out by those who replaced them. Now these leaves were in the possession of the Justelle, and not of De Marca.

you & yours! "Your obliged,

"S. T. COLERIDGE. "P.S. My address after Tuesday will be (God permitting) Mr. Page's, Surgeon, Calne."

POUR LE MÉRITE.

London, Arts Club: Feb. 9.

A paragraph appeared in the ACADEMY of last Saturday in which it is stated that the "Ordre pour le Mérite is not given by the Sovereign or minister, but by the Knights themselves." Will you grant me a little space to enable me to point out that this statement is erroneous? The statutes of the Order (Gesetz-Sammlung für die königlichen Preussischen Staaten, No. 16, of May 31, 1842) are now lying before me, and paragraph 5, which deals with elections, enacts, that although, in the case of a vacancy occurring among the thirty knights (of either branch), the remainder may present a candidate for the royal approval, yet the King reserves the right of nominating a fresh knight, to fill up the vacancy, out of such eminent men in science and in art as he, the King, may consider suitable candidates. The royal right of nomination, as well as of approval, is expressly reserved. A glance at the paragraph in question (which I should be happy to lay before you) will convince anyone that the Sovereign possesses the right of nomination without consultation with the other knights. Now to apply this fact to the nomination of Mr. Carlyle. When I was, last year, in Berlin, I was assured, on the best authority, that a well-known and very distinguished German gentleman, who is thoroughly acquainted with England and with English literature, had suggested the historian of the Hohenzollerns to Prince Bismarck, who, in his turn, submitted the suggestion to Kaiser Wilhelm, by whom our Carlyle was nominated a knight of the Order.

It is reported that Mr. Carlyle has declined the Grand Cross of the Bath; but it seems certain that he did not refuse the Ordre pour le Mérite.

I may just add that the latter order was created by Frederick the Great, in 1740, in order to reward distinguished service in the field against the enemy; and that Friedrich Wilhelm IV., on the 102nd anniversary of the great Frederick's accession, added to it a Friedens-Klasse, which is intended as an honour for native and foreign men of distinguished eminence in science and in art. Mr. Carlyle has, of course, been nominated by the Emperor a knight of the Friedens-Klasse.

H. SCHÜTZ WILSON.

*The following paragraph, which should have appeared as a postscript to Mr. Renouf's letter of last week, reached us too late for insertion:

"I have ascertained" (writes Mr. Renouf) "that the preface on p. 276 is printed on a leaf inserted in place of another which has been cancelled. The traces of cancelling are very visible in the British Museum copies. In the copy at Sion College, the leaf which stood before the cancelled one has got out of its place and is bound after p. 278."

Here is the proof of it. The younger Justelle two leaves, and at the time he did so he was in ignorance of what the next two leaves contained. He conjectured that the Canons of Laodicea were on those leaves; not knowing, as the Ballerini point out, that Laodicea had no place in the Prisca. The two unprinted leaves were, then, mislaid, when Henri Justelle published the Bibliotheca Juris Canonici Veteris in 1661, but they were found before he gave the MS. to the Bodleian in 1675. Found by whom? Can it be supposed that De Marca had anything to do with these leaves? Evidently Justelle the younger found them among his father's papers. Where these were mislaid and afterwards found, the three leaves now lost will have been mislaid also, and with this De Marca is clearly not concerned.

He

2. It is deserving of remark that we have here a corroboration of the accuracy of Baluze. said that two leaves were produced before the publication of the book. Having four in the MS. now, we might wonder why but two were then produced, if we did not know from Justelle's conjecture as to the contents of the other two, that he had not seen them then, but had found them since.

3. The character of Voel and Justelle is cleared from the imputation of "printing but two leaves when they had four, and letting the other three be lost." As they had not seen the two that were not printed, they cannot be held responsible for the loss of the other three.

4. Mr. Ffoulkes regards it "as morally certain that the canon wanting in this MS... is that canon which Pope Zosimus quoted to the Africans." Which is that canon? Pope Zosimus in his Commonitorium quoted two. What becomes of Mr. Ffoulkes' argument unless both of these canons were absent from " if this is to be said, what becomes of the argument our oldest MS. ;" and from the numbering of the canons?

5. Mr. Ffoulkes theory is, that the Africans looked over the Canons of Sardica, but could not find that quoted by Zosimus, and he thinks that if he had the missing leaves of Justelle's MS. he would find the same deficiency there. He therefore maintains that the Africans were acquainted with the Canons of Sardica. If they were, why do they say that they have sent to the East for genuine copies of the Council of Nicea? If they knew that it was a question of a canon of Sardica, they did not need to ask for those of Nicea.

And if the African bishops knew quite well all about the Council of Sardica, how came St. Augustine, who was one of them, to know only the Council of Philippopolis under that name, and that only when a Donatist had shown him a copy? JOHN MORRIS, S.J.

Economic Geology. By David Page. (London and Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons, 1874.)

