meable strata; and careful measurements have proved that the discharge at Paris is also equal to about one-third of the rainfall. The exact proportion of the rainfall passing into the different permeable strata, and given out again in the form of springs, has yet to be accurately determined. Mr. Harrison estimates it in the Thames basin at about one-sixth of the rainfall.

In districts where impermeable strata predominate, the total water delivery, therefore, will be greater; but it follows close upon the rainfall; whereas, where the permeable strata predominate, a large portion of the rainfall is stored in the hills, and its delivery is thereby spread over a greater or lesser period of time, according to the dimensions of those hills. This is well exemplined in the case of the basins of the Thames and the Severn, which latter is formed in large part by the slate rocks of Wales The former has an area above Kingston of 3,670 square miles, with an annual rainfall of 27 inches; whereas that of the latter above Gloucester has an area of 3,890 miles, with an average rainfall of probably not less than 40 inches, and the mean daily discharge for the year is for the Thames of 1,250,000,000 gallons, and for the Severn about 1,600,000,000 gallons. Yet the summer discharge of the Thames averages 688,700,000 gallons daily, against 297,599,040 gallons of the Severn; and while the minimum discharge of the Thames in the driest seasons never falls below 350,000,000 gallons, that of the Severn falls below 100,000,000 gallons. Again, in the case of the Lea, where there is a still larger proportion of permeable strata, the daily discharge at Broxbourne for the year is, according to Mr. Beardmore, 108,000,000 gallons, while for the summer months it remains as high as 71,000,000, and in the driest seasons does not fall below 42,000,000 gallons.

Let us now look at one of the geological questions dependent upon the solvent action of the water on the strata it traverses. The analyses, made for the Commission by Drs. Frankland and Odling, of the waters of the Thames and its tributaries in the Oo itic and Chalk area, show that every 100,000 parts or grains of rainwater has taken up a quantity varying from 25.58 to 32'95 grains of solid residue, or an average of 29:26, which is equal to 20 48 parts or grains per gallon; another analysis of the Thames water at Ditton gives 20.78 grains per gallon of solid residue. It was also shown by Drs. Letheby and Odling and Prof. Abel that the unfiltered waters of the Thames Companies, which take their supplies above Kingston, contained 20 82 of solid residue, If from the average of 20.68 we deduct 168 grain for organic and suspended matter, we have 19 grains of inorganic residue for every gallon of water flowing past Kingston. This is of course apart from the sediment carried down in floods. The ordinary monthly analyses, conducted by the same eminent chemists during the course of several past years, show that this quantity is liable to very little variation, the only difference being that it is somewhat larger in winter and less in summer.

Some general estimates have already been made by Profs. Ramsay and Geikie of the quantity of mineral matter carried down in solution by the Thames; but the more exact data supplied to the Commission enable us to make some additions to previous results. Taking the mean daily discharge of the Thames at Kingston at 1,250 million gallons, and the salts in solution at 19 g ains per gallon, the mean quantity of dissolved mineral matter there carried down by the Thames every twentyfour hours is equal to 3.364,286 15s, or 1502 ous, or 548,230 tons annually. Of this daily qua (tity about two-thirds, or 1,000 tons, consist of carbona e of lime and 238 tons of sulphate of lime, whue imited proportions of carbonate of magnesia, chlorides of sodium and potassium, sulphates of soda and potash, silica and traces of iron, alumina, and phosphates, constitute the

rest.

I had some faint hope that this wear might furnish us with a rough approximate measure of time in reference to some of the phenomena connected with the Quaternary period; but we are not in a position to apply it. Those curious funnel-shaped cavities, called sand and gravel-pipes, so common in many chalk-districts, are the result of slow solution of the chalk by water at particular spots, whereby the superincumbent sand and gravel have been let down into the cavity so produced. Some of them are but a few feet deep, while others attain dimensions of 80 feet in depth by 15 to 20 feet in diameter at top, tapering irregularly to a point at bottom. It is, however, evident from the variation in size that the wear has been unequal; and it is also clear that the surface-waters have been conducted through these particular channels, where they existed, to the underground water level, in preference to passing through the body of the chalk, so that the ratio of wear at these points is in excess. Nor can I see at present how otherwise to apply this measure. If it were possible to find a spot where the exposed surface of the chalk has been worn uniformly, and, from the quantity of flints left after the removal of the chalk and the known distance apart there of the seams of flint, to determine the number of feet or inches removed, we might have a base to proceed upon, provided all the quantities remained constant. But such is not the case. although the annual rainfall in the Thames now averages 27 inches, and has probably not varied much from this amount during the present period, it was eviden ly much greater during the Quaternary period; for I have elsewhere shown that, in the South of England and North of France the rivers of those areas with the same catchment-basins were of much greater size than at present; and Mr. W. Cunnington had before pointed out the same fact in the upper part of the basin with respect to some of the rivers of Wiltshire. M. Belgrand has made an attempt to estimate this quantity with reference to the Seine and its tributaries, and he arrives at the conclusion that, during the Quaternary (or, as he considers it, the Glacial) period, the rainfall was so heavy, that the discharge of the river was from 20 to 25 times greater than at present. I do not altogether concur in this view, but I can conceive that our rivers formerly were of five or six times the size they now are. This is an important element to be considered in all questions bearing on the denudation of land-surfaces.

