Little

pression that almost every one of those who had taken part in controversies which had been carried on both here and abroad concerning the Origin of Life, were prepared to admit, as Spallanzani had done, that the eggs or germs of such organisms as appear in infusions were unable to survive when the infusions containing them were raised to the temperature at which water boils. This impression was produced in part by the explicit statements on the subject that had been made by very many biologists, and also in part by a comparatively recent and authoritative confirmation which this view as to the destructive effects of boiling infusions upon Bacteria had received. more than two years ago Prof. Huxley, as president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, recorded experiments in his Inaugural Address which were obviously based upon this belief as a starting-point. And subsequently, in one of the Sectional Meetings, after referring to some of my experiments, and to the fact that all unmistakeably vital movemen's ceased after Bacteria had been boiled, Prof. Huxley added: “I cannot be certain about other persons, but I am of opinion that observers who have supposed they have found Bacteria surviving after boiling have made the mistake which I should have done at one time, and, in act, have confused the Brownian movements with true living movements." Prof. Huxley does not now (in reference to the experiments cited in my last communication) suggest that the organisms found in the infusions were dead and had been there before the fluids were boiled he expresses doubts concerning that which he seems formerly to have regarded as established, and, with much caution, wishes for evidence confirmatory of his own, to show that the germs of Bacteria and Vibriones are killed in a boiling infusion of hay or turnip, as they have been proved to be in "Pasteur's Solution" and in solutions containing ammonic tartrate and sodic phosphate

With the view of removing this last source of doubt more effectually, and also of refuting the unwarrantable + conclusions of M. Pasteur, to the effect that the germs of Bacteria and Vibriones are not killed in neutral or slightly alkaline fluids at a temperature of 212° F., I almost immediately after the reading of my last communication commenced a fresh series of experi

ments.

Nearly two years ago, in my "Modes of Origin of Lowest Organisms," I brought forward evidence to show that Bacteria, Vibriones, and their supposed germs, are killed at a tempera ure of 140° F. (60° C.) in neutral or very faintly acid solutions containing ammonic tartrate and sodic phosphate, and also evidence tending to show that these living units were killed in neutral infusions of hay and in acid infusions of turnip at the same temperature.

The crucial evidence adduced concerning the degree of heat destructive to Bacteria, Vibriones, and their germs, in the saline solution was of this nature. The solution had been shown to be incapable of engendering Bacteria and Vibriones (under all ordinary conditions) after it had been boiled, although it still continued capable of supporting the life and encouraging the rapid multiplication of any of these organisms which were purposely added to it. Some of this boiled solution, therefore, was introduced into flasks previously washed with boiling water; and when the fluids had sufficiently cooled, that of each flask was inoculated with living Bacteria and Vibriones-in the proportion of one drop of a fluid quite turbid with these organisms to one fluid ounce of the clear saline solution. These mixtures containing an abundance of living organisms were then heated to various temperatures, ranging from 122° F. (50° C) to 167° F. (75° C.), and it was invariably found that those which had been heated to 122° or 131° became quite turbid in about two days, whilst those which had been raised to 140° F. or upwards as invariably remained clear and unaltered. The turbidity in the first series having been ascertained to be due to the enormous multiplication of Bacteria and Vibriones, and it being a well-established fact that such organisms when undoubtedly living always rapidly multiply in these fluids, the conclusion seemed almost inevitable that the organisms and their germs must have been killed in the flasks which were briefly subjected to the temperature of 140° F. How else are we to account for the fact that these fluids re*See Report in Quart. Journ. of Microscop Science, Oct. 1870.

Reasons for this opinion have been fully set forth in "The Beginnings of Lite," p. vol. i. 374 et seq.; or the discriminating reader may at once find my justification for this expression by reading pp. 58-66 of M. Pasteur's memoir in Ann de Chim. et de Physique, 1862.