It is a matter of regret that the excellent design of this work should have been marred by faulty execution. Professor Page evidently sees with clearness the distinction between scientific and applied geology, and therefore knows what subjects should be discussed in a book like that before us. But we are compelled to say that the present compilation is of very small value, chiefly by reason of its general inaccuracy, although its slovenly style is another drawback. As the author, in his preface, solicits corrections detail the most serious errors of the book, and suggestions, we will point out in some in the hope that while justifying our critical verdict we may aid in the improvement of another edition. Passing over the introduc tory chapter, on the "Aim of Economic Geology,' we find a description of the "Nature and Arrangement of Rock-Forma tions," which, though of necessity brief, is satisfactory in so far as it is geological, but which teems with errors on chemical and physical matters. For instance, on page 12 we are presented with a table of specific gravities, the numbers being given to three places of decimals, and yet, with this appearance of an unattainable precision, we find beryl set down as 3.549 instead of 27; while sapphire figures as 4.2, and topaz as 4.066, both these numbers being much above the truth. But a more serious error

Lankester, III.

7.45 p.m. Statistical: Mr. C. Gatliff on "Improved Dwellings, their Beneficial Effect on Health and Morals."

8 p.m. Civil Engineers. Pathological.
Royal Albert Hall: Orchestral
Concert (Wilhelmj).
Zoological.
Horticultural.
Meteorological.
Society of Arts.
London Ballad
James's Hall.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 17,1 p.m. 7 p.m. 8 p.m.

Concert,

St.

of guano are quoted on page 46, but they are too imperfect to be of any service, since they do not give the percentage of nitrogen, the most important ingredient of this manure, while they are so old as to possess an antiquarian rather than a scientific or economic interest. In Professor Page's account of saline manures (p. 47), no student would be

able to discern the paramount importance of nitrate of soda, for which compound alone the salinas of South America are worked. This salt occupies the thirteenth place in our author's list of the products of the salinas— it ought to have been put first; while the statement on page 48 about the annual exportation (from Peru) of many thousand tons of "crude salts" should have included some information as to the fact that these crude salts are nearly pure nitrate of soda. The subject of the valuation of land from a mining or agricultural point of view is not adequately treated in the seven pages here given to this department of Economic Geology; but the three succeeding chapters, on "Geology in relation to Architecture and Civil Engineering," are more satisfactory. The minor subjects under the above heads are numerous, including building stones, decorative stones, and marbles, cements, mortars, concretes, artificial stones, road, railway, and canal making, as well as as dock and harbour construction and watersupply.

Chapter viii. contains a condensed account of mine-engineering, quarrying, mining, and placer-working, while the next chapter is devoted to heat- and light-producing materials. Some of these subjects are fairly treated, considering the small space that could be assigned to them; but here and there we notice slips requiring correction, such as the confusing of native naphtha with coal naphtha on page 170.

Two of the sections of chapter x. are respectively entitled "The Clays we Fabricate," and "The Sands we Vitrify"-expressions which recall those employed in Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life, but are certainly less felicitous. We must demur to the statement on page 184: "In general, the kaolin or china-clay is a product of natural decomposition; but at Belleek, it is obtained by calcining the red orthoclase granite of the district." No calcination can remove the 12 or 14 per cent. of alkali from orthoclase felspar, or change it into a substance which can be substituted for clay as an ingredient of porcelain.

Grinding, polishing, and cutting materials are described in chapter xi., and fire-resisting substances and mineral paints in chapters xii. and xiii. The chemistry of the succeeding chapters (xiv. to xviii.) is often at fault, while the most complete confusion prevails as to the thermometric data introduced, and the use of the litre, the gallon, &c. Here are a few instances of such defects. On page 250, sea-water is said to contain but 66-47 per cent. of water; on several following pages, dozens of analyses of mineral waters are tabulated, without any statement as to whether the figures given represent grains per gallon, grains per litre, or parts in 10,000. Silver is said, on page 311, to melt at 1,000° Fahrenheit; while rubidium, mentioned on page 310, is stated to be as soft as wax at 0·10°—whatever that

may mean.

We are sorry to have been obliged to express an unfavourable opinion of Professor Page's last book. If the scope of his work rendered a somewhat superficial treatment of his subject necessary, the author might at least have secured accuracy in his state

PROFESSOR EWALD'S writings are always difficult to criticise, for they are distinguished, as the Germans say, by an essential characteristic of Revelation: they must be received either with faith or with unbelief. This is peculiarly the case with the volume now before us. As the author unfolds his system of Christian Gnosis, we are often called upon to dissent from the way in which he uses a text, or represents a Biblical notion. But it is impossible to make our dissent the startingpoint for a critical examination and modification of his view. The reader may say, "I do not believe this; but he can never venture to say that a different apprehension of this or that Biblical detail would probably have modified the tenor of the author's teaching. For that teaching is always set forth as possessing a kind of à priori evidence of its own, so that it is hard to say whether the agreement between the Bible and Professor Ewald adds more to the authority of the latter or of the former. Thus, when at p. 303 the author concludes his remarks on faith, hope, and love, he observes in a footnote, "that it was purely by the attempt to find a right arrangement for the topics belonging to this section, that he was originally guided to these three forces, and that it was not till afterwards that he thought of the part they play in the writings of Paul." This is the more interesting, because we have just read on the preceding page that only one of Paul's creative intuitions into the essence of all true religion could have led the Apostle to what he says on this subject.