Also,

There is yet another point which, although not in our direct field of research, yet depends so essentially upon the geological conditions we have discussed, and is one, in a public point of view, of such paramount importance, that I will, with your permission, say a few words on the subject. In an uninhabited country, the rain passes through the soil and issues as springs, bearing with it a certain proportion of mineral matter, and only traces of such organic matter as existed on the surface. This would be solely of vegetable origin, and the proportion would be in most cases very small. As man appeared, those conditions would be at first but little altered, for animal matters exposed on the surface rapidly decay and pass away in a gaseous form; but with increasing civilisation and fixed residences the necessity of otherwise getting rid of all refuse would soon be felt. I have shown how population followed the range of shallow permeable strata and the course of valleys, so as to obtain readily that indispensable necessity of life, a sufficient water supply. But with the art of well-digging it soon became apparent that, let the well be carried down bu half way to the level of ground-springs, it would remain dry, and that then, so far from holding water, any water now poured into it would pass through the porous strata down to the water-level beneath, keeping the shallower well or pit constantly drained. So convenient and ready a means of getting rid of all refuse liquids was not neglected. Whilst on one side of the house a well was sunk to the ground-springs, at a depth, say, of twenty feet, on the other side a dry well was sunk to a depth of ten feet, and this was made the receptacle of house-refuse and sewage. The sand or gravel acting as a filter, the minor solid matter remained in the dry well, while the major

feed the underlying springs. What was done in one house was done in the many; and what was done by our rude ancestors centuries back has continued to be the practice of their more cultivated descendants to the present day, with a persistency in the method only to be attribu ed to the ignorance of the existence of such a state of things among the masses, and to the ignorance of the real conditions and actual results of perpetuating such an evil-an evil common alike to the cottages of the poor and, with few exceptions, to the mansions of the rich.

Instances occur from time to time to point out isolated consequences of this pernicious practice, but I believe no one who has not gone into the geological question can realise its magnitude. It is not confined to one district or to a few towns or villages. It is the rule, and only within the last few years have there been any exceptions. The organised supply of water now furnished by companies in all large towns has, to a great extent, done away with the evil in those situations (though the root of the mischief has too often been left unextracted); but in villages and detached houses, great or small, it remains untouched and unchecked. Not a county, not a district, not a valley, not the smallest tract of permeable strata, is free from this plague-spot. It haunts the land, and is the more dangerous from its unseen, hidden, and too often unsuspected existence. Bright as the water often is, without objectionable taste or smell, it passes without suspicion until corrupted beyond the possibility of concealment by its evil companionship. Damage, slight in extent, or unimportant possibly for short use, but accumulative by constant use, may and does, I believe, pass unnoticed and unregarded for years. Nevertheless the draught, under some conditions, is as certain in its effects, however slow in its operation, as would be a dose of hemlock. Go where we may, we never know when the poisoned chalice may be presented to our lips. The evil is selfgenerating; for the geological conditions supplying our necessities lend themselves to its maintenance and extension. The knowledge necessary to remedy it is of very slow growth, and the too frequent want of that knowledge, or disregard of the subject, even amongst able architects and builders, is such that, without legislative enactment, I do not see how the evil is to be eradicated for many a long term of years.

This also is only one form of the evil-it is that where the water-bearing strata are thin and the wells do not exceed a depth of thirty feet. It was the one which prevailed in London, and in towns similarly situated, up to a very few years back. It even still lingers on in some private wells, and is moreover fostered among us by the bright-looking and cool water of too many of our public pumps; for not only does the ground still suffer from the effects of the original contamination, but also from much, almost inevitable, obnoxious surface-drainage, much gas escape, much rainfall on old open churchyards, which find their way to the one level of water supplying in common all these shallow wells. The evil still exists also, although to a less extent, in towns where the wells have to be carried to much greater depths; its effects varying according as the depth, and as the volume of the springs is to the sewage-escape; it is, however, only a question of degree.

