A NEW ZEALAND UNDERGROUND PARASITE (DACTYLANTHUS TAYLORI). FIG. 1, Spike, natural size; FIGS. 2 and 3, Stamens; FIG. 4, Pollen, all magnified; FIG. 5, Spike, natural size; FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, Flowers, magnified. these types on the seashore, the Turbinolian type is found first, and is followed in succession by the Fungian, the Astræan, and the Madreporian types. These views also seem to be in accord with those of Alexander Agassiz, who, as previously cited, compares the deep-water Echinoids to the Cretaceous, and those of intermediate depths to tertiary genera. It would seem, therefore, if the latter be true, that, à priori, the former would acquire a still higher degree of probability, so far as the agreement of the succession in time and depth is concerned.American Naturalist, March. tain range near Hikurangi, returning from Taupo, and noticed it growing amongst the roots of a tree near the path. I tried to discover its root, but in vain, not having anything but a pocket-knife to dig with; however, I secured one flower and its stalk, which appeared above the surface. Mr. Nairn, a settler, told me he had seen a similar parasite in the forest at the base of Mount Taranaki; this was also attached to the root of a tree, and had a number of flowers upon it of a light blue colour. Mr. Williamson afterwards brought me another specimen, which he had found in clearing some ground. The whole plant and flowers were entirely covered with vegetable mould; the stem between the bracts was of a rusty brown; there were twenty-five flowers open at once, another excrescence had eighteen. He states the odour of one plant was something like that of a ripe melon, whilst the other had also a disagreeable earthy smell." "This singular plant is a parasite which, unlike others found on branches, attaches itself to the roots of trees, and blooms underground, though a few of the flowers occasionally appear above the surface. The natives say it is allied to the Freicenetia (kie-kie); it certainly bears some resemblance in form to the tawera, the flower of the kie-kie, which may account for its being likened to it; but in every other respect it is quite different, having no leaves, but the stalk is covered with brown scales; the petals of the flower are slightly tinged with pink in the centre, but in general they are of a dirty white or brown colour, and transparent; the stamens are white; the flowers have a strong smell, partly fragrant, though earthy and unpleasant. This plant forms a large excrescence on the root of the Tataka pittosporum, which is covered with warts; these increase and become buds, a dozen or more flowers are often on one stem. I first met with it on a moun REVIEWS OF BOOKS. The Ornithosauria: an Elementary Study of the Bones of Pterodactyles, made from Fossil Remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge. By HARRY GOVIER SEELEY, of St. John's College, Cambridge. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co. London: Bell & Daldy. 1870. MR. R. SEELEY'S essay on the Ornithosauria will be found to be an exceedingly valuable addition to the library of the student of Paleontology. It forms a part of the Catalogue of the Woodwardian Museum which Professor Sedgwick is having prepared. This Catalogue is planned in three parts: the first being an index to the specimens; the second, a series of memoirs upon the orders and classes of animals concerning which new knowledge is afforded by the specimens; the third, a series of memoirs of species in the collection which are unknown to scientific writings. The present memoir belongs, therefore, to the second part of the Catalogue. After giving the views of Cuvier, Goldfuss, Wagner, Von Meyer, and others, on the organization of the Ornithosaurs, the author gives his own theory on the subject, namely, that their organization was essentially that of birds; at the same time, that in the details of their organization they were distinct. They form, in fact, a new sub-class of vertebrates of equal value with the class of birds. The specimens are described in the order of limbs, vertebral column, and cranium, the descriptions forming together an admirably elaborated account of the comparative anatomy of this group of the animal kingdom. Twelve plates of lithographs illustrate these descriptions. Alpine Flowers for English Gardens. By W. ROBINSON, F.L.S., Author of the "Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris." London: John Murray. 