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Tíh, the Arabs said that, after a good rainy season, large num. bers come there.

The Arabs speak of three kinds, viz. :—1. El Rim (antelope addax). 2. El Edam (A. leucoryx). 3. El'Afar, which I cannot satisfactorily identify.

The tongue of an antelope must be an invaluable charm, for if it be dried and powdered, and then given to a woman who henpecks her husband, it will ensure her future good behaviour!

Goat, Ar. ma'az f. maʼazeh or anz. A he-goat (either wild or tame) is also called tais. In mountainous districts, large herds of goats are kept by the Arabs, chiefly for their milk and hair, which is used for making tents and sacking. The Arabs more usually eat a kid than a lamb on the occasion of a feast, and always a male. Full-grown animals are seldom killed. There are several varieties of goats from the upright eared kind to the Syrian goat with pendant ears, 12-14 inches long. That usually seen in the desert has ears slightly drooping and rather curling up at the top.

Horse: the generic term in Arabic, Kheil; a horse, hisán (in Morocco 'owd); a mare, fars; a colt, mohrah.

Atik is a thorough-bred Arab. Tradition says that the Devil will never enter a tent in which an atik is kept.

Hejjin a crossed horse. (The term is explained under the head" Camel.")

Berdhún is a pack-horse with foreign sire and dam.
Kadish is a badly-bred berdhún.

The Bedawin reckon seven principal breeds of horses, which are as follows:

1. Musalsal, which ought to be thin-crested, with short white stockings, red-eyed, short-coated, full in the barrel, and longwinded.

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6. Jij.

7. Kumeit. These horses are usually bay, with black points, and ought, say the Arabs, to have a very fine muzzle; head thin, and well set on; upright, small ears; conspicuous white star on the forehead; round quarters, and to be well ribbed up; with a short or rat tail. They add, a well-bred horse is known by having the tail thick at the root, and carried well out.

The favourite colours are chestnut, gray, dun, black, and dark bay. The Prophet is related to have pronounced the following dicta :-"The best horses are black with white foreheads, and a white upper lip; next to these a black horse with a star, and three white stockings; next a bay with these marks." "Prosperity is with sorrel horses. The same authority judged shikál, i.e., having the right-fore and left-hind feet white, to be the sign of a bad horse.

The first man who tamed and rode a horse is said to have been Ishmael. The first horse appeared when Adam sneezed on first awaking into life (cf. the story of the cat.)

Hyæna (H. striata) Ar. Dhaba', also (in Sinai) Arkudha. This animal is found throughout the desert and Palestine. It is a cowardly beast, feeding chiefly on carrion, and is consequently little feared by the natives; as I have before mentioned, the Ghawárineh eat it. It is said to change its sex yearly; the same fable is told of hares.

Jackal, Ar. Ibn 'Awi, or in Syria Wadwi, in Morocco Deeb and Taaleb Yusuf. These animals are not found in the desert, but are common in the cultivated parts of Egypt and Palestine, where their weird cry is very frequently heard, beginning just after sunset. They are timid beasts, and do little damage, except in the vineyards, where they commit great ravages, being exceedingly fond of grapes.

Ibex (Capra beden), Ar. Bedan (from bedn, a body: probably so called as being the largest game in Sinai), the correct Arabic is waal; this is the name given to them north of Damascus. Some travellers have called them Taytal, but the word is not Arabic, and is only used by the Sinaitic Bedawin when speaking to Europeans, "poor simpletons," as they politely put it, "who don't understand Arabic." The derivation of this word I am quite unable to determine. Among themselves the Bedawin speak of the buck as Bedan, and the doe as Anz (she-goat), and the kids as Dhalit. A male in his first year is called Fenaigill; after this he is distinguished by the length of his horns; thus in his second year he is called Abu Shibrain, the father of two spans; in his third, Thelathi; in his fourth, Rubai; in his fifth, Khammasi; and they add that the horns never exceed five spans

in length, which I believe to be true, for on measuring the largest pair that I have ever seen, I found them to be just 5 spans (about 41 inches) long. The term garimi (red) is applied in a general way, much as we speak of red deer. These animals are found in Sinai and on both sides of the Dead Sea. I have reason to believe that those near Palmyra are a different variety.

Jerboa, Ar. Yerbuah, also Dirs or Dars, and sometimes Za rumaih (the lord of the little lance). There are several kinds of jerboas and desert rats; some of them are only found amongst the rock, others only burrow in the sand and gravel. Opinion is divided amongst the Arabs as to whether the jerboa is lawful for food or not; some eat it, but others reject it as being "a creeping thing." The Arabs say that they never drink, and believe that they live in communities, and appoint a sheikh, whom, however, they unhesitatingly kill should his rule not suit them. There is an Arabic proverb about a deceitful man: "He acts like a jerboa." This is said with reference to the ground outside a jerboa's hole, which, though seemingly solid, is really undermined, and gives way when trodden upon.