But even our deeper and apparently inaccessible springs have not escaped contamination. As before mentioned, the underground water will, when tapped by artesian wells, rise to or above the surface, according to the relative height of the surface of the ground at the well, and of the outcrop of the water-bearing bed or beds, so that if the former is higher than the 'latter, or if by artificial means the line of water-level in a given area becomes lowered, then the surface of the water belonging to those great underground natural reservoirs will be established accordingly at a certain fixed depth beneath the surface. As each well deriv. ing its supply in a stratum of this description represents a column of water communicating with one common reservoir, it follows that any cause permanently lowering the level of one well will tend to lower the level in the other wells in proportion to their number and distance. Further, it has been discovered that a well of this class can absorb a quantity of water equal to that which it can furnish; and as these wells give greater supplies than shallow wells, the absorbing wells of the same class are alike powerful in proportion to the others. The perverse ingenuity of man has here, again, taken advantage of these conditions to get rid of offensive waste waters by diverting them into such deep wells, whence they pass away in hidden underground channels, unseen and unsuspected, and mingle with those deep-seated water-sources feeding the artesian wells dependent upon them for their supply.

In Paris, where there are several alternating beds of permeable and impermeable strata, and the depth to reach them is not very great, this system of absorbing wells connected with factories became, until regulated by the inunicipality, very common, to the great injury of many of the underground springs. From this and the other causes before alluded to, a great number of shallow wells have there become so contaminated as to necessitate their abandonment. Our own system of surface-drainage is generally too good, and the depth to the lower water-bearing strata too great, to have rendered the use of such wells here

equally advantageous; nevertheless, I have reason to believe that they do exist, and that the sources even of our deep wellwater supply in the Lower Tertiary Sands and in the Chalk are thus to some extent polluted and injured.

Nor do the great and perennial springs supplying our rivers altogether escape the evils arising from these obnoxious practices. On the high Oolitic ranges and amongst the undulating Chalk hills, the line of water-level is often so deep below the surface, that only in few cases are wells made-the population being generally dependent on rainwater for their water-supply. But this does not prevent the construction of dry wells for the disposal of sewage and refuse. It is true that the population in these hills is sparse--here and there a farm, a few cottages, and scarcely a village. Still as the ground is everywhere absorbent, and there are no streams even in the valleys (I am now speaking of the higher districts), every dwelling contributes its quota; for the rain and all liquid matter absorbed in these strata necessarily pass down to the great underground reservoirs of water feeding the springs thrown out in the deeper river-valleys. In these cases, however, the thickness of strata through which any liquid has to pass before reaching the line of water-level is such as to produce a more or less efficient filtration and complete decomposition; and as the injury caused is in proportion to the relative volumes of the water-sources and to the artificial additions, the great extent and dimensions of these water-bearing strata and the scanty population of such districts reduce it to a minimum.

Owing to these conditions, great as the evil is, experience teaches that it has, in some cases, its vanishing-point. It may be considered at its maximum in some of the wells of Paris; our own London shallow-well pumps follow next in order; in our river-waters away from towns it is but slight; in some of the springs of the Chalk and Lower Greensands it is hardly appre ciable, while in the deep well-waters, especially those of Caterham and Grenelle, it sinks to the minimum attained by any potable waters, with the exception of rain-water. It is also a fortunate circumstance that the wonderful powers of oxidation possessed by air and water, and the powers of absorption and decomposition by soils and earths, are such as, even in the surcharged gravel bed of London, to remove all the more offensive characters, and leave its spring-waters at all events limpid and bright; whilst the quick eddy, the moving ripple, the bright sunshine, the brisk breeze, the living organisms, are ever at work in our rivers, destroying the almost inevitable accompaniments of the presence of man, and restoring the waters to that original state of purity so essential to his health and welfare.

