.s. h.w. with traces of three basal spots of a whitish
colour bordered with black, two red centred spots
near an. ang. ;
rather less clear white, the outer subcostal with
two small red spots.
centred spots internal to the ante-marginal black
ones, and extending nearly from in. marg. to the
second median nervure. U.s. of h.w. with the
basal spots distinctly red ; the rest of the pattern as
on upper side.

Has. Amur VII.; Eastern
Olekminsk on the banks
Daouria, Central Siberia VI.
tions.

the other markings as on upper side,

H.w. with a row of four red

Altai IV., V.
of the Lena, and in
Not at great eleva-

Group 7. VENTRICOST Aust.

This group contains more diversity of forms than
any of the preceding ones. The Palaearctic species
fall into three sections.

SEecTION A consists of /. nordmanni and P.
clarius. Both these species have general appearance
of Group I.
seen in that group, and with well-marked red or

The wings are white with the markings

orange spots. Elwes, in writing of ?. clarzus which
he took on the Tchuja Steppe, says: ‘I did not dis-
tinguish this from de/tus by its flight or appear-
ance till I had the female in my hand, when the
pouch at once showed what it was.” (Trans. Ent.
Soc. 1899, III. 314.) Neither 7. clarius nor 7.
nordimanné have any red basal spots on u.s. of h.w.
SECTION of P. eversmanni and P.
Jeldert. Both these species agree in the canary
yellow colour of the hairs which invest the body,
especially on the thorax and ventral surface. Both
species have red basal spots on the u.s. of hw. This
character is very faintly marked in 7. fe/dert, which
seems to form a transition to the third section.
SECTION C, mnemosyne, P.
stubbendorfit, P. citrinarius, species within
which there is no trace of any red markings. In
the two latter all the markings characteristic of
Parnassius, except the basal shading on h.w., are
absent or nearly so, the insects having a superficial

B consists

consisting of 7.
and

resemblance to Pierids.

The common character of this group is the peculiar
formation of the abdominal pouch as shown in the
figure of that of P. stebbendorfiz on p. 17%.

23. P. elarius Eyversm. Bull. Mosc.
III. 539. Aust. Parn. 147, pl. 20, fig. 1.

60—64 mm.

Wings white, f.w. with distinct marginal and ante-
marginal bands.

1843,

The latter are long and wavy,
reaching nearly to an. ang. Three subcostal spots,
the two internal ones deep black, the external grey
and semi-transparent. Base
not shaded. T1.w. with ou. marg. plain white, or
with a faint trace of a dentate pattern. Basal black
shading distinct, shaped much as in ?. aetius. Near
an. ang. a variable black spot occasionally faintly
marked with red. U.s. as above, but glazed and
with less distinct markings.
any basal red spots, but with the spot near an. ang.
marked red. The red colour of the markings in this
species is a bright scarlet, sometimes inclining to
orange.

Has. Saisan (Central Asia), Siberia, Altai, Tar-
bagtai ; also in California. In the Palaearctic region
it seems to be confined to the Altai region, and does
not occur in the Amur or in the Tianchan Moun-
tains.

a. var. dentata Stgr. in litt. Austat. 149,
pl. 21, fig. 1-2. Differs from the type in having a
distinct dentate pattern along ou. marg. h.w. 3 it is
at best an inconstant variety, and all degrees of varia-
Has. Saisan,

No red spots on fiw.

H.w. as above, without

Parn.

tion between this and the type occur.
L3

298 SCIENCE-GOSSLP.

s. of Tarbagtai, Cent. Asia (Austat.). Elwes states
that it has been taken in the E. Altai.

24. P. nordmanni Nordm. Bull. Mosc. 1851,
Il. 423. Aust. Par: 132, Le. Be E., p. 19;
pl. IV. 3.

55—57 mm.

Differs from P. clarvéus in the narrower shape of
the wings, and in the ground colour being of a more
yellowish white, in the absence of the third or ex-
ternal subcostal spot on fw. The submarginal band
is merged into the marginal, so as to form one, this
being broadest towards the costa and terminating
towards the centre of the wing, forming a grey, semi-
transparent, apical blotch, rather than a band. H.w.
without any trace of marginal dentate markings,
basal black shading less extensive than in P. c/arzis.
The spot near anal angle wanting. Costal and
central spots very light red or orange. U.s. as above,
but with a glazed surface.

Has. High mountains in Armenia and Georgia,
on the Asiatic side of the Caucasus. VII. Rare in
collections.

This species is figured in my ‘‘ Butterflies of
Europe.” I am now quite aware that I ought not
to have given it as European; but it must be re-
membered that during the last twenty years our
knowledge of the genus Parnassius has greatly in-
creased.

a. var. minima Honr. B. E. Z. 1885, p. 272,
pl. 8, fig. 2. Aust. Parn. 132, pl. 22, fig. 1-2.
40—45 mm. Differs from the type principally in its
smaller expanse. The wings are purer white. F.w.
with a slight trace of the external subcostal spot.
H.w. with the basal shading carried up more along
disc-cell, and with a trace of a black spot near an.
ang. Has. Caucasus. VIII.b. Seems to be
much commoner than the type. Dr. Staudinger has
sent me a form which he names #2707, intermediate
between the type and var. mnzma, trom the
Caucasus.

25. P. eversmanni Mén. Mus. Petr. 1855,
p-. 73, pl. I. fig. 2. Aust. p. 133, pl. 20, fig. 2.
55—57 mm.
6 with the ground colour of all the wings of rich
light chrome yellow in place of white. Marginal

_band reaching the entire length of the ou. marg.

Grey and semi-transparent. Internal to this are two
perfectly distinct parallel bands of greyish black,
reaching from costa to in. marg.; there are three
subcostal spots, the two external ones reaching
beyond the disc. cell to the centre of wing. Base
shaded with black. W.w. with basal and in. marg.
shading, as in 2. clarzus. Marginal indentations as
in P. dentata, Red spots well defined, a large black,
irregular spot at an. ang. with slight traces of
red marking. Ground colour of wings white
(Wosnesenskii). Markings as in 3, but more pro-
nounced ; central red spot on h.w., joined by a
narrow black band to spot at anal angle, which is

very distinctly marked with 3 red spots. Abdominal
pouch white, like that in P. zemosyne. Neuration in
both sexes black. Antennae black, with pyriform
clubs.

Has. Nik (Amur), Kausk (W. Siberia), Poderka,
Vilui and Vitim Rivers (Siberia), Darkoti Altai
(Elwes), at an elevation of 7,000 feet. VII.

Larva on Corydalis gigantea (Graeser).

P. eversmanni

26. P. felderi Brem.-Lep. Ost. Sib. 1864, p. 6,
pl. I. 5. Aust. Parn. 143, pl. 19, fig. 2.

60—70 mm.

A much larger species than the last. Ground
colour white, not yellow. Wings very thinly covered
with scales. Neuration black. F.w. markings some-
what as in last, but the ante-marginal band is often
very slightly represented, a band corresponding to
the middle one in P. eversmannz, sometimes runs
from the external subcostal spot to the centre of in.
marg. to meet the in. marg. spot, but this is not
constant ; there are only two ill-defined spots internal
to this, placed in the disc. cell ; base scarcely, if at
all, shaded. H.w.-white, without any sub-marginal
band or marks. Base and in. marg. narrowly deep
black, but less extensively so than in P. eversmannt.
A black spot near an. ang. as in P.,clarius. Costal
and central spots small and generally without any
red markings, very rarely with a faint trace of red in
centre. U.s. of f.w, as above, but very indefinite,
the markings of the upper surface showing through
the wing texture. H.w. with red centres to the
spots, sometimes in the form of red rings. Basal red
spots very faint, being clouded over with bright
yellow, which is the colour of the ventral surface of
thorax and abdomen. Antennae black with elongated
clubs.

Has. Amur, Bur., V. and VII., Radd. VII.

Larva on Corydalis. (KR. and H.)

ab. atrata, Graeser, R. H. p. 113. A melanic
form of §. Has. Radd. Amur.

27. P. mnemosyne L. Syst. Nat. X. 465.
Aust. Par. 1555, pl. 235, 0, 2:0 en Ba pae20,
pl. LV. 4. V. 7 (Larva).

54—63 mm.

Wings white, without any red spots, either above
or beneath. F.w. with two deep black subcostal
spots, one at the external end of the disc. cell, the
other in its centre. Bases not shaded. A shor*

SCIENCE-GOSS/P.

marginal band reaches from the apical end of costa
to the centre of the ou.
transparent, and is bisected by a row of very in-
H.w. with the in. marg. black,
The costal spot is absent, but there

marg.; this is semi-
distinet white spots.
asin P. felderé.
is generally a central spot, dusky in centre and more
The neuration is black.
Antennae black with elongated clubs, Head and
thorax black ; abdomen with whitish hairs on upper
surface ; it has a narrow lateral line of yellow. 9
somewhat larger than d. Markings less black. F.w.
with a trace of a short subcostal band external to the
black spots, and also a trace of a dark spot in centre
of in. marg. Abdomen blacker and less pilose than
in gd. Furnished with a large whitish pouch. U.s.
as above, but with less distinct markings.

Hap. Central, Eastern and North-eastern Europe,
N. Scandinavia, Asia Minor, Armenia. Frequents
mountain slopes at a moderate altitude, at about
3,000 feet in many places in Switzerland ; rather
higher in the Basses Alpes, Alpine meadows, in

or less quadrate in shape.

Germany, &c. Not uncommon, but very local.
VI., VII.
Larva. Smoky black, with darker spaces between

the segments ; on every segment are two reddish yel-
low spots. Legs black. On Corydalis hallert. IV., V.

a. ab. melaina Honorat. Larger than type, and
resembling itin g, but has all the wings suffused
with dusky shading, giving it a deep smoky appearance.
Has. The Bavarian Alps and Carinthia, at about
4,000 ft. VI.e.

6, var. nudilosus Christoph. Aust. Parn. pl. 23,
fig. 3, 24 fig., differs from type in the more extended
inner marginal markings in the @, which is much
like the ¢ of the type. Has. N. Persia. Some of
the German specimens apparently belong to this
variety.

¢ var. gigantea Stgr. S. E. Z. 197, 198.
Parn. 159, pl. 24, 2, 3. 70
whiter than type, wings more opaque, f.w. with
spots large and black, marginal and ante-marginal
bands distinct. H.w. with spots large and well
defined. Has. Turkestan, Samarkand, Margelan.
V.e. VI.

d. var. ochracea Stgr. Ground colour of wings
tinged brownish ochre colour. ¢ resembles type in
-markings. 2 more suffused with dusky, and with
the spots of h.w. coalescing to form a central band.
Flas. Turkestan.

Aust.

mm. Larger and

28. P. stubbendorfii Mén. Mem. Acad.
Petrop. 1848. Aust. Parn. 161, pl. 22, fig. 3.

50—53 mm.

Resembles ?. memosyne, but all the spots on f.w.
and h.w. are absent, and the only black markings are
the dark shading along the in. marg. of hw. The
neuration is very distinct and black, the wings are
very thinly clothed with scales, so as to be semi-
transparent. Antennae, head, thorax, and abdomen,
black, the latter without yellow stripes.

specimens there is just the merest trace of marginal

In some

glacialis—Butler.

299

and sub-marginal border in f.w. and a slight indica-
tion of the subcostal spots, but these are generally
absent. Abdominal pouch in ? muchas in mnemosyne.
Has. Central, Southern
Altai. ‘Common on the Kurai Pass on July 25,
at 6,000 to 7,090 ft. The males only flying on
marshy Alpine meadows below steep rocks, with
The only two females I
took were much lower down in a swampy larch forest.”
(Elwes, Trans. Ent. Soc. pt. III. 1899, p. 314.)
Larva said to be reddish brown with yellow spots

Eastern and Amur,

eversmannt and delius.

and stripes, and found on Coryda/ts gigantea.

P. stubbendorfit.

a. var. melanophia Honr. B. E. Z. 1885. Aust.
Parn. 196, pl. VIII. fig. 1. This is a dusky melanic
form, in which the wings are suffused with dusky
coloration in both sexes. (Conf. P. mnemosyne ab.

melaina.) J1aAB. Amur. (Wlad. and Nik.)
29. P. citrinarius Motsc. Bull. Mose. 1866.

stubbendorfit var. Stgr.

This Parnassius is inserted here as it has several
times been recorded from Corea. Apparently quite
distinct from P. stubbendorfit. Leech’s description
in ‘* Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea,”
p. 506, runs :—‘ P. citrinarius is uniformly larger,
but not so rounded in the wing as P. stublendorfit.
The ground colour is yellower, and there is always a
distinct collar. Under surface of the body is more
strongly marked with yellow. In the 2 the pouch
is much shorter and far darker in colour; almost
black, in fact. Some well-marked specimens have a
superficial resemblance to faintly marked 7. felderé
Brem.”

With this species we conclude the genus Parnassius.
I have endeavoured to give in the fewest possible
words an account of the Palaearctic species as they
are known up to the present date. There is no
doubt that as time goes on many more species will
be added to the list. There are numerous parts of the
mountains of Asia which are yet unknown to entomo-
logists, and this genus, together with the genus
Coltas, so characteristic of the Palaearctic Region, is
sure to be further enriched as the country is opened to
travellers and fresh explorations take place.

With this genus we close our consideration of the
Family Papilionidae.
(To be continued.)
L 4

300 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

SOCIOLOGY AND

Gone eight thousand years ago the dawn of
human civilisation is said to have broken in
Babylonia. This is doubtless true in a sense, because
we have now available abundant records written and
dated as early as six thousand years before the birth
of Christ ; memoirs of the people who then lived on
the fringe of the plain drained by the great rivers
Euphrates and Tigris. That some form of civilisa-
tion had existed, probably for thousands of years
before these early human documents were written,
there can be no doubt, as the art of writing, either
pictorial or by arbitrary signs, was one of man’s later
accomplishments.