Leopard (Felis leopardus), Ar. Nimr, occasionally called in Sinai Giblán* (corruption of the Turkish Koplán), the cubs are called Weshek. In the more secluded and inaccessible mountains of Sinai these animals are far from rare, and in a former visit to that country I was told that eleven camels had been killed by them during the preceding year in the district lying between Senned and W. Nasb. Like the hyrax the leopard is said to have been formerly a man changed into his present shape for performing his ablutions before prayer in milk, thus despising and diverting from their proper uses the good gifts of God.

Leopards are tolerably abundant on the shores of the Dead Sea; their tracks were here mistaken by M. de Saulcy for those of the lion, which animal is, however, quite extinct in Palestine and the Tih.

The Bedawin assert that young leopards are born with a snake round their necks, and that when a leopard is ill he cures himself by eating mice. Their fat is used medicinally, and their hair is burnt as a charm to drive away scorpions and centipedes.

Lizard. The larger lizards, especially the Uromastix spinipes, are called in Arabic Dhabb, and the smaller Hardhun. The Bedawin say that the former lays seventy eggs and even more, resembling pigeons' eggs, and that the young are at first quite blind. They are believed to be very long lived, indeed I have heard 700 years assigned as the term of their existence. By some tribes they are eaten, but are generally thought unclean. The Syrians curse them freely, for they say that they mock the devotions of the true believers. Certainly the way in which they jerk their bodies up and down is not unlike a caricature of the Muslim prostrations.

The dried bodies of some of the Skinks or Sand-lizards (Ar. Sakankúr) are much sought after as an aphrodisiac throughout the East. The particular kind in vogue is found in Nejed, and large quantities are brought by the Hajj caravans.

Owl, Ar. Boomeh. This bird is in some places regarded with veneration on account of a tradition which says that the souls of men appear on their tombs in the form of owls. I am told that they are sometimes used by fowlers as decoys. Pigeon, Ar. Hamám; wild-pigeon, Yemám. In Egypt there are enormous numbers of pigeons who live in towers specially built for them. They are chiefly kept for their dung, which is very valuable as manure, and largely exported.

Most mosques are tenanted by pigeons, and not unfrequently a sum of money is left by some pious Moslem to buy corn for them. At Jerusalem they are especially numerous, whence the Arabic proverb, "Safer than the pigeons of the Harem." The mourning of doves is as frequently alluded to in Eastern as it is in Western poetry.

Quail, usually called in Arabia Summana, or Selwa. I only met with one specimen in the Tih, and that was called by the natives Firreh. There is a tradition that the first instance of meat becoming corrupt and stinking was when the children of Israel stored up the flesh of the miraculous quails contrary to the commands of the Almighty.

Raven. There are three species of this bird scattered over the Desert, viz., Corvus corax, C. umbrinus, and C. affinis; all of these are called by the Arabs Ghoráb. They are generally found backs of these animals searching for ticks. near a herd of camels, and may often be seen perched on the Their chief food consists of reptiles and insects, but any dead or dying animal

* Giblán is the name of the chief of the Nimr (leopard) family of the Adwán Arabs in Moab.

will attract them. On one occasion I saw two ravens attack a horse which had fallen from exhaustion.

An Arabian proverb says, "Take a raven for your guide and he will lead you to a dead dog."

An Arab tradition evidently taken-as many others are-from the Old Testament, ascribes the first idea of burial to the raven. "While Adam was absent on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Cain and Abel each erected an altar for sacrifices. Cain, a husbandman, offered the refuse of his garden, but Abel chose the finest young ram of his flock and laid it upon the altar. His sacrifice was accepted, and the ram taken up to heaven, there to remain till it was required as a substitute for Ishmael when his father Abraham should offer him up on Mount Moriah. Cain seeing his offering refused, conceived so sudden a jealousy against his brother that he slew him, but being perplexed after the deed, and knowing not how to dispose of the body, he carried it about with him for many years. At last he saw two ravens engaged in deadly conflict, and one having killed the other scraped a hole in the ground and buried it, a hint which Cain took, and thus instituted the first burial rites as he had caused the first death. Adam returning mourned for his son and cursed the ground which had drunk up his blood, wherefore say the Muslims, the earth will never more absorb the blood of one who is slain, but it remains above ground, a lasting testimony to the murderer's guilt.'

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Sandgrouse (Fetrocles setarius).--This species is most common in the Desert, but three other kinds are also found, viz. P. exastus and P. sengalensis (found by Tristram near the Dead Sea) and P. arenarius. All these are called Kata, or, in Bedawi dialect, Gata (in Morocco Koudri). The first and last mentioned species are called by some Bedawin Koudriyeh and Sunifh respectively.