It was on considerations of quantity of supply thus dependent on geological conditions, and of quality as dependent jintly on geological and artificial conditions, that the Commission was mainly so long and assiduously engaged. With regard to the character of waters as dependent on the geological nature of the strata, while the evidence showed that the waters flowing off hard and insoluble rocks were, from their much greater freedom from mineral matter, more economical for many domestic and manufacturing purposes, yet that for drinking purposes, waters such as those derived from our Chalk and Oolitic districts were, on the whole, as good and wholesome as those from any other sources; while as regards quantity and permanence, the conditions presented by a large catchment basin of a varied geological structure presented the most favourable conditions for the large and maintained supply so essential for a great city. And if, from any cause, it should at some future time be thought desir able to have a supply of a yet more assured and undoubted quality than a river supply, the large springs of the chalk and the Lower Greensand, or the great underground reservoirs of the most efficiently filtered water stored in those formations in Surrey and Hertfordshire, might, I believe, be resorted to with advantage, by means of ordinary and artesian wells, as auxiliary sources of supply for domestic and drinking purposes, supposing the engineering difficulties connected with a double water-supply could be overcome-a difficulty which it, however, seems to me would possibly be less one of construction to our engineers than of cost to the public. But in a great health-question there are other considerations than these which are of more primary importance. (To be continued.)

SCIENTIFIC SERIALS

Journal of the Franklin Institute, November 1871.-The editorial notes in this number are as usual very instructive;

amongst them we must notice Young's catalogue of the bright lines observed in the chromosphere of the sun, which have already reached a goodly number. Under Civil and Mechanical Engineering there are several useful and interesting articles, such as "On Woodworking Machinery," ," "On the Flow of water in rivers and canals," &c.-Prof. Cooke contributes the first of a series of papers "on the chemical theory of the Voltaic Battery." The present communication, however, deals with preliminary matters; it discusses molecules, atoms, and the quantivalence of elements. The paper which follows is "On some improvements in reflecting Telescopes," by J. A. Hill. The author proposes, in the first instance, to reflect the light from a movable plane mirror placed in the axis of the speculum, which receives the reflected rays; the convergent beam from the speculum passes through an aperture in the centre of the plane mirror, and can be received in a suitable eye-piece; no tubes are used, so that by this method it would be as easy to handle a mirror of 1,000 feet focal length as one of the same size of 50 feet focal length. The observer, too, would remain stationary, and need not be hoisted into mid-air.-Prof. Young continues his Spectroscopic Notes; this month's contribution is "on the construction, arrangement, and best proportion of the instrument, with reference to its efficiency." Under this head come the best angle and material for the prisms, the means of testing for flatness of suriace and homogeneity of substance, and the number and arrangement of the prisins; there are also two other sections, dispersive efficiency and on luminous efficiency." A suggestion of a new form of chemical spectroscope is given, the dispersive part of this consists of two prisms, which are each concave on one side, and are cemented to the convex object glasses of the collimator and observing telescope. By this it is hoped to save both material and light.

on

THE Geological Magazine for March (No. 93) opens with a new species of Rostellaria (R. Price) from the Grey Chalk of Folkestone, by the editor, Mr. H. Woodward.-Mr. A. H. Green communicates a paper on the method of formation of the Permian beds of South Yorkshire, in which he discusses the general arrangement and paleontology of these beds, and deduces from them a confirmation of Prof. Ramsay's theory that the Magnesian Limestone and associated beds of this part of England were formed in part by chemical precipitation in an inland sea.-Prof. H. A. Nicholson records the occurrence of the Cephalopod Endoceras proteiforme Hall, in Britain; the specimen described and figured was discovered by the author in the mudstones of the Coniston series near Ambleside, a set of rocks in which scarcely any fossils, except Graptolites, have hitherto been found.-Mr. James Geikie gives a fourth paper on Changes of Climate during the Glacial Epoch, in the conclusion of which he sums up his views as to the sequence of climates at this time as follows:-1. A succession of alternate glacial and temperate conditions, but associated with the great Continental ice-sheets; 2, a temperate climate, with removal of the ice-sheets from low grounds; 3, a period of subsidence, with temperate climate, and much denudation of moraines; 4, a period of emergence, with arctic conditions, floating ice dispersing erratics, and deposition of clays with arctic mollusca; and, 5, a period of local glaciers in Britain and Ireland, with gradual amelioration of climate. In future papers the author proposes to discuss the cave-deposits and older river-gravels of England. The post-glacial geology and physiography of West Lancashire and the Mersey estuary, form the subject of an interesting paper, by Mr. T. Mellard Reade; and Prof. T. Rupert Jones and Mr. W. K. Parker give us the corrected nomenclature of the Foraminifera from the English Chalk, figured by the Rev. Henry Eley in 1859.-The number also contains an abstract of an address on subsidence as the effect of accumulation, read before the Liverpool Geological Society, by Dr. Charles Ricketts.