Considering the tone and subjects dealt with in the
earliest discovered documents, there does not appear
to be any reason why man should not have been
partially civilised for ten or twenty thousand years
before he commenced to-write. Everything, indeed,
tends to point to this having been the case, for very
shortly after the system of definite writing grew out
of the pictorial, we find records of a social system
differing in principle but little from that of our own
in this last year of the nineteenth century after the
birth of Christ.

The charmingly written book by Professor Sayce
of Oxford,'! which forms the first of the ‘‘ Semitic
Series,” edited by Professor James Alexander Craig,
of the University of Michigan, will come as a revela-
tion to many of his readers who have known only
the usual narrative of the age of man. Yet the
story unfolded by the Babylonian and Assyrian tablets
found during the past few years is so simply convinc-
ing that we cannot come to any other conclusion
with regard to man’s antiquity. These tablets have
been long known, and there is already a consider-
able literature devoted to them and their transla-
tion. So far as we are aware, however, the first
popularly written work on the subject, gathering
together the latest information divulged by their
translation, is the book before us.

_ Babylonia, referred to in the book of Genesis as
Babel, was situated on the plain formed by the
deposits brought down by the rivers Euphrates and
Tigris, that once flowed separately into the Persian
Gulf. Consequently the substratum is of clay. To
this accident of environment we of the present times
are thankful, otherwise it is improbable that we
should possess the indelible evidence of those ancient
times. Naturally, where stone and even wood were
scarce, the people used clay for most of the needs to
which it was suited. Their houses were built of
brick, their household utensils were made in a corner
of the brickfield, and flat tiles or tablets of soft clay

(1) The Babylonians and Assyrians, by the Rev. A. H.
Sayce, x + 273 pp. 74in. x 5 in. (London: John Nimmo.
1g00.) 55. net.

SCIENCE OF BABYLON.

were used for writing upon with a stylus. At first
they were sun-dried; but later, as civilisation ad-
vanced, kiln-baked. Hence it is that these tablets
have come down to us uninjured, whereas almost
any other substance would have so far decayed as to
have lost the sharpness of the cuneiform signs repre-
senting the letters. Most of the tablets are of small
size, easily carried, and useful for correspondence.
Indeed, as our author points out, many of them are
within the weight of our own postal limits, so were
no more trouble toa Babylonian postman— for there
were such centuries upon centuries before the
Christian era. Some of the tablets were even en-
closed in envelopes; remains of them, bearing
addresses, having been found. As Professor Sayce
says of some among them :—‘‘That we should
possess the autograph letters of a contemporary of
Abraham is one of the romances of historical science,
for it must be remembered that the letters are not
copies, but the original documents themselves.”
Stripped of their complimentary introductions, for
the Babylonians were a polite people, many of these
epistles would be nowise out of place in our own
correspondence. One writes in early times :—‘‘ To
my father, thus says Zimri-eram: May the Sun-god
and Merodach grant thee everlasting life! May
your health be good! I write to ask you how you
are; send me back news of your health. I am at
present at Dur-Sin, on the canal of Bit-Sikir. In
the place where I am living there is nothing to be
had for food. SoTI am sealing up and sending you
three-quarters of a silver shekel. In return for the
money, send me some good fish and other provisions
for me to eat.”

It is from these ancient human records that we get
the first glimpses of the earliest beginnings of civilisa-
tion historically known to us. For several thousands
of years Babylonia was the gathering-place of the
nations, and was peopled by men and women of
higher mental capacity, as it was only the most enter-
prising of each race who ventured to travel in those
remote periods. These, as is the case with modern
nations, formed the most progressive nation of ancien
times, owing to their admixture and consequent
vigorous offspring. Trade was the first incentive to
immigration, and later conquest brought them. The
extent of Babylonia was annually increased by Nature
as well as by occasional conquest. The shore-line
was, and still is, always advancing seawards, and
geologists are, from the tablet records, now able to
calculate its progress. The primitive seaport of
Chaldea was Eridu, flourishing 6,500 years before
Christ ; its site is now about 130 miles from the
present coast-line.

The difficulty of the variety of languages spoken
in Babylon led to the adoption of a classic, being the

=

al

SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

tongue of the oldest-known race inhabiting the
region. There-
fore we find that the young folks of Babylon had to
learn not only the current language of the period,
which must have varied considerably in the several
thousand years when it flourished, but also to read
ancient records in the Sumerian language and in the
intricate cuneiform or wedge-shaped characters then
used in writing. That the education imparted was
very thorough is evident from the comparative
absence of bad spelling on the tablets. It is clear
from the examples in existence, that education became
very general throughout the people, for we find
every class, from the kings to the slaves, carrying on
correspondence in such a manner as to take it for
granted that it could be read and answered without
professional assistance, as is now so common with
Asiatic people of the lower orders.
desired further instruction there were
for, though the Babylonians were eminently a com-
mercial people, education seems to have been held in
the highest estimation.

The records of primeval Babylonia indicate the
conquest of the Sumerians by the Semites; but it
was from the former race that the latter learned to
live in cities. It appears evident that the Semitic
race adopted much of the higher civilisation of the
Sumerian people, for we find their influence on the
Babylonians to the end of the records. The first
rulers of the nation were the high-priests of a
mythological religion. These in time became priest-
kings, and then the Church was severed from the
State, for they come to be described as kings only.
For how many untold centuries this condition existed
is unknown ; but some three thousand years after the
time mentioned above, in connection with the city
of Eridu, or about 3800 B.c., a definite Semitic
empire was founded by Sargon, after which history
becomes more intelligible and nearly consecutive.
During those early three thousand years the fusion of
the Sumerian and Semitic races seems to have become
complete. Under Sargon the empire extended to
the Mediterranean Sea, and practically ruled the
world so far as then known.

In a short article like this it is not possible to
trace the admixture of other racial influences which
went to make up Babylon in its ultimate splendour
and power. We may refer our readers to the book
under notice for much further information. We will,
however, return to our tablets and consider some of
the points referred to on them, with regard to
sociology and science. These tablets have been
found in immense numbers in various parts of what
was ancient Babylonia. They were evidently trea-
sured and cared for with all the pains taken ina modern
library. The tablets were catalogued, so that the
librarians could at once find any document required.
The collections of tablets were apparently under
State control, for they acted also as registries of
deeds, The catalogue was founded on the first line
of the **book,” which consisted of one or many

They were the Sumerian people.

For those who
universities ;

301
tablets.
short time ago one of these libraries, containing about
32,000 tablets, was unearthed at Tello in Southern
Chaldea, where every tablet or book was still in
order, just as arranged in the age of Gudea 2700 ».c.

They were arranged on shelves, and some

Literature of every kind was represented, history and
chronology, geography, law, private and public cor-
respondence, despatches from generals and proclama-
tions of the king, philology and mathematics ;
natural science in the shape of lists of beasts and
birds, insects and stones, astronomy and astrology,
theology and the pseudo-science of omens. There
were copies of deeds and contracts, of legal decisions,
inventories of properties, and much that has not yet
been translated. Every large city had its library, both
in Babylonia and Assyria; so there is yet doubtless
much remaining undiscovered. Edited copies of the
great national epics were kept in the provinces for
reference by the people, and there is evidence that
they were in request. One point is remarkable, and
that is the exact care taken in re-editing or in
copying not to mutilate the original, a virtue that has
not descended to our own age. Even in time of war
the libraries were respected, and during the see-saw
of conquest they were removed by the conquerors.
Would this had been so during the Christian era !

Even the earliest tablets indicate considerable
advance in a social system founded on individual
rights, rather than on the strength of might. The
position of the women in regard to equality with
men during the many centuries of Babylonian pro-
sperity was perhaps stronger than at any other time
in the world’s history. Both married and single
women could trade, independently or in partnership
with men, the former with either their own husbands
or with other men. They were educated equally
with men, might possess independent property, and
were fully protected by marriage settlements, numbers
of which areextant. These settlements, which appear
to have been in the usual course, provided for the
wife’s position in case of the husband’s death or of
divorce. Though professedly polygamists, such a
condition was rare, as the settlement provided that
a second marriage constituted divorce of the first,
with a sufficient provision for the first wife.

Marriage seems to have been entirely a civil con-
tract with cash penalties, and, when broken, forfeit-
ure of portion of the goods and furniture. The law
courts were admirably organised, with six judges in
attendance for each case. The lawyers, like the
medical practitioners, with the librarians, also the
priests and the Government officials, belonged to the
professional classes. There were bankers with fixed
rates of interest for regular customers ; men of large
means who financed, when necessary, a war for the
king, or found the money to dig a canal or for other
public works. Contracts for these and many other
private and public loans are minutely set forth on the
tablets, fully witnessed and dated, with the seals of
the parties interested duly impressed. Private
usury also existed, with interest ranging from 10 to

302 SCIENCE-GOSSTIP.

33 per cent. Money in the earliest days took the
form of exchange in kind, but soon resolved itself into
metal currency in silver and gold. Copper (and later
bronze) appears to have had existence, but little
mention has been made of it on the tablets. The
shekel ‘‘ stamped ” in silver is most frequently referred
to, its approximate value being three shillings.
Slavery was universal, the value of a healthy slave
being about 30 shekels or £4 10s. ; but slaves could
rise to high estate, purchase their freedom, and have
it presented. Copper was the common metal, bronze
was used later, the tin coming from North Cornwall
and Southern India. Iron was not used for a long
period, and the time of its introduction is doubtful,
possibly about the sixteenth century B.c. The
characters by which it was first indicated mean
“heaven” and ‘‘metal,” suggesting that it was
found on the great plain and the inhabitants knew its
meteoric origin.

The exact sciences, as we know them, do not
appear to have been understood, though some of
the knowledge of the Babylonians pointed in the
right direction. Astronomy was perhaps the most
advanced, as the larger stars were mapped; there
were several royal observatories, and the periods of
some lunar eclipses were correctly foretold. There
are tablets referring to one at least, in which the
astronomer-in-chief tells the king how, following his
instructions, he had placed observers over a wide
range of Western Asia, and goes on to describe the
path of totality. Science was fettered and obscured
by the remains of fetish worship, demonology and
the occult generally. The thousands of years of
civilisation had not wiped out, any more than it has
in these days, palmistry and the occult, which are
the vogue among some so-called leaders of intel-
ligent society. There is yet, after four thousand
years of added civilisation, nearly as much of the
original animal left in some of us as there was in
those old Babylonian days, when the Mrs. Grundy
of the period was quite as exacting as she is now.
Some of the tablets referring to law cases show that
respectable citizens of that time were not above little
indiscretions when her back was turned. It is said
to be so even still.

The importance of the science of sociology, as
applied to the investigation of man’s origin and

-- civilisation, is so evident that it is unnecessary to

enlarge on the value of the Babylonian tablets as
historical records.

We strongly recommend our readers to obtain this
delightful book. There are two or three small
faults, but they are simply those of production and
not of the author. The first is the irritating phonetic
spelling of such words as labour and colour, which
if pronounced as printed would be wrong. A more
full glossary is required, with a table of approximate
dates of the reigns of the Babylonian kings (these
would greatly help the uninitiated reader) ; and, lastly,
in the next edition, an enlarged index is sadly needed,
the present one being very incomplete. J. T. C.

4

BRITISH FRESHWATER MITES.
By CHARLES D. Soar, F.R.M.S.
(Continued from page 261.)

GENUS PIONACERCUS PIERSIG, 1894.

ee next genus to record is Péonacercus. This

genus has all the characteristics of dcercus
except in the genital area. Instead of a number of
discs on each side of the genital fissure as in Aceves we
here find only three, the same as occur in the species
of genus Péona. This difference will account for the
name given by Piersig to this genus. Previous to
1894, species we now find placed in this genus were
placed in Acercus or Piona. There are not many
species known. Piersig only describes two in his work
on the Hydrachna of Germany. I shall be able to
record at least three for Britain, and I have a fourth
which I found in the Upper Lake, Cwm-Glas in
North Wales, that I have not yet been able to name,
which may be a new species of Pronacercus.

1. Pionacercus leuckarti Piersig, 1892.

MaALe.—Body oval in form, rather broader to-
wards the posterior. Length about 0.48 mm. ;
breadth about 0.37 mm. Colour a yellowish-brown

Fic. 1. 2. leuckarti. Dorsal surface, male.

with brown markings, and a yellow patch in centre
of dorsal surface. Eyes large and prominent.
Lecs.—First pair about 0.48 mm. ; fourth pair
about 0.55 mm. Colour a very pale blue. The first
and second pair are very much alike, and are very
similar to those we find on Czvzes and others. The
third pair are rather modified, the tarsi being thick,
short, and very hairy, with the claws very small
(fig. 2). The fourth pair, as we found in Acerczs,
are very different to the others in having the tarsi
curved, and on the inner curve are a number of
teeth, like a comb. In the specimens I have

examined (fig. 3) there are seven of these teeth in a
row.

SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

EPIMERA.—Arranged in one group.

PALPI.—About 0.20 mm. long, rather short and
thick. There is « small peg at the last joint slightly
overlapping the fifth segment and placed on the
inner edge,

Pic. a. P. feuckarti. Tarsus of third foot.
GENITAL AREA,—Has three discs on each side of
the genital cleft (fig. 1).
FEMALE.—Rather larger than male. The Epi-
mera are arranged in four groups. Legs without
the modifications we find in the male.

Fic. 3. P. leuckarti, Fourth leg.

LocaLities.—Found by Dr. George in Lincoln-
shire, and by Mr. Scourfield in the Lake District.

2. Pionacercus uncinatus Koenike, 1885.

I have only seen one male of this species. It was
sent to me by Mr. Scourfield in 1895. He found it
at Llyn-y-Gades, Cader Idris, North Wales. It was

in rather bad condition, so much so that I was only
able to make a few notes and take an outline draw-

P. uncinatus, Fourth leg.

Fic. 4.

ing of the fourth leg and palpi. In the curve of the
tarsi there are only four teeth, instead of seven, and
the palpi are without the small peg I mentioned in
P. leuckarté on the last joint. In colour it was a
deep orange-yellow. I hope some other collector
will again find this species.