These birds require to drink morning and evening, and thus often prove of great service to the traveller by indicating the proximity of water. While staying at Damascus I was assured that these birds exist in such numbers in the territory of the 'Anazeh Bedawin that during the nesting season two men will go out with a camel's-hair bag between them and fill it with eggs in a very short space of time. The women then squeeze out the eggs and cook them, leaving the shells inside the bag. The Kata is said always to lay three eggs, neither more nor less. Its bones when properly prepared are said to be a cure for baldness, and the head may be used as a charm to extort secrets from a sleeping person. From its being so sure an indicator of the presence of water, the Arabs have the proverb "More truthful than the Gata."

Sheep. The proper Arabic name is Dhán; Ghanem is the general term for flocks of sheep and goats.

In the Tih there are few sheep, but in Moab and Palestine they are numerous; these are generally the fat-tailed variety (Ovis laticaudata). A fine-woolled breed is found in some districts. I have always noticed that in the East sheep's milk is much better than that of either cows or goats.

Snake, Ar. Haiyeh, Taabán 'Offi (cf. òpıs) Dúdeh (lit. worm) Rakshah (speckled one). Owing to its being winter when I passed through the Tíh. there were very few snakes to be found. The attitude taken by a horned snake (Cerastes hasselquistii) which I captured was remarkable. Immediately it saw me it began to hiss, and, tying itself as it were into a knot, created a curious grating sound by the friction of its scales. This snake is considered the most deadly of all by the Arabs, who hold it in great dread. They also affirm that if a snake has swallowed a bone which it cannot digest it will coil itself tightly round a tree or stone till the bone inside it is completely broken up.

Tortoise (Testudo graca), Ar. Salahfát (in Morocco afkah). The water-tortoise (Emys caspica) is called Lejah. The former is occasionally found in the Tih, though common in Palestine. The latter abounds in the pools and streams of that country. Another species of land tortoise (Testudo marginata) is mentioned by Tristram, as being found on Mount Carmel. The water-tortoise is known to be carnivorous, and the Arabs declare that the land species also eat snakes, but this I believe to be quite false. Tortoises have a very strong odour, and I have frequently seen pointers in Morocco stand to them as they would to game. Vulture, Egyptian (Necphron peronopterus), Ar. Rakhamah (Heb. racham) or Onak (in Morocco Sew). This is the only vulture at all frequently seen in the Desert. The Griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Lammer-geier (Gypaetrs barbatus) seldom wander beyond the limits of cultivation. The Egyptian Vulture is commonly found near Arab encampments, where it shares the office of scavenger with the dogs. Many tribes, however, both in North Africa and the East, consider its flesh a delicacy.

Wolf (Canis lupus), Ar. Deeb. These animals are found in the mountains of Sinai and Palestine, but rarely in the Tih. They do not pack like European wolves, but hunt by twos and threes.

The Bedawin say that they sleep with one eye open," and have a similar proverb to our own, A wolf in the stomach." Hunger is sometimes called Da' ed deeb, wolf's malady. Various parts of the animal are used for charms, eg, a wolf's head in a pigeon cote, or a tail in a cattle stall, will keep off other wild beasts.

In addition to stories about real animals, the Bedawin have many tables of imaginary creatures, such as the Ginn, the Efreet, and the Ghoul. These hardly come within my province, and are well described by Lane ("Arabian Nights," vol. i.). I may however mention the Nis-nás, which is said to resemble a man bisected longitudinally, and to possess but one arm, one leg, and half a head. The story goes that it is found in Yemen, and that the people there hunt and eat it, notwithstanding that it can speak Arabic! The Hud-hud (so called from its cry) is a mysterious creature, not uncommen in Sinai. The Bedawin declare that it is never seen Though I often heard its plaintive cry close to my tent, and rushed out gun in hand, yet I never could obtain so much as a glimpse of it. At one moment the sound came from just over my head; the next instant it was far away up the hill side, and would either pass into the distance, or as suddenly return to me. From this I am convinced that the cry is made by some bird, probably of the owl tribe. The Arabs, of course, will accept no such materialistic solution of the mystery.

The Botany of the Tíh, especially in a season of drought such as we experienced, is very limited. The climate is so dry that mosses and even lichens are not found, except near Nakhl, where I gathered some much resembling the true Reindeer moss. This only grows on the northern side of the hillocks.

The passage in Job xxx. 4, "Who cut up mallows by the bushes,' seems wrongly referred to the Sea Purslane (Atriplex Halimus.) In North Africa and the country east of Bir-Erba there is a small mallow which is eaten. This invariably grows either where an Arab encampment has stood or on the site of an ancient town. It has a small pinkish flower, and seldom exceeds seven or eight inches in height.

In the caves near Ain Muweileh a considerable quantity of salt crystallises on the surface of the limestone. Though disagreeable to the taste, it is eaten by the Arab.

At Petra the natives chip the interior of the caves. The fragments of sandstone are crushed and boiled, and a saltpetre sufficiently pure for the purpose of making gunpowder is thus obtained. The sulphur is found on the Lisan and coasts of the Dead Sea.