THE Journal of Botany for March contains only one original article bearing specially on British Botany, Notes on the British Ramalina (a genus of Lichens) in the Herbarium of the British Museum, by the Rev. Jas. Crombie. We find also, "On Symea," a new genus of triandrous Liliacea from Chili, by Mr. J. G. Baker, with a plate; recent researches into Diatomacea, by the Rev. E. O'Meara; and Castanea vulgaris grown in Southern China, by Dr. Hance. Mr. Carruthers contributes his important Review of the Contributions to Fossil Botany published in Britain in 1871; and the editor commences in this number a valuable list of the articles contained in the German botanical journals for January.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES

LONDON

Royal Society, Feb. 29.-"On the Relative Power of Various Substances in arresting Putrefaction and the Development of Protoplasmic and Fungus Life;" by Dr. F. CraceCalvert, F. R.S.

loids," part iv.; by Dr. C. R. A. Wright." The Decomposition March 14.-"Contributions to the History of the Opium Alkaof Water by Zinc in conjunction with a more Negative Metal;" by J. H. Gladstone, F. R. S., and Alfred Tribe, F.C.S. March 21." On some Heterogenetic Modes of Origin of by Professor H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S. Flagellated Monads, Fungus-germs, and Ciliated Infusoria," In this com

ing the previous observations of MM. Pineau and Pouchet, munication Dr. Bastian announces results which, whilst confirmconsiderably extend our knowledge concerning the heterogenetic changes liable to take place in the pellicle (composed of aggre gated Bacteria) which forms upon an infusion of hay. He describes all the stages by which certain Fungi, Flagellated Monads, and Ciliated Infusoria are produced, as a result of changes taking place in the very substance of the pellicle. Most of the observations were made under a magnifying power of 1,670 diameters, and, although more extensive, are confirmatory of others published in NATURE, No. 35. Dr. Bastian says, "I now wish to describe other allied processes, and the means by which I am enabled to obtain, almost at will, either animal or vegetal forms from certain embryonal areas which are produced in the pellicle." is thus described :-"The pellicle which formed on a filtered The simplest mode of origin of Fungus-germs and Monads maceration of hay during frosty weather (when the temperature of the room in which the infusion was kept was rarely above 55° F., and sometimes rather lower than this) presented changes of a most instructive character. On the third and fourth days the pellicle was still thin, although on microscopical examination all portions of it were found to be thickly dotted with embryonal areas. Nearly all of them were very small; but a few areas of medium size were intermixed. The smallest were not more than 40" of an inch in diameter, and these separated themselves from the pellicle as single corpuscles; slightly larger areas broke up into two or three corpuscles; and others, larger still, into 4-10 corpuscles. In most of these small areas, the corpuscles were formed with scarcely any appreciable alteration in the refractive index of the matter of which they were composed; this simply became individualised, so that the corpuscles separated from the surrounding pellicle and from their fellows, still presenting all the appearance of being portions of the pellicle, and exhibiting from 4 to 10 altered Bacteria in their interior. In some cases the products of segmentation soon developed into actual flagellated Monads in a manner presently to be described; whilst in others they seemed to remain for a longer period in the condition of simple motionless corpuscles. Other solitary corpuscles or small areas began to form in the pellicle in precisely the same manner, though they speedily assumed a highly refractive and homogenous appearance. Why some should undergo such a change, and not others, seems quite impossible to say. One can only assert the fact, and add that these highly refractive ovoid corpuscles were, for the most part, more prone to produce Fungusgerms than Monads. Many of them soon grew out into dissepimented fungus filaments, which rapidly assumed the Peni cillium mode of growth. The spores, which were abundantly produced in terminal chaplet-like series, were, however, small, homogeneous, spherical, and colourless." In other cases Monads and Fungus-germs are produced from the pellicle in precisely the same manner as that by which they arise within the terminal chambers of certain Algæ or Fungi-that is to say, they result from the segmentation of a mass of homogeneous protoplasm.