1870. THIS is a handsome volume, written to encourage the culti part of it consists of descriptions of the choicest mountain flowers from the horticulturist's point of view. The first part treats of the formation and arrangement of rock-gardens, and is full of desirable information Through the whole volume the author shows a zeal for his subject which will, of itself, probably go far to make disciples of many of his readers. He strongly combats the notion that Alpine flowers cannot be cultivated in lowland regions. After describing their homes in eloquent language, he continues: "But let it not for a moment be supposed that these conditions are indispensable for their growth! The reason that they predominate in these very elevated regions is, that no taller vegetation can exist there. Were these places inhabited by trees and shrubs, we should yet find Alpine plants among them; but much fewer than in the rocky fields where they reign supreme. Thus many plants found on the high Alps, and popularly considered to grow only within sight of or among fields of snow, are met with in open rocky or bare places at much lower elevations. Gentiana verna, for example, is one of the loveliest gems in the Flora of the Alps, often flowering late in the summer when the snow thaws on a high mountain; yet it is also found on comparatively low hills, and occurs in Ireland and England. Numbers of other subjects could be mentioned of which the same is true. In the fierce struggle for existence upon the plains and low tree-clad hills, the more minute species are often overrun by trees, trailers, bushes, and vigorous herbs; but where in northern and elevated regions these fail from the earth we get the choice jewellery of vegetable life known as Alpine plants." This theory the author sustains by the facts given in the body of the work concerning the cultivation of many of these plants. We hope that this book may be the means of making the cultivation of many of the loveliest of these flowers much more general than it is. "A Little Tour in the Alps" will be found a not uninteresting part of the volume, and everywhere throughout the whole of it the author has striven to render amusing his accounts of the necessary details. BIBLIOGRAPHY. ENGLIS H. Donkin's Acoustics, Theoretical. Part I. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d. cl. Tyson's The Cell Doctrine, its History, &c. Cr. 8vo. 10s. cl. FRENCH. De la Fécondation artificielle dans le Règne animal et de son Emploi contre la Sterilité. Par Jules Gautier. 2e Edition. Paris. J. B. Baillière. Guide théorique et pratique du fabricant d'Alcoöls et du Distillateur. 20 Partie. Enologie. Par M. Basset, Chimiste. Paris. Libraire du Dictionnaire des Arts et Manufactures. Hygiène vétérinaire appliquée. Races porcines. Par J. H. Magne. 3e Edition. Paris. Garnier Frères. L'Ordre des Primates, Parallèle anatomique de l'Homme et des Singes. Par M. Paul Broca, Professeur à la Faculté de Médecine de Paris. Paris. Reinwald. Nouvelles Recherches sur les Eaux sulfureuses thermales des Pyrénées. Par M. E. Filhol. Paris. Martinet. Quelques Considérations sur la Médecine. Par le Docteur A. Geoffroy. Nice. Gauthier et Cie. Relation médicale de l'Accident occasionné par la Foudre, le 13 juillet, 1869, au Pont de Rhin près de Strasbourg. Par le Professeur G. Tourdes. Paris. J. B. Baillière. Traité complet de la Tourbe; Formation, Gisement et Composition des diverses Espèces, extraction, dessication naturelle et artificielle, travaux mécaniques, carbonisation, culture des tourbières, etc. Par Ernest Bosc. Paris. J. Baudry. Troisième Série d'Observations de Chirurgie usuelle: Fractures. Par le Docteur Sirus-Pirondi. Marseilles. Barlatier-Foissat. Vues nouvelles sur la Composition chimique du Cérumen, et son Role dans certaines Maladies de l'Oreille. Par M. le Prof. J. E. Petrequin. Lyon. Regard. SIR,-I will justify my position en deux mots. When, as has been shown, Sir W. Thomson has no case, little can be required on the other side. I am attacking a mathematician whose qualified supporters (see North British Review, 1864-65-69) show that his position is incompatible with Geology, Darwinism, Metaphysics, Logic, Philosophy, Mayer and his supporters ("we feel that the writer [Mayer] and his supporters are, as regards method, little in advance of the dark ages," Tait's Thermodynamics)-and whose position is thus fairly shown to be absurd. I explain his cosmogony by the one-sided habit of too exclusive deductive reasoning, which leads the mathematician to imagine mental abstractions to be necessarily antecedent to the observed course of nature which those abstractions imperfectly formu late (vide Aristotle versus Plato, Nominalists versus Realists, &c.). Weeding common principles of reasoning, which a modern analyst will admit, I find none but that of Professor Sylvester (regarding Gauss, Cayley, Riemann, Schalfli, &c., Nature, No. 9); and accepting it, I can cite more than six eminent uniformitarians, and I may consider them as "privileged intellects." I grant that modern scientists April 13, 1870.] are little in advance of the "dark ages," but I hold that modern analysts are a great deal in the other direction. That the observed course of nature be admitted permanent, is a universal principle of common sense, and the distinction between the "course" and the "laws" has never been defined. That there are good particular reasons for Uniformitarianism, none who know its literature doubt. I mention three : 1. That it has never been successfully refuted. 2. That it is consistent with all practical geological work. 3. That it eliminates unprofitable discussions. THURSDAY, APRIL 7TH.-"On the Relation between Sun's Altitude and the Chemical Intensity of Total Daylight in a Cloudless Sky," by Henry E. Roscoe, F.R.S., and T. E. Thorpe, Ph.D.