The above report necessarily contains but a sketch of our work. It will, however, I trust, give some idea of the country we had to examine, and of the difficulties which we encountered. In conclusion, I must here tender my best thanks to the University of Cambridge for having aided me in the investigation of this hitherto so little known but important district. It is the intention of Mr. Palmer and myself to publish together as soon as possible a full and systematic account of our explorations.

CHAS. F. TYRWHITT-DRAKE

(Note by Mr. C. R. Crotch on the Coleoptera brought from the Tíh.)

"In the small collection now before me are contained ninety species of Coleoptera, representing more or less all the larger families of the order, except the Water beetles, an omission easily to be accounted for. The group most largely represented is, as throughout Syria, the Heteromera. These curious apterous, sluggish forms seem to thrive under the most arid conditions. The whole cast of the fauna is essentially Mediterranean; that one is on its southern side is shown by genera like Adesmia, Graphipterus, Pachydeura, &c. The relations of this collection with an Egyptian one are very marked, many specimens being identical. None of them, however, extend to the Algerian deserts, though congeneric species occur there in their place. Nearly all are confined to the S. corner of Palestine and E. of Egypt, except the Dung-beetles (Histerida, Aphodiad, and Coprida), and these are more or less identical with those of S. Europe. The paucity of vegetation is very strongly indicated by the fact that the two great groups of Rhynchophera and Phytophaga number only seven species between them."

AMERICAN NOTES

THE annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences was held on the 18th of April last in the roms of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, and continued in session four days. A number of interesting communications were presented. A report was presented by the treasurer of the Academy in regard to the Bache bequest, in which it was stated that its present value was about 41,000 dols, invested at 6 per cent., and bringing an income of about 2,400 dols. a year. It may be remembered by some of our readers that Prof. A. D. Bache, the late head of the Coast Survey, left his property in trust to the National Academy of Sciences, after the death of Mrs. Bache, for purposes connected with the advance of science, appointing as special trustees Prof. Agassiz, Prof. Peirce, and Prof. Henry. The precise disposition of this fund has not yet been determined upon, the bequest having fallen too recently into the hands of the society to make it necessary to come at once to a conclusion.-The ship Onward arrived at New Bedford a few days ago, and her captain -Pulver-reports passing Sunday Island on the passage from Honululu, and states that the volcano near by, referred to in a previous number of cientific Intelligence, was at that time three miles long, and from 300ft. to 400 t. high. The sulphurous vapours extended around to a distance of three to four miles. He thinks that when the volcano becomes quiet there will be a good harbour between it and the main land, where before there has been only an open roads ead. The island is in latitude 29° south, and in longitude 178° west. The statement of Captain Pulver, according to the New Bedford Standard, is corroborated by other witnesses.-An examination has recently been made by an officer of the United States army of an old pueblo situated about twenty-five miles from the town of Socorro, on the Rio Grande. The walls of the buildings of this pueblo are composed of thin sandstone, heaped one layer upon another without mortar, and without any traces of beams or timber of any kind. The edifices seem to have been but one story high, and to have con sisted of four separate buildings, arranged so as to form a hollow square with a fi'th a little outside of these. The longest range was over 200ft. in length. and the whole five contained about two hundred rooms. Near the pueblo extensive silver mines have recently been discovered, and a town is to be laid out during the present year, the material for the houses to be derived from the ruins. There are evidences of ancient workings of these mines in the form of shafts now entirely filled up with earth, although it is probable that these do not antedate the period of the occupation of the country by the Spaniards. --According to late advices from South America, an unusually brilliant electric phenomenon was visible from Tacna, on the coast of Peru, early in March of the present year, around the snowy peak of Tacora, lasting for over two hours. nings were of extraordinary shapes, and the thunders were of such intensity, and were heard over so wide an extent of country, as to completely terrify the population, unused to such exhibitions. This unwonted display was preceded by a slight shock of earthquake on the previous night.-According to the Comercio, of Lima, on the 12th of February, at Pitchican, an extraordinary meteor, of an oblong shape, and of a red colour, was seen to descend suddenly from the sky toward the earth; and, as soon as it touched, an explosion occurred, leaving a dense cloud over the place, and knocking down a fence for about five hundred yards. Among the stones heaped around by this meteoric body were found recently dead fishes of different species, which were su po-ed To have been lifted out of the river and dashed against the stones.-The cattle disease continues to spread throughout South America, all efforts to resist its progress having been unavailing. At the present time it is very prevalent in the Southern provinces of Chi'i, and in the adjacent country.-The details of later advices from the Isthmus of Panama indicate the discovery of a rather low water-shed between the Atlantic and Pacific, on the Isthmus of Darien, although the feasibility of constructing a canal is, after all, by no means well-established. As far as the engineering possibilities are concerned, the chance seems to be much more favourable by way of Nicaragua, the result of a late investigation by Mr. Sonnenstern, on behalf of the Nicaraguan Government, serving to show that a route of 220 miles can be found connecting the two oceans, 196 of which is already constituted by the rivers and lakes of the country, leaving only twenty-four miles of land to be excavated, with a maximum elevation of not more than twenty-six feet. A slight drawback, however, to the value of this line is to be found in the fact, stated in the same paper, that the harbour of San Juan del

The light

Norte has been nearly filled up by a sand-bar, entirely preventing the entrance of vessels !