In speaking of such a mode of origin of Monads, Dr. Bastian says:-"Contrasting with the very pale fawn-colour of the evenly granular pellicle, there were numerous areas of a whitish colour, refractive, and more or less homogeneous. These areas differed very much in shape and size; some were not more than 10", whilst others were as much as " in diameter. Their shape was wholly irregular. As in the instances previously recorded, the first appreciable stage in the formation of an embryonal area in the pellicle was a local increase in the amount of gelatinous material between the units of this portion of the pellicle, so that they became more distinctly separated from one another than in adjacent parts. Gradually these particles became less sharply defined, and at last scarcely visible, in the midst of

a highly refractive protoplasmic mass which began to exhibit traces of segmentation. Masses of this kind were seen, which had been resolved by such a process of segmentation into a number of spherical corpuscles about" in diameter. These were at first highly refractive, though they gradually became rather less so, and revealed the presence of two or three minute granules in their interior. In other adjacent areas, a number of densely-packed, pliant, and slightly larger corpuscles were seen actively pushing against one another. When they separated, they were found to be active ovoid specimens of Monas lens, about" in length, and provided with a vacuole and a rapidly lashing flagelluin."

In other cases embryonal areas of the same nature were formed, which went through similar processes of segmentation; although the units produced, instead of developing into Monads, were seen to become transformed into brown vesicular bodies, which subsequently germinated into Fungus filaments. Whilst affirming that he is now able to determine pretty surely the occurrence of either one of these phenomena, Dr. Bastian says:

66

If

Experience has shown me, that, if an infusion has been heated for a time to 212° F., the pellicle which forms on its surface very frequently never gives rise to an embryonal area. the infusion has been prepared at a temperature of 149° - 158° F., the embryonal areas which form will give origin to Fungus germs; whilst in a similar infusion prepared at 120° - 130° F., the embryonal areas, which seem at first to be in all respects similar, break up into actively moving Monads.'

Dr. Bastian then proceeds to give an account of the origin of Paramecia, laying stress upon the fact that, in order to obtain such organisms, it is necessary to employ a filtered infusion made with cold water. His observations on this subject were, in the main, confirmatory of those of M. Pouchet. Thousands of egglike bodies, varying in size from" to " were seen developing throughout the whole substance of a thick pellicle. He says: "It seemed to me that the differentiation took place after a manner essentially similar to that by which an ordinary 'embryonal area' is formed. The small embryos did not appear to represent the earlier stages of large embryos; and it seemed rather that spherical masses of the pellicle of different sizes began to undergo molecular changes, which terminated in the production of Paramecia of a correspondingly different bulk. Just as in the previously described embryonal areas masses of different sizes began to exhibit signs of change, so also here, spherical portions of the pellicle, differing within the limits above mentioned, began to undergo other heterogenetic changes. This was first indicated by an increased refractiveness of the area (especially when seen a little beyond the focal distance); and almost simultaneously a condensation of its outer layer seemed to take place, whereby the outline became sharply and evenly defined. At this stage an actual membrane is scarcely appreciable, and the substance of the embryo (when examined at the right focal distance) scarcely differs in appearance from the granular pellicle of which it had previously formed part. So far as it could be ascertained, the individual embryos did not increase in size, although they went through the following series of developmental changes. The contained matter became rather more refractive, and the number of granules within diminished considerably, whilst new particles after a time seemed gradually to appear in what was now a mass of contractile protoplasm. These new particles were at first sparingly scattered, though as they were evolved they continued to grow into biscuit-shaped bodies, which sometimes attained the size of 1000". All sizes were distinguishable; and many of them moved slowly amongst one another, owing to the irregular contractions of the semi-fluid protoplasm in which they were embedded. Gradually the number of homogeneous biscuit-shaped particles increased; and at last a large vacuole slowly appeared in some portion of the embryo. It lasted for about half a minute, disappeared, and then, after a similar interval, slowly reappeared. Much irregularity, however, was observed in this respect. The next change that occurred was the complete separation of the embryo from the cyst which it filled, and the commencement of slow axial rotations. These rotations gradually became more rapid, though they were not always in one direction. The mass became more and more densely filled with the large biscuit-shaped particles, and at last the presence of cilia could be distinctly recognised on one portion of the revolving embryo. Then, as M. Pouchet stated, the movements grew more and more irregular and impulsive, so as at last to lead to the rupture of the thin wall of the cystwhen the embryo emerged as a ciliated and somewhat pear.