-In this communication the authors give the results of a series of determinations of the chemical intensity of total daylight made in the autumn of 1867 on the flat tableland on the southern side of the Tagus, about 8 miles to the south-east of Lisbon, under a cloudless sky, with the object of ascertaining the relation existing between the solar altitude and the chemical intensity. The method of measurement adopted was that described in a previous communication to the society,' founded upon the exact estimation of the tint which standard sensitive paper assumes when exposed for a given time to the action of daylight. The experiments were made as follows: 1. The chemical action of the total daylight was observed in the ordinary manner. 2. The chemical action of the diffused daylight was then observed by throwing on to the exposed paper the shadow of a small blackened brass ball, placed at such a distance that its apparent diameter, seen from the position of the paper, was slightly larger than that of the sun's disk. 3. Observation No. 1 was repeated. 4. Observation No. 2 was repeated. The means of observations 1 and 3 and of 2 and 4 were then taken. The sun's altitude was determined by a sextant and artificial horizon, immediately before and immediately after the observations of chemical intensity, the altitude at the time of observation being ascertained by interpolation. It was first shown that an accidental variation in the position of the brass ball within limits of distance from the paper, varying from 140 millims. to 230 millims., was without any appreciable effect on the results. One of the 134 sets of observations was made as nearly as possible every hour, and they thus naturally fall into seven groups, viz. : (1) Six hours from noon, (2) five hours from noon, (3) four hours from noon, (4) three hours from noon, (5) two hours from noon, (6) one hour from noon, (7) noon. Each of the first six of these groups contain two separate sets of observations: (1) those made before noon, (2) those made after noon. It has already been pointed out,2 from experiments made at Kew, that the mean chemical intensity of total daylight for hours equidistant from noon is constant. The results of the present series of experiments proves that this conclusion holds good generally, and a table is given showing the close approximation of the numbers obtained at hours equidistant from noon. Curves are given showing the daily march of chemical intensity at Lisbon in August, compared with that at Kew for the preceding August, and at Parà for the preceding April. The value of the mean chemical intensity at Kew is represented by the number 94.5, that at Lisbon by 110, and that at Parà by 313-3, light of the intensity 1.0 acting for 24 hours being taken as 1,000. 1 Roscoe, Bakerian Lecture, 1865. 2 Phil. Trans. 1867, p. 558. 11 61 08 64 14 0.100 0.136 0.195 0.221 0.115 0.215 0.126 0.132 0.262 0.327 ... ... Curves are given showing the relation between the direct sunlight (column 3) and diffuse daylight (column 4) in terms of the altitude. The curve of direct sunlight cuts the base line at 10°, showing that the conclusion formerly arrived at by one of the authors is correct, and that at altitudes below 10° the direct sunlight is robbed of almost all its chemically active rays. The relation between the total chemical intensity and the solar altitude is shown to be represented graphically by a straight line for altitudes above 10°, the position of the experimentally determined points lying closely on to the straight line. A similar relation has already3 been shown to exist (by a far less complete series of experiments than the present) for Kew, Heidelberg, and Parà; so that although the chemical intensity for the same altitude at different places and at different times of the year varies according to the varying transparency of the atmosphere, yet the relation at the same place between altitude and intensity is always represented by a straight line. This variation in the direction of the straight line is due to the opalescence of the atmosphere; and the authors show that, for equal altitudes, the higher intensity is always found where the mean temperature of the air is greater, as in summer, when observations at the same place at different seasons are compared, or as the equator is approached when the actions at different places are examined. The differences in the observed actions for equal altitudes, which may amount to more than 100 per cent. at different places, and to nearly as much at the same place at different times of the year, serve as exact measurements of the transparency of the atmosphere. The authors conclude by calling attention to the close agreement between the curve of daily intensity obtained by the above-mentioned method at Lisbon, and that calculated for Naples by a totally different method. "On the Acids contained in Crab Oil," by William J. Wonfer, Student in the Laboratory of the Government School of Science, Dublin.