Although Scottish and UK governments have ambitious targets for climate change mitigation, and there is increased understanding of the risks to future prosperity of fossil fuel energy dependence, limited practical progress has been made by the advanced economies in reducing carbon emissions, especially when embedded emissions in imported consumer goods are taken into account. Significant contributory factors are the social and cultural values, beliefs and practices, which result in risks of climate change being regarded as secondary to short-term pressures for economic growth and increased consumer spending. The result is that climate change and transition to a low-carbon society become ‘back of the mind’ issues. Current policy designed to lower carbon emissions from household consumption treats society as a series of individuals, each responding rationally to market incentives to maximise short-term personal gain. ‘Greener choices’ are incentivised and encouraged by social marketing, but, at best, this approach will achieve only very gradual change. An alternative model treats society as comprising historically evolving, dynamic social systems and cultures that are capable of dealing with transformational change, when there is a shared understanding of the reasons for acting. From this perspective, society can implement step changes in behaviour through collaborative action in the interests of the longer-term common good. Political momentum can be gathered for new legislative and/or taxation measures, as for example in the case of the strong programme for tobacco control legislation in Scotland and the UK. By focusing on social and technical infrastructures, the built environment, and the regeneration of local economies, rather than on individual behaviours, government investment can have far greater impact. A distinctively Scottish narrative for a low-carbon society can create momentum for transition through shared understanding of the risks of climate change, and its meanings for social life, cultures, economic relationships and values.

Examples of the mechanisms involved in body fluid regulation by present-day crustaceans inhabiting variable salinity habitats are described using amphipod gammarids and the isopod Mesidotea (Saduria) entomon as models. Appropriately the species inhabiting the most demanding habitats have the greatest range and most sophisticated regulatory responses. Behaviour, micromorphology and physiology are all involved to a variable degree and, in the examples discussed, responses to salinity change seem finely tuned to countering the problems generated by particular environments. This applies both in the rapid responses to sudden alteration in salinity and to the longer term changes associated with acclimation to a new steady state condition. The isolation of populations and features of derived freshwater races are considered and the implications for the presumed physiological mechanisms of fossil forms discussed.

In view of the challenge posed by climate change and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, The Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiry (2011) examined the barriers making it difficult for Scotland to change to a low-carbon society. The single most important finding is that, whilst widely desired, change is held back by the lack of coherence and integration of policy at different levels of governance. There is activity at the level of the EU, UK Government, Scottish Government, local authorities, local communities, households and civil society, but there is often a disconnection between policies at different levels. This impedes progress and also leads to mistrust among the general public. This paper brings together the background to ten primary recommendations featured in the Inquiry addressing the principal barriers. Above all, it is important to integrate the activities within city regions and to exploit opportunities in local communities. Reflecting on the Inquiry findings, we stress the economic, social and environmental opportunities to be gained from a low-carbon society and outline the step changes that need to take place within governance, city regions and local authorities and civil society.

We present the bat assemblage from the early Miocene (MN4, 16.9–15.95 MY) basin of Ribesalbes-Alcora, which has yielded the remains of ten chiropteran taxa. Bat assemblages are rarely recovered in the fluvio-lacustrine fossil record. A bat species described in this work, Cuvierimops penalveri sp. nov., is a new form of a typically Oligocene free-tailed bat. In addition, the other molossids Hydromops helveticus, Rhizomops cf. brasiliensis, Chaerephon sp., Tadarida sp., and the vespertilionids Myotis cf. intermedius and Miostrellus aff. petersbuchensis, as well as undetermined fossils ascribed to the genera Submyotodon, Plecotus, and Rhinolophus are described. This is the first record of the genus Rhizomops in the early Miocene; the genus Cuvierimops is the first recording from the Neogene, while the ‘Lazarus taxon’ Chaerephon is the first fossil record of this genus, registered previously only in Holocene deposits. This bat assemblage with a high abundance of molossids is typical from the early Oligocene of western Europe, while in the early Miocene from Europe the molossids are scarce. The abundance of these bats is consistent with the presence of a tropical forest surrounding a paleolake. The fossils from the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin represent the most complete bat assemblage of the Iberian Peninsula during this age, and significantly increase our knowledge about the early Miocene bats of Europe.