1 Fuller details concerning these experiments may be found in the little work already mentioned at pp. 51-56, and also in "The Beginnings of Life," vol. i., pp 325-332,

mained quite unaltered although living organisms were added to them in the same proportion as they had been to those lessheated fluids which had so rapidly become turbid? Even if there does remain the mere possibility that the organisms and their supposed germs had not actually been killed, they were certainly so far damaged as to be unable to manifest any vital characteristics. The heat had, at all events, deprived them if their powers of growth and multiplication, and these gone, so little of what we are accustomed to call "life" could remain, that practically they might well be considered as dead. And, 25 I shall subsequently show, the production of this potential deer a by the temperature of 140° F. enables us to draw just the same conclusions from other experiments, as if such a temperature has produced a demonstrably actual dea h Seeing also that these saline solutions were inoculated with a fluid in which Bacteria and Vibriones were multiplying rapidly, we had a right to infer that they were multiplying in their accustomed manner, as much by the known method of fission, as by any unknown and assumed method of reproduction." So that, as I at the time said, "These experiments seem to show, therefore, that even if Bacteria do multiply by means of invisible gemmules, as well as by the known process of fi-sion, such invisible particles possess no higher power of resisting the destructive influence of heat than the parent Bacteria themselves possess."

This is, in fact, by far the most satisfactory kind of evidence that can be produced concerning the powers of resisting heat enjoyed by Bacteria and Vibriones, because it also meets the hypothesis as to their possible multiplication by invisible gemmules possessed of a greater power of resisting heat, and because no mere inspection by the miscroscope of dead Bacteria can entitle us positively to affirm that they are dead, even though al characteristically vital or "true living" movements may be absent.

Facts of a very similar nature were mentioned in the same work, strongly tending to show that Bacteria and Vibriones are also killed at the same temperature in other fluids, such as infusions of hay or turnip. These facts were referred to in the forlowing statement † :-" Thus, if on the same slip, though under different covering-glasses, specimens of a hay-infusion turbid with Bacteria are mounted, (a) without being heated, (6) after the fluid has been raised to 122° F. for ten minutes, and (c) after the fluid has been heated to 140° F. for ten minutes, it will be found that in the course of a few days the Bacteria under a and b have notably increased in quantity, while those under do not become more numerous, however long the slide is kept. Facts of the same kind are observable if a turnip-infusion containing living Bacteria is experimented with; and the phenomena are in no way different if a solution of ammonic tartrate and sodic phosphate (containing Bacteria) be employed instead of one of these vegetable infusions. The multiplication of the Bacteria beneath the covering-glass, when it occurs, is soon rendered obvious even to the naked eye by the increasing cloudiness of the film."

(To be continued.)

Geological Society, March 12.—Joseph Prestwich, F.R. S., vice-president, in the chair. The following communications were read-I. Note on some Brachiopoda collected by Mr. Judd from the Jurassic deposits of the East Coast of Scotland, by Thomas Davidson, F.R.S. In this note the author stated that four species of Brachiopoda collected by Mr. Judd were espe cially worthy of notice, two of them being qui'e new, and tw new to Britain. Three of them were obtained from the equiva lent of the Kimmeridge clay, which was the more remarkable as the Brachiopoda of that formation are comparatively few. The new species described were Rhynchonelle Sutherlandi and Terobratula Joassi, derived, with Terebratula humeralis Röm., from the Upper Oolite of Garty in Sutherland; the fourth species is Terebratula bisuffarcinata Schlot., from the Lower Calcareous Grit of Bramberry Hill. 2. On Solfataras and deposits of Sulphur at Kalamaki, near the Isthmus of Corinth, by Prof. D. T. Ansted, F.R.S. After noticing the traces of volcanic action east of the Pindus chain, the author described the Solfataras and sulphur-deposits of the neighbourhood of Kalamaki as furnishing indications that there is even now a real though subdued volcanic energy in this part of Europe. 3. On the origin of clay-ironstone, by Mr. J. Lucas, F G.S. The author commenced by giving a general view of the varieties, chemical composition, and mode of occurrence of clay-ironstone, and suggested that the formation of all the bedded varieties may be explained by the "Modes of Origin of Lowest Organisms," 1871, p. £0. tLoc. cit. p. 60.