3. Pronacercus vatrax Koch, 1835.

MALr.—Oval in form.
breadth about 0.36 mm.
brown markings.

LeGs.—First pair about 0.56 mm.; fourth pair

Length about 0.44 mm. ;
Pale yellow in colour, with

393
0.48 mm. Tarsi of the first two pairs rather large
and prominent ; tarsi of third pair modified similar
Fourth pair of legs show a very great
and 4),
in having a long spur projected from the fourth seg-

to fig. 2,
difference to the others noticed (figs. 3

Fic. 5. P.vatrax. Fourth leg.
ment (fig. 5 at az). This spur is very plainly shown in
Koch’s figure.

EPIMERA.—Not quite formed in one group, as
fig. 1, each pair being lined out distinctly, although
close together. Otherwise the general form is about
the same.

PALri.—Long and thin, fig. 6 being about 0.40
mm., nearly the length of the body. Koch’s little

figure also shows the long palpi. They have the

Fic. 6. P. vatrax.

Palpus.

small peg mentioned in /. /euckarté, near the fifth
segment (fig. 6 at a).

GENITAL AREA.—Very similar to that shown on
fig. 1.

LocaLirres.—Found on
April 1899.

Piersig, in his work on German Hydrachna,
plate XXVII., fig. 70, has figured in outline this
mite of Koch’s; but I cannot find it mentioned in
the letterpress. On the fly-leaf of the plate it is
named Acercus vatrax. Koch named his mite
Tiphys vatrax ; but if my mite and Koch’s are the
same—and I have every reason to believe they are by
the spur on the hind leg and the length of palpi—its
proper genus must be /onacercus.

the Norfolk Broads,

(Zo be continued.)

Lonpon University ELection.—In the last
number of SCIENCE-GossIp we referred (p. 281) to
the need of a third candidate for the parliamentary
representation of the London University, caused by
the elevation of Sir John Lubbock to the Peerage.
Such candidate came in the person of Sir Michael
Foster, K.C.B., F.R.S., D.C.L., D.Sc., &c. It is
most satisfactory to find that the electors returned
Sir Michael, the numbers on declaration of the poll
being: Sir M. Foster, 1,271; Dr. Collins, 863;
Mr. Busk, 586. The high reputation of the new
member as a physiologist, and man of science gene-
rally, reflects the greatest credit on the choice of those
electors who supported their new member.

—_——— |

304 SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

RADIOGRAPHY.

By JAMES QUICK.
(Continued from page 270.)

4 | ‘HE utility of X-ray practice in military opera- Turkish war, when a complete equipment was sent
tions has been conclusively proved in numerous out in connection with a national fund for the

Fic. 25. FOREARM, SHOWING DouBLE FRAcTURE OF ULNA AND Rapius.

instances. One of the first trials upon its efficiency wounded. Later and more thorough, trials were
in actual warfare was made during the Graeco- made in 1898 by Major Beevor, R.A.M.C., during

SCIENCE

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SCIENCE-

the| Chitral campaign, and by Major Battersby,
R.A.M.C., in the Nile expedition of the Soudan
campaign. The results in both these cases proved
beyond doubt that very valuable aid was given to the
medical officers.

Ten complete sets of apparatus have been officially

GOSS/P,

Society of London, in January 1899.
temperatures of the country traversed

greatest difficulties with which he had

particularly on account of the danger to
induction coil was expos of having it
broken down by the softening of the wax

Fic. 26. Lec, FRACTURED JUST ABOVE THE ANKLE.

sent to the seat of war in South Atrica, and in addi-
tion to these many have been taken by officers.

The successful work of Major Battersby in the
Soudan was summarised by that officer in an ex-
cellent paper read by him before the Rontgen

The coil and other items were therefcre

wet flannel

to keep the temperature low

poration. To render the coil more portal

made in two parts, In a manner similar

395
The high
ne if i
» contend,
4
wit the
in tion
1 nside
wrapt in
y eva-
le it was

most of

the big coils in use at present. The coil part was

306 SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

packed in one box, and the condenser and other
parts in another.

Major Battersby’s arrangement for the generation
of electricity was indeed an ingenious one. He says:
“The pulley of a small dynamo was connected by
means of a leather strap with the back wheel of a
specially constructed tandem bicycle. The required
velocity for the dynamo was thus obtained, and our
procedure was as follows: Having carefully adjusted
the circuit with the storage battery, and also with
the voltmeter and ammeter, my warrant officer took
his position on the seat of the bicycle and commenced
pedalling. When 15 volts and 4 ampéres were
registered, the switch close to the handle of the
bicycle was opened, and charging of the battery com-
menced. As the resistance became greater, a sensa-
tion of riding uphill was experienced, and the services
of an additional orderly were requisitioned for the
front seat. This bicycle practice was generally
carried out in a shade temperature of 110° Fahr., so
that at the end of half an hour we unanimously
agreed that some other form of scientific amusement
was desirable. The switch now having been turned
off before pedalling ceased, in order to avoid any
discharge from the battery, the machine was brought
to a standstill.” Major Battersby invariably used
glass sensitised plates. The temperature of the
water employed in development being high, and ice
being unobtainable, fine details upon the negatives
had to be sacrificed. As a rule development was
done at three o’clock in the morning, that being the
coolest part of the day.

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British officers, non-commissioned officers, and men
were brought to Abadieh. Of that number there
were twenty-one cases that could not be diagnosed
accurately by ordinary surgical means, and of these
the presence or absence of a bullet was in twenty
instances proved by the X-rays. The odd case was
that of a shot in the lung, so severe that at the time
it was not considered justifiable to examine.

In many instances X-ray observations have materi-
ally assisted the dentist. Teeth are more opaque to
the rays than bone, hence a radiograph shows clearly
the teeth distinct from their surroundings. Small
celluloid sensitive films, about 1 inch by 3 inch, are

used, wrapped in black paper and then enclosed in

thin sheet rubber. They are placed inside the
mouth, and held close to the teeth by the tongue.
Exposure and development of the films are made in
the usual manner. Dr. Knolle’s instrument, the
dentiaskiascope, for examining the teeth, consists of a
small fluorescent screen in an aluminium case, so
placed that the screen-image is reflected upon a
mirror, which the operator views through a tube.

We are indebted to Mr. A. C. Cossor, of 67 Far-
ringdon Road, London, for use of original prints and
permission to reproduce them, for figs. 25 and 26 in
this number. The safety-pin shown in fig. 25 was
used to secure a bandage.

(70 be concluded next month.)

A HISTORY OF CHALK.

By Epwarp A. Martin, F.G.S.
(Continued from page 235.)

\WWee the progress of geological science, less
prominent beds in a system receive more
detailed examination, with the result that greater
importance attaches to certain minor beds than was
formerly the case. At one time, in the case of the
Cretaceous now before us, it was sufficient to classify
the subordinate divisions thus :—(1) Chalk with
Flints ; (2) Chalk without Flints ; (3) Chalk Marl ;
(4) Upper Greensand ; (5) Gault.
A more explanatory anid detailed table is now
necessary, and we have to consider each of the
formations given below :

DANIAN. Faxoe Limestone.
Pisolitic Limestone. i
Maestricht Beds.
SENONIAN. Zone of Beleninttella mucronata.
(Upper Chalk) ,, ,, Marsupites.
>> 9 Macraster cor-anguinum and
M. cor-testudinarium.
TURONIAN. > >», Holaster planus (Chalk Rock)
(Middle Chalk) ,, ,, Zevebratulina gracilis.
> 9» Ahynconella cuviert.
>> >, Lnoceramus labiatus (Mel-
bourne Rock).
CENOMANIAN. ,, ,, Belemmztella plena.
(Lower Chalk) ,, ,, Amsmonttes rhotomagensis
» 3, Holaster sub-globosus (Grey
Chalk), with Totternhoe
Stone at base.
3» 95 Ammonites varians.
> »5 Llocoscyphia meandrina
(Chalk Marl).
ALBIAN. »» 9» Chloritic Marl.
(Upper Green- ,, ,, Pecten asper.

sand) 2 395 Ammonites mnflatus.
ALBIAN. (including a contemporaneous portion
(Gault) of the Hunstanton Limestone, or

“Red Chalk,” and the Blackdown
Greensand in Dorset and Devon).

The division of the beds into those which contain
flints and those which do not has now completely
broken down ; since, as we shall see, there are beds
in the Upper Chalk which contain no flints at all,
whilst on the other hand there are beds of the
Lower Chalk, as in Yorkshire, where tabular flints
are a prominent feature. It is customary now,
wherever possible, to divide strata into zones, these
being named after some fossil, either peculiar to the
zone or, at any rate, very prominently associated with
it. This system of nomenclature is especially valuable
in the case of the Chalk, since names based on purely
lithological distinctions are quite valueless when an
attempt at correlation is made with beds of similar
age in other lands where there is no resemblance
to chalk at all. This system, first introduced by

Professor Hebert in 1862, has been considerably ex-
tended by Dr. C. Barrois, and is being very widely

adopted.

SCIENCE-GOSS/P. 307
pre-Cretaceous times. Be that as it may, the
Cretaceous era was to pa way before mammals
again showed themselves, and then not until the
Paris gypsum came to be laid down in Eocene time

The Wealden was at one time regarded as part of
the Jurassic or Oolitic system. It has since been
separated from this association, and placed below the
base of the Cretaceous. In a similar manner the
Purbecks, at the top of the Jurassic, are more
correctly regarded, together with the Wealden, as
passage formations, containing as they do fossil
representatives both of Jurassic and Cretaceous times.
In Southern France, and on the south slopes of the
Alps, there are rocks known as Tithonian, which are
regarded by French geologists as Cretaceous. Possi-
bly they are of pre-Wealden age or even contemporary
with that formation. The Tithonian includes the
well-known Diphya Limestone with its distinguishing
fossil Diphya terebratula.

Interesting as would be a consideration of the
wonderful fossil remains discovered in the Purbecks
and Wealden Beds, we must not linger over them,
since we have now relegated them to a new system—
the Neocomian—and cut them off from the Cretaceous.
Suffice it to say in regard to the Purbecks that in a
layer a few inches in thickness have been discovered
the jaws of no less than twenty-five species of a low
type of marsupial mammals. In older formations
than this, only four have been found in the Stones-
field (Oolite) Beds, and four in beds of Upper Trias
age. In the Chalk beds not any remains of mammals
have been found, so we have here the remarkable
fact that between strata which must themselves have
taken inconceivable ages to form, and which are
utterly barren of mammal remains, there is isolated
this thin Purbeck seam containing so large an assem-
blage of them. There they are, and there is the
proof that they existed; but there must have been
many more. The very fact of their existence impels
us to believe this. Yet thousands of feet of sand and
chalk are absolutely silent as to mammal life, and not
until the Chalk age is past and gone do we find the
order of mammals again exhibiting its remains in the
rocks. TZriconodon, Plagiaulax, and Spalacotherium
are the generic names of three Purbeck mammals.
What became of their descendants in the Wealden
age?

How did these small creatures fare when they had

to struggle for existence amidst the forests tenanted

by giant lizard-like monsters, and when extinction
may fairly have been expected to wait upon them ?
For answer the geological record is silent. It is
possible that the evolution of the A/arsupialia, which
has been so successfully carried through in Australia,
took a yet earlier start in the British area, and, like a
race ‘‘born out of due time,” they actually did
become extinct when in the Wealden age giant
reptiles held the sceptre of power, when the great
Ieuanodon, Megalosaurus, Regnosaurus, and many
another, lorded it over other creatures inferior in size

and strength, which went to make the fauna of

portions of England, Belgium, and France in these

were their remains again entombed.

[guanodon (after Mantell)—Kentish Rag, Maidstone.

2, Femur; 3, tibia; 7, radius ; 8, various vertebrae ; 10, clavicle.
The Gault clay, forming the base of the system
with which we are particularly concerned, is a forma-
tion that is found, in connection with what has been
called the Upper Greensand, to occur with remark-
able consistency immediately beneath the chalk in
the South-East of England. Wherever in the south
of Cambridgeshire the chalk terminates at the surface
there is always to be found, cropping from beneath
it, either the Upper Greensand or the Gault. Except
in North Kent, the Gault outcrops all around the
Weald with the greatest regularity, and stretches
from its most westerly termination near Selborne, in
Hampshire, to the Kentish coast ; at Folkestone in the
case of its northern branch, and to the Sussex coast,
near Eastbourne, in the case of its southern branch.

(To be continued.)

doing

epe yrt.

THE YERKES OBSERVATORY
good work, according to its firs
Good measurements of difficult obj
effected. The heat received from the star Arcturus
is about equal to that from a candle six miles
distant.—/. C. Dennett.

have been

308 SCLIENCE-GOSSTP.

AN INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH SPIDERS.

By FranK PERCY SMITH.

(Continued from page 240.")

GENUS ULOSORUS LATR.

AES genus may be readily distinguished by the
position of the eyes, as shown on fig. III.,

Uloboridae. It will be noticed that the convexity of
each row of eyes is directed forwards. The genus
contains but one British species.

Uloborus waleckenaerius Latr. (Veleda
Jineata Bl.). eof

Length of male 3.7 mm., length of female 5.3 mm.

The cephalo-thorax is covered with pale hairs, and
has several longitudinal stripes of dark and light
brown. The legs are yellowish-brown with annula-
tions of a darker hue. The upper side of the
abdomen is of a pale, dull, yellow tint, with longi-
tudinal, dark-brown lines.

This rare spider has been found in Dorset and
Hampshire.

GENUS AYPTIOTES WALCK.

This genus differs from C/obovws in the position of
the eyes, the convexities of the two rows being
directed towards one another.

Hyptiotes paradoxus C. Koch.

Length of male 4.2 mm., length of female 5.3 mm.

Cephalo-thorax light brown, covered with hairs.
Legs similar in colour, covered with hairs and spines.
Abdomen of a brown colour mottled with darker and
paler tints. The digital joint of the male palpus is
of enormous size, as also are the palpal organs.

This extremely rare spider has been found in
Cumberland.