But apart from the fact that Professor Ewald never condescends to argue in favour of his views, or even to state them in a form which invites argument, the volume before us presents special difficulties to the critic by the extremely perplexing arrangement of the material. The completion of the Glaubenslehre, or systematic statement of Christian faith, ought to be an appropriate point for looking back on the three bulky octavos now in the hands of the public, and forming some general conception of the structure of the author's theological views. But the three-fold division under which Professor Ewald proposes to unfold his conception of the Biblical system is so framed that it is impossible to form a final judgment on the Glaubenslehre till we have in our hands the doctrine of the Kingdom. And this doctrine forms the last division of the work, so that our judgment must remain in suspense probably for some years. After all, it is somewhat doubtful whether, when it does appear, the doctrine of the Kingdom will supplement the present volume to the requisite extent. As matters stand at present, the whole circle of ideas connected with the Atonement has received a most perfunctory treatment, the Biblical conception of the work of Christ

forming only a secondary feature in the delineation of the gradual development in the minds of the New Testament believers of a transcendental conception of His Person and cosmical significance. One of the most important ideas which this treatment slurs over is that of mediatorship, and for this we are expressly referred to the doctrine of the Kingdom. Whether other equally important elements of the New Testament faith are to receive in another place the full discussion which one naturally expected to find in the Glaubenslehre, it is impossible to say. If they do not, the work, in spite of its great size and diffuse treatment of certain topics, will be a most imperfect system of Biblical Theology, and in particular will contrast very unfavourably with such thoroughly substantial discussion of Biblical problems as occupies the second volume of Professor Ritschl's recent great work. We suspect, indeed, that the only parts of doctrine which draw out Professor Ewald's full interest, and exercise all his strength, are those that belong to the metaphysico-religious theory of the universe. He is extremely fond of comprehensive speculative notions, and the whole book is very much shaped by the influence of certain abstract principles, which are speculative rather than Biblical. The doctrine of sin, for example, is dominated by the principle that at every stage in the development of the purpose of the universe, all creation, including mankind, is perfect in itself, and in harmony with its divinely appointed end. The Christology, again, is guided by the idea that Christ appears in the midst of the development of history as the necessary fruit of a single consistent evolution; so that if it were possible for the human race to begin its course again from the first, history would repeat itself in all essential points, a new Christ would be born as Son of God, be crucified, and rise again (p. 409). Surely conceptions like these belong to a branch of theological speculation, which cannot without the greatest confusion be allowed to present itself under the form of Biblical Theology.

The defects which we have endeavoured briefly to indicate have made our perusal of the new volume not a little disappointing. One has long been accustomed to tolerate and almost to admire Professor Ewald's peculiar style of investigation, in consideration of the enormous value of the results. In the present volume we have every familiar fault of method in an exaggerated form, and after all we find no available material on the very topics on which we were most anxious for new light. It is only fair to add that the reader who is content to relinquish the expectation of finding a uniform and satisfactory treatment of all Biblical questions will find in the volume several individual discussions that are both interesting and valuable. To those who are not already familiar with the papers on the narrative of Creation in Genesis which appeared long ago in the author's Jahrbücher, the treatment of this subject will probably be the most interesting part of the volume; and as Professor Ewald's rendering of the first verse of Genesis is so constantly appealed to by opponents of the doctrine of Creation out of nothing, it is likely that many readers will

be surprised at the decided way in which he rejects the notion of pre-existent Chaos as inconsistent with the Biblical idea of God. The most characteristic part of Ewald's doctrine of creation lies, however, in his treatment of what he calls the five co-creative powers, viz., the Spirit of God, the Man of God, Wisdom, the Son of God, and the Logos. This is a very ingenious part of the volume, though what is said of these contains a great deal of fanciful matter, and in particular the curious speculation as to the ideal man, the heavenly Messiah, who is supposed to have formed the subject of a separate book as early as the seventh century B.C., finds but scanty foundation in Prov. xxx. 4. The account of the doctrine of the Fall rests in a great degree on the same series of essays as has supplied valuable matter for the doctrine of creation. The remaining parts of the doctrine of sin are exceedingly confused and uninteresting, while the next part of the volume, the general survey of the way of man's return to God, is, as has been already said, disappointingly meagre in its treatment of the most import ant notions. Only six pages are devoted to the whole subject of repentance and regeneration, and in these the only point of special interest is the philological discussion, in a footnote, of the words for repentance. In the Christology it is interesting to observe the stress laid upon the descent into Hades; but the real value of this part of the volume lies in a well-drawn sketch of the gradual development in the New Testament of the ideal conception of Christ. It is true that on such a subject one had a right to expect more than a mere sketch, but the only way to profit by the writings of Professor Ewald is to accept without complaint whatever he offers. From this sketch of "Faith in Christ," which, however, treats rather of fides de Christo than of fides in Christum, we are carried on to the question of "Faith in the Holy Ghost," and to a peculiar reconstruction of the doctrine of the Trinity, which may be illustrated by a single quotation::

“Historically considered, the whole development of all true religion closed in the middle of the ages, when in and along with the manifestation and glorification of Christ the pure divine power of the Holy Spirit finally reached its fullest recognition and operation, and when these two powers, as the eternal powers of divine Revelation in time and creation, were allied with God as Creator and Revealer, and so the circle of powers was closed which co-operate in guiding man to his ultimate destiny in creation. The scholastic terms of a divine Trinity and a triune God are not Biblical, but they express the perfectly true notion that the same self-creative supernatural power which is in God exists also in a different grade and manner in the Logos, as the glorified Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, and that thus both Logos and Spirit may in this sense, and in accordance with their eternal essence, be felt and thought of as God . . ." (p. 418.)