supposition that they originated in peaty or non-peaty la.oons on the alluvial flats of the deltas of the Carboniferous formations, which would present semi-terrestrial conditions, that is to say, a surface exposed to the air but subject to be covered by floods. 4. Note in vindication of Leptophlæum rhom bicum and Lepidodendron gaspianum, by Principal Dason LL.D., F. R.S. This note accompanied some photographs of the remains of plants referred to, and was in opposition to the identification of these remains with the Lepidodendron nothum Unger, as proposed by Mr. Carruthers in his Appendix to Mr. Daintree's paper on the Geology of Queensland.

Zoological Society, March 18, 1873.-The Viscount Walden, F.R S., preside t, in the chair. A communi ation was read from Mr. R. B. Watson on some mar ne mollusca from Madeira, including a new genus of the Muricide, proposed to be called Chascax and a new Rissoina, and embracing descriptions of the whole of the Risson of the group of islands. A communication was read from Dr. J. D. Mac onald, F. R. S., on a specimen of Acanthias vulgaris and a species of Galeus, probably now to science, taken off Flinder's Island, Bass Straits.-Mr. W T. Blandford read a paper on the Gazelles of India and Persia. This contained the description of a new species, Gazella fuscifrons, founded on a single specimen obtained by the author in 1872, near the edge of the desert of Scistan -A communication was read from Dr. J. S. B werbank, F.R.S., conta ning the hith pr of a series of memoirs entitled Contributions to a General History of the Spong adæ. A communication was read from Mr. Ge ard Kreft, C. M Z.S., containing the des ript on of a new spe ies of crocodile from Queensland, pr posed to be called Crocodilus johnsoni.—Mr. Edward Bart eit exhibited and gave the description of a new moth belonging to the family Saturniid, which had been ob amed in the in erior of Ma agascar by Mr. T. Waters, and which was proposed to be called Tropea madagascariensis.

Mathematical Society, March 13.-Dr. Hirst, F. R. S., president, in the chair.-Prof. Greenhill, of Cooper's Hill Col lege, was elected a member.-Mr. R. B. Hayward read a paper on an extension of the term area to any closed circuit in space. In the sense in which the writer employed the term, area is no longer a mere magnitude or a magnitude affected only with the positive or negative sign, but a magnitude affected with direction; in other words it is a vector, not simply a scalar The paper concluded wi h a few illustrations of the use of this extension of the tem area. Other communicatio is were, on the evaluation of a class f definite in egrals invo v ng circular functions in the numerator and powers of the variable only in the denominator, by Mr. J. W. L Glaisher; note on normas and the surface of centres of an algebraical surface, by Mr. 5. Roberts, V.P.; and a proof of the proposi ion that a number which divides the product of two numbers and is prime to one of them will divide the other, by Mr. M. Jenkins (Hon. Sec.).-Notice was taken in NATURE (August 1, 1872) of the formation of a mathematical society in Paris on the plan of the similar societies of London, Moscow and Berlin. This society having forwarded the first number of its " Bulletin," it was agreed to exchange publications.

Chemical Society, March 20, Dr. Frankland, F.R.S., president, in the chair.-Mr. C. W. Siemens, F.R. S., delivered a lecture" On Iron and Steel." The lecturer, after adver ing to his former discourse delivered before the Society in 1868, and describing the various experiments he had made to obtain maileable iron direct from the ore, gave an account of the process by which he had succeeded in completely attain ng that object. It consists essentially in fusing the ore by means of the most intense heat in a revolving furnace, and then adding the requisite

amount of carbonaceous matter to reduce the iron to the metallic state. The malleable iron thus precipitated in the molten mass becomes aggregated into balls by the revolution of the furnace, and can then be easily removed. It is free from sulphur, phosphorus, and other impurities, and dissolves readily in a bath of molten cast iron, producing steel of a quality equal to that made from the best Swedish bar iron.