FAMILY DICTYNIDES.

We now come to a family of spiders which includes
several species that are common and well known.
The species present considerable variation in size, but
may be distinguished by the following characters :—
Caput rather broad, the eyes being placed in two
transverse rows. The females have calamistra, a
supernumerary spinner being present in both sexes.
The falces are rather strong, but not greatly divergent.

GENUS DICTYNA SUND.

In this genus the cephalo-thorax is considerably
raised just behind the ocular area. The maxillae are
straight and inclined towards the labium, which is
large. The abdomen projects over the cephalo-
thorax. Legs 1, 2, 4, 3.

(1) This series of articles on British Spiders commenced in
ScienceE-Gossip, No. 67, December 189.

Dictyna arundinacea Linn. (Z7gatis benrgna
Bl.)

Length. Male 3.1 mm., female 3.5 mm.

The cephalo-thorax is dark brown, the caput being
clothed with lines of pale hairs. The legs are brown.
The abdomen is yellowish-brown, clothed with pale
hairs, and has a deep brown band along its upper
surface, which is interrupted towards the spinners so
as to form a series of transverse bars. The radial
joint of the male palpus has a small process, bifid at
its extremity, projecting from near the base on the
upper side. Attached to the palpal organs is a long
curiously twisted spine, directed backwards.

This spider is rather common, spinning its snare
in the blossoms of heather and rushes.

Dictyna uneinata Thor. (Lygatis arborea
Cambr. )

Length. Male 2.5 mm., female 2.7 mm.

This species is similar in form and markings to D.
arundinacea Linn., but may be distinguished without
difficulty. if the process on the radial joint of the male
palpus be examined. In the present species it is
long, and springs quite from the base of the joint
instead of near it. The radial joint is longer than
the cubital. This is not uncommon in the Southern
counties of England.

Dictyna pusilla Westr.

Length. Male about 2.8mm. «

This spider is similar to the last, but may be dis-
tinguished from it by the radial joint of the male
palpus being shorter than the cubital. It is rare.
Localities. Oxford, Guildford.

Dictyna latens Fabr. (Zygatis latens Bl.)

Length. Male 2.8mm., female 3 mm.

This species is very similar in structure to D.
arundinacea Linn. It may be distinguished by its
smaller size and by its dark grey colour.

Dictyna lugubris Cambr.

Length. Male 3 mm.

This extremely rare spider is similar in general
form to D. arundinacea Linn., but may be distin-
guished by its very dark brown colouration.

Dictyna viridissima Walck.

Length. Male 4 mm.

This species is also similar to D. arundinacea
Linn., but is much larger and of a distinctly green
hue,

Dictyna variabilis C. Koch.

This spider is very rare, but is easily distinguished
by the colour of the abdomen, which is a bright
pinkish yellow.

SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 309

GENUS LETHIA MENGE.

The genus Zefhia contains a number of small
spiders distinguishable from Dyetyna by the form of
the cephalo-thorax, which is less convex than in that
group. Legs 1, 2, 4, 3, or I, 4, 2, 3, the fourth
and second pairs being always nearly equal.

Lethia humilis BI.

Length. Male, 2 mm. ; female, 2.5 mm.

Cephalo-thorax brown, with a darker margin.
Legs pale brown, with annulations of a darker tint.

Fic. V. Dysdera crocota.

The abdomen is prettily marked with a distinct
pattern. The cubital joint of the male palpus has a
short projection on its upper side. The palpal organs
are rather simple. This spider is not at all un-
common in the South of England.

Lethia mengii Cambr.

Length. Male, about 2 mm.

This extremely rare spider may be distinguished
from the last by the absence of the projection on the
cubital joint of the male palpus, and by the com-
plexity of the palpal organs. It has only been found
in Dorset.

Lethia puta Cambr.

Length. Female 1.7 mm.

This is similar in structure to Z. Audis Bl., but
is much smaller, and the abdominal pattern is very
indistinct. It is extremely rare, and is recorded
from Dorset.

Lethia albispiraculis Cambr.

Length. Female 2 mm.

Pe)

Very similar to the last species, but may be dis-
tinguished by the colour of its spiracular plates, which
are brilliant white. It has been found in Dorset.

Lethia subniger Cambr.

Length. Male 2.1 mm.

Cephalo-thorax dark brown. Legs yellowish
brown. Abdomen almost black with a few pale
hairs. This spider is very rare. It has been taken
at Winchester.

Lethia patula Sim.

Length. Female 4.2 mm.

This rare spider is similar in appearance to 1. puta
Cambr., but is much larger.

Lethia spinigera Cambr.

Length. Male 1.8 mm.

This spider may be distinguished from the rest of
the genus by its possessing a spine on the tibiae of
the third pair of legs.

Fic. VI. Segestria senoculata.

GENUS AMAUROBIUS C. KOCH.

The spiders of this small but important genus are
very similar, both in appearance and habits, to those
of the family Agelenidae, with which they were
formerly classed. The possession of calamistra and
supernumerary spinners, however, necessitates their
removal from that group. The caput is very slightly
raised, and the eyes are arranged in two transverse
rows as shown in fig. IV. The three British species
representing this genus are all rather large, two of
them being very common.

310 SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

Amaurobius fenestralis Stroem. (Ciniflo
atrox Bl.)

Length. Male 7.3 mm., female 8.4 mm. The
size of this spider is subject to much variation.

Cephalo-thorax yellowish-brown, the caput being
much darker. Legs pale brown, indistinctly annu-
lated with a darker hue. The abdomen has at its
anterior part a dark blackish-brown marking. This
spider may be found during the winter months under
the loose bark of decaying trees in dry situations. It
is very common, and generally distributed throughout
the country.

Amaurobius similis Bl. (Czzflo similis Bl.)
See fig. IV.

Length. Male 10.5 mm., female 12.6 mm,

This species is similar in general appearance to the
last, but may be distinguished by the following dif-
ferences :—The abdomen is of a colder grey tint, the
dark marking on its fore part being less distinct and
more broken up. The radial joint of the male palpus
has a black curved apophysis (shown in fig. IV.) ; the
corresponding projection in 4. fezestvalis Stroem. is
paler, and neither so much curved nor so narrow.
This spider is even more common than the last, and
may be found behind boards in outhouses, under
floors, or in openings in brick walls, around which
latter it spins a mass of flocculent web of a bluish
tint. Ihave noticed that the percentage of males
in this species is far less than in the case of 4. fenes-
tralis Stroem.

Amaurobius ferox Walck. (Cinzflo ferox Bl.)

Length. Male 10 mm., female 13 mm.

This species, which is found in similar situations
to A. similis Bl., may be distinguished by its dark
sooty colour, and also by the form of the pa'pal
organs. In this species the pale lobe, which is
present in the other species of Avazrobius, is greatly
developed and of a brilliant white colour. The female
isa very powerful spider, and is one of our largest
species.

Famity DYSDERIDAE.

This family may be distinguished from all others
(except Scytodidae) by the species it contains possess-
ing but six eyes. The spiracular openings are four in
number.

GENUS DYSDERA LATR.

This genus may be distinguished by the position
of the eyes, which are arranged in the form of a
horseshoe, with its open side:in front. The tarsal
claws are twoin number. Two British species only
are at present known.

Dysdera cambridgii Thor. (Dysdera ery-
thrina B).)

Length. Male 12 mm., female 12.5 mm.

Cephalo-thorax bright reddish-brown, legs reddish-
yellow, abdomen pale yellowish-grey, falces of the
same colour as the cephalo-thorax and extremely
prominent. This is a very striking and distinct
spider, and is found, though not commonly, under
stones and decayed bark.

Dysdera crocota C. Koch. Fig. V.

Length. Male 12.2 mm., female 12,8 mm.

This spider is exceedingly like the last in structure
and habits, but may be distinguished by the form of
the male palpal organs, which, in this species, end
in two distinct prominences. It is rather uncommon.
The female is represented on fig. V.

GENUS HARPACTES TEMPL.

This genus may be distinguished from Dysdera by
the position of the eyes, which form almost a circle.
The tarsal claws are three in number. Only one
species has been found in Britain.

Harpactes hombergii.

Length. Male, 6 mm., female 6.3 mm.

CEPHALO-THORAX. Dark red-brown. LEGS.
Pale yellowish-brown, indistinctly annulated with a
darker hue. ARDOMEN. Brownish grey. This
spider is not uncommon under loose bark and stones
in dry situations.

GENUS SEGESTRIA LATR.

This genus may be at once distinguished from the
preceding genera by the position of the eyes, which
are arranged in three groups of two each, the groups
being placed ina transverse line. The tarsal claws
are three in number.

Segestria senoculata Linn. Fig. VI.

Length. Male 6.3 mm., female 10.5 mm.

CEPHALO-THORAX. Dark brownish-grey. AB-
DOMEN. Yellowish-grey with a series of diamond-
shaped blackish patches along the centre of its upper
surface. The palpal organs are very simple, con-
sisting of a bulb gradually drawn out into a fine
point. This is not an uncommon spider under loose
bark. The female is represented on fig. VI.

Segestria bavarica C. Koch..

Length. Male 7 mm., female 11 mm.

This spider is very similar to .S. seoci/ata Linn.,
but may be distinguished by being more hairy, and
by the bulb of the male palpal organs being drawn
out more abruptly. It is very rare.

Segestria florentina Rossi.

Length. Male 18 mm.

This extremely rare spider may be at once dis-
tinguished by the brilliant green colour of the falces.

GENUS SCHOENOBATES BL.

The position of this genus is very doubtful, as it
appears to bear a close relationship to the Theridiidae,
but differs in the possession of six eyes only.

Schcenobates walkeri Bl.

Length. Male, 3°1 mm.

Cephalo-thorax red-brown, with white hairs. Ab-
domen mottled brown, also clothed with white hairs.
It is extremely rare.

[Norr.—In consequence of a printer’s error, ale
page 239, line 14, second column, read ‘‘ many,”
instead of ‘‘any.”—Eb. S. G.]

(Zo be continued. )

ak

Sa

NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON,

A Book of Whales. By ¥. E. Bepparp, M.A.,
F.R.S. xv +320pp., Shin. x 6 in., with 4o illustra-
tions. (London; John Murray, 1900.) 6s.

This is the seventh volume issued of the admirable
Progressive Science Series, edited by the author of
the work before us. In dealing with this somewhat
difficult subject, the author reminds us how little is
really known about the life-histories of the true
whales and even less about their allies the Del-
phinidae. We imagine that though the popular
interest in whales will always be active on account of
their size and the scarcity of opportunity for examina-
tion, an accurate knowledge of their economy will be
long in arriving. This difficulty of personally ob-
serving the Cetaceans is probably the reason for the
sparse attention they have received from men of
science. Indeed, the work before us is the only
popular treatise provided by a modern scientific
writer that covers the full range of whales, rorquals,
beaked whales, and dolphins, recent and fossil, of the
earth. Mr. Beddard’s chief object in writing this
volume for the Progressive Science Series has not
only been to say what is known of Cetaceans, but
also by means of the group of whales to illustrate a
very important generalisation—the intimate relation
between structure of animals and environment. No
group exhibits this in a more remarkable degree.
The author has made this volume pleasant to read by
the layman as well as the science student, as he has
included much ancient lore about the great marine
beasts and many anecdotes about hunting of whales.
The drawings are by Mr. Sidney Berrage, and are
generally effective. Asa whole Mr. Beddard’s book
is a valuable contribution to the literature of whales
and their allies, and a useful addition to any general
library. An important point in its favour is ‘that Mr.
Beddard has verified, as far as possible, all his state-
ments ; some being new facts.

History of Strood, by Henry Smetham, xii +
431 pp-, 9 in. x 6in., with 94 illustrations. (Strood :
Sweet & Sons. 1899.) 7S- 6d.

This is a carefully written history of Strood, a
thriving town on the banks of the river Medway,
opposite the city of Rochester, with which it is
equally ancient ; having been of importance since the

early Roman occupation of Britain. From the point

of view of natural science there are in this book two
appendices of local value. The first is a ‘geological
sketch of the district by Mr. G. E. Dibley, F.G.S.
It is popularly written, rather to interest the unin-
itiated than as a scientific memoir. It is conse-
quently more useful in connection with a local history.
This geological appendix occupies sixteen pages.
Following i is an appendix on the flora and fauna of
Strood, by Mr. J. W. Tutt; P.-E: who, by the
way, is a native of Strood. Both these are interesting
and ought to add recruits to the by no means small
band of students of Nature already to be found in
Strood, Rochester and Chatham. It is curious to

SCIENCE-GOSSTP. 311

Fe |

note that in 1673 there was a safiron garden in
Strood that let at a rental of Z10 per annum, so must
have been of considerable size. The lover of
archaeology will find in Mr. Smetham’s ** History of
Strood ” much of more than local interest, and the
general reader will be induced to visit this quaint
town and its picturesque surroundings.

The Mycetozoa. By the Right Hon, Sir Epwarp
Fry, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., and AGNES Fry.
viii+82 pp., 7 in. 5 in,, with 22 illustrations.
(London : ** Knowledge ” Office, 1899.) Is.

This is a reprint in book form of a series of useful
articles that appeared in our contemporary, ‘* Know-
ledge,” upon these generally little understood lowly
forms of life. Affectionately termed ‘ ‘myxies ” by
the authors, their subjects constitute the borderland
between plant and animal life. Messrs. Witherby
have done well to issue this little book, as it gives an
impetus to the study of some of the most remarkable
forms to be found in Nature. It is well worth its
published price,

Transact ons of the Hull Scientific Society Sor
1899. Edited by THomMas SHEPPARD and J. R.
BoyLr, F.S.A. 70 pp., 8% in. x 54 in., with 3
illustrations. (Hull: Brown & Sons. 1899.) Is. 6d.

The editors of this part, and the members gene-
rally of the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists’
Club, are to be congratulated upon its production.
Though very wisely confined to strictly local matters,
it contains much of general interest. There are
several good papers on subjects relating to archae-
ology, botany, zoology, and geology.