Decidedly interesting is the last part of the volume, which discusses the doctrine of immortality together with the Biblical eschatology.

In closing this notice, we may observe that a good many corrections or modifications of the author's published views on individual passages occur throughout the

Catalogue of the Collection of Oriental Coins belonging to Colonel C. Seton Guthrie, R.E., Fascicul. I. Coins of the Amawi Khalifehs. By Stanley Lane Poole. (Stephen Austin, 1874.)

THE passion for making collections of Greek and Roman coins, which was already kindled in Germany in the sixteenth century by Peutinger and the Fuggers in Augsburg, has extended itself to Oriental issues only in recent times; Oriental degree in arrear as compared with classical numisNumismatics is a young science. It is to such a matics, that whilst some 80,000 coins of the latter class are known, there are about eighty purely Mohammadan dynasties of which as yet no coins have come to our knowledge. Colonel Seton Guthrie's Oriental collection must be counted among the most remarkable and the most valuable private collections in existence.

As an example of the richness of his cabinet, we may mention that in the Marsden collection there were only fifteen specimens of Omeyyade coins, in the Milan collection described by Castiglioni twelve pieces; in the St. Petersburg collection, as appears from Fraehn's Recensio seventyeight pieces; in the Stockholm collection, according to Tornberg's Numi Cufici, about sixty pieces; than 204 specimens of the Omeyyade dynasty while the catalogue before us presents no fewer in gold and silver alone, not to mention the copper-a number which even the grand-ducal cabinet of Jena does not quite come up to. Among the mint places those of which but few examples are as yet known are tolerably numerous; but there are no fewer than thirty-eight Inédites.

We have compared the excellent photographic representations of the coins on the five accompanying plates, and have found the rendering of the legends in the text of the catalogue perfectly correct. Mr. L. Poole has been particularly careful in rendering the presence of diacritical points (the value of which for Arabic palaeography is so great), and the marginal ornaments of the different specimens, although he restricts himself in other respects to the shortest possible description responding coins in Tiesenhausen's newly published of the separate pieces. The references to the corwork on the Coins of the Khalifs suffice for further information. How important, however, and useful is an attention to those ornaments, overlooked by older numismatists, will at once appear by an example of this catalogue. Under the no. 125 is placed a dirhem of the year 131 of the Hidschra, of which the mintplace al-Samijah or al-Schamijah is not mentioned even by the most complete Arab geographers. Another example of the same coin is in the cabinet of Jena, and a third has been shown to me from the collection of Dr. ImhoofBlumer, of Switzerland. I should have supposed that al-Salamijah, the name of a well-known town in the neighbourhood of Mossul (Marasid, &c.), was the reading on the coins, if on the Jena specimen, as well as on Colonel Guthrie's, the alif had not been perfectly and clearly separated from the following mim. Now, however, the coin bears precisely the same ornaments (five double annulets on the obverse and five single annulets on the reverse) as occur only on the coins of Kufa (see no. 130) and Wasit (see no. 201) of the same time; and so one is entitled to suppose that the situation of the unknown al-Schamijah was in the neighbourhood of one of these two cities. On no. 118, struck at Sarakhs, one of the jewels of the cabinet, it should be observed that Tornberg has described a coin of this mint in the and that according to Dr. Mordtmann's letters Revue de la Numismatique Belge (5 sér. iii. p. 3), a similar piece is preserved in the cabinet of Subhi Pasha at Constantinople.

On one point we differ from Mr. L. Poole. Without controverting the utility of placing together all the coins belonging to the same mintplace, it yet appears to us inadmissible to class this series of mints according to the purely outward and accidental characteristics of the initial letter, quite without reference to their geographical position. As the importance of coins is mainly as historical and geographical monuments, it seems to me that these two principles ought to be maintained together in the arrangement of a cabinet. G. STICKEL

SCIENCE NOTES.

PHYSIOLOGY.