Anthropological Institute, March 18.-Prof. Busk, F. R. S., president, in the chair. A paper was read by Mr. George Harris, F.S.A., on theories regarding intellect and instinct, with an attempt to deduce a satisfactory conclusion therefrom. The author, after taking a general survey of the opinions on this subject, citing those of Aristotle, Plato, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and several other writers, including some modern authorities, proceeded to compare them one with another, and to con

sider how far certain ay parently irreconcileable differences might be considered compatible. The great perfection of the sensitive system in animals he considered to be the main cause of the unerring dexterity with which they engage in various operations connected with their career. And although they differ essentially from man as regards is capacity for abstract studies, it appears ifficult to deny to them the possession of an immaterial being of some kind. High authorities, both among philosophers and divines, have attributed to them a future state of existence. Mr. Harris also read a paper on the concurrent contemporaneous progre-s of renovation and waste in animated frames, and the extent to which such operations are controllable by artificial means. The wri er took a general view of the opinions of those who have treated on thi subject, mo e especially the older authorities, c ting Galen, Willis, Buffon, Hunter, and Smellie, and ref rring also recent articles on the subject in Fraser's Magazin, and the Edinburgh Review. He adverted to the a-cert ined act of the progress of renov. tion and waste in al animated frames, as also to the circums ance that certain of these operations were known to be controllable. He an lysed the principle of waste and decay in differen bodies, and ref. rred to ossification of the bones and deterioration of the blood as contributing to thos conditions. As medical science advances these matters might be more perfectly under-tood. He recommended experiments of various kinds as to the nature of substances, and their effect on bodies amate as well as inanimate, and with regard to animals and plants as well as n an.

TO

Royal Horticultural Society, March 19.-Scientific Commi te, Dr. J. D Hooker, C. B., in the chair. Prof. Thiselton Dyer called at ention to the discovery by Fankhauser of the prothe lial stage of Lycopodium. It appears to be almost identical with that of the Ophioglossed, and consequently a to ether different from that of Selaginella. It was remarkable that the cr b niferous Lepidostrobus and Triplosporites differed as regards their spores in precisely the same way as Lycopodium an 1 Sela& nella If the nature of the germination in the two latter m st be held to imply systematic diversity, analogy would equally mply it in the case of the two former. But the parallelism would, under these circumstances, be ex'remely difficult to under-tand.-General Meeting, W Wilson Saun lers, F. R. S., in the chair. The Rev. M. J. Berk ley commented on the fine col ection of Cycadeaceæ exhibited by Mr. Bull, a well-fruited pot p ant of the Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), and Epilendum erubescens-a Guatemalan orchid rarely seen in flower, which was exh bited by Mr. C. L ach.

Entomological Society, March 17.-Prof. Westwood, presi ent, in the chair.-M. Ernest Olivier was balloted for and elected a foreign member.-The president exhibited a very rare species of Paussus from Abyssinia-Mr. Smith exhibited a box of ants sent from Calcutta by Mr. G. A. J. Rothney, collected principally in the Bota ic Gardens. There were many new species amongst them, a complete series of which was to be reserved for the national collection.—Mr. Cole exhibited two boxes of Bombycide from Natal.-Mr. Bates read a paper on some species of geodephagous coleoptera from China.-Mr. Müter made some remarks on a beeile (Aræocerus coffee) which had been imported into Basle with some coffee rom Java, and that the insect had since become naturalised and might be found in any quantity there. Mr. Müller also remarked on a cargo of ground nuts which arrived in London direct from Sierra Leone, the kernels of which were destroyed by myriads of the la væ a d perfect insects of the Tribolium ferrugineum, accom ani d by the larvæ and perfect insects of a species of Rhizophagus preying on the former.-Mr. Dunning read some urther no es on Atropos pulsatoria, with reference to Dr. Hagen and Mr. W. A. Lewis. Mr. Bates put some questions to the meeting, suggested to him by Mr. Darwin, with a view to eliciting information as to sexu 1 differences in certain insects, viz., whether any cases had been noticed of sexual differences in the ocellated spots with which certain insects, as the Bombycida, were furnished, and also as to sexual differences amongst the Buprestida. A conversation ensued during which Mr. Jenner Wir stated that Satyrus hyperanthus had more ocellated spots in the female than in the male; and Mr. Butler mentioned t at Drusillus had double ocelli in one It was also sia ed that Mr. Saunders had detected sexual differences among the Buprestide.

sex.