The Birds of Eastern North America. Part Il
Land Birds. By Cuas. B. Cory, F.L.S., F.Z.S.
ix + 132 to 387 pp., 9} in. x 7 in., with many
illustrations. Special Edition. (Chicago: Field
Columbian Museum. 1899).

The author of this work is Curator of the Depart-
ment of Ornithology in the Field Museum at Chicago,
and Vice-President of the American Ornithologists’
Union; also member of the British Ornithologi
Union. This part is a key to Families and Species,
and is elaborately illustrated. It is prefaced by in-
structions for measuring birds, according to the
system used in its pages.

Croydon, New and Old. By EDWARD A. MARTIN,
F.G.S. 134 pp-, 7} in = 5 in., with maps and illus-
trations. (London: Beechings, Limited.) 6a.

Mr. Martin has produced, not only a chatty account
of Croydon and its district, but also a useful book of
reference. At the end of the work are numerous
suggestions for excursions and country rambles which
will be found worth exploring by residents in Croydon.
Most of them are within easy reach of London. As
he proceeds, the author gives pleasant particulars
of the geology, also of the “plants and animals by the
way.

The Evolution of Geography. By JOHN KEANE.

xv + 150 pp-, 84 in. x 54 in., with 26 coloured and
plain illustrations. (London: Edward Stanford.
1899.) 6s.

The second title of this work is ‘* A Sketch
Rise and Progress of Geographical Knowledge from
the Earliest Times to the First Cire umnavi ion of
the Globe.” The book forms a most eresting
introduction to the fascinating study of geography
and attendant exploration. Tlere we can trace the

312 SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

first groping in the geographical darkness by refer-
ring to the early maps reproduced in Mr. Keane’s
book. It is instructive to find on a map of the date
500 B.C. the general contour of the Mediterranean
delineated with such considerable exactness, showing
how long had been the time its waters had been used
for navigation before that date. Of course this must
have been the case, as we know the Phoenicians
supplied Babylon with tin from Cornwall a thousand
years previously. The author has told his story with
much judgment, and pleasantly; and we can recom-
mend the work to our readers.

A Book of the Fields and Woods. Edited by J. P.
STEELE. xX+I1I2 pp., 7 in. x 4; in., with illustra-
tions. (Leek: W. H. Eaton, 1899.) Is. 3d.

The ‘‘ First Book of the North Staffordshire Clarion
Field Club” is its second title. It is beautifully
produced, with many quaint illustrations, and is full
of country lore in the form of nicely written essays.

Chemistry for Organised Schools of Sczence. By S.
ParrisH, B.Sc., A. TR Gs nae ” and D. ForsyTH,
M.A., D.Sc. 262 pp., 7 in. 2 in., with 108 illus-
trations. (London: Meera & col Limited, 1899).
2s. 6d.

Although this volume is described on the cover as
being the work of Messrs. Parrish & Forsyth, it
appears that Dr. Forsyth’s part is the writing of the
preface only. We are therefore all the more Yeady to
heartily congratulate Mr. Parrish on the production of
such an excellent manual. The old-fashioned stereo-
typed order in elementary text-books of Chemistry is
so familiar that the strikingly new arrangement in the
present work will be a great relief to all well-wishers
of the science. It is indeed a long time since we have
seen the elementary facts of this fascinating subject
laid down in so clear a manner, or so carefully gauged
as to suit the capacity of the young scholar. We
do not doubt that the work will tend towards the
production of a solid foundation in the mind of the
student. Amongst the most satisfactory pages of the
book we would mention the ‘‘ Rules to be Observed
in Weighing,” the series of excellent questions at the
end of each chapter, and the chapter on the deter-
mination of equivalents. This last is very clearly
written, and in conjunction with that on ‘‘ Valency ”
cannot fail to give the student a clear grasp of the
essential points of the laws which govern the selection
of Atomic Weights. The illustrations, being repro-
ductions of photographs of actual apparatus, will be
of more help than the pen-and-ink sketches which
are usually found in works of a similar purport.
Seeing the many advantages of the work as a whole,
we cannot refrain from noting one or two points
which will, no doubt, be altered in a second edition.

~ After carefully describing the decimal system, and

stating that ‘‘the system of measurement employed
in Chemistry is that known as the Metric System,”
the author speaks (p. 42) of ‘‘ test-tubes 6in. x 2 in.,”
and again (p. 45) of ‘‘tubing 3in. bore” and
“‘gauze held 14 in. from the mouth.” We cannot
help thinking that the adoption of the decimal system
is seriously delayed by the introduction of such ex-
pressions as inches and pounds in the works of the
very people who endeavour to point out the advan-
tages of cutting adrift from the unscientific method
at present in use in Britain. The contractions
‘corm. ” and ‘‘ccs.” are, we are sorry to note,
employed in error for ‘‘g.” and ‘‘ccm.” One
strictly chemical point calls for alteration. This is
the use of the term ‘‘hydrate” in mistake for
“hydroxide.” We have no doubt that this, too, will
be noted in the second edition.—H. M. R,

ua

1 la

WE are pleased to report that our editor, Mr.
Carrington, is making good progress in convalescence.
He hopes to be able to resume his active association
with the magazine in about a month’s time.

WE regret that our limited space prevents the
insertion this month of several important articles
already in print, and the continuance of Dr. Bryan’s
articles on ‘‘ Desmids,” ‘* The Baltic Amber Mines,”
with others.

Mr. R. H. Porvrer, of 7 Princes Street, Cavendish
Square, London, announces a new work on the
birds of Surrey, by Mr. John A. Bucknill, M.A It
is to be issued by subscription and will contain map,
local and other illustrations.

Ir is with sincere regret that we hear, from his
son, of the death of our contributor Mr. E. S.
Layard, of Budleigh-Salterton. This eminent
naturalist, who was so devoted to the study of
conchology, died on New Year’s Day.

AFTER thirty-three years’ service, including the
early vicissitudes of the Department, Mr. Robert H.
Scott, F.R.S., the chief of the British Meteorological
Office, has resigned that position. He will be
followed by Mr. William Napier Shaw, F.R.S.,
Assistant Director of the Cavendish Laboratory,
Cambridge.

Mr. CHARLES WHITEHEAD, F.L.S., F.Z.S.,
technical adviser to the Board of Agriculture, has,
on account of ill-health, retired from that post. His
duties have been chiefly in relation to economic
entomology. Communications relating to such sub-
jects are to be directed to the Secretary, Board of
Agriculture, London.

ProressoR W. W. Warts forwards us the
“‘Tenth Report of the Committee of the British
Association for obtaining Photographs of Geological
Interest in the United Kingdom.” Mr. Watts is
secretary to the Committee. The additions for the
year include sixty-one prints and six slides. The
collection now numbers 324 prints and rot slides,

PROFESSOR DAVID EDWARD HuGHES, whose
death occurred at the end of January, was born in
May 1831, of Welsh ancestry. He was an eminent
and successful physicist, who devoted much attention
to invention. Among the many interesting instru-
ments created by his fertile brain was the micro-
phone, that wonderfully delicate recorder of sound.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, which awarded
him a medal in 1885.

THERE died on February 6th, aged 77 years, an
entomologist well known among lepidopterists some
twenty years ago. This was Walter Battershell Gill,
M.D. Lond., F.R.C.S. He was the only son of
Captain T. Gill, R.N., of Brock Hall, Hereford, and
brother of another well-known lepidopterist, Mrs.
Hutchinson of Grantsfield, Leominster. Dr. Gill
ceased to take an active interest in entomology a few
years ago and his collections were sold at Stevens’
Auction Rooms. He died at his residence, 8 Chester
Place, Regent’s Park, London.

i. ll

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CONTENTS
PAGE
PHRYGIA AND AN EARTHQUAKE. By J. Buss.

Illustrated a5 5 00 «= 280)
LIFE UNDER OTHER CONDITIONS. iBy GEOFFREY

Martin .. a a0 se 201
THE PTILINUM “OF DIPTERA. “Be Ww. WEScHE.

Illustrated 5 204
NOTES ON WOODL ICE. By Wir RED iia Was.

E.L.S. ws 295
BUTTERFLIES OF THE PALAEARCTIC REGION.

By Henry Cuarces Lanc, M.D. Jllustyated.. «» 207
SOCIOLOGY AND SCIENCE OF BABYLON .. ++ 300
BRITISH FRESHWATER MITES. By Cuartes D. .

Soar, F.R.M.S. Jllustrated.. 20 20 so co eee
RADIOGRAPHY. By James Quick. Jllustrated BOA!
A HISTORY OF CHALK. By Epwarp A. Martin,

F.G.S. Jllustrated .. «. 306
AN INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH SPIDERS. By

Frank Percy Smitu. Jllustrated bo Ao +. 308
BOOKS TO READ—SCIENCE-GOSSIP .. 55 any Su
MICROSCOPY—PHYSICS a on Ac ++ 313, 315
ASTRONOMY—GEOLOGY .. eS LO,NS uo.
NOTES AND QUERIES— — TRANSACTIONS are +. 319
EXCHANGES ie 5A od +) 320,

SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

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SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 313

PG PKTAV ACARI
Ka Dd PK KORGAN
Se SASS

CONDUCTED BY F. SHILLINGTON SCALES, F.R.M.S.

THE Quekerr MrcroscorrcaL CLus.—The
November issue of the Journal of the Quekett Club
reached us some time ago, but our limited space
unfortunately prevented us from noticing it earlier.
The good work done for a generation of microscopists
by the Quekett Club, the very name of which has a
grateful sound in the ears of all ardent lovers of the
microscope, requires no mention here. There are
several things of interest in this number of the
Journal, amongst them being a paper by Mr. C. D.
Soar on a water mite that Mr. Soar believes to be a
new species, and which he proposes to name Afax
favernert, and another paper by Mr. R. T. Lewis
on some Australian ticks, each being illustrated
by a well-engraved plate. The most lengthy article
in the Journal, however, is one that will have
an additional interest for our readers. It is by
Dr. M. C. Cooke, entitled ‘Early Memories of
the Q.M.C.” In the earlier portion he traces
the intimate connection that existed between the
Club and ScteNncE-Gossip. Mr. Cooke begins by
calling attention to the work done by the late Mr.
Robert Hardwicke as a publisher of scientific books
at his house in Piccadilly, from whence issued the
** Popular Science Review,” and the third edition of
that classic work, Sowerby’s ‘‘ English Botany.”
Mr. Cooke tells us he was a daily visitor to the little
shop in Piccadilly, and that he suggested to Mr.
Hardwicke that there was a good opening fora cheap
monthly magazine devoted to natural history and
microscopy, with facilities for exchanges and copious
notes and queries. The idea was entertained eagerly,
and HARDWICKE’s SCIENCE-Gossip was the title
suggested by Mr. Hardwicke, and to this he per-
tinaciously adhered. The first number appeared
January Ist, 1865, and ‘became at once a success ; in
fact, it had no competitor. Mr. Cooke, who was its
first editor, and so ablyconducted it, adds : ‘‘SCIENCE-
Gossip became the popular magazine of the micro-
scopist. Probably, if there had not been a Harp-
WICKE’S SCIENCE-Gossip there would never have
been a Q.M.C.” Mr. Hardwicke’s manager was
Mr. Thomas Ketteringham. The hobbies of the
latter gentleman were his. microscope and his violin.
Once a week Mr. Cooke, Mr. Ketteringham, and
his friend, Mr. W. M. Bywater, used to meet at a
house in Hanover Square and pursue together their
microscopical studies. On May tst, 1865, a notice
was published in SciENcE-GosstP, with the hearty
approval of the editor, suggesting the formation of
an amateur microscopical society that would cover
ground untouched by the Royal Microscopical So-
ciety. For this reason the subscription was made as
small as possible, and the club itself was formed on
July 7th, 1865. It would not be fair to extract more
from Mr. Cooke’s delightful little paper, which is of
interest to others beyond the members of the club.
Since then the Quekett Club has done good work for
amateur microscopy, and almost as much for micro-

scopy in general, and it still flourishes. Its original
foster-mother, SCIENCE-Gossi!’, curiously enough to
those who know the Nemesis that overtakes journal-
istic enterprises, has also proved its staying powers,
nor is its influence lessened.

WATSON’s NEW 4-INCH HoLoscopic OBJECTIVE.
In a recent number of this Journal (ante, p- 183)
we noticed two new achromatic objectives by Messrs.
Watson & Sons, which were constructed on a new
principle, having similar corrections to the apo-
chromatic lenses, and, like them, requiring to be used
with compensating or over-corrected eyepieces for
their proper correction. This enterprising firm has
now sent us for examination a lens which we can
only describe as a remarkable one. It is a half-inch
of no less N.A. than *65, which is equivalent to the
very high optical index of 31-5. Its spherical and
chromatic corrections approximate more closely than
we would have believed possible to those of the
apochromatics. The finest dry lens at present made
is considered to be Zeiss’s apochromatic half-inch, and
Messrs. Watson’s lens has the same power and the
same aperture. This in itself is in its way a distinct
achievement, as we know of only one other similar
lens which exceeds this aperture. But a very careful
comparison between the new holoscopic lens and the
apochromatic half-inch shows that even on the most
difficult and critical tests the achromatic is hardly
surpassed by the apochromatic lens. In spherical
correction and in definition there is really little to
choose between them ; but the achromatic lens, as
is to be expected, shows, on critical and suitable
tests, a slight amount of outstanding colour that is
absent in the apochromatic. The objective is cor-
rected for the 250 mm. (10'') tube, and bears a 27
compensating eyepiece most satisfactorily. We re-
commend any of our readers who may be thinking
of purchasing apochromatic objectives to examine
this lens, and then decide for themselves whether
their requirements necessitate their incurring the
additional cost of the apochromatic. The price is
43 10s. Messrs. Watson have in hand other similar
lenses of the series.

LARVA OF SPONGILLA LACUSTRIS.—The whole
of the last part of the ‘* Quarterly Journal of Micro-
scopical Science” is occupied to the extent of 141
pages, illustrated by three double-coloured plates,
with an elaborate article on the Structure and
Metamorphosis of the Larva Sfongilla lacustris.
It is by Mr. Richard Evans, B.A.