shaped sac, provided with a large contractile vesicle at its posterior extremity. On emerging from the cyst, all the embryos, although differing somewhat in size, were of the same shape. This closely corresponded with the description given of Paramecium colpoda in Pritchard's 'Infusoria,' namely: -'Obovate, slightly compressed; ends obtuse, the anterior attenuated and slightly bent like a hook.' Cilia existed over the whole body, though they were largest and most numerous about the anterior extremity. No trace of an actual buccal cleft could be detected; and (except in the posterior portion of the body, where a large and very persistent vacuole was situated) the organism was everywhere densely packed with the large, homogeneous, biscuit-shaped particles. For many days these most active Infusoria seemed to undergo little change, though afterwards the number of the contained particles gradually began to diminish, whilst the body became more and more regularly ovoid, and a faint appearance of longitudinal striation manifested itself, more especially over its anterior half. At the same time a very faint and almost imperceptible mass ('nucleus') began to appear near the centre of the organism; and when examined with a magnifying power of 1,670 diameters, a lateral aperture (mouth)" in diameter was seen, which was fringed by short active cilia, arranged like the spokes of a wheel. These peculiarities correspond very closely with those of an embryo Nassula. Very many were seen with similar characters; and multitudes existed in all conditions intermediate between this stage and that of the simpler organism which first emerged from the cyst.'

Dr. Bastian concludes by saying :

"It will, of course, be seen that the phenomena which I have described as taking place in the 'proligerous pellicle' may be watched by all who are conversant with such methods of investigation. We do not require to call in the aid of the chemist; we need exercise no special precautions; the changes in the pellicle are of such a kind that they can be readily appreciated by any skilled microscopist.

"Just as I have supposed that living matter itself comes into being by virtue of combinations and re-arrangements taking place amongst invisible colloidal molecules, so now does the study of the changes in the 'pellicle' absolutely demonstrate the fact that the visible new-born units of living matter behave in the manner which has been attributed to the invisible colloidal molecules. The living units combine, they undergo molecular re-arrangements; and the result of such a process of heterogenetic biocrasis is the appearance of larger and more complex organisms; just as the result of the combination and re-arrangement between the colloidal molecules was the appearance of primordial aggregates of living matter. Living matter is formed, therefore, after a process which is essentially similar to the mode by which higher organisms are derived from lower organisms in the pellicle on an organic infusion. All the steps in the latter process can be watched; it is one of synthesis-a merging of lower individualities into a higher individuality. And although such a process has been previously almost ignored in the world of living matter, it is no less real than when it takes place amongst the simpler elements of not-living matter. In both cases the phenomena are essentially dependent upon the 'properties' or inherent tendencies' of the matter which displays them."

Mathematical Society, March 14.-W. Spottiswoode, F.R.S., president, in the chair.-The President made a statement to the effect that it had been desirable to apply for a Charter, and that he had taken the requisite steps for ascertaining the right mode of procedure. The proposal made by the President being unanimously agreed to, the matter dropped.-A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. S. M. Drach for his present to the Society of two early and interesting works by Vieta and Ubaldi respectively. The papers read were :-Prof. Clifford, "On a new expression of Invariants and Covariants by means of alternate numbers;" Hon. J. W. Strutt, "On the Vibrations of a gas contained within a rigid spherical cone." The former paper was concerned with methods given in "Vorlesungen über die complexen Zahlen und ihre Functionen," by Dr. Hermann Hankel (1867). In the latter paper the problem discussed was one referred to in a paper on the "Theory of Resonance," Phil. Trans., 1871. It is the only case of the vibration of air within a closed vessel which has hitherto been solved with complete generality. A result arrived at was that the pitch is about a fourth higher for the sphere than it is for a closed cylindrical pipe, whose length is equal the diameter of the sphere.-

Mr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S., communicated a question which had been forwarded to him by Prof. Haldeman, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, U.S., "The number of lines in a rhymed stanza being given, how many variations of rhyme-distribution does it admit of, suppose no line to be left without a rhyme?"

Victoria Institute, March 18.-Mr. Charles Brooke, F. R S., in the chair.-Dr. Bateman on "Darwinism tested by recent Researches as to the Localisation of the Faculty of Speech Having called attention to Mr. Darwin's statement, that the difference between man and the higher animals was only one of degree, and not of kind, he proceeded to show that such could not be the fact, and instanced the faculty of articulate language, a distinctive attribute of which there was no trace in the ape or other animals. After defining articulate language, he demonstrated that it was exclusively man's prerogative, and there was no analogy between it and the forms of expression common to the lower animals. He then stated that it had been thought that a particular part of the brain was the seat of la guage, and, if it were so, the Darwinian might contend that, as there was a certain similarity between the brain of man and of the ape and other animals, that they had the germs of the faculty. He then cited many cases which had been brought under the notice of German, French, American, English, and other surgeons, to show that even where various portions of the brain had been injured or destroyed, the faculty of speech remained He concluded by stating that the faculty of articulate speech seemed to be an attribute, the comprehension of which was at present beyond us.