Decussation of Nerve-fibres in the Optic Chiasma, -It was long ago laid down by Johannes Müller, on à priori grounds, that decussation of the optic nerve-fibres must be complete whenever the field of vision of each eye is independent of that of its fellow; incomplete, when the two fields coincide. In man and the higher mammals, the chiasma is usually said to consist of anterior commissural fibres passing between the two retinae, posterior commissural fibres passing from one optic tract to the other, fibres passing from each optic tract to the nerve of the same side, and fibres crossing to that of the opposite side. In the lower vertebrata, complete decussation is recognised as the rule. Recently, however, it has been asserted by Mandelstamm, Biesiadecki, and chiasma of the dog, the ape, and the human subothers, that complete decussation occurs in the ject also. Professor Gudden, of Munich (Gräfe's Archiv., Bd. xx., Abth. 2) has endeavoured to decide the point both by anatomical and by experi mental means. He confirms the existing statements on the complete decussation of the fibres in fishes, amphibia, and birds (pigeons and owls). The chiasma of the rabbit follows the same law. But in the dog, the monkey, and in man, the crossing is incomplete. The evidence afforded by examination of successive horizontal sections of the chiasma made with the microtome, is not absolutely

conclusive on this point; it is enough to show, how

ever, that there is no anterior commissure in the dog, and probably in man also; the posterior commissure being well marked. The strongest part of the evidence as to decussation is experimental. It is atrophy of the optic nerve and of the centres a well-known fact, that if the retina be destroyed, with which it is connected follows; a similar atrophy of the nerve may be produced by destruc tion of its central organ, leaving its peripheral expansion untouched; only in this case the retina retains its characteristic structure, except as regards its fibrous layer. It seems to be a law of very general application throughout the nervous system, that when two organs are connected by nerve-fibres, the destruction of either of the two entails atrophy of the conductor; but that it is only when the excitant organ is damaged that consecutive atrophy of its fellow ensues. Gudden removed either one or both eyeballs from rabbits and dogs at birth, and examined their brains when they were full-grown. In the rabbit, when both retinae had been destroyed, a complete symme trical atrophy of nerves and nerve-centres was found, the nerves consisting solely of neurilemma, and the optic tracts being entirely absent, while the posterior commissure remained unaltered. (From this the author concludes that the posterior commissure is wholly cerebral, and has no connexion whatever with the visual function). When only one eye-ball had been removed, the corresponding nerve was reduced to a fibrous cord, the optic tract of the opposite side was invisible, and the centre shrivelled; the other nerve, tract and centre being of normal size. In dogs, the removal of both retinae gives the same appearances as in the rabbit; but after removal of one eye-ball only, the nerve on that side is found withered, while the optic tracts are both present,

both somewhat smaller than usual, the one on the side opposite to the injury being the smaller of the two; now if the decussation had been complete, it would have been wholly wanting. Further, both centres were somewhat wasted, the difference between the two sides being rather indistinct, not well-marked, as in the rabbit. Hence it may safely be concluded that partial decussation does occur, and that-in the dog-the crucial fasciculus exceeds the lateral one in size. Precisely similar results were obtained by destroying the centres on one side at birth instead of removing the peripheral expansion of the nerve.

Contest between the Retinae.-An attempt is made by Schön and Mosso (Ibidem) to explain the fact that if one eye be closed, while the other is directed, without fixation, towards a surface of uniform tint (such as the open sky, or a blank wall), a temporary dimness seems to invade a part of the visual field of the uncovered eye. This obscuration is intermittent, taking place from five to twelve times in a minute; the number being tolerably constant for the individual observer. The duration of the dimness varies inversely as its frequency. It may be of a greenish-yellow or bluish tint, or it may not exhibit any definite colour. The

phenomenon is explained by supposing that our attention is directed to each retina in turn, that there is a contest between them; about seven-tenths of our time being given to the retina of the uncovered eye, while threethreetenths are diverted to that of the closed one.

This explanation is supported by the following facts. The phenomenon only occurs during monocular vision, and is unknown to the one-eyed.

It is limited to that part of the visual field which is common to both eyes. When the attention is concentrated on the uncovered eye by setting it some task, such as that of counting spots on the wall, the dimness does not occur. Lastly, when the eyes are unequal in power, and one eye is habitually used while the images formed on the retina of the other are as habitually suppressed (as in some cases of squint), the phenomenon cannot be produced. Whether the obscuration depend on a momentary blending of the two fields, or on a total diversion of the attention to the closed eve, it is not easy to decide. The circumstance that the outer region of the field remains distinct would seem to indicate that the former view is the correct one, since impressions on the independent region of the uncovered retina continue to be transmitted to the sensorium. Changes in the Blood during its passage through the Spleen. Picard and Malassez (Comptes Rendus, December 21, 1874), have investigated this point in relation to the red corpuscles. Their bumber is usually said to be diminished in the blood of the splenic vein (Béclard, Gray). The present enquirers employed two methods of investigation: actual numeration of the corpuscles, and the determination of the respiratory capacity of the blood, i.e. the maximum volume Oxygen it be made to absorb. The results may

of

obtained by both methods were found to agree. The preliminary question, whether the proportion of red corpuscles in the blood of the splenic vein is constant under varying conditions of the circulation, was decided in the negative; but it was noted that section of the splenic nerves was followed by an increase in the proportion of corpuscles and in the respiratory capacity of the blood, while stimulation of the nerves yielded negative results. Next, as regards the relation between the blood of the splenic artery and that of the vein. When the nerves were stimulated, there was hardly any difference between the two as regards the proportion of coloured corpuscles; when they were divided, the corpuscular wealth and respiratory capacity of the venous blood were always markedly augmented, though within wide limits of absolute variation. That this phenomenon is peculiar to the spleen was shown by similar experiments on blood drawn from the jugular vein, on that