SCIENTIFic serialS

THE Zeitschrift für Ethnologie for the present quarter begins cially those which rest on language. with a critical paper on "Ethnological Classifications," espeThe writer comments on the arbitrary character of the division of languages into "isolating," "agg utinating," and "inflecting," and contrasts the comparatively exhaustive knowledge of animal types on which zoological classifications depend, with the very scanty acquaintance which ethnologists possess of the great mass of languages beyond the Indo-European group. Exact knowledge of these latter highly complex and differentiated languages is, he argues, of very little use in tracing the origin and affinities of more primitive speech. local characters of climate rather than on race. It is suggested that peculiarities of language often depend on Thus, short words may be the result of a warm and lazy climate, like Siam, while, on the contrary, the chilly Indians of Athapascow take an athletic delight in calling their feet "choachastlsokai." Many interesting examples are given of Dog-Latin, Pigeon-Engglish, Chinook-French, and other bastard varieties of civilised languages, which appear to be modified in a certain definite way according to climate and to race. Here is an example of Monks' Latin of the date 1127. "Donent illis in Dominicis diebus carnem Mottotinum (Mouton) in quartis feris cicerones, cum lardo." The second article in the same journal, by Franz Engel, is on the national types and races of Tropical America. It contains an interesting account of the habits and characters of the Spanish Americans, the Creoles, Negroes, and Indians, with the various knowledge of their anatomical and physiological peculiarities, cross-breeds among them. But there is little addition to our and the whole description is written in a diffuse and affected style, including in one passage a very prosaic travestie of verses from "Das Lied von der Glocke." A much shorter but valuable paper, by Adolf Hübner, gives an account, with figures, of a great series of drawings he discovered on a flat slate rock in the Trans-Vaal Republic of South Africa. Indigenous wild animals of all kinds were, to judge from the specimens given, very fairly represented, with a few human figures, one holding a bow; but no domestic animals were to be seen, nor was there any appearance of alphabetical or even picture-writing. same writer gives also an account (with plans) of ancient Caffre fortifications in Mosalikatzi's kingdom.

The

IN the Berlin Academy of Anthropology, &c., a sketch by Dr. II. H. Hildebrand was exhibited (and is reproduced in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie) of one of the urns with sculptured faces which have attracted so much attention in this Academy before. It was found in Cyprus. Other communications were on piledwellings in the Kuder See (Holstein), by L. Meyer; on an instrument of bone, about eight inches long, shaped like a knifeblade, and jagged along the edge, found in Mecklenburg, about fi teen feet deep, and covered by ten feet of chalk; on a buryingplace in East Prussia, which proved by the utensils discovered in the graves to have been used by Romans; on stone implements in East Greenland; and on the ethnological characters of the Turcos of the French Army, for the study of which recent events have offered unusual facilities. At a subsequent meeting of the Academy, Prof. Virchow read a paper on the use of tibia and and other bones as skates in early times; and Herr Jagor one on the discovery of kitchen middens in the Andaman Isles.

IN a reprint from the Archæologia (vol. xlii.) Prof. Rolleston gives an interesting account of his researches in a Roman-British cemetery at Frilford, near Abingdon. Superficial to the more ancient interments, which were mostly in coffins and belonged to Christian times, were found later remains of the Saxon Pagan period. The latter were placed promiscuously, the former with more or less orientation, and the fact that the direction of the grave usually deviates towards the south is ingeniously explained as due to the majority of deaths having taken place then, as now, in the winter quarter of the year, when the sun would rise south of the due eas'. From the character of the skulls, and the urns, weapons, nails, &c., found in the graves, various important conclusions are drawn as to the social condition of this country during the obscure period between the departure of the Romans and the conversion of the Saxons; and the whole paper is illustrated by a curious and felicitous erudition which reminds the reader of the account of a Roman cemetery at Old Walsingham, given in the “Hydriotaphia” of Sir Thomas Browne."

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES

LONDON

Royal Society, May 4.-" On the Molybdates and Vanadates of Lead, and on a new Mineral from Leadhills," by Prof. Dr. Albert Schrauf, of Vienna.

"On the Structures ad Affinities of Gwynia annulata, Dunc., with Remarks upon the Persistence of Palæozoic Types of Madreporaria," by Prof. P. Martin Duncan.