GLASGOW

Geological Society, February 8.-Sir William Thomson, LL.D., was elected president; Messrs. E. A. Wünsch, John Young, and James Thomson, F. G. S., vice presidents.-Professor Young, the retiring president, delivered an address on "Rock Formations in relation to Geological Time." He concluded by expressing the pleasure he felt in resigning the chair to one so eminent in the walks of science as Sir William Thomson, whose contributions to theoretical geology had been of the utmost importance.-The President, in taking the chair, briefly thanked the members for the honour they had conferred upon him, and hoped he might be of some service to them in the prosecution of geological inquiry.

DUBLIN

Natural History Society, March 6.-Professor E. Perceval Wright, president, in the chair -The President delivered his inaugural address. He gave an interesting account of the history of the society from its commencement in 1838, when their meetings were held in Suffolk Street, and the opening address delivered by Mr. O'B. Bellingham. "There were then 104 members, and in 1840 the number had increased to 150. In 1844 the museum so increased that Mr. M'Coy was appointed curator, and he in 1845 laid a catalogue of the Irish animals in the museum before the society. This catalogue was printed and appended to the report for 1845-46. During these years many records of species new to Ireland were made. Very many valuable and interesting papers on zoological subjects were read. Many of these are to be found in full in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. It is strange in looking over some of these to be reminded how great has been the development of some branches of natural science since they were written. Friends of many of us here-friends still living-many of them by no means yet full of days, yet wrote before the developmental stages of the crustacea were known, and could write of Spongilla as undoubtedly allied to the Diatomaceæ. About 1851 a few students in college, including myself, determined to form the University Natural Science Association, which is now amalgamated with the present society. Ere ceasing to speak of the College Society, let me pay a passing tribute to the memory of those who were our strong support, and who freely and generously held out to us that helping hand, and who have now left us for ever-Robert Ball, W. H. Harvey, A. H. Haliday, and A. Furlong; nor would it be seemly to forget all the encouragement and assistance given to us by the authorities of the College and the Regius Professor of Physic, or the loss we sustained when Allman, our Professor, counsellor, and friend was, by a hard fate, moved to succeed Forbes in Edinburgh.'

PAMPHLETS RECEIVED.

ENGLISH.The Dolmen Mounds and Amorpholithic Monuments of Brittany S. P. Oliver, R.N.-Remarks on the successive Mining Schools of Cornwall: J. H. Collins -The Unity of Man's Being: A. Diesterweg. Modern Examples of Road and Railway Bridges, Part I.: Maw and Dredge -Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland

-Quarterly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, July-Sept, 1870. -Annual Report of the Geologists' Association, 1871.-Modern Science and the Bible; their Positive and Direct Antagonism.-The Study of Economic Botany: Jas, Collins.-Lord Derby on the United Kingdom Alliance.Statistics of the Liquor Traffic: Rev. D. Burns.-19th Report of the Executive Committee of the United Kingdom Alliance.-The Deviation of the Compass in Iron Ships: W. H. Rosser.-Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.-Report of the Committee on Ships of War.-Report of the Case of H.M.S. Megara -Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, February.Catalogue of Microscopical Preparations of the Quek tt Microscopical Club. -On the Mec anical impossibility of the Descent of Glaciers by their Weight only: Canon Moseley-French Farmers' Seed Fund Reporis.-Eastbourne Natural History Society Report.-Journal of the Royal Dublin Society, No. 40. Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society.

AMERICAN & COLONIAL.-Hinrichs' School Laboratory of Physical Science Nos. 3 and 4.-Experimental Steam Boiler Explosions: Prof Thurston.-Ob servations on Encke's Comet: Prof. C. A Young. -The Phoenix, for January, 1872.-Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge; Converging series express ng the ratio between the diamater and circumference of a circle: W. Ferrel 7th Annual Catalogue of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-The Lens, No. 1.-Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, July-Dec, 1871. Lecture on Water: C. F. Chandler.-Inaugural Lecture of the Department of Practical Science in M'Gill University: G. F. Armstrong.Lectures delivered at the Industrial and Technical Museum at Melbourne during the Autumn Session of 1871.

FOREIGN. Bericht der Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien. -Bulletin de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg.-Karte der Alpen in 8 kolorirten Blättern: Mayr u Berghaus.-Die Centralen Ortler-Alpen; nebst einem Anhange zu der Adamello-Presanella-Alpen : J. Payer.