returned from the submaxillary gland, etc., under varying conditions of vaso-motor paralysis and stimulation. It was always found that the blood returning from the tissues and organs whose vaso-motor supply had been cut off contained fewer red corpuscles and had a lower respiratory capacity than that which was conveyed to them by the arteries. Picard had already demonstrated (ACADEMY, January 16) that the spleen normally contains more iron than the blood. After section of the splenic nerves the proportion of iron in the gland sinks, and may even fall to an equality with that in the blood. Thus, instead of 24 gramme per 100 cubic centimètres, it was found to contain 15, 098, 053 gramme. Tarchanoff and Swaen (Comptes Rendus, January 11, 1875) compare the number of leucocytes in the blood of the splenic vein with that in the blood of the splenic artery, employing the method of numeration devised by Malassez. They conclude: (1) that there exists no constant ratio between the proportion of leucocytes in the arterial and that in the venous blood of the body generally. The blood in the right side of the heart, ever, always contains a smaller proportion than that in the left side; this is explained by the dilution of the systemic venous blood with lymph, just before entrance into the heart, and by the concentration of that in the left ventricle, owing to pulmonary exhalation; (2) that in 'opposition to the statements of Funke, Vierordt, and others, the proportion of leucocytes in the blood of the splenic vein is not greater than in that of the splenic artery. The less the condition of the spleen deviates from its normal standard, the more nearly

alike are its arterial and venous blood in this

was uninjured, that on the other side was broken to pieces and strewn on the floor. These pieces did not at first sight seem altered, but on examination it was found that the copper had disappeared, except at a few points where small portions remained, and showed plain signs of fusion. The wool and gutta percha envelopes were not burnt; the fusion and dispersion must have been too quick for the heat to be communicated to them. A few mètres from the injured wire, both the insulated clock wires were enclosed for protection in a lead pipe. The copper in this position was not injured, but the gutta-percha envelope showed plain signs of having been melted in isolated places. The electric discharge had evidently been weaker and less rapid, so that there was time for the gutta-percha to be heated.

of

SOME interesting particulars of the fertilisation Batrachospermum, a genus of Florideous Algae well known to microscopists, will be found in Comptes Rendus, December 14, 1874, in a paper by M. Sirodot. After alluding to the remarkable inhow-vestigations of MM. Thuret and Bornet on many genera of the Florideae, and to the observations of M. Solms-Laubach on Batrachospermum, which trichogynes (organs of fecundation), he mentions have demonstrated the existence of antheridia and his own observations as supplementing theirs. They had traced the transport of the non-motile antherozoid to the trichogyne, and the union of the two at the point of contact, and it remained for him to note precisely what occurred. He objects to the term non-motile antherozoid, because he considers the organ to be of a different nature from a motile antherozoid, and he proposes to name A motile antherozoid, he says, is naked protoit a pollenide, indicating its resemblance to pollen. plasm, and fuses into the oosphere, leaving no trace of its existence, while the pollenide of the batrachosperms possesses an enveloping membrane which remains adhering to the trichogyne long after fecundation is accomplished. This fact is identical with what occurs in phanerogams when the pollen cells adhere to the stigmatic surface. Pollen cells generally emit tubular prolongations which traverse the conducting tissue, and only in exceptional cases exhibit direct fusion or soldering with the cellular tissue of the stigma. Among the Florideae this soldering is the normal action, and the emission of tubes is not entirely wanting, as the pollenide is sometimes arrested a little way off the trichogyne, and the junction then takes place through a prolongation.

respect; (3) that when the spleen is engorged, owing to section of its nerves, the proportion of leucocytes in the blood of its vein is always diminished.

The Acid of the Gastric Juice.-Whether the acidity of the gastric juice be due to lactic or hydrochloric acid, is still an open question. The former view rests on the authority of Prout, Graham, Schmidt, and others, while the latter is maintained by Bernard. Rabuteau has investigated the point afresh, employing a new method (Comptes Rendus, January 4, 1875). He obtains the juice from the stomach of a dog which has been allowed to fast for twenty-four hours, and has then been fed on bits of tendon. To the

On

liquid, after filtration, pure quinia is added so long as it will dissolve. It is then dried in vacuo, and the residue treated, first with amylic alcohol, then with chloroform or benzine; the latter agents being able to dissolve many salts of quinia, while refusing to take up the mineral chlorides. evaporation, the solvent leaves a pure hydrochlorate of quinia. Other analyses showed the absence of any trace of lactic acid. Quantitative determinations yielded 25 parts of hydrochloric acid in 1,000 of gastric juice.

Der Naturforscher, No. 52, cites from the Jahrg. vii. s. 1401, experiments of Herr Fried. Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, O. G. Müller, showing that gas diffusion can take place through the walls of soap bubbles. He employed a glass tube bent at a right angle and furnished with a small rim to give the bubble a better hold. He blew the bubble with air from the mouth through an india-rubber tube, which he closed when it was finished. The tube conveying the bubble was then placed under a jar containing hydrogen, and removed after thirty seconds, when it was found to explode with a yellow light on exposure to a flame.