The investigations which I have at present the honour of submitting to the Royal Society, were suggested by the experiments which have been made of late years concerning the gravitation of terrestrial bodies, first, by Dr Maskelyne, on the Attraction of Mountains, and afterwards by Mr Cavendish, on the Attraction of Leaden Balls.

Documented evidence of fungi associated with Mesozoic ferns is exceedingly rare. Three different types of fungal remains occur in a portion of a small, permineralised fern stem of uncertain systematic affinities from the Triassic of Germany. Exquisite preservation of all internal tissues made it possible to map the spatial distribution of the fungi in several longitudinal and transverse sections. Narrow, intracellular hyphae extend through the entire cortex, while wide hyphae are concentrated in the cortical intercellular system adjacent to the stele and leaf traces. Hyphal swellings occur in the phloem and adjacent cortex, while moniliform hyphae (or chains of conidia) are present exclusively in parenchyma adjacent to the stele. No host response is recognisable, but host tissue preservation suggests that the fern was alive during fungal colonisation. The highest concentration of fungal remains occurs close to the stele and leaf traces, suggesting that the fungi either utilised the vascular tissues as an infection/colonisation pathway or extracted nutrients from these tissues. This study presents the first depiction of fungal distribution throughout a larger portion of a fossil plant. Although distribution maps are useful tools in assessing fungal associations in relatively small, fossil plants, preparing similar maps for larger and more complex fossils would certainly be difficult and extremely arduous.

The following remarks on the dragon's blood tree of Socotra are intended to serve as introduction to Dr Dobbie's and Mr Henderson's paper on the red resin obtained from the tree, and to furnish a technical description of the plant which has not hitherto appeared. In my account of the Botany of Socotra, which will shortly be published by the Society, further remarks upon this interesting tree will be found, along with a figure.

The star-fishes recorded in the present communication were dredged by Mr John Murray during the cruise of H.M.S. “Triton” (under the command of Staff-Commander Tizard, R.K), whilst investigating the nature of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge and the adjacent portions of the Faeröe Channel. All the forms, excepting these from Station 3, were obtained from deep water, and the collection, as a whole, is both rich and interesting. One species and two well-marked varieties have not hitherto been described, and two other species have only been found once previously. The series consequently forms a valuable supplement to the collections made during the cruises of H.M.S. “Porcupine” and the “Knight Errant,” and is an important addition to our knowledge of the fauna of this region of the Atlantic. I propose to reserve any remarks upon the general character of the asterid fauna of the Faeröe Channel until treating of the collections obtained during the “Porcupine” and “Lightning” cruises.

The embryo, as represented by the model, is bent upon itself, at the level of the cranial border of its umbilical orifice—that is, at the caudal end of the pericardial region; and, as a result of the bending, the general outline of the embryo, when viewed from the side, is hook-shaped.

The dorsal and longer limb of the hook is formed by the more caudal portion of the embryo—that is, the part which would lie caudal to the cranial margin of the umbilicus if the embryo were unbent.

The alloys which we used in the following experiments were in the form of very thin hard-drawn wires,—the same as those whose thermo-electric properties we described in a paper published in the Transactions of this Society in 1877. They were prepared by Messrs. Johnson and Matthey of Hatton Garden, London. In giving their constitution we rely upon the authority of the manufacturers, as the quantities we had were too small to admit of our having them analysed.

During a series of experiments in which I was lately engaged, for the purpose of determining the law of the polarisation of light, by successive reflexions from plates of parallel glass, I observed that all the images of the luminous body which were formed by more than one reflexion, were crossed by parallel fringes of coloured light, when the two plates had a small inclination to each other; and that these fringes suffered considerable changes, by varying the position of the plate with regard to the incident ray.

The specimens here described were collected by Professor J. W. Gregory in Angola, and belong to the series described in the paper by him on the geology of that country.

The horizon of the beds from which the limestone was obtained is Albian.