-Crab oil is obtained from the nuts of a tree named by botanists Hylocarpus carapa, and also Carapa Guianensis. The tree grows abundantly in the forests of British Guiana; the oil is prepared by the Indians, who bring it to George Town for sale. The oil is obtained from the kernels by boiling them for some time, and then placing them in heaps and leaving them for some days; they are then skinned, and afterwards triturated in wooden mortars until reduced to a paste, which is spread on inclined boards and exposed to the sun; the oil is thus melted out, and trickles into receiving-vessels. As no investigation, so far as I have been able to ascertain, has ever been made of the acids contained in this oil, Professor Galloway, to whom I am indebted for the samples of the oil, recommended me to examine them, and the examination was conducted under his direction. The oil was in the state in which it is sold by the Indians; it possessed the appearance of a semi-fluid butyraceous mass, evolving a peculiar penetrating odour; its melting-point was 55° C. To obtain the acids, the oil was saponified with a solution of potassic hydrate, and the soap thus obtained dissolved in a large quantity of distilled water; to the solution sodic chloride was added in considerable excess; the soap which separated was washed and afterwards dissolved, and the solution treated with hydrochloric acid, the liberated fatty acids were collected and pressed, then melted in boiling water, and frequently washed to remove all traces of sodic chloride; the acids were again saponified, and again treated with sodic chloride, but the sodasoap was on this occasion decomposed with tartaric acid; the mixed acids had a melting-point of 40° C. The acids were dissolved in boiling alcohol of 89 per cent. ; the solution, on cooling, deposited a white radiated crystalline mass, which was repeatedly recrystallized from alcohol until it obtained a constant melting-point; it was then saponified with a solution of potassic carbonate, and the solution of the mixed potash salts was evaporated to dryness on the water-bath; the fat salt was then dissolved in absolute alcohol. The alcoholic solution, unless extremely dilute, does not crystallize on cooling, but merely forms a strong jelly, which was, after pressing, dissolved in water, and the fat acid separated by a strong solution of tartaric acid; the separated acid was washed with boiling water until all potassic tartrate and tartaric acid were removed; it was subsequently twice crystallized from absolute alcohol; its melting-point was then found to be 57° C. The acid, when pure, presents the appearance of a white glistening radiated crystalline mass; two combus 3 Phil. Trans. 1867, p. 555. tions were made; the acids employed in the two analyses were obtained from two different saponifications. These analyses agree very closely with the formula for palmitic acid, C16 H32 04 Preparation of the Soda-Salt.-The acid was saponified with a dilute solution of sodic carbonate, the jelly-like mass was pressed, dried, and the fat salt dissolved out with absolute alcohol; the alcoholic solution, when cold, gelatinized; the gelatinous mass was pressed, dried, and dissolved in alcohol, and filtered. Preparation of the Silver-Salt.-The soda salt was dissolved in hot water, and precipiated by argentic nitrate; the precipitate was washed in the dark. Preparation of the Ether.-Dry hydrochloric acid gas was passed to saturation through a warm solution of the acid in absolute alcohol; the solution was then diluted with water, which caused the ether to separate as a yellowish oil, which, as it became cold, assumed the appearance of a waxy body; it was boiled with water, and afterwards with a hot dilute solution of sodic carbonate; it was again dissolved in alcohol, and precipitated from this solution by water; it was then collected and dried. Preparation of the Baric Salt.-A hot alcoholic solution of the acid was saturated with ammonia in slight excess, and boiled with a solution of baric acetate; the precipitate falls as a white flocculent mass, which, when thoroughly washed, dried and powdered, has the appearance of a glistening spongy powder. The analysis of the acid, the silver-salt and the ether, along with the determination of the baryta in the baric salt, sufficiently indicate that the acid under examination was palmitic acid, although I could never obtain, even after fractional precipitation, a higher melting-point for the acid than 57° C. The difference in the melting-points of the acid mass before it was treated with alcohol, and the melting-point of the palmitic acid, indicated that at least one other acid was present, but in very minute quantity. I attempted to determine the nature of the acid of lower meltingpoint by exposing the residues obtained from the first three crystallizations of the hard acid to cold in a bath of sodic sulphate and hydrochloric acid, all the hard acid which crystallized out being rejected; the portion which remained fluid was saponified with potassic carbonate, and the solution of the potash soap was subjected to fractional precipitation by means of plumbic acetate; the second and smaller precipitate was collected and washed, and treated for some time at a moderate temperature with dilute sulphuric acid; this caused the separation of a reddish oily-looking liquid which was collected and dissolved in boiling alcohol; it was afterwards saponified with potassic carbonate, and the silver-salt prepared from that salt. I only obtained sufficient of the silver-salt from about 2 lb. of oil to make one determination of the silver and one of the carbon and hydrogen, and from these determinations I did not obtain concordant results, and want