Nore.—P. 249, first line, for ‘‘ nose-piece ” read
**camera-lucida.” P. 280, first column, tenth line
from bottom, for ‘* March last” read ‘* March next.”

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

W. C. B. (Appleby).—1. The small specks in
the human blood to which you refer are doubtless
those which have been named the elementary par-
ticles or blood-tablets. Their uses are not definitely
settled. The movement will be the ‘‘ Brownian ”
movement. 2. Do not on any account buy second-
hand apochromatics unless they have first been re-
turned to Messrs. Zeiss to examine and, if necessary,
to rectify. Messrs. Zeiss only guarantee their lenses
against atmospheric deterioration. See our notice
in this number of a new half-inch by Messrs. Watson.
3. The points you raise will all be dealt with in due
course in ‘‘ Microscopy for Beginners.” 4. Why
not subscribe direct to London office, and save the
delay ?

314

MICROSCOPY FOR BEGINNERS.
By F. Suittincton Scares, F.R.M.S.
(Continued from page 280.)

WE propose now to deal with the elementary
management of the microscope and its accessories.
The modern microscope has become an instrument of
such exquisite precision that the beginner generally
finds himself at the very outset in need of explanation
and assistance in this respect. A clear understanding
of what he is doing is necessary if he is to obtain the
best results. In our medical and other laboratories
too little attention is often given to these matters,
and it follows, therefore, that the student is not really
familiar with the use of his instrument, and obtains
more or less imperfect results. The general use of
the sub-stage condenser has revolutionised micro-
scopy, and we would here call attention most strongly
to the fact that the proper management of the illu-
mination of the object is a matter requiring as much
or even greater care and attention than the actual
focussing of the objective itself. This last is com-
paratively a simple matter, save where corrections
have to be made for diverse thicknesses of cover-
glasses.

We will assume that the reader has provided him-
self with a microscope fitted up in accordance with the
rules and suggestions that have been the subject of
the preceding papers of this series ('). He will place
his microscope on the table before him, and incline it
at a comfortable angle for looking down the tube.
Of course there is a certain amount of work that can
only be done with the microscope in a vertical posi-
tion ; but when the object will admit of it, it is a great
convenience and rest to the muscles of the neck if the
microscope be slightly inclined. This is a point that
makers of even the less expensive foreign microscopes
are beginning to realise, and one by one the English
improvements are being adopted on the Continent.
Tt will be found that ordinary daylight, though per-
fectly suitable for low-power work, is unsuitable for
high-power and c7?¢écal work, and as we are setting
up our microscope for critical work we will deal with
lamp-light illumination, accordingly. We need
scarcely warn the beginner that the use of direct sun-
light is absolutely out of the question for visual pur-
poses. The lamp will be probably an ordinary
half-inch paraffin lamp, with a shade, as already
described, but without a reflector, as this last only
succeeds in confusing the rays of light. Some
workers place the lamp on the immediate left
of the instrument in order to obviate any glare
into the eyes, but the position immediately oppo-
‘site and in front has so many advantages in ease
of manipulation that we prefer this position ourselves,
and interpose a cardboard shade if required. The
lamp will therefore be placed in the latter position,
with its wick turned edgeways forward, the light
being about 6 to ro inches or thereabouts from the
mirror. It is well to accustom oneself to these ap-
proximate distances, as high-power immersion-con-
densers are adjusted amongst other things fora definite
distance of the light from their back lenses. It will
be necessary to carefully observe at the outset that
the flame is immediately opposite the centre of the
stage, and that the tail-rod and the mirror are ap-
proximately truly in line with the optic axis of the
microscope. This is important. A slight tilting of
the mirror will then be sufficient to fill the tube with

(1) This series of articles on the Microscope commenced in
the July 1899 number of SciencE-Gossip.

SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

light. For an objective lower than 3 inch or
3 inch the condenser will not generally be required,
and in this case the concave mirror and the flat side of
the flame can be used. The concave mirror should be
adjusted at such a distance from the object on the
stage that the rays of light are approximately focussed
on the latter. A little reflection will show our readers
that when parallel, or nearly parallel, light falls on
a concave mirror the light becomes conwergent, and
the focus will depend upon the curve of the mirror
itself. Ifthe condenser be retained for these low-power
objectives, the upper lens should be removed or the
field of illumination becomes inconveniently cireum-
scribed; but for the reasons just given the plane
mirror must always be used with the condenser. We
have not infrequently seen workers, otherwise ex-
perienced, having noticed the increase of light ob-
tained by the use of the concave mirror w7thout the
condenser, using it for the same purpose wei the
condenser, but forgetting that by so doing they are
throwing upon the condenser convergent instead of
parallel light, and making it impossible to satisfac-
torily focus the condenser itself.

2

For objectives above 3% inch the use of the
condenser is advisable, and for higher powers im-
perative, if the full value of the objective is to be
realised. In Continental microscopes, until recently,
a sub-stage condenser was the exception rather than
the rule. In many of our English laboratories its
use, therefore, is even yet scarcely understood,
because of the curious prejudice in favour of the Con-
tinental stand; but though the Continental makers
turn out excellent objectives, they have only latterly
begun to realise that an objective of high aperture
has really no advantage over one of low aperture
unless used with a suitable condenser.

Having so arranged lamp and mirror that the

object is properly illuminated, it will be necessary

then to focus the objective upon the slide, and, having
done that, to adjust the condenser up or down, until
the image of the edge of the lamp flame appears dis-
tinctly in the centre of the field. The light is thus
correctly adjusted, its rays being brought to a focus
upon the object, and so entering the objective un-
disturbed. To a beginner, the partially-illuminated
field seems strange ; but he must remember that in a
critical image it is necessary to get the maximum
perfection of definition in that portion of the object
immediately under examination, and the rest may be
ignored. If, however, a larger field be required, the
flame, having been focussed, can then be turned
broadside on, without altering its other positions.
For ordinary work this is usual.

In earlier days it was customary, after focussing
the light, to rack the condenser either up or down
until the field was fully illuminated, and we have
heard that the Quekett Club, which has done so much
for amateur microscopists, held two vehement rival
schools, one of which maintained that the condenser
should be racked up and the other that it should be
racked down. All these matters have now been
settled by the realization of the real principle, and
even more, perhaps, by the improvement in ob-
jectives, by which, under such illumination as now
obtains, hidden structure has been brought to light
that was before not even suspected. It may be well
to warn beginners against racking the condenser so
high as to drive the slide up against a high-power
objective.

(Zo be continued.)

SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 315

Ue

if

CONDUCTED BY JAMES QUICK,

ARTIFICIAL FLiGuT.—Two of the recent Friday
evening discourses at the Royal Institution have
been of special interest to physicists. The first,
which was the opening one of the present series, was
given on January 19 by Lord Rayleigh on ‘ Flight.”
After describing the many aeroplanes devised to
illustrate the action of flying, amongst which the
Malay kite is one of the simplest, as it does not
possess a tail, Lord Rayleigh went on to observe
that the best form is that known as the Hargrave
kite. This isa peculiarly shaped instrument, more
like a rectangular skeleton box, partly covered with
calico, than an ordinary kite. It is, however, very
stable in the air, as it depends on side vanes, which,
when the kite gets a little out of the wind, tend to
bring it back again. The kite was introduced some
years ago by Mr. Archibald for meteorological work,
and more recently by Major Baden-Powell, now of
South African fame, who has done excellent work in
connection with the use of the kite for military pur-
poses. He has succeeded in raising a man from the
ground by means of a kite, and has shown that kites
could be made useful for reconnoitring purposes.
The essential question in connection with the kite is
the action of the wind on the aeroplane, but it is
different with the flying-machine, which, unlike the
kite, is free and unattached to the ground. In
regard to the flight of birds, a difference is observable
between that of small and large ones. A pigeon,
for instance, works exceedingly hard, by means of
vigorous flapping of wings, to raise itself to the top of
a building ; whereas the big soaring or sailing flight
birds are able to maintain themselves in the air for a
considerable time with little or no flapping of the
wings or muscular effort. The question of how this
soaring is maintained is still a debated one. Natu-
ralists are unable to appreciate the mechanical
difficulty ; and mechanics say that a bird cannot
maintain itself in the air when the latter is moving
in a perfectly uniform, horizontal manner. There
must be a vertical component. Birds take ad-
vantage of the relative motion of the different parts
of the air they encounter. Those like the albatross
take the benefit of the gustiness of the wind. Not
only is there pressure underneath the wing of the
bird, but suction on its upper surface. If a man
raises himself in the air and he is not to fall there
must be a downward current of air caused by a
screw, and the question is what must be the size of
the screw and the work to be done in order that a
human being may be supported. Careful considera-
tions show that it is impossible for him, by his own
muscular power, to support himself by means of a
screw. A bird has an advantage in point of size,
and the wings a man would require, if he is to fly
with them, would be absurdly large. In the same
way the size of a screw would have to be out of pro-
portion to anything that could be managed. Mr.
Hiram Maxim has said that it is only a question of
money.

Space TELEGRAVHY.—The second physical lec-
ture referred to was given at the Royal Institution
on February 2nd by Signor Marconi before a crowded
audience, the subject, as may be expected, being
* Wireless Telegraphy.” He sketched in outline the
general work that he and his assistants have been
doing for the last two years or more. Alluding to
the installation of his system between the South
Foreland and the Goodwin Sands Lightship, he said
the experiments had shown that wireless telegraphy
was reliable and certain in operation. He hoped
that before long the Trinity House authorities would
be enabled to establish communication all round the
coast with lightships and lighthouses, by means of
which a vast amount of property and many lives might
be saved. Signor Marconi then mentioned how, when
last returning from America, he opened up wireless
communications between the ss. ‘* St. Paul” and one
of his:signalling stations on the south coast, when the
vessel was sixty miles from land and steaming at
twenty knotsan hour. At the tardy request of the
War Office some of his assistants with instruments
were sent to South Africa, and arrived at De Aar camp
on December rith. Finding no arrangements made
for a supply of the necessary poles, &c., they manu-
factured, with the hearty assistance of Major Baden-
Powell and Captain Kennedy, some kites with which
they got over the difficulty. The results at first
were not very satisfactory, but eventually com-
munication was established between De Aar and
the Orange River, a distance of over seventy miles.
Stations were then established at Modder River,
Belmont, Orange River, and De Aar. They had
worked well, and would be invaluable in case the field
lines should be cut by the enemy. Signor Marconi
said he found it hard to believe the Boers possessed
any wireless telegraphy instruments. Some intended
for them were seized at Cape Town, but they were
found to be of foreign manufacture. He remarked
he need hardly add that no apparatus had been
supplied by him to anyone from whom the Boers
could possibly obtain them. The lecture was illus-
trated by diagrams and a number of lantern slides.
Without wishing in any way to lessen the credit due
to Marconi for his work in this most important sub-
ject, his lecture cannot be considered in quite good
taste. Had the title been ‘‘ Marconi Telegraphy,”
the résumé would have been a perfect one. Nota
single word was said, however, about other workers
and other methods; yet these workers include some
of the leading physicists and engineers in the world,
and their methods, though differing perhaps from
that of Marconi, aim at the same result. Surely one
would think that at a Royal Institution gathering the
solid work of such men as Preece and Lodge should
at least have been mentioned.

A Pitot ToreEpo.—The method of protecting
special trains from collision by means of a pilot engine
has been further practised by the introduction of a
specially designed electrical pilot torpedo to protect
ships at sea from collisien. Its shape resembles that
of a Whitehead torpedo, and it is connected to the
ship it is to protect by means of two pairs of wires.
One pair convey the current to the torpedo for driving
the motors connected with the screw propellor ; the
other pair are in circuit with an alarm-bell on the
ship, and with two special ‘ feelers ” at the head of
the torpedo, this circuit being closed when the
“ feelers” collide with anything. Immediately this
happens, a special arrangement reverses the direction
of rotation of the motors, making the torpedo recoil.
It is not clear how the torpedo is steered.

316

STRONOMY,

a
Lam,

i

CONDUCTED BY F. C. DENNETT.

Position at Noon.

1900. Rises. Sets. R.A. Dec.
Mar. 7. Ant. hm ae
Sun .. x. 6.48 a.m. .. 5.38 p.m. -» 22.48 .. 7.399.
Ir .. 6.25 ob Spltst bo BELA) on Shite)
2r .. 6.2 og we TOs 2 ey OSTORN |
3I .- 5.49 «. 6.29 oo hati Go Zs
Rises. Souths. Sets. Age at Noon.
Mar. .m. UA hm. da. h. m.
Moon 1... 6.18a.m... 07 p.m... 6.12pm. © 0 35
II .. LI¢4p.m... §8.58p.m. -. 4.2 a.m. 10 0 35
2r .. ++ 3:30am. «. 7.42a.mM. 20 0 35
31 .. 5.28a.m. -. 0.33p.m. +. 7.56p.mM. © 15 30
Position at Noon.
Souths. Semi- R.A. Dec.
Mar. h.m. Diameter. hm. ae
WTB) on on BORING Go EHO Ga CEHAD) co 2) Sb
E65 TeA@sHb on Zee 65 CA5.00 Bee INT
Bean Ged job oo soe! 0.20 5.58
Be bo TRO ANG oo EO! 23.53 I.12
Venus So bo eR on Gal” oo} HEH) 7-34 N.
Se bd Saeeyoes ao yl! 1.54 +. 12.28
Bie 55 Brey ns go hall 2.38 16.54
Be op ROE o | CHE G5 Ebee} oo Leb
Mars 2 288 oo TARE Akh oo PAYos 22.42 .. 9.27 S-
Jupiter .. 311 .. 5.22a.m 17.8 .. 16.36 21.10 S.
Saturn 00 Fi 50 FEW op Gey! 18.18 22.23 S.
YALE oo BE oo SOE 0 Ez” oo HOLY 22.15 9.
INGRIGB, 20. Tk oo» Gpx@)pNb no HAY do EIS 22.4 N.
Moon’s PHASES.
hm. hin.
New .. Mar. 1 .. 11.25a.m. 1st Qr... Mar. 8 ..5.34a.m.
Lull. 5, 16). Sr2a.m-) 372 O7.00) 5) 24) +0) 5-902.
IMED 35 oy Boo EhRO TMG

In perigee, March Ist at noon; in apogee on 15th
at I a.m. ; and in perigee again on 29th at 11 p.m.