The dredging expedition which searched the sea-floor in the track of the Gulf Stream of 1868, yielded, amongst other interesting Madreporaria, a form which has been described by Count Pourtales under the name of Haplophyllia paradoxa, and which was decided by him to belong to the section Rugosa.

The

The last expedition of the Porcupine, under the supervision of Dr. Carpenter and Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, obtained, off the Adventure Bank in the Mediterranean, many specimens of a coral which has very remarkable structures and affinities. The species is described under the name of Gwynia annulata, Dunc. necessity of including it amongst the Rugosa and in the same family, the Cyathoxonida, as Haplophyllia paradoxa, is shown. Having this proof of the persistence of the rugose type from the paleozoic seas to the present, the affinities of some so-called anomalous genera of midtertiary and secondary deposits are critically examined. The Australian tertiary genus Conosmilia, three of whose species have strong structural resemblance with the Rugosa, is determined to be allied to the Staurida, and especially to the Permian genus Polycalia. The secondary and tertiary genera with hexameral, octomeral, or tetrameral and decameral septal arrangements are noticed, and the rugose characteristics of many lower Liassic and Rhetic species are examined. The impossibility of maintaining the distinctness of the paleozoic and neozoic coral faunas is asserted; and it is attempted to be proved that whilst some rugose types have persisted, hexameral types have originated from others, and have occasionally recurred to the original tetrameral or octomeral types; and that the species of corals with the confused and irregular septal members, so characteristic of the lowest neozoic strata, descended from those Rugosa which have an indefinite arrangement of the septa. The relation between the Australian tertiary and recent faunas, and those of the later palæozoic and early neozoic in Europe, is noticed, and also the long-continued biological alliances between the coral faunas of the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. "Remarks on the Determination of a Ship's Place at Sea." In a Letter to Prof. Stokes, by G. B. Airy, LL. D., Astronomer Royal. May 11.-"An Experimental Inquiry into the Constitution of Blood, and the Nutrition of Muscular Tissue," by William Marcet, M.D., F.R.S. The results obtained from the inquiry which forms the subject of the paper are as follows :-

First. That blood is strictly a colloid fluid.

Second. That although blood be strictly a colloid, it contains invariably a small proportion of diffusible constituents amounting to nearly 73 grms. in 1,000 of blood, and 9'25 grms. in an equal volume of serum, these proportions diffusing out of blood in twenty-four hours.

Third. That the proportion of chlorine contained in blood has a remarkable degree of fixity, and may be considered as amounting to three parts (the correct mean being 3'06) in 1,000.

Fourth. That blood contains phosphoric anhydride and iron in a perfect colloid state, or quite undiffusible when submitted to dialysis, the relative proportions appearing to vary from 78.61 per cent. of peroxide of iron and 29.39 of phosphoric anhydride, to 76 2 and 23.8 respectively, the proportion of phosphoric anhydride having a tendency to be rather higher.

Fifth. That blood contains more phosphoric anhydride and potash, bulk for bulk, than serum.

Sixth. That a mixture of colloid phosphoric anhydride and potash can be prepared artificially by dialysis, and that the colloid mass thus obtained appears to retain the characters of the neutral tribasic phosphate from which it originates; it exhibits an alkaline reaction, yields a yellow precipitate with nitrate of silver, and after complete precipitation the reaction is acid.

Seventh. That by dialysing certain proportions of phosphate of sodium and chloride of potassium during a certain time, proportions of phosphoric anhydride, potash, chlorine, and soda are obtained in the colloid fluid very similar to the proportions these same substances bear to each other in serum after twenty-four hours dialysis.

Eighth. That muscular tissue is formed of three different classes of substances; the first including those substances which constitute

the tissue proper, or the portion of flesh insoluble in the preparation of the aqueous extract, and consisting of albumen and phosphoric anhydride with varying proportions of potash and magnesia; the second class including the same substances as are found in the tissue proper, and in the same proportions relatively to the albumen present in that class, but existing in solution and in the colloid state; the third class including the same substances as are found in the two others, and moreover a small quantity of chlorine and soda, which, although relatively minute, is never absent. The constituents of this class are crystalloid, and consequently diffusible, the phosphoric anhydride and potash being present precisely in the proportion required to form a neutral tribasic phosphate, or a pyrophosphate, as the formula 2KO PO, can equally be 2KO HO PO.

Ninth. That flesh contains in store a supply of nourishment equal to about one-third more than its requirement for immediate use, this being apparently a provision of nature to allow of muscular exercise during prolonged fasting.

Tenth. That the numbers representing the excess of phosphoric anhydride and potash in blood over the proportion of these substances in an equal volume of serum in the regular normal nutrition of herbivorous animals, appear to bear to each other nearly the same relation as that which exists between the phosphoric anhydride and potash on their way out of muscular tissue.

Eleventh. That vegetables used as food for man and animals, such as flour, potato, and rice, transform phosphoric anhydride and potash from the crystalloid or diffusible into the colloid, or undiffusible state; and is only after having been thus prepared that these substances appear to be fit to become normal constituents of blood, and contribute to the nutrition of flesh.