The specimens are of a yellowish pisolitic limestone. In hand specimens the weathered surface has a warty appearance—the diameter of each knob being about 1 cm. A fractured surface shows circular forms varying in size and having decided concentric markings. These concentric markings are, however, less evident in microscopic sections, and this is probably due to the effects of preservation. A similar case has been described by Mr H. Yabe, where the genus Metasolenopora is affected in this way. These circular forms make up the greater part of the rock, and are cemented together by a fine calcareous paste in which are fragments of shell and quartz grains, with occasional grains of other minerals, such as felspar and muscovite. The specimens of limestone examined varied to some extent in texture, some being more compact, and even slightly siliceous, but the contained organisms are present in similar amounts regardless of the texture of the rock.

Few poisons are of greater interest, in a historical or scientific point of view, than Hemlock. It has been known ever since the most classic periods of antiquity, being generally believed to have been the ϰωνϵιον of Nicander and Theophrastus, and commonly thought to have been the poison with which state-criminals were despatched in ancient Athens. Since that period it has occupied a prominent place in all works on Toxicology; and it has been immemorially familiar as a deadly poison to the vulgar in every part of Europe, where there is scarcely a country or even a province which does not produce it in abundance. For nearly a century, too, since the writings of Baron Storck of Vienna in 1762, it has been constantly in the hands of the physician as a remedy, and has been currently employed at different times in the treatment of some of the most common, as well as in some of the most malignant, of all the maladies to which the human body is liable.

The investigation I am about to bring before the Royal Society, was undertaken in consequence of a discussion which took place in the Zoological Society of London in 1843, in reference to the chemical composition of the bones of the gigantic bird the Dinornis, discovered some time previously in New Zealand. At the meeting in question, the distinguished palæontologist Dr Falconer drew attention to the frequent, if not constant, occurrence of fluoride of calcium in fossil bones, and, as he stated, also in those of mummies; and threw out the suggestion, that the fluoride might shew itself in these animal remains, not as an original ingredient of the bones, or as derived from the matrix in which they were found, but as a product of the transmutation of their phosphate of lime. The idea of such a conversion taking place, is as old at least as the days of Klaproth, who suggested the possibility of phosphoric acid becoming changed into fluoric. It is commented upon by Fourcroy and Vauquelin, as well as by Gay Lussac, as a thing possible but not probable, and which their ignorance of the nature of fluoric acid prevented them from discussing satisfactorily.

Sedimentary basins are structures that formed either by subsidence of an area relative to its surroundings, or by uplift of the surroundings. The basin is defined by its sedimentary fill, and the vertical kinematics of the fill are reflected by stratal wedging, unconformities and, or, faulting. The following basin mechanisms are distinguished: locally (a) stretch, (b) thrust and piggy-back, (c) local uplift, and regionally (d) stretch-and-cool, (e) load-and-flex and (f) cratonic uplift.

Basin patterns are reviewed for the three main Phanerozoic episodes for which molasse-like features of sedimentation or tectonics are claimed. Sediment accumulation rates are used as an index of the vigour of basinal activity.

Within the area of the Caledonian orogen, Devonian basinal activity was locally very rigorous, some of it being late orogenic and some post-orogenic, and mostly apparently of ‘stretch-type’. The orogenic area stood high, relative to sea level, throughout Devonian times, but outside the orogenic area, the basins were less vigorous and marine.

Within the area of the Hercynian orogen, and outside it, Permian basins were generally not so active, apparently reflecting a different style of orogenesis. However, the whole area was standing high, relative to sea level. The Triassic basins, though post-orogenic, were rather more vigorous, although a marine transgression records the general lowering of the continental surface. Major evaporites accumulated in these settings.

In Cenozoic times, the narrow orogenic belts formed the most active basins, and these were of load-and-flex type, reflecting the importance of thrust-sheet movement, itself perhaps a result of the presence of Triassic evaporites. Other non-orogenic basins reflect both ‘stretch’ and ‘stretch-and-cool’ mechanisms. Only the Spanish basins appear to have been standing high, relative to sea level, perhaps in response to cratonic uplift.