MANCHESTER

Literary and Philosophical Society, March 4.-Dr. J. P. Joule in the chair.-Mr. Baxendell read the following communication

from Mr. S. Broughton :-It appears there is some doubt as to the existence of ball discharge in thunderstorms. At the request of Mr. Baxendell I communicate an observation of such, seen during the approach of a storm, in 1854 or 1855, when walking from Altrincham to Timperley. Over the edge of a cloud near the east horizon a flash of lightning was seen, and a ball apparently the size of one from a Roman candle shot upwards through an arc of 20° or 30o. I cannot say that it went to another cloud, but that would most likely be so, as my attention was taken up watching the progress of the electric ball.-E. W. Binney, V.P., F.R.S., said that shortly after the meeting of the Society on January 21, when he exhibited the singular fossil plants, which were quite new to him at the time, which he thought would have to be placed in a new genus, he had received excellent transverse and longitudinal sections of similar specimens from Professor Renault of Cluny, which were if possible in a more beautiful state of preservation than those found in the carboniferous strata of Lancashire. On February 4, Prof. W. C. Williamson, F. R.S., stated that these specimens were the branches or stems of the well-known genus Asterophyllites. Now the French professor states that he had described this fossil plant in a memoir read before the Academy in 1870, and that in his opinion it belonged to Sphenophyllum. I am not in possession of the facts from which the two learned professors came to such different conclusions, but I am inclined to consider the singular little stem as belonging to a new genus until the leaves of Sphenophyllum or Asterophyllites are found attached to it. When this comes to pass of course there can be no doubt on the matter.— The President said that he had made another observation of the position of the freezing point in the thermometer used in making the observations recorded in the Proceedings for April 16, 1867, and February 22, 1870. The gradual rise of the zero during twenty-nine years was shown by a diagram, the ordinates representing divisions etched on the glass stem, each corresponding to 1 of a degree Fahrenheit.-Mr. William H. Johnson, B.Sc., read a paper "On the Influence of Acids on Iron and Steel," in which he showed the general effects of acid; its effects on the weight; on the breaking strain and elongation; effect of pyroligneous acid; effects of acids on copper and brass; and of zinc on iron.

PARIS

Academy of Sciences, March 17, M. de Quatrefages, president, in the chair.-The following papers were read: On the theory of the movement of Jupiter, by M. Le Verrier.-The transit of Venus-method for obtaining the moment of contact by photography, by M. Janssen. The author suggests the use of a photographic plate cut in the form of a disc, and made to revolve. By this means a number of photographs can be obtained with very minute intervals of time between each exposure. On the heat produced by the mixture of the hydracids with water and on the molecular volumes of their solutions, by M. Berthelot. The acids experimented on were the hydrochloric, hydrobromic, and hydriodic. The author decides that these acids and their compounds give rise to similar amounts of molecular work. On new applications of the principles of the navigation sluice to oscillating columns of liquid, by M. A. de Caligny. On a shock of earthquake observed at Florence on March 12, 1873, by M. de Tchihatchef. The shock was observed at 9h. 5m. p.m., it did not last more than half a second, and its direction was S. E. to N.W., bar. 725mm.-M. Secchi presented his memoir "On the Distribution of the Prominences on the Solar Disc, and on the study of the Spots."-On barometic changes and their connection with magnetic variations, by M. J. A. Broun.-New experiments on singing flames, by M. F. Kastner. -Observations on the theory of solar cyclones, by M. E. Vicaire. The author raised several objections to M. Faye's theory of the sun, and promised to explain his own hypothesis shortly this, he said, was simply that of Wilson.-On "Spectrometry ;' Spectronatrometry, by MM. P. Champion, H. Pellet, and M. Grenier. The authors described an instrument for the spectroscopic estimation of minute quantities of sodium. The principle depended on the comparison of a sodium flame in which a known quantity of sodium was being heated with the flame coloured by the substance the sodium in which it was required know. The apparatus described was somewhat complicated, out the principle upon which it worked was the use of a graduated compensating wedge of coloured glass. M. Janssen made some observations on the process.-Observations on M. Gernez's recent note on the crystallisation of supersaturated solutions, by M. Ch. Violette.-On the methods of increasing the length of