of material compelled me to relinquish the further examination of the acid. The diseased aperture just admitted the end of the index figure; its edge was rugose, and the valve was funnel-shaped towards the ventricle. The left auricle was much hypertrophied, its walls in some parts being in. in thickness, and its endocardium creaked on being touched. The pulmonic is evidently large in proportion to the aortic opening (the ratio being 1.7 instead of 13 to 14); and there was no doubt considerable hypertrophy and dilatation of the right ventricle. The increase in the area of the pulmonic aperture was the direct result of this condition of the right side of the heart. The tricuspid was also probably somewhat dilated, as the "valves looked insufficient to fill the widened orifice," and the jugular veins appeared during life to be swollen and pulsatory; but the absolute size of the tricuspid shows that the dilatation was not excessive. The area of the aortic opening appears to be below the mean amount. Was this the result of the small supply of blood which the left ventricle received and impelled into the general system? In any case a knowledge of the existence of this law enables us to read the measurements of the orifices and their respective ratios with increased interest. It would be interesting to pursue the application of this law in the study of the various forms of valvular disease. I purpose, however, to return to this subject at the end of this paper, and shall seek now to trace out the reasons why the four orifices present such differences in the magnitude of their areas. And as the foundations of our arguments we must admit the truth of the two following propositions :-(1) That the ventricles and auricles act exactly synchronously respectively; and (2), that equal volumes of blood pass in exactly equal and the same times respectively through any two corresponding orifices of the healthy heart. 1. "If we examine," says M. Marcy "the lines traced by the right and left ventricles, we find a most perfect synchronism in the respective commencements and terminations of their contraction." "The examination also of a heart exposed during life confirms the deduction; for if we grasp the auricles or the ventricles, we cannot detect the smallest interval between the contractions of parallel cavities." Again. Stethoscopic examination of the heart demonstrates the existence of only one first sound and of only one second sound, although the causes producing each of those sounds are twofold, inasmuch as they really reside in two (right and left) hearts, placed in close and intimate apposition to one another. Under rare circumstances the sound which results from the closure of the semilunar valves has been found reduplicated; but although such an event may occur from the non-synchronous fall of the valves, it is clear that an unimpeded and uninterrupted circulation could not be maintained unless the two sides of the heart, or really the two hearts, contracted and dilated exactly synchronously. Whether the organ acts violently or feebly, with regularity or intermittently, the auscultator detects but two sounds; and even when its valves are diseased, its orifices immediately altered in diameter, and its muscular walls hypertrophied or atrophied, we find the same law of synchronism presiding over the heart and its sounds, normal or abnormal. Lastly. An examination by dissection of the fibres which compose the walls of the ventricles, conclusively proves that these chambers must inevitably act exactly synchronously. In Dr. Pettigrew's masterly account of the arrangement of the muscular fibres in the ventricles of vertebrate animals, we find the following remarks made upon this point: :-"The fibres of the right and left ventricles anteriorly and septally, are to a certain extent independent of each other; whereas posteriorly many of them are common to both ventricles; i. e. the fibres pass from the one ventricle to the other." The drawings 49 and 50 in the memoir, clearly prove how "the common fibres pass from the left to the right ventricle and dip in or bend at the track of the anterior coronary artery to become continuous with fibres having a similar direction in the septum.' " 4 2. In the next place, it must be admitted that equal volumes of blood pass in exactly equal and the same times through any two corresponding orifices of the heart; for if, for example, we could suppose the quantity thrown out through the pulmonic orifice into the lungs to be persistently greater than the amount thrown out in the same time through the aortic opening into the general circulation, it would inevitably follow that overwhelming pulmonary engorgement, cessation of flow from the right heart, and death would rapidly ensue. The alternative supposition of the right ventricle persistently discharging into the lung-capillaries an amount of blood actually less than the quantity as persistently sent forth by the left ventricle into the systemic circulation, involves physical contradiction unnecessary to refute. Whatever, therefore, may be the actual capacities of the ventricles, or the quantities which under pressure they may be made to contain, this law must be always paramount to enable the healthy heart to act