METEORS.
hm.

Mar. +. B Leonids Radiant 11.40 Dec. 10° N.
3) I-4 7 Leonids 5 Bio | ogg | GY ING
3) I-28 .. « Cepheids np EBS) gp) GABE IN
A on (3 Wastes SS ELOL4e ans mIS On eN|

CONJUNCTIONS OF PLANETS WITH THE Moon.

ov
Mar. 2 Mercury 6 p.m. planet 4.37 S.
» 4 Venus* so Bhi a9 RSIS
Jupiter*} .. xr p.m. » 8 N.
mc: Saturn™ oo hye 331) O:40)15=
» 29 Mars} +. 10 p.m oy) (hy) So
mm 32 Mercury* 2.59 5.

o. i 7am. .. 50
* Daylight. + Below English horizon.
OCCULTATIONS AND NEAR APPROACHES.

Dis- Angle Re- Angle

Magni- appears. from appears. fron
Mar. Star. tude. hm. Vertex. hr. Vertex.
°o fo}
8.. Neptune - 6,13 p.m. .. 107 -- 7.34 p.m. -. 249
11..fGeminorum 5.2 1.43 a.m. 57 2.40 a.m. .. 260
16..¢ Leonis .. 5.1 -. 3.20a.m. 64 .. 4.25a.m. .. 279
22..p Ophiuchi.. 5.3 5.IQ am. .. 165 .. 5.33a.m. .. 183
24., Saturn 6.35 a.m. 56 .. 9.46a.m. .. 225

THE SUN is frequently quite free from spots; but
should nevertheless be watched, as considerable spots,
and even groups, sometimes occur.

MERCURY at the beginning of the month is an
evening star, reaching its greatest elongation, 18° 16’
east, at II a.m. on March 8th. It is then favourably

SCIENCE GOSSIP.

situated for observation in the constellation Pisces,
and sets about an hour and three-quarters after the
sun. It is in inferior conjunction with the sun at
3, a.m. on March 25th.

VENUS is well placed for observation all the
month, being an evening star, setting some four hours
later than the sun. It begins the month in Pisces,
but about the 8th passes into Aries.

Maks is too near the sun for observation.

JUPITER is a morning star situated just a little east
of » Ophiuchi.

SATURN is a morning star situated slightly to the
east of a line joining m and A Sagittarii. It is un-
fortunate that daylight will arrive before the occulta-
tion of Saturn on the 24th of March.

URANUS is also a morning star, situated a little
south-east of Jupiter.

NEPTUNE is still situated just north-east of ¢ Tauri,
and must be looked for early in the evening. Effort
should be made’ to observe the occultation on March
8th.

THE ZopIAcAL LiGHT may be looked for in the
eastern sky as soon as it is dark enough. It has
already been seen several times this year by different
observers, including Colonel E. E. Markwick, at
Devonport.

THE CAMBRIAN NATURAL OBSERVER, the quar-
terly journal of the Astronomical Society of Wales,
for January, is to hand. It contains reports of
observations on the lunar eclipse of December 16th,
as well as of attempted observations on the Leonids.
The Society seems to be making vigorous progress.

A New CoMEr (a 1900) has been discovered by
M. Giacobini of the Nice Observatory, and since
observed by M. Javelle of the same observatory. On
the evening of February 3rd it was situated in R.A.
2h. 49 m. 51s., S. Declination 6° 40’ 10’’ just be-
tween the constellations of Cetus and Eridanus,
travelling in a north-westerly direction. This leads
to its being lost amid the solar brilliance.

THE SuN has during the last half of January and
the beginning of February been exerting a consider-
able amount of energy, no less than fifteen spots,
some of them conspicuous, being recorded on one
day.

THE RoyAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY has chosen
Mr. Edward Ball Knobel for its new President in
succession to Professor G. H. Darwin, F.R.S._ Its
gold medal has been presented to M. Poincaré for his
researches in the mathematical theory of rotating
fluid bodies, which have a bearing upon the figure of
our earth and its oceanic tides. Professor Darwin,
in the presence of the French Ambassador, gave an
excellent address, explaining the reason for the
award. He described M. Poincaré’s researches and .
pointed out that, like some other mathematicians, the
recipient of the medal has much advanced, on new
lines, the solution of the Problem of Three Bodies.
This may be described as the accurate determination
of the earth’s moon under the attractive force of the
sun and earth.

REFLECTING TELESCOPES. —At the meeting of the
British Astronomical Association at Sion College on
January 31st, Mr. Edwin A. Holmes read a paper in
which he endeavoured to show that M. Schaeberle’s
investigations with regard to reflectors were not
wholly right in the conclusions arrived at. The
image produced at the focal point is not a series of
images superposed, but the resultant image produced
by the entire objective.

SCIENCE-GOSS/P. 317

CHAPTERS FOR YOUNG ASTRONOMERS
By Frank C. Dennerr.
(Continued from page 284.)
MERCURY.

THE innermost of the Sun’s planets has a diameter
of only 3,008 miles, so that no less than eighteen
such globes would be needed to make up one the
size of our own world. It would, however, only
want fifteen such globes to weigh down our earth ; yet
from the smallness of Mercury, a stone dropped on
its surface would only fall 7 feet in a second instead
of 16 feet on our earth. From its proximity to the
Sun, being never more than 29° distant, it is not so
easily seen as the other members of our system. The
best opportunities are when it reaches greatest elonga-
tion east in May or June, or greatest elongation west
in July or August. The writer has, at these periods,
readily seen Mercury even in smoky London, shining
as a bright rosy-tinted star. Knowing where to look
is the secret of successful search. The beautifully
clear skies in the East doubtless account for the
detection of Mercury by the ancients. The oldest
record we have dates back to 265 8.c. On the other
hand, the vapours near the horizon on the banks of
the Vistula, as was long since pointed out by Gassendi,
were the probable reason for Copernicus failing.

Its greatest apparent diameter, when it is in transit
over the sun’s disc, is about 11''-5; whilst at the
time of superior conjunction, when it shines like a
little full moon, its diameter dwindles down to 4''*5,
the difference being shown by the diagram, When
in the best position for observation it appears very
like a half-moon.

It is not a satisfactory object to observe when near
the horizon, as the atmosphere is seldom steady
enough or sufficiently clear to permit of good observa-
tions being made. Observations should be attempted
when it is high in the sky during daytime. This is
not really so difficult a matter as may at first appear,
even with the ordinary altazimuth stand, whilst witl
an equatorial stand and circles itis comparatively
To find an inferior planet in daytime with an altazi-
muth telescope, I choose the time when it is near the
meridian, and then set the telescope pointing south.
Of course every telescopist knows the south point
from his place of observation. Then, by the help of
an ordinary protractor, raise it to the approximate
altitude. A large field eye-piece of low power, say
go to 45, must be put on the telescope. Slightly
raise the instrument three or four degrees, and sweep
it along east and west a few degrees. Then gradually
lower it, sweeping at each lowering, and very soon
the planet will be seen in the field of view, and higher
powers may be substituted.

An ordinary fine day is, however, often very un-
satisfactory for such a search, because the amount of
vapour in the atmosphere reflects such a quantity of
sunlight as to almost or quite blot out the planet from
view. Days should be selected when the sky is deep
blue.

Sometimes the planets draw so near to each other
as to be both seen together in the same telescopic
field. Once in May, 1737, Bevis, at Greenwich,
actually witnessed the occultation of Mercury by the
planet Venus. When thus near each other, the
relative brilliance of the planets can be compared.
On September 26th, 1878, Nasmyth compared these
two. Whilst Venus was said to be equal to clean
silver, Mercury was nothing better than lead or zinc.
This indicates that the former must have much the

)

highest reflecting power, since, area for area, Mercury
receives about 34 times greater light.

Very little has been revealed concerning this
planet even by the most powerful telescopes, so that,
in fact, little more is known now than when Schroter
observed it about a century ago. Its most marked
characteristics are the phases. One peculiarity has
been noticed about these which is a puzzle to astro
nomers, the bright portion appearing narrower than
calculation would lead them to expect. This pheno
menon has been seen by many observers, both in the
cases of Mercury and Venus ; but up to the present
time no satisfactory explanation has been given.

So far as surface detail is concerned, we know very
little. Schroter and his assistant, Harding, con
sidered that the surface was mountainous, because
from time to time the southern horn appeared blunted
off. Likewise projections were seen, and irregularity
of the terminator. He inferred that some of the
mountains must have a height of at least eleven
miles. This blunting of the horn has been confirmed
by many observers since the days of Schréter. From
various observations a rotation period of 24h. 5m. 28s.
was obtained. An atmosphere was inferred from the
occasional appearance of dusky streaks and spots.
Prince and Noble have noted the appearance of dark
spots, and Birmingham of a bright one. Schiaparelli

Mercury At GREATEST AND LEAST DIAMETERS.

has fancied brownish streaks on the planet, perma-
nent in their positions. He arrived at the startling
conclusion that Mercury only turns once on its axis
during about 88 days, the time occupied in travelling
round the sun.

From time to time Mercury passes between the
earth and sun. Then he appears as a circular black
spot on the disc. Thus seen, some observers have
fancied that a greyish border surrounded the planet,
others, at the same time, thinking that a bright
bordering was to be seen. Another peculiarity
noticed is that when in transit many observers fancy
the presence of one, and some two, bright spots near
the centre of the planet’s black disc. Whether these
appearances are real or only optical illusions seems
for the present to remain uncertain. One optical
illusion generally observed at the time of transits is
that known as the ‘‘black-drop,” the planet appear-
ing lengthened out to the sun’s limb at the times of
ingress and egress. This is due to irradiation, the
bright stn appearing too large and the black planet
too small in contrast. The spectroscope of Vogel
seemed to demonstrate the presence of an atmosphere
containing watery vapour. Yet there are those who
would have us believe that, owing to the small mass
of Mercury, his gravitation power is so slight that he
cannot retain even water on his surface.

(To be continued.)

CONDUCTED BY EDWARD A,

MARTIN, F.G.S.

STRIAE AS EVIDENCE OF Icke AcTION.—We
regret that, owing to an unfortunate omission, the note
under this heading last month was not signed. It
should have been by Mr. J. Sheppard, 78 Sherbourn
Street, Hull.

GEOLOGICAL EXCHANGE MEETING.—The next
exchange meeting will take place on Wednesday,
March 7th, from 5.15 P.M. to 7 P.M. Amongst
specimens awaiting to be exchanged are fossils from
the Upper Greensand of Faringdon, Gault of Folke-
stone, Oligocene of Colwell Bay, Eocene, etc. An ex-
changer asks for specimens of travelled blocks, erratic
boulders, flakes, or information relating to them.

A PALAEOZOIC ICE-AGE.—Some interesting re-
marks by Professor Edgeworth David, of Sydney, on
evidence of glaciation in Permo-carboniferous times
in New South Wales, prefaced the papers which
were down for reading on February 7th at the meet-
ing of the Geological Society of London. Three
boulders were exhibited bearing striations which were
considered as undoubted evidence of ice-action. The
striae on the largest boulder were in all directions,
some crossing others at an angle of as much as 85°.
Very great doubt has recently been cast on the evi-
dences of a glacial period in Permian times in Britain,
but in Australia there seems little doubt of its existence
in Palaeozoic times. Professor David reports, indeed,
striated boulders from the very tropics of Australia.

CHALK PLATEAU EOLITHS.— Whatever may be
the final result of the discussion which is being widely
debated at the present time, as to the authenticity or
otherwise of the Eolithic flint implements, those who
believe them to be true specimens of man’s handi-
work are certainly leaving no effort unmade in the
direction of procuring all possible evidence in favour
of the point at issue. Over 3,000 of these implements
have been found from the chalk plateau of North
Kent. This, as is well known, is the ground where
the first specimens were discovered, which gave rise
to a belief in the evidence of plateau, or Eolithic man.
The supporters of the theory had the staunch support
to the end of the late Professor Prestwich, who, in Sep-
tember 1893, wrote to his friend Sir John Evans, ‘‘Tam
more satisfied than ever of the great antiquity of the
chalk plateau specimens.” Prestwich felt assured
that the belief which he possessed in these implements
would in the end prevail. He had lived through the
time when geologists were sceptical of the human
workmanship of the Acheul and Amiens implements,
in the placing of which in their true light he had so
large a measure of success. He had no doubt what-
ever that the authenticity of the rude plateau im-
plements would in the end be agreed upon. He was
fond of pointing out that although one might have
reasonable doubts when a single specimen was
viewed, and although his supporters were divided
amongst themselves as to which were authentic
implements and which were not, yet when a selection
was placed in sequence, commencing with the rudest,

world.

SCIENCE-GOSSIP.

and working gradually towards the recognised Palaeo-
lithic type, the evidence was at once striking, and
seldom failed to carry conviction that there was such
a type of implement as the ‘‘ Eolith.” These flaked
flints have often been attributed to natural causes,
but as Mr. A. S. Kennard pointed out in 1898, no
attempt has been made to show what were those
causes, and how and when they operated. “There
seems, in fact, to be almost unanimity of opinion that
the Eoliths are genuine plateau-gravel flakes, and
that many, if not most of them, were worked by man.
Man has therefore been carried back to an existence
during or previous to the deposition of the plateau
gravels, for the flints must have been flaked before the
gravel which contains them was deposited. Mr.
A. E. Salter would like to believe that the gravels
are of Pliocene age, but proof of this is wanting,
although the Rey. Ashington Bullen, the co-worker
in recent years with Prestwich, is satisfied of their
Pliocene age. Prestwich, however, said that the
plateau drift ‘‘dates from a time subsequent to the
Pliocene period, though still when the beds of that
age had a wider range southward, and anterior to
the Glacial period.” Also that it ‘‘ must therefore be
of Pre-glacial or early Glacial age.” What, however,
still appears to be wanting, is evidence that these im-
plements are not really merely Palaeoliths, and that
there is no possibility of the Eolithic markings being of
subsequent workmanship to the Palaeolithic flaking.
Whatever may be the credit attached to the discovery
of this rude type of implement, such will always
remain due to Mr. Benjamin Harrison. Prestwich
was anxious to give the discoverer his due, as the
following letter will show, quoted from the recent
“Life of Sir Joseph Prestwich.” He writes to Mr.
Harrison :—‘‘ You should have told your inquirer
who asked you why you did not at first write about
the plateau implements, that long ago I asked you
whether you would not do so.”—#. d. Martin.