bones and stopping their growth, by M. Ollier. On the ara. tomy of Comatula rosacea, by M. Edm. Perrier. On a depost of fossil mammifere near Lapsista, Macedon, by M. Gorce "On polyhedric concamerations," by M. G. Perry.

DIARY

THURSDAY, MARCH 27.

ROYAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.-The Radiation of Heat from the Moon, the Las of its Absorption by our Atmosphere, and of its Variation in Amount her Phases (Backerian Lecture): Earl of Rosse. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, at 8.30. -Election of Fellows ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 3-Coal and its Products: A. V. Harcourt.

FRIDAY, MARCH 28.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 9.-Force and Energy: Prof. Clifford,
QUEKETT CLUB, at 8.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, at 4.-Extinct Mammals: Prof. Flower
SATURDAY, MARCH 29.

ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 3.-Darwin's Philosophy of Language: Prof. Max
Müller.
MONDAY, MARCH 31.

LONDON INSTITUTION, at 4.-Fungoid Organisms: Prol. Thasclum Dym.

TUESDAY, APRIL 1.

ROVAL INSTITUTION, at 3-Forces and Motions of the Body: Pref
Rutherford.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.-Notes on the Collection of Peruvian
Skulls and Pottery lately received from Consu! Hutchinson: Przể Bà
and Dr. Barnard Davis.—On the Natives of Vancouver's Island: Richard
King. On a Human Skull from Birkdale, Southport: T. M. Reade
SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY, at 8. 30.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, at 8.30.-On the Brain and a portion of the terress
system of Pediculus capitis: Dr. J. S. Bowerbank.-Notes on the genera
of Turtles (Oiacopodes) and especially on their skeleton and skulls: Dr.
J. E. Gray-Descriptions of three new species of Flying Squirrels: Dr.
A. Günther.
ASIATIC SOCIETY, at 3.
:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2. SOCIETY OF ARTS, at 8.-On Economy of Fuel for domestic purposes: Capt. Douglas Galton, C.B. LONDON INSTITUTION, at 7.-Courts of Special Commercial Junsdiction: N. H. Paterson. ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY, at 8.-On a new Calliding with the result of experiments on the desiccation of Rotifers: H. Davis.-On the Development of the Sturgeon's facial arches: W. K. Parker.

THURSDAY, APRIL 3.

CHEMICAL SOCIETY, at 8.-A way of exactly determining the specific gravity of Liquids; Dr. H. Sprengel.-On Cymene from various sources: Dr. C. R. A. Wright -Researches on the action of the Copper-zinc couple on organic bodies, II-On the iodides of Amyl and Methyl J. H. Gladstone and A. Tribe.-Contributions from the Laboratory of the London Institutution, No. XI.-Action of the acid chlorides on Nitrates and Nitrites: Dr. H. G. Armstrong.

LINNEAN SOCIETY, at 8.-On new Indian Fishes: Surgeon-Major F. Day. -On the Fungi of Ceylon: Rev. M. J. Berkeley and C. E. Broome. ROYAL INSTITUTION, at 3-Coal and its Products: A. V. Harcourt.