M. Sirodot observes that precision would be promoted and confusion avoided if the pollenmasses of orchids and asclepiads were called pollinies; the copulative branchlets of Fungi pollinodes, and the fecundating vesicle of Florideae

pollinides.

In many Florideae, he says, the trichogynes are such minute filaments that the whole process of impregnation cannot be seen; but in a dioicous species in his group Helminthosa, dedicated to Bory under the name Batrachospermum Boryanum, all the phenomena may be observed, and the conslowly into the protoplasm of the trichogyne tents of the pollenide may be seen to advance through the opening made by the absorption of the membranes of the two organs at their point of union. A power of 700 or 800 linear magnification is required. "The primitive cellule of the cystocarp," he states,

"is not formed till after the mixture of the two protoplasms. Before fecundation the female organ is a single terminal cellule, divided by a constriction into

two very unequal compartments; the basilar are very small and destined to the formation of the first cystobeing the trichogyne. Before the mingling of the two carpian cell; the other, terminal and much larger, protoplasms, may be noticed: (1) free communication between the two compartments by a narrow canal; (2) an arrest of the extension of the cysto

A CURIOUS action of lightning on a gutta perchaand-wool-covered wire belonging to the clock of St. Martin's Church, Basle, is quoted by Der Naturforscher, No. 52, from Poggendorf's Annal., Bd. 152, sec. 639. The date of the occurrence not mentioned, but Herr Ed. Hagenbach reports that while the wire on one side of the clock gyne may elongate itself to twice its volume without

is

carpian compartment during the enlargement of the trichogyne. If fecundation does not occur, the tricho

the basilar compartment sharing in its growth; but after fecundation and the fusion of the protoplasms, the trichogyne becomes inert, while the cystocarpian compartment enters upon a rapid growth, and in the meanwhile the protoplasm occupying the narrow channel of communication thickens, solidifies, and closes the way. Thus the first cystocarpian cell is definitively constituted as a closed utricle. The fascicular ramification of the cystocarp occurs by multiple budding on the primary cell."

THE Rheinisches Museum (vol. xxx. part 1) contains a great deal of critical matter contributed by eminent hands. Jeep has an important article on the MSS. of Claudian, excepting the Rape of Proserpine, which he has previously treated. A long article by Bücheler "De Bucolicorum Graecorum aliquot Carminibus," contains a number

in some modern books on harmony to make the subject well worth consideration.

Dr. Day's position was, that any note used in a key must have an existence relatively to that key, must be derived from a root in that key, and must belong to one of three series of harmonics arising from tonic, supertonic, and dominant. Chromatic notes said to be in the key are thus derived as well as ordinary scales.

First objection: Non-coincidence of pitch. The notes thus represented differ considerably in pitch from the harmonics assigned them by Dr. Day: The only derivation that is strictly correct in pitch is the major ninth, which is accurately given by the ninth harmonic, but two octaves too high. The derivations of the Italian, French, and German sixths from the harmonic series are all

that the action of the Race off Portland, combined with the tidal-waves, must have driven the shingle of the old beach on to the south end of the Chesil Bank, whence it was driven northwards to Abbotsbury and Burton by the action of the wind-waves, which have their greatest force from the S.S.W. Professor Prestwich believes that the greater part of the shingle of the south coast generally has been derived not directly from the present cliffs, but indirectly from beds of quaternary gravel, and from the wreck of the raised beach. The Fleet, like Weymouth Backwater, appears to have been formed by the growth of the Chesil Bank on the one hand, and of Ringstead and Weymouth Beach on the other, gradually damming in portions of the old coastline.

which may be mentioned μύρατο σειρήν for μύρατο A in the Epitaphium of Bion: the best MSS. giving, for div, a πριν οι γε πρίν. E. Hiller contributes an interesting article on the aporpaydia and some cognate forms of Greek poetry. Among H. A. Koch's emendations on Seneca's dialogues we may notice "etiamsi molae nos pudebit et pultis" for "etiamsi mulos pudebit ei plus" in De Tranquillitate Animi ix. 2. In a paper entitled, "Adversarien über Madvig's Adversarien," Lehrs exposes with much acrimony, but not without justice, the great Danish scholar's shortcomings in dealing with the Greek and Latin poets. Students of history will read with much interest a paper by Droysen on the mistakes made by Polybius in his description of Cartha

gena.

IN the Neue Jahrbücher für Philologie und Paedagogik (Fleckeisen & Masius), vol. exii. part 1, G. Gilbert has an article on the constitution of the Attic naukrariai, maintaining that they did not exist before Solon, and endeavouring (after Kirchoff) to discredit Herodotus' account of the Cylonian conspiracy, which he considers to have been influenced by accounts furnished by the Alcmaeonids and written in their interest. From this point onwards the argument is based on fragments of Aristotle's ora, preserved by Photius. F. Duhn contributes a long and interesting account, based on a minute examination of the fragments of Hyperides, of the trial of Demosthenes on the matter of Harpalus. A favourable review of the first part of Hartel's Homerische Studien, by Gustav Meyer, deserves the attention of Homeric students. In the educational part of the journal the most important contribution is an article by Hess, " Ueber das griechische Extemporale in Gymnasialprima," which is interesting as giving an insight, not merely into the details of educational questions now being discussed in Germany, but also as throwing light on the general aspect of the conflict between the grammatical and historical methods of teaching classics in schools.

fourth to the key note from the seventh harmonic of the dominant. (The fourth thus obtained is rather more than a comma flat.)