Wuar Is OLDHAMIA ?—We ventured to suggest in
SCIENCE-GOssIP some time ago that very possibly
the Cambrian fossils known as Oldhamia radiata
and O. antigua might prove after all to be merely
the remains of rock-markings, and not organisms at
all. Professor Sollas, of Oxford University, has been
extending his researches into this question, and
microscopical observations which he has made prove,
in his opinion, that O/dhamza is not the remains of
an organism, but merely a marking on the rock,
although these markings may still have been of
organic origin. Certain markings on the mud at
Portishead, by the feeding habits of a small burrowing
crustacean, bear a considerable resemblance to speci-
mens of Oldhamia. YProfessor Sollas is inclined to
believe that they are traces of some kind of siphona-
ceous alga, the cavities left by their decay being
subsequently filled in by sediment under pressure. If
the surface of O. aztzgwa were more resistant than
the lower, this might account for its preservation in
relief. Professor Joly observed that O. antzgua always
occurred in relief, whilst those of O. vadzata are
depressions. There has been much discussion in the
past as to the place of O/dhamza in the organic world,
it being placed by different observers amongst the
polyzoa, the hydrozoa, as well as im the vegetable
It would be an interesting, and it might
prove a useful, subject for observation during the
holidays, for our readers to note the impressions
made by storm-blown seaweeds upon the sand. It
will be seen that O. antigua appears in the orna-
mental heading of our geological columns.—Z. 4.
Martin.

———

|

SCIENCE-GOSSTP.

REARING DEATH’s-HEAD Morus.—Last autumn
more than the average number of larvae and pupae of
Acherontia atropos were taken in England. They
were, as usual, found chiefly in potato fields. It is
to be feared that a large proportion of these captive
pupae will be lost during the coming winter in con-
sequence of want of experience in artificially forcing
them into the imago stage. This process is a simple
one, and it may be broadly stated that without its
help very few pupae of the rarer sphinx moths can
be successfully reared to maturity in Britain. Those
who practise the system regularly seldom lose a
single specimen. Take an ordinary large flower-pot ;
one about 10 in. wide is best. Fill it with earth
which has been baked in an oven sufficiently to kill
any predatory creatures. Cover this with a thick
layer of moss that has been scalded in boiling water
for the same reason. Then place the pupae on the
top of the earth under the moss, room having been
left between the top of the moss and the glass cover
for the moths to develop their wings. Keep the
earth and moss damp, but not wet, until the moths
appear. The flower-pot with its contents must be
kept in a warm greenhouse, or on a kitchen mantel-
piece where there is a regular fire, for six weeks,
when the moths will begin to appear almost certainly
to the day.—/John 7. Carrington, December ist,
1899.

CLEANING CoRAL.—Place the coral in a pan of
boiling water. Then add spirits of salts, about } Ib.
to 2 gallons of water. Take out the coral, and
immediately rinse it in cold water.—/. £. Linter,
Twickenham.

CLEANING CorAt.—I have cleaned corals with
hydrochloric acid in the following manner :—Take
an earthenware pan containing sufficient water to
cover the coral. Add to this enough acid to make
the coral slightly effervescent when put into the
mixture. The acid should previously have been well
mixed with the water and allowed to stand for a few
minutes. The effervescent action on the coral will
release most of the dirt. The coral should not be
allowed to stay in the mixture long enough to destroy
the sharpness of structure Then hold the specimen
under a strong current of water from an ordinary tap,
using a tooth-brush or any other suitable to remove
dirt remaining. If not sufficiently clean from the
first operation, repeat the process, when the coral will
become as white as snow.— 7homas Edwards, Equity
Road, Leicester.

ARION ATER VAR. BocaGEL IN IRELAND.—In
the ‘‘ Journal of Malacology,” vol. vil. p. 33, this
Portuguese form of the common black slug is recorded
from the South of Ireland, which already possesses
at least one other Portuguese slug. Dr. Scharff very
properly points out in the ‘‘ Irish Naturalist” that
in giving this record the editor of the ‘‘ Journal of
Malacology” refers to . ater as A. empericorum,
and disagrees with Mr. Collinge in the nomen-
clature.

319

ei
cif

NATURAL History Socirrry or GLAsGow.
At the fifth meeting of the forty-ninth session, held
in the Society’s rooms, 207 Bath Street, on Ist
February, Mr. Alexander Somerville, B.Sc., F.L.S.,
occupied the chair. On behalf of Professor G. F.
Scott Elliot, M.A., F.L.S., &c., there was exhibited
by Mr. J. Wylie a collection of sixty-four species ot
Mycetozoa—presented to Professor Elliot by Mr.
Arthur Lister, F.R.S.—and Mr. Wylie read a paper
treating of the group. Mr. Charles Kirk exhibited
the common buzzard, Buteo vulgaris Leach, from
the Crieff district. This large hawk, which has all
the appearance of a miniature eagle, was at one
time common throughout Scotland, but has for so
long been trapped and shot that it is now scarce. It
feeds on small quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, and is
of service to the farmer in driving away wild pigeons.
According to the late Robert Gray, it is the kind of
instrument required for clearing off sickly young
game-birds, and so improving the breed. Mr.
Lumsden, writing in 1876, states that the buzzard
nests in the neighbourhood of Loch Lomond. Dr.
J. F. Gemmill, M.A., brought forward and described
an unusually large-sized skull of a polar bear, Ursus
maritimus Desmarest, shot near Hamilton Gulf,
Greenland, lent for exhibition by Mr. Adam Wood,
Troon. Dr. Gemmill indicated the chief character-
istics of the skulls of carnivores in general, and of
bears in particular, and pointed out that the specimen
on view showed some individual peculiarities, the
result in all probability of an early and severe injury.
Mr. James Mitchell, who had recently visited the
Cape, exhibited a fine series of horns of South
African antelopes, including those of the eland,
koodoo, gemsbok, and springbok, and he read a
paper describing these animals.

NortH Lonpos Natura Hisrory Sociery.—
The eighth annual exhibition of the North London
Natural History Society was held on December 30th,
1899, and January Ist, 1900. The Committee again
secured the services of Mr. R. B. Lodge, of Enfield,
who, on the first evening, gave a most interesting
lantern lecture on ‘* British Birds at Home and
Abroad.” Mr. J. W. Tutt, F.E.S., lectured on the
second evening on ‘Protective Colouration and
Mimicry in Animal Life,” illustrating his instructive
and entertaining remarks by means of numerous
lantern slides. Exhibits in the Entomological sec-
tion were scarcely as numerous as on some previous
occasions, but they included some well-illustrated
life-histories of Lepidoptera by Messrs. C. Nicholson
and A. Quail, as well as a number of Lepidoptera by
Mr. L. B. Prout and others. There was also a good
show of exotic Lepidoptera, among which Mr.
Bacot’s insects from South Africa were specially
interesting. Other branches of zoology were well
represented. Some well-mounted birds, lent by Drs.
S. Wilson and J. S. Sequeira, and fine examples of
amateur taxidermy were contributed by Mr. D. C.
Barber ; all the birds exhibited, including a British-
killed specimen of the common bittern (Sofaurius

320

stellaris), being his own mounting. A good repre-
sentative collection of British birds’ eggs was lent by
Messrs. Cottrell, Hills, Lane, Lovis, and others.
Mr. F. E. Williams contributed an interesting exhibit
of mammals’ skulls, and Messrs. J. B. Crane, F. B.
Jennings, and J. Wheeler exhibited mollusca. Men-
tion must also be made of an excellent series of clever
watercolour drawings of various reptiles, taken from
the life by Mr. F. W. Jones. The botanical exhibits
included a large number of dried plants, among
which may be mentioned Helanthemum marifolium,
Saponariavaccaria, and Carex pseudo-cyperus, by Mr.
L. B. Hall; Caliuna erica, var. incana, Funcus acutus,
and Hymenophyllum tunbridgense, by Mr. R. W.
Robins ; also Wentha rubra, Scilla verna, and Jnula
crithmoides, by Mr. C. S. Nicholson. In addition,
Mr. H. Elms showed a large and interesting collec-
tion of specimens representing the sources of drugs
used in the British Pharmacopoeia, and Mr. Milton,
a pine-needle ball, formed by the action of water in
Scotch lakes. Numerous microscopes were on view
during both evenings, including that of Mr. F. P.
Smith, who showed and explained original prepara-
tions illustrating the economy and anatomy of
spiders. —C. Wicholson, Hon. Sec. Exhibition Com-
mittee.

NOTICES OF SOCIETIES.

Ordinary meetings are marked}, excursions *; names of
persons following excursions areofConductors. § Lantern
Lllustrations.

Roya INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

1900.

Mar. 1.—}$Recent Excavations in Greece. C. D. Waldstein,
Litt.D., Ph.D., L.H.D., at 3 p.m.

2.—}Malaria and Mosquitoes. Major Ronald Ross,
D.P.H., M.R.C.S., at 9 p.m.

3.—tPolarised Light. Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, M.A.,
D.C.L., F.R-S., LL.D., at 3 P.M.

6.—tFishes. Professor E. Ray Lankester, LL.D.,
F.R.S., at 3 P.M.

8.—7§Recent Excavations in Greece. C. D. Waldstein,
Litt.D., Ph.D., L.H.D., at 3 p.m.

9.—tBacteria and Sewage. Professor Frank Clowes,
Sc.D., F.C.S., at 9 p.m.

;; 10.—}Polarised Light. Lord Rayleigh, at 3 p.m.

}, 13-—?Fishes. Professor Ray Lankester, at 3 P.M.

15.—}Recent Excavations in Greece, at 3 P.M.

16.—7}$Pictorial Historical Records. Sir Benjamin Stone,

at 9 P.M.

17.—tPolarised Light. Lord Rayleigh, at 3 p.m.

5, 20.—tFishes. Professor E. Ray Lankester, at 3 p.m.

22,—}The Highest Andes. E. A. Fitzgerald, F.L.S.,

F.R.G.S., at 3 P.M.

5, 23-—tPaper. Sir Andrew Noble, at 9 p.m.

s, 24.—tPolarised Light. Lord Rayleigh, at 3 p.m.

», 27-—?tFishes. Professor E. Ray Lankester, at 3 p.M.

»> 29.—tThe Highest Andes. E. A. Fitzgerald, at 3 p.m.

53 30-—tFacts of Inheritance. Professor J. Arthur Thomson,

M.A., at 9 P.M.
3) 32-—71Polarised Light. Lord Rayleigh, at 3 p.m.
Frederick Bramwell, Hon. Sec., Albemarle Street, W.

SourH Lonpon ENnTomoLoGcicaL anp Naturat History
Society.

Mar. 8.—}§Cockroaches: Natives and Aliens. Mr. W. J.

Lucas, B.A., F.E.S. d

22. -}Microscopical Evening.

Stanley Edwards, Hon. Sec., Hibernia Chambers, S.E.

LAMBETH FIELD CLUB AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Mar. 5.—jNorman Architecture. C. H. Dedman.
5) 17-—“Botanical Section, Science Galleries, South Ken-
sington.
3, 19-—tGossip Meeting.
Clough.
F. P. Perks, Hon. Sec., 41 St. Martin's Lane, W.C.

Tue Sipcup LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Mar. 6.—+Roman Occupation in Britain. H. Lawrance, M.A.
3, 20.—fEarly Days and Art Teaching of John Ruskin.
W. L. Shand.
S. £. Curry, Hon, Sec., Brighton Villa, Main Road, Sidcup.

HAMPSTEAD ASTRONOMICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
Mar. 2.—}Nature’s Forces. E. Compson Crump.
Basil W. Martin, Hon. Sec., 7 Holly Place, Hampstead.

0

The Poetry of Nature. J. S.

SCIENCE-GOSST/P.

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H. G. (London, W.C.).-—The subject is so vast that there
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EXCHANGE wanted in microscopic or lantern slides for forty-
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Gault fossils.:—E. A. Martin, 23 Campbell Road, Croydon.

OrrereD. The Druggist General Receipt Book, Beasley's
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Entomotocist’s ANNUAL, complete set ; Entomologists’
Record, Ent. Monthly Magazine, several vols., and many
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‘British Conchology,” Sowerby’s Illustrated Index.—C. S.
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WANTED, offers for two nests weaving birds from Burmah,
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WantTeED, Eggs, whinchat, wheatear, wood-warbler, kestrel,
pipit, swift, stonechat, chiffchaff, woodpecker, hawfinch, gold-
finch, cuckoo, dunlin, &c. Offered choice American birds’
eggs and skins, &c. Lists exchanged.—Charles Jefferys,
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IsocaRDIA Cor and other good shells offered for Cypraeas.—
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WANTED, rare Helices from New Guinea and the Moluccas.
Offered several of the Palaeontographical Society publications,
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Microscopic Slides consisting of Marine Algae, Zoophytes,
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Lanp and Marine Shells, British and Foreign. Duplicates
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Seacombe, Cheshire.

WANTED, a second-hand } objective in exchange for ‘‘ Mills
on the Diatomaceae,” perfectly new, and ‘* British Wild
Flowers by Natural Analysis,” by Messer. (Miss) B. Bryant,
15 Darlington Place, Bath.

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COLLECTION OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA

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