soothed; and then they recover. It is well-known that certain lesions of the brain, or internal parasites, cause animals to turn incessantly round and round, either to the right or left, sometimes accompanied by a backward movement : and I have just read, through the kindness of Dr. Brunton, the account given by Mr. W. J. Moore (Indian Medical Gazette, Jan. and Feb 1873) of the somewhat analogous result which followed from pricking the base of the brain of a pigeon with a needle. Birds thus treated roll over backwards in convulsions, in exactly the same manner as do the ground-tumblers; and the same effect is produced by giving them hydrocyanic acid with strychnine. One pigeon which had its brain thus pricked recovered perfectly, but continued ever afterwards to perform summersaults like a tumbler, though not belonging to any tumbling breed. The movement appears to be of the nature of a recurrent spasm or convulsion which throws the bird backwards, as in tetanus; it then recovers its balance, and is again thrown backwards. Whether this tendency originated from some accidental injury, or, as seems more probable, from some morbid affection of the brain, cannot be told; but at the present time the affection can hardly be called morbid in the case of common tumblers, as these birds are perfectly healthy and seem to enjoy performing their feats, or, as an old writer expresses it, "showing like footballs in the air." The habit apparently can be controlled to a certain extent by the will. But what more particularly concerns us is that it is strictly inherited. Young birds reared in an aviary which have never seen a pigeon tumble, take to it when first let free. The habit also varies much in degree in different individuals and in different sub-breeds; and it can be greatly augmented by continued selection, as seen in the house-tumblers, which can hardly rise more than a foot or two above the ground without going head over heels in the air. Fuller details on tumbler-pigeons, may be found in my "Variation of Animals under Domestication," vol. i. pp. 150, 209.

In conclusion, from the case of neuter insects, of certain reflex actions, and of movements such as those of the tumbler-pigeon, it seems to me in the highest degree probable that many instincts have originated from modifications or variations in the brain, which we in our

sense which is quite absent in us. We must bear in mind that neither a compass, nor the north star, nor any other such sign, suffices to guide a man to a particular spot through an intricate country, or through hummocky ice, when many deviations from a straight course are inevitable, unless the deviations are allowed for, or a sort of "dead reckoning" is kept. All men are able to do this in a greater or less degree, and the natives of Siberia apparently to a wonderful extent, though probably in an unconscious manner. This is effected chiefly, no doubt, by eyesight, but partly, perhaps, by the sense of muscular movement, in the same manner as a man with his eyes blinded can proceed (and some men much better than others) for a short distance in a nearly straight line, or turn at right angles, or back again. The manner in which the sense of direction is sometimes suddenly disarranged in very old and feeble persons, and the feeling of strong distress which, as I know, has been experienced by persons when they have suddenly found out that they have been proceeding in a wholly unexpected and wrong direc tion, leads to the suspicion that some part of the brain is specialised for the function of direction. Whether animals may not possess the faculty of keeping a dead reckoning of their course in a much more perfect degree than can man; or whether this faculty may not come into play on the commencement of a journey when an animal is shut up in a basket, I will not attempt to discuss, as I have not sufficient data.

I am tempted to add one other case, but here again I am forced to quote from memory, as I have not my books at hand. Audubon kept a pinioned wild goose in confinement, and when the period of migration arrived, it became extremely restless, like all other migratory birds under similar circumstances; and at last it escaped. The poor creature then immediately began its long journey on foot, but its sense of direction seemed to have been perverted, for instead of travelling due southward, it proceeded in exactly the wrong direction, due northward.

CHARLES DARWIN

UNIVERSITY OARS

II.

E resume our remarks at the point at which we left off last week, i.e. the uncomfortable one of the killed and wounded in the great annual battles on the

Thames.

Of the 294 men who rowed in the 26 races taking place between the years 1829 and 1869 (both inclusive), 39 men have died, or rather we should say 40, for one other death has occurred, apparently since the introductory portion of the work was written, and the tables in the appendix were compiled, and we are assured on the authority of elaborate statistics and the logic of averages, that, in comparison with other portions of the civil community, this is a very moderate death-rate. Of the diseases which have carried off in youth or early manhood these 40 men, we will only instance one kind, as being the only one with which boat-racing can presumably be connected, namely consumption, "and other diseases of the chest:" to these perhaps may be added "heart afections." Of the former there are 9, of the latter 3, in all 12. We are assured, again, that this percentage is a mode