A final remark, and one which is worth consideration, is the fact established by the whole of the present investigation, that there is a constant change, as rotation in nature from crystalloids to colloids, and from colloids to crystalloids.

"On Protoplasmic Life." By F. Crace-Calvert, F.R.S.

A year since the publication of Dr. Tyndall's interesting paper on the abundance of germ life in the atmosphere, and the difficulty of destroying this life, as well as others paper published by eminent men of science, suggested the inquiry if the germs existing or produced in a liquid in a state of fermentation or of putrefaction could be conveyed to a liquid susceptible of entering into these states; and although at the present time the results of this inquiry are not sufficiently complete for publication, still I bave observed some facts arising out of the subject of protoplasmic life which I wish now to lay before the Royal Society.

As a pure fluid free from life, and having no chemical reaction, was essential to carrying out the investigation, I directed my attention to the preparation of pure distilled water. Having always found life in distilled water prepared by the ordinary methods by keeping it a few days, after many trials I employed an apparatus which gave satisfactory results, and enabled me to obtain water which remained free from life for several months.

The water had to be redistilled three or four times before it was obtained free from germs, and it was then kept in the apparatus in which it was distilled until wanted, to prevent any contact with air.

Some water which had been distilled on the 20th of November, 1870, being still free from life on the 7th of December, was introduced by a siphon into twelve small tubes and then left exposed to the atmosphere for fifteen hours, when they were closed. Every eight days some of the tubes were opened, and their contents examined. On the fifteenth, therefore, the first examination was made; when no life was observed; on the 23rd two or three other tubes were examined, and again no life was detected; whilst in the series opened on the 2nd of January, 1871, that is to say, twentyfour days from the time the tubes were closed, two or three black vibrios were found in each field. Being impressed with the idea that this slow and limited development of protoplasmic lite might be attributed to the small amount of lite existing in the atmosphere at this period of the year, a second series of expe ments was commenced on the 4th of January. The distilled water in the flask being still free from life, a certain quantity of it was put into twelve small tubes, which were placed near putrid meat at a temperature of 21° to 26° C. for two hours, and then sealed. On the 10th of the same month the contents of some of the tubes were examined, when two or three small black vibrios

*

* During the intense cold of December and January last, I found it took an exposure to the atmosphere of two days at a tempera ure of 12° C. before life appeared in solution of white of egg in the pure distilled water, whilst as the weather got warmer the time required became less.

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were observed under each field. This result shows that the fluid having been placed near a source of protoplasmic life, germs had become impregnated in two hours in sufficient quantity for life to become visible in six days instead of twenty-four. Other tubes of this series were opened on the 17th of January, when a slight increase of life was noticed; but no further development appeared to take place after this date, as some examined on the 10th of March did not contain more life than those of the 17th of January.

This very limited amount of life naturally suggested the idea that it might be due to the employment of perfectly pure water, so that Mr. Calvert commenced a third series of experiments.

On the 9th of February 100 fluid grains of albumen from a new-laid egg were introduced as quickly as possible and with the greatest care, into ten ounces of pure distilled water contained in the flask in which it had been condensed, and an atmosphere of hydrogen kept over it. On the 16th some of the fluid was taken out by means of a siphon and examined, and no life being present, twelve tubes were filled with the fluid exposed to the air for eight hours and closed. On the 21st the contents of some of the tubes were examined, when a few vibrios and microzyma were distinctly seen in each field. On the 27th other tubes were examined, and showed a marked increase in the amount of life. In this series, in which a fermentable substance was employed, life appeared in five days, and an increase in ten, instead of requiring twenty-four days, as was the case when pure water only was employed.

As the weather had become much warmer, and a marked increase of life in the atmosphere had taken place, some of the same albumen solution as had been employed in the above experiments was left exposed in similar tubes to its influence, when a large quantity of life was rapidly developed, and continued to increase. This result appears to show that the increase of life is not due to reproduction merely, but to the introduction of fresh germs; for, excepting this fresh supply, there appears to be no reason why life should increase more rapidly in the open than in the closed tubes.

"Action of Heat on Protoplasmic Life," by F. Crace Calvert, F.R.S. Those investigators of germ-life who favour the theory of spontaneous generation, have assumed that a temperature of 212° Fahr., or the boiling-point of the fluid which they experimented upon, was sufficient to destroy all protoplasmic life, and that the life they subsequently observed in these fluids was developed from non-living matter.

I therefore made several series of experiments, in the hope that they might throw some light on the subject.

To carry out the experiments I prepared a series of small tubes made of very thick and well-annealed glass, each tube about four centimetres in length, and having a bore of five millimetres. The fluid to be operated upon was introduced into them, and left exposed to the atmosphere for sufficient length of time for germ-life to be largely developed. Each tube was then hermetically sealed and wrapped in wire gauze, to prevent any accident to the operator in case of the bursting of any of the tubes. They were then placed in an oil-bath, and gradually heated to the required temperature, at which they were maintained for half an hour.