freely and without the production of a congested or overloaded condition of the pulmonic or systemic circulation; the quantities of blood entering the ventricles synchronously must be equal, and 4 Phil. Trans. part 3, 1864. April 13, 1870.] the quantities leaving them synchronously must also be equal; and to prevent the occurrence or production of cardiac congestion the quantity of blood received by the ventricles in diastole must equal the quantity expelled by the ventricles in systole, small deviations being allowed within certain limits of health. We shall see the bearing of these latter remarks when we consider the mode in which hearts much diseased in their orifices and valvular apparatus, are often enabled to carry on a tolerably unembarrassed circulation, and with but little functional disturbance experienced by the individual so circumstanced. The anatomy of the organ fully corroborates the principle we are seeking to establish; for we are told that "the capacities of the ventricles are probably equal" (Cruveilhier); and again, "there are reasons for believing that during life any difference between the capacities of the ventricles is very trifling, if it exist at all." 5 And lastly," the whole, or very nearly the whole of the blood contained in the ventricles is discharged from them at each systole; for the left ventricle is frequently found quite empty after death; and if a transvere section be made through the heart in a state of well-marked rigor mortis (which may be considered as representing its ordinary state of complete contraction), the ventricular cavity is found to be completely obliterated." From these considerations we may, I believe, fairly assume that Equal times of ventricular contraction, 1. 2. Equal times of ventricular dilatation, Equal or almost equal volumes of blood received in diastole, Equal or almost equal volumes of blood expelled in systole, 3. Equal or almost equal capacities of ventricles, are the main characteristics of a heart which is normal in structure and perfect in function. 1. In employing the words "equal times" with reference to the periods respectively occupied by the contraction and dilatation of the ventricles, I would wish to refer for a moment to the statements made by our leading authorities as to the average duration of the systole and diastole of the healthy heart. Dr. Carpenter states that the ventricular contraction occupies twofifths and the ventricular dilatations three-fifths of the time which elapses between two consecutive beats of the pulse. Dr. Walshe informs us that the time from the commencement of the first to the beginning of the second sound (" which is synchronous with the diastole of the ventricles") is, on an average, one half of the time from pulse to pulse. Dr. Burdon Sanderson, in his Handbook of the Sphygmograph, says, "There are several facts not difficult of observation which show that the time occupied by the heart in contracting is very much shorter than is commonly supposed. The first sound being synchronous with the commencement of the contraction of the ventricles and the closure of the mitral valve, and the second with the closure of the aortic valves, it is clear that the intervals between these two events expresses the duration of the contraction of the heart. Now the most unpractised auscultator can readily satisfy himself, while listening to the sounds of a heart contracting sixty times in a minute, that the time between the first and second sounds is not equal to that which separates the second from the first; and that it cannot be admitted for a moment (as stated in our leading physiological text-books) that a heart occupies half of a second in contracting." This statement is borne out in the last edition of Kuke's Physiology edited by Morant Baker, in which the periods of ventricular contraction and dilatation are considered to be in the ratio of 4 to 7. Chauveau's experiments on the living horse and the sphygmographics tracings of the radial pulse in man, clearly indicate that the times of ventricular contraction and dilatation are very difficult in duration; and the influences which are deducible from the study of the comparative areas of the four orifices will fully substantiate the statement that the systole of the ventricles "is a much shorter proceeding than is usually supposed." 2. And again, with regard to the words ". equal volumes of blood" used above, I need scarcely remark that the same volume (quantity, ounces, cubic inches) of blood is not persistently and at all times received by and thrown out of the heart at every complete revolution of the organ. The reverse is, in fact, nearer the truth; for the ventricles (though of course always full from the impossibility of a vacuum existing in their interior) vary considerably from time to time in their degree of fulness and expansion. In profound sleep, or in the perfect rest and muscular relaxation of the recumbent posture, the flow of blood through the heart is entirely and solely under the control of the heart itself (some allowance being made for the effects of the respiratory movements which "act on the whole advantageously to the circulation"), the right being filled by the contractile energy of the left side of the organ. In our waking movements, however, during exertion, every movement of the body tends to force the blood in the veins in an onward course towards the right chambers of the heart, which would become gorged from over-distension did not the healthy right ventricle assume corresponding energy and force and expel the 5 Quain's Anatomy, by Dr. Sharpey, vol. iii. p. 255. blood with increased rapidity into the capillaries of the lungs. An increase in the number and depth of the respiratory movements ensues accelerating the passage of the blood through the lungs to the left side of the heart, which by an instinctively increased reaction upon its contents, propels the blood forcibly into the systemic circulation. The so-called vital capillary force or interaction between blood and tissue may assist in forwarding the current, but its amount is evidently excessively small in comparison with the enormous contractile energy of the two ventricles. Violent and sudden exertion may for a short time disturb the balance between the two hearts (the cave and right auricle in one side, and the pulmonary vessels and left auricle in the other side being, for a time, the safety reservoirs or receptacula of the blood waiting to be forwarded); but with bodily rest equilibrium becomes rapidly re-established, and equal volumes of blood are again poured forth in equal and the same times from the two ventricles of the heart. (To be continued.) ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. APRIL 4TH.-A. R. Wallace, Esq., president, in the chair. The ravages committed in granaries by Calandra granaria and C. oryzæ, and the means of preventing or removing the same, formed the principal subject of discussion, which was participated in by Mr. J. Jenner Weir, Mr. James Vogan, Mr. Albert Müller, Mr. Janson, Prof. Westwood, Mr. M'Lachlan, Mr. F. Smith, the Rev. H. S. Gorham, and the president. Various exhibitions were made by Messrs. Weir, Janson, Howard Vaughan, F. Smith, and the secretary. Mr. Albert Müller read a note on the odour of certain Cynipidæ, and Mr. G. R. Crotch communicated some observations on British species of Dasytidæ. THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. APRIL 5TH.-Charles B. Vignoles, Esq., F.R.S., president, in the chair. The paper read was "On the Dressing of Lead Ores," by Mr. T. Sopwith, jun., M. Inst. C.E.-This communication was limited to a description of some works the author had had occasion recently to establish in Spain, for the dressing of lead ores, as a general account of the present state of such operations in England could not be satisfactorily given in a single paper. Moreover, as regarded this branch of mechanical engineering, Germany was in advance of England. At the monthly ballot, the following candidates were balloted for and duly elected; as members-Messrs. J. Bailey, W. Elsdon, A. K. Mackinnon, and T. F. McNay; and as associates-Messrs. J. Anstie, B.A., J. C. Boys, T. Cargill, J. R. France, H. Gaerth, D. Gravell (Stud. Inst. C.E.) Lieut. G. E. Grover, R.E., F. James, J. Kincaid, B.A., H. E. Milner, T. Newbigging, E. B. Ricketts, F. W. Stent, F. J. Tatam, and C. E. Trotter (Stud. Inst. C.E.). ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. APRIL 5TH.-Captain Bedford Pim, R.N., V.P., in the chair. A paper, by Mr. Hodder M. Westropp, was read, "On Phallic Worship."-The author, after asserting the spontaneity and independence of certain beliefs and superstitions in the human mind, at all times and in all climates, proceeded to trace out the rise and development of phallic worship as one of the most ancient of those religions that have extensively prevailed among various sections of the human race. In the earlier ages the operations of nature made stronger impressions on the mind of man than in the later periods of his history. There were two causes which must have engaged the attention of the savage observer of nature, the generative and the productive, the active and passive. The author then described what he conceived to have been the process of thought, founded on analogies from the observation of the great forces of nature by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Hindus, Chinese, Phoenicians, Grecks, Romans, the aborigines of America, Australasia, and Polynesia, and on the unquestioned evidence of phallic worship in its various phases, belonging to those peoples. That worship was always, among the ancients, of a purely reverential kind, and partook of nothing obscene, either in its teaching or its observance; it was a homage paid to the most potent and most mysterious of the powers of nature-the power of procreation. Mr. C. Staniland Wake then read a paper, "On the Influence of the Phallic idea in the Religions of Antiquity."-After showing that the phallic superstition originated in the desire for children, and in the veneration for the instruments through which this desire was gratified, the paper proceeded to consider the legend of the "fall," which is proved to have had a phallic basis, from the association with it of the serpent, the tree, and the cherubim, all of which embody phallic ideas. The legend itself was derived from a Persian source, although it originated with the Chaldeans. The paper then traced the worship of the |