Second objection: High order of harmonics. To procure even these approximate representations, it was necessary to take harmonics of so high orders that they have no real existence in musical notes. Thus the twenty-fifth harmonic is employed. (This note is four octaves, a fifth, and three commas nearly above the fundamental; a similar derivation of the minor third from the

nineteenth harmonic is given in a well-known modern work on Harmony).

Dr. Day's treatment of the minor mode is less developed. He says, "The minor third on the tonic is a purely arbitrary interval;" and proscribes the use of the minor common chord of the third of the key. To refute this position, Mr. Stephens performed examples from well-known music (Handel, Mendelssohn, Goss), in which this chord is used with good effect in emphasised positions. A proscription of transient modulation over dominant or tonic pedal was similarly refuted.

Mr. Stephens then indicated the outlines of his system, which he considers to be new. The only harmonics which he admits are the twelfth and tierce, which determine the consonances of the fifth and third. Some very remarkable combinations were given, which were stated to arise from the new system.

At the conclusion of the above paper, Mr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S., addressed the association. He pointed out that the view of Mr. Stephens appeared to amount to derivation from octaves, fifths and thirds, and contended for the admission of the harmonic seventh as an additional elementary interval. His remarks were illustrated by the performance of various chords in just intonation on a little-known instrument called Wheatstone's

symphonium. The further discussion of this important paper was adjourned till March 1, at

4 P.M.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS (Tuesday, February 2).

T. E. HARRISON, Esq., President, in the Chair. Professor Prestwich read a paper "On the Origin of the Chesil Bank, and on the Relation of the existing Beaches to past Geological Changes, independent of the present Coast Action." In tracing the origin of the pebbles in the Chesil Bank, Sir John Coode concluded that they must have been derived from the coast between Lyme Regis and Budleigh Salterton, and that the shingle had been propelled eastwards along the coast by the action of wind-waves. Against this view may be urged the strong objection that the largest pebbles occur at the Portland end of the bank, the size gradually diminishing towards Abbotsbury; that is to say, the largest pebbles have been carried farthest from their parent rocks. Professor Prestwich has recently found that an old raised beach on Portland Bill, standing from twenty-one to forty-seven feet above the present beach, contains all the materials found in the Chesil Bank; and he concludes

February 2).

S. BIRCH, LL.D., President, in the Chair. The following papers were read :

1. "On Human Sacrifice among the Babylonians," by the Rev. A. H. Sayce, M.A. In this interesting paper the author derived direct evidence of the prevalence of the awful custom of human sacrifice among the ancient Chaldeans from the translation of two Accadian tablets, one of which declared the immolation to have a vicarious

efficacy, especially in the case of children when offered as atonements for the sins of their parents There was also a special name given to the act, it being called "The Sacrifice of Bel, or of righ teousness," and a description of the rite forms the subject of the first tablet of the great epic cycle of mythical legends, under the head of the first month and the first sign of the zodiac. The paper concluded with a series of references to the performance of human sacrifice, derived from clerical authorities and the recently discovered Carthaginian inscriptions.

2. "On the Date of Christ's Nativity,” by Dr. Lauth, of Munich. The learned author agrees with Mr. Bosanquet (Trans. S. B. A., 1872) in assuming 3 B.C. of ordinary era as the date of the nativity; and adduces what he thinks proofs from the Roman Indiction, Egyptian Apis tablets, &c. He considers the crucifixion to have occurred on Friday, April 7; that the darkness was caused by disappeared. He assumes the three Magi to be a planet obscuring the sun, which planet has since Caspar (Thane of Sipara), Belshazzar (Ruler of Assyria), and Melchior (King of the River, Nile). Many hieroglyphic and classic writers are quoted; also the circumstance that on the night of April 30-May 1, the Germans have C+M+ P + marked on their doors; that gardeners do not like to plant out on May 12-14, the three days of the cold saints. (Humboldt thinks this connected with the Mescor group passing the solar disc). Reference is also made to the Egyptian sacrifice of a swine; to the Massacre of the Innocents; to the flight of Joseph and Mary (probably from connivance with the Galilean insurrection of Judæus against Archelaus), &c.; also that the second census of Quirinius occurred when Jesus was in his twelfth year.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE (Wednesday,

February 3).

SIR S. DE COLQUHOUN, Q.C., Vice-President, the Chair. Mr. W. de Gray Birch read a paper on "The Classification of Manuscripts, chiefly in relation to the Classed Catalogue of the British Museum," in which he gave interesting and minute details of the contents of that magnificent collec tion. The great work of forming a complete classed catalogue of the whole of the MSS. in the British Museum is now finished, and has been formally announced by Mr. Bond, the present Keeper, in the last Parliamentary Report. This Catalogue extends to more than one hundred volumes, and reflects great credit on those gentle

Bond in carrying his plan into execution. men who have so zealously co-operated with Mr.