In the year 1900 Bretscher (1) published a short account of a new aquatic Oligochæte belonging to the family Naididæ, which was assigned by him to a new genus, Hæmonais, under the name H. waldvogeli. Its chief peculiarity lay in the complicated blood-vascular system, to an account of which Bretscher devotes about half of his description. No further account of any representative of the genus has since appeared.

Some months ago I was surprised to find, in Lahore, specimens which were certainly referable to the same genus as the Swiss worms, though manifesting a few differences, sufficient to distinguish them as a separate species. Since my first discovery of the present form I have had the advantage, which did not fall to Bretscher's lot, of being able to observe sexual individuals; and as the worms are remarkable in other respects than that of the vascular system, and since moreover the somewhat curt description which he gives is perhaps scarcely sufficient to satisfy legitimate curiosity in regard to a new genus, I give below a fairly complete account of the Lahore specimens.

According to the theory devised by Huygens, to explain the phenomenon of double refraction in Iceland spar, a pencil of light transmitted through that substance is divided into two pencils; the index of refraction for the one being constant, while for the other it varies with the inclination of the transmitted light to the optical axis of the crystal.

Dr Wollaston, in 1802, verified the spheroidal form of the wave of light, which Huygens had assumed to account for the refraction of the extraordinary pencil, by a careful experimental investigation, conducted by means of his elegant instrument for “examining refractive and dispersive powers by prismatic reflection.” In 1810, Malus, in his Théorie de la Double Réfraction, also demonstrated experimentally the accuracy of the Huygenian law for the extraordinary pencil. I have not had an opportunity of consulting the memoir of Malus, so as to know the precise nature of his experiments, with reference to the refraction of the ordinary ray; but the object of Dr Wollaston's researches was simply to prove the law of extraordinary refraction, and the constancy of the index of refraction for the ordinary ray, is therefore tacitly assumed by him.

Among the specimens collected by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition and brought back to this country was a series of the embryos of penguins of various species, collected at different stages of development by Mr R. N. Rudmose Brown and Dr J. H. Harvey Pirie. These embryos were, for the greater part, of the species Gentoo (Pygoscelis papua, Forst.), the remainder of the species Adelia (Pygoscelis adeliæ, Hombr. and Jacq.). Two Emperor penguins, which had been preserved for examination by the injection of the blood-vessels, were also brought home. Through the kindness of Dr W. S. Bruce these specimens were entrusted to one of us (D. W.) for examination and report, but as the work involved in this proved to be very extensive, Dr A. Campbell Geddes was asked to undertake a share in it, and this he agreed to do.

This report contains the results of the combined investigations.

The neighbouring sites of Berești and Mălușteni (Eastern Carpathian Foreland, eastern Romania) have yielded the most abundant and taxonomically diverse Pliocene vertebrate assemblages described so far from the entire country. Some of the small mammals found here were described as new taxa, and occasionally reassessed during the past one hundred years, but most of the material collected initially remained unrevised. Here, we provide a taxonomic revision of all the small mammal material (insectivores, rodents, and lagomorphs) that could be found in three main collections. The studied specimens were assigned to the insectivore families Desmanidae (Desmana verestchagini and Talpa sp.), and Erinaceidae (Erinaceus sp.); to the rodent families Muridae (Mimomys sp. or Promimomys sp.; Allocricetus sp.), Sciuridae (Spermophilus cf. nogaici), Spalacidae (Pliospalax macoveii), and Castoridae (Trogontherium minus, Castor fiber); and to the lagomorph families Leporidae (Trischizolagus dumitrescuae) and Ochotonidae (Ochotona ursui). Compared to the faunal assemblages described from Central-Eastern Europe, the identified taxa (some confirmed, others reassessed as synonyms) support an Early Pliocene age for the vertebrate assemblages from Berești and Mălușteni. Both faunal assemblages are assigned to the Ruscinian, with the faunas from Berești being considered geologically slightly older than the ones from Mălușteni.

Helius spiralensis sp. nov., is a very peculiar species of the genus Helius (Diptera: Limoniidae), with a characteristic morphology of hypopygium not found in other representatives of this genus. This is the second Helius species described from Early Cretaceous Álava amber (Spain), and one of the oldest representatives of the genus.