Sugar Solution.-A solution of sugar was prepared by dissolving one part of sugar in ten parts of water. This solution was made with common water, and exposed all night to the atmosphere, so that life might impregnate it. The fluid was prepared on the 1st of November, 1870, introduced into tubes on the 2nd, and allowed to remain five days. On the 7th of November twelve tubes were kept without being heated, twelve were heated to 200° Fahr., twelve to 300°, and twelve to 400° Fahr.

The contents of the tubes were microscopically examined on the 1st of December, twenty-four days after heating.

In the sugar solution which was not heated there were about thirty animalcules under each field of the microscope, principally small black vibrios; two or three microzymes swimming slowly about; three or four ordinary swimming vibrios, and a few bacteria. In that which was hea ed for half an hour at 212 F., a great portion of the life had disappeared, and no animalcules were swimming. Four or five small black vibrios were observed moving energetically to and fro; two or three ordinary vibrios were also observed moving energetically in the same position of the field, that is, without swimming about. Heated for half an hour at 300° F. the sugar was slightly charred, but

one or two ordinary vibrios, and one or two small black vibrios were observed in motion under the field of the microscope. In the solutions heated to the higher temperatures there was no trace of organisms.

Remarks.-The black vibrios here referred to are far more opaque than the other varieties of vibrios, and are the most important of all, as I have found them to resist not only very high temperatures, but all chemical solutions. I shall, in my paper on putrefaction and the action of antiseptics, describe the various vibrios, and give various drawings of them.

Hay Infusion.-An infusion of hay was made by macerating it in common water for one hour, then filtering the liquor, and leaving it exposed to the atmosphere all night, when it was sealed in the small tubes, twelve of which were used for each experiment. The infusion was made on the 4th of November, sealed in tubes on the 5th, and heated on the 7th.

The results were examined on the 1st of December, 1871, twenty-four days after being heated.

The hay infusion not heated contained 'fungus matter" and other low organisms. The tubes, which were heated to 212° F. and 300° F., contained a few small "black vibrios," [but whether they were living or dead is not stated]. The tubes exposed to higher temperatures showed no trace of organisms.

Gelatine Solution.-A solution of gelatine, prepared of such strength that it remained liquid on cooling, was exposed for twenty-four hours to the atmosphere. It was then introduced into the small tubes, and the tubes sealed. The solution was made on the 4th of November, the tubes sealed on the 5th, and subjected to the different temperatures on the 7th.

The fluids were examined on the 1st of December, 1871, twenty-four days after being heated.

In the gelatine solution which was not heated, there were seven or eight animalcules under each field, five or six of which were quite different from anything observed in the other fluids. They had long thin bodies, swimming with a peristaltic motion. One or two ordinary swimming vibrios were also present; but the small black vibrios were absent. In the gelatine solution heated for half an hour at 100° F., the organisms ceased to exhibit any active movements; and in that which was heated for half an hour at 212° F., a very decided diminution in the quantity of life present was noticed In the solutions heated to the higher temperatures no life was found.

Putrid Meat Fluid.-Water was placed in an open vessel, and a piece of meat suspended in it until it became putrid and contaminated with myriads of animalcules. This fluid was placed in the usual tubes, which were sealed on the 7th November, and heated on the same day.

The contents of the tubes were subjected to examination on the 1st of December, or twenty-four days after having been heated.

In the solution which was not heated, a large quantity of life was present, namely, microzyma and several distinct species of vibrios, among which were a number of the small black ones frequently mentioned. In that which was heated for half an hour at 100° F., this temperature had but slightly affected the life present, the animalcules being as numerous as in the liquid not heated, and not moving as usual. In that which was heated for half an hour at 212° F., although heat had deprived the animalcules of the power of locomotion, still they retained a sufficient amount of vital force to "place it beyond a doubt that life was not destroyed." In that which was heated for half an hour at 300° F. a large quantity of the life in the fluid was destroyed, but some vibrios still remained, the small black ones being the most numerous. In the solutions exposed to the higher temperatures there was no trace of organisms.

Although perfectly aware of the interesting researches of Prof. Melsens, proving that the most intense cold does not destroy the active power of vaccine lymph, still I thought it desirable to ascertain the effect of a temperature of 15° F. on well-developed germ-life, similar to that which had been subjected to the action of heat.

Some putrid-meat liquor, therefore, containing a large quantity of microzyma and vibrios, was subjected for twenty hours to the influence of a temperature rarging between the freezing-point of water a 17° below that point, when the ice was melted, and the liquor examined. The animalcules retained their vitality, but appeared very languid, and their power of locomotion was greatly decreased. Two hours after melting the ice the liquor was again examined, when the animalcules appeared to be